Sermon Notes: September 20, 2026

Putting Your Life in Divine Ored- Rev. Sheryl Padgett

• We continued our Twelve Powers series with the spiritual power of Order.

• In Unity, Order is represented by James, son of Alphaeus.

• Order is associated with the navel and digestive system.

• Just as the body functions best with nourishment, rest, water, and balance, our lives work more harmoniously when we put first things first.

• Divine order is not rigid control.

• Divine order does not mean everything happens according to our schedule.

• Divine order should never be used to explain away pain, illness, grief, injustice, or loss.

• Divine order should never be used to blame ourselves or others for difficult experiences.

• Divine order means recognizing that life unfolds through process.

• Jesus described this process in Mark 4:28:

  • “First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”

• Spiritual growth has stages.

• We may want the completed healing, answered prayer, repaired relationship, financial breakthrough, or inner peace.

• Yet often, we first see only the blade: one small sign of new life.

• The blade may be:

  • A small shift in attitude

  • A willingness to forgive

  • The courage to ask for help

  • Choosing prayer rather than panic

  • Getting up and beginning again

• Do not overlook the blade.

• Our consciousness is like soil.

• Every day, we plant thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and attitudes.

• We may plant:

  • Faith or fear

  • Gratitude or complaint

  • Resentment or forgiveness

  • Possibility or worry

• What we repeatedly nourish affects how we feel, speak, act, and respond to life.

• We do not consciously create every hardship we experience.

• We are connected to one another, affected by circumstances, and living in a world where loss and difficulty are real.

• Our spiritual responsibility is not to blame ourselves when life hurts.

• Our responsibility is to tend our inner life and choose how we will meet what comes.

• Worry is like planting poison ivy when what we truly want is a rose garden.

• Divine order invites us to plant better seeds:

  • Peace

  • Hope

  • Trust

  • Courage

  • Love

• We nourish these seeds through:

  • Prayer

  • Meditation

  • Spiritual study

  • Supportive relationships

  • Uplifting music

  • Rest

  • Gratitude

  • Affirmations

• Affirmations are not magic words that remove all difficulty.

• They help us remember spiritual truth and redirect our attention toward the good we want to grow.

• Divine order also invites us to be open to detours.

• A canceled plan, delay, or closed door may feel frustrating.

• Yet an interruption may become:

  • Preparation

  • Protection

  • A new opportunity

  • A chance to see life differently

• Divine order does not mean being passive.

• We still take practical action:

  • Repair what needs repair

  • Have needed conversations

  • Make plans

  • Seek support

  • Take the next right step

• Like a rosebud, life cannot be forced open.

• We can prepare the soil, plant good seeds, water what is growing, pull the weeds of worry, and trust the process.

• Be patient with yourself.

• Be patient with the process.

• Be patient with God.

Affirmation:
Divine order is active in my life. I trust the process of growth within me. I release the need to control every outcome, and I open to God’s guidance one step at a time.

Sermon Notes: August 30, 2026

Learning to Let Go — Drop the Rope - Rev. Sheryl Padgett

Letting go is not giving up, denying pain, or pretending difficult things never happened. It is releasing the inner grip that old hurts, fears, and reactions have on us.

• We often live with "conditional okayness" — fine only as long as the outer world cooperates. The moment it doesn't, our mind and heart catch fire.

• The reason we suffer is not the planet or our circumstances; it is what we have stored inside.

• We have three choices when a disturbing feeling rises: suppress it, express it, or transmute it — let it relax and move through us instead of getting stuck.

• Transmutation means the trigger becomes the teacher; the irritation becomes the invitation. Nothing is wasted when we bring it to consciousness.

• Surrender is not weakness, passivity, or staying in harm. Release the panic — and still take wise action.

• The practice: when you feel triggered, relax your body, relax your grip, and breathe. Notice the energy rising rather than becoming it.

• You are not your thoughts or emotions. You are the one who notices them — the deeper Self beneath the noise.

• The Kingdom of God is within you, right now. You don't have to fight your way back to it; you simply stop leaving it.

• When the blockages clear, Spirit rises on its own — bringing love, enthusiasm, and a life of service.

• What matters most is not what you do but where you come from. Serve the moment in front of you with a pure motive.

• "Where you're not, God is" — where the small, frightened self steps aside, the Christ presence has room to shine through.

  Affirmation I release what no longer serves my highest good. With an open heart and a willing spirit, I meet each moment as it comes. I let go of fear, release my reactions, and allow divine love to flow freely through me. I am free, I am present, and I am here to serve. And so it is! Amen

Practice for the week: When you notice irritation, fear, or an old story rising, pause and ask: "Can I relax my grip and let this move through me?" Then breathe, relax, release — and return to the one who notices.

Sermon Notes: August 23, 2026

Learning to Let Go - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

Letting go is not giving up, denying pain, or pretending difficult things never happened. It is releasing the inner grip that old hurts, fears, resentments, and disappointments have on us.

• We can build an inner “house of horrors” by repeatedly storing and replaying painful experiences.

• The past can teach us, but it does not need to control today’s thoughts, choices, or peace.

• Letting go does not mean avoiding responsibility, boundaries, grief, healing, accountability, or wise action.

• We do not let go of life; we let go of unhelpful reactions to life.

• Everyday irritations—traffic, weather, delays, disagreements, and interruptions—are “low-hanging fruit”: small opportunities to practice release.

• A pause between what happens and how we respond creates space for freedom, wisdom, and spiritual strength.

• Three practical tools for release:

  • Replace automatic negative thoughts with constructive, life-giving thoughts.

  • Use a mantra, prayer, or sacred phrase such as “Be still and know,” “Peace, be still,” or “God is, I am.”

  • Practice witness consciousness: notice thoughts and feelings without becoming them.

• When disturbance arises: pause, breathe, relax the body and heart, and release.

• Meditation is not about stopping thoughts. It is practice in noticing, returning to the breath, and becoming present.

• Each moment of release makes us more available for love, compassion, creativity, wisdom, and life.

Practice for the week: When you notice irritation, fear, or an old story arising, pause and ask: “Can I relax enough to let this move through me?” Then breathe, relax, release, and return to the awareness of God’s Presence within.

Affirmation

I release what I no longer need to carry. I bless the past, learn from it, and let it rest. I am not my fear, my worry, or my old story. With every breath, I let go. With every breath, I receive peace. I am free to meet this moment with courage, compassion, and grace. And so it is! Amen

Sermon Notes: August 16, 2026

Strengthened by Divine Purpose - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

What Is My Purpose?

Many of us have asked, “What am I going to do next?” But beneath that question is an even deeper one: “Who am I here to be?”

Our purpose is not necessarily our career, occupation, or role. Jobs change, careers end, and circumstances shift, but our deeper spiritual purpose remains.

“A goal is a tangible desire with an end result, but your divine purpose is really a way of living.” — Edwene Gaines

Our Universal and Individual Purpose

Our universal purpose is to express God. Our individual purpose is the unique way we express that divine nature through our lives.

The universal purpose is the “what.”
The individual purpose is the “how.”

We each have a unique way of expressing Divine Love, wisdom, compassion, creativity, healing, service, or joy. The world does not need us to become someone else. It needs us to become more fully who we were created to be.

“The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.” — Proverbs 19:21

Jesus as Our Example

In Unity, we understand Jesus as demonstrating the Christ nature that lives within each of us. His life showed us what is possible when we fully express the Divine within.

“The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact, will do greater works than these.”

Our purpose is not merely to know God but to express God.

Charles Fillmore reminded us:

“The Truth you know is the Truth you use, otherwise it is just theory and has no power to change your life.”

Love, compassion, forgiveness, and spiritual truth become powerful when we put them into action.

Discovering Our Purpose

Purpose is often revealed through the things that touch our hearts.

Ask yourself:

• What needs healing or changing?

• What breaks my heart?

• What do I wish someone would do something about?

• Which of those things would I actually enjoy helping to change?

• Where do my compassion and my gifts meet?

We are not called to solve every problem in the world. We are called to find our particular piece of the earthly puzzleand bring our unique gifts to it.

Trust the Next Step

We don't have to know the entire path before we begin.

Rev. Sheryl shared her own unexpected journey from engineering into ministry. What began as a surprising inner nudge became a series of “go” signals—doors opening, people appearing, and opportunities falling into place. There were also “stop” signals” when a path clearly wasn't right.

And sometimes we encounter what Unity calls “second force”—resistance that appears when we begin to change.

Resistance doesn't always mean we're on the wrong path. Sometimes it is simply an invitation to ask:

“Is this divine guidance, or is this fear trying to preserve the familiar?”

Purpose Requires Commitment

Eventually, we have to stop simply thinking about our purpose and begin living it.

Commitment means giving our time, energy, talents, skills, and resources to what we feel called to express. It means letting go of the safety net and being willing to say yes to the next step.

St. Teresa of Avila reminds us:

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
No hands but yours, no feet but yours.”

Christ has your hands.
Christ has your voice.
Christ has your eyes.
Christ has your heart.

What will you do with them?

The Invitation

We don't have to wait for a dramatic revelation or a letter from heaven telling us our purpose.

Our purpose is already here.

It is expressed in the next conversation, the next choice, the next act of courage, and the next opportunity to love.

You are not here by accident. There is something of Divine Love, wisdom, compassion, courage, and creativity that can be expressed through you in a way it can be expressed through no one else.

Don't wait for your purpose to arrive. Live it. Be who you came here to be.

Affirmation

The Presence of God lives and moves through me.
I release the need to know the entire path.
I listen for divine guidance and take the next loving step.
I am here on purpose, and my life is a blessing.

Sermon Notes: August 9, 2026

Will — The Energy of Transformation - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

What Is Will?

In Unity, Will is one of the Twelve Powers taught by Charles Fillmore. Will is the spiritual faculty through which we choose, decide, direct, command, lead, and determine.

We all use our Will every day. The question is not whether we have Will, but what is guiding it. Are our choices being directed by fear, ego, habit, and old patterns—or by Spirit, truth, wisdom, and love?

Will is more than forcing ourselves to do something we don't want to do. Spiritual Will is the capacity to take an idea or inner knowing and move it into action. It is the power that says, “I choose.”

Will and Transformation

Change and transformation are not the same thing.

• Change often rearranges our external circumstances.

• Transformation changes us from the inside.

We can change jobs, relationships, homes, routines, or circumstances without changing our consciousness. Transformation happens when we begin to see differently, choose differently, respond differently, and live differently.

Transformation occurs when we stop allowing fear, resentment, unconscious habits, or old patterns to make our decisions.

“Will is the ability to choose, decide, command, lead, determine.”

Every choice helps shape who we are becoming. A small decision repeated becomes a pattern. A pattern repeated becomes a habit. A habit repeated becomes character. And character expressed over time helps shape our destiny.

Three Expressions of Will

1. The Undeveloped Will

An undeveloped Will can leave us:

• Unable to make decisions

• Overthinking everything

• Asking everyone's opinion

• Constantly making pros-and-cons lists

• Waiting until we feel completely ready

• Avoiding choices because we fear making the wrong one

Even indecision is a decision. When we continually refuse to choose, life continues moving without us.

Decision fatigue can also weaken our ability to make thoughtful choices. When we are overwhelmed by too many decisions, we may simply avoid choosing, choose what is easiest, or default to old habits.

The spiritual practice is to stop trying to force an answer from an exhausted mind. Instead, we can become still, pray, meditate, and ask:

• What is mine to know?

• What is mine to do?

• What is the next right step?

2. Ego-Centered Will

Ego-centered Will says:

• “I'm right.”

• “I don't care what the facts say.”

• “I've already made up my mind.”

• “My way or the highway.”

The ego is more interested in being right than being truthful. It seeks confirmation rather than understanding.

An example from the sermon illustrated how easily we can become attached to a belief even when reliable information shows that belief to be false. Spiritual maturity requires us to remain teachable.

A powerful daily prayer is:

“Reveal to me what needs to be revealed, and heal that which needs to be healed.”

This keeps us humble and open to greater truth.

3. Elevated or Spiritual Will

An elevated Will chooses from truth, wisdom, love, and divine principles rather than fear, impulse, or ego.

It asks:

• What is the truth here?

• What is best for all concerned?

• What choice aligns with my values?

• What action would love take?

• What am I being invited to become?

A strong Will is not one that can never be moved. A strong Will is one that can be guided by truth.

Developing the Power of Will: W-A-Y

Bil and Cher Holton offer a practical way to strengthen our Will using the acronym WAY.

W — Work the Principles

Unity principles are not meant simply to be spoken; they are meant to be lived.

If we affirm that God is everywhere present, then God is present in difficult conversations, uncertainty, disappointment, and challenge—not just in moments that feel good.

If we affirm that we are divine expressions of God, we must learn to stop treating ourselves as though we are unworthy, broken, or hopeless.

Our spiritual principles become powerful when we practice them in daily life.

A — Access Spirit

When facing an important decision, we often research, compare, ask friends, read reviews, make lists, consult the internet, or even ask AI.

But do we pray?

Do we become still?

Do we listen?

Spiritual Will includes making room for divine guidance. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is stop talking long enough to hear the still, small voice within.

Guidance may come through prayer, meditation, scripture, another person, a dream, an inner knowing, or a deep sense of peace.

Y — Yield

Yielding is not giving up our power. It is releasing our resistance and aligning with a greater wisdom.

Jesus expressed this principle in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“Not my will, but Thine be done.”

Yielding means trusting that Infinite Wisdom sees more than we can see. We may see only one page of the story while Spirit sees the whole book.

Sometimes our greatest transformation begins when we stop asking, “How can I make this happen my way?” and begin asking, “What is Spirit inviting me to know and become?”

The Power of Choice

We cannot control every circumstance or every person. We cannot determine everything that happens in our lives.

But we can choose:

• What thoughts we entertain

• What stories we believe

• How we respond

• Whether we remain open or close down

• Whether we act from fear or faith

• Whether we listen to ego or Spirit

• Whether we remain stuck in the past or move toward the future

Joshua's ancient invitation still speaks to us:

“Choose this day whom you will serve.”

Every meaningful transformation begins with a choice.

Maybe your next choice is to forgive. Maybe it is to set a boundary. Maybe it is to ask for help. Maybe it is to take better care of yourself. Maybe it is to release something that no longer belongs in your life. Maybe it is simply to stop allowing your past to determine your future.

Transformation does not happen all at once.

It happens one choice at a time.
One prayer at a time.
One courageous step at a time.

Our Power of Will is the energy that moves us from possibility into action and from intention into transformation.

Affirmation

I am a powerful expression of Divine Will. I choose from truth, wisdom, love, and Spirit. I release fear and ego, listen to my inner guidance, and courageously take the next right step. I am willing to be transformed.

Sermon Notes: Aug 2, 2026

Living Untethered: The Human Predicament - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

This week's message continues our study of Michael Singer's Living Untethered and explores one of the central questions of the spiritual life:

How are you doing on the inside?

Most of us spend enormous energy trying to arrange the outside world so we can feel peaceful inside. We believe happiness depends on circumstances—our relationships, finances, health, work, or the behavior of other people. But as long as our peace depends upon conditions, our inner life will continue to rise and fall with every success and disappointment.

The Human Predicament

Singer describes the human predicament this way: throughout life we resist painful experiences, and those unresolved experiences become stored emotional patterns, or samskaras. These stored impressions create our likes, dislikes, fears, and expectations. We then spend our lives trying to manipulate the world to avoid discomfort and recreate pleasant experiences.

When life matches our preferences, we feel good.

When it doesn't, we suffer.

The problem isn't life itself; it is our resistance to life.

The Paradigm Shift

Spiritual awakening begins when we stop asking:

"How can I make life go my way?"

and begin asking:

"How can I remain open to life, even when it doesn't?"

This is the paradigm shift.

Unity teaches that we are not our thoughts, emotions, or circumstances. We are the divine awareness that witnesses them all. When we remember our true spiritual identity, we stop trying to control every external event and instead cultivate inner peace, acceptance, and trust.

Working with the Heart

Every experience carries energy. If we resist that energy, it becomes trapped within us. Instead of flowing through, it creates emotional blockages that influence our future reactions.

Neither Suppression nor Expression

Many people believe they have only two choices when difficult emotions arise:

• Suppress them.

• Express them.

Singer offers a third path:

Allow them.

Allowing means fully experiencing the emotion without identifying with it, acting it out, or pushing it away.

A helpful question to ask is:

"Can I feel this without needing it to be different?"

When emotions are allowed to move through us, they no longer become stored patterns. Over time, old wounds lose their power, and we experience greater freedom.

Joy and Grief Can Coexist

One of the most moving parts of the sermon was the story of a bride who, after receiving a terminal diagnosis, chose to marry the love of her life while she still could. She walked down the aisle barefoot because cancer treatments had swollen her feet too much for shoes.

That wedding was filled with joy.

Only a week later, she entered hospice, and shortly afterward her memorial service became another sacred gathering where tears and laughter existed side by side.

This experience reminds us that grief and joy are not opposites. Both are expressions of love.

As Stephen Levine observed:

"The people we know that are the most joyous are the ones that are willing to face their grief and their pain."

Healing doesn't come from avoiding pain. Healing comes from allowing love to move through our pain.

Living Untethered

The human predicament is believing that peace depends on changing life.

The spiritual path teaches that peace comes from changing our relationship with life.

When we stop resisting, our hearts become more open.

When our hearts open, love flows more freely.

When love flows freely, we discover that God's presence has been with us all along.

Key Takeaways

• True quality of life is measured by your inner experience, not external success.

• Resistance creates suffering and stores emotional patterns.

• Freedom begins when we stop trying to control life and begin opening ourselves to it.

• We are not our thoughts or emotions—we are the divine awareness observing them.

• Healing comes through allowing emotions to move through us rather than suppressing or acting them out.

• Joy and grief can coexist because both arise from love.

• Peace is found not in changing life but in opening our hearts to it.

Affirmation

I release my resistance to life. I welcome each experience with an open heart. I am the peaceful presence of God, free to love, free to heal, and free to live fully in this sacred moment.

Sermon Notes: July 26, 2026

The Heart, Rev. Sheryl Padgett DDIV

• Opening humor: Joe and Sylvia’s toothbrush joke gives us a laugh, but it also points to a deeper truth: emotions can rise quickly, and what happens inside us is not always visible on the outside.

• Main theme: This message moves from the mind to the heart—the spiritual or energy heart where we experience emotion, love, fear, grief, longing, and connection.

• Life as teacher: Every situation can teach us something if we are willing to pay attention. Life is not always giving us what we want, but it is always offering us a chance to awaken.

• The mind and its layers:

• Here and Now / superconscious: Our direct awareness of God, the still place beneath the noise.

• Samskaras / subconscious: Stored memories, emotional patterns, and unhealed impressions from the past.

• Personal thought / conscious mind: The running commentary of likes, dislikes, judgments, and reactions.

• The impersonal mind: This is the part of mind that reasons, imagines, creates, and asks bigger questions. It helps us move beyond self-centered reaction and into intelligent participation in life.

• The heart works differently: The mind thinks in words and ideas, but the heart communicates through feeling. Feelings are vibrations, and they often move through us like waves.

• Emotion defined: Emotions are changes in energy. They are not your identity; they are something you experience.

• Awareness is the key: The goal is not to control every thought or emotion, but to stay seated in the seat of self and observe what is happening without becoming lost in it.

• Personal example: The stalled-car moment and the song about opening the heart illustrated how quickly irritation can rise—and how important it is to notice the energy shift.

• The seat of self: In Unity language, this is Christ consciousness, divine awareness, the spiritual Self. It is the place where we can say, “I am having this feeling, but I am not only this feeling.”

• Closed heart: When the heart is blocked, energy feels weak or stuck, negative thinking increases, and life can begin to feel cold, heavy, or mechanical.

• Open heart: When the heart opens because of an outside trigger, it can feel wonderful, but that openness may change when life changes.

• Samskaras matter: Old emotional impressions can shape our moods, choices, relationships, and future if they are never released.

• Witness consciousness: When we are centered in Spirit, we can observe thoughts and feelings clearly instead of being swept away by them.

• Three heart states:

• Blocked: Little feeling, suppression, distance.

• Triggered open: Emotion rises through a memory, song, scent, or moment of safety.

• Fully flowing: Love becomes a channel of oneness, and divine life moves through us freely.

• Scripture connection: Jesus says, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” which beautifully describes the open, flowing heart.[biblegateway +1]

• 12 Powers connection: As the heart clears, the spiritual faculties become more available. Faith becomes trust, understanding becomes clarity, love becomes flow, and strength becomes steadiness.[unitychapelhill +1]

• Core invitation: Notice what is happening in you without becoming what is happening in you.

• Spiritual maturity: We do not deny pain, grief, or uncertainty, but we also do not let them define us. We let them move through us and teach us.

• Beneath the mind’s noise and the heart’s history is a quiet Presence that is not anxious, confused, or fragmented. When we live from that center, confusion gives way to clarity, fear gives way to trust, and healing begins.

Affirmation: I remain centered in the presence of God. I witness my thoughts and feelings without fear. I release what no longer serves my highest good.I live in clarity, peace, and divine love.

Sermon Notes: July 19, 2026

From Confusion to Clarity, Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

Understanding is one of the Twelve Powers in Unity. It is more than intellectual knowledge or collecting spiritual ideas. True understanding is the awakening of wisdom in the heart. It moves us from information to transformation, from judgment to compassion, and from confusion to clarity.

Emile Cady reminds us:

"Man receives first an intellectual understanding of Truth which he transmits to his heart, where love is awakened."

The spiritual journey is the movement from the head to the heart.

Understanding and Love

The Buddha taught:

"True love is born from understanding."

The more deeply we understand ourselves, others, and the divine presence within all people, the more fully we can love. Spiritual maturity does not mean avoiding differences or difficult conversations. It means seeking to understand before judging.

Questions to consider:

• Am I listening to understand or simply preparing my response?

• Do I see people as labels and opinions, or as expressions of the Divine?

• How can I bring more compassion into my relationships?

The Seven Steps of Spiritual Understanding

1. Questioning

Healthy spirituality welcomes sincere questions.

Albert Einstein said:

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."

Thomas, often called "Doubting Thomas," was willing to ask deeper questions. His questioning opened the door to greater revelation.

Spiritual questions invite growth:

• Help me understand.

• What experiences shaped this belief?

• What is Spirit trying to teach me here?

Questions asked with humility create understanding rather than division.

2. Perception

We do not always see things as they are; we often see them as we are.

Eric Butterworth wrote:

"Our job is not to set things right but to see them right."

People and situations often mirror something within ourselves. Relationships become opportunities for healing and self-awareness.

Ask yourself:

• What is this situation revealing about me?

• Am I projecting my fears, wounds, or judgments onto others?

• Can I look beyond appearances and see the divine possibility?

Right seeing shifts us from judgment to compassion.

3. Deduction (Spirit-Guided Reasoning)

Spiritual reasoning goes beyond logic.

It invites us into prayer and silence:

• "Divine Wisdom, reveal what I need to know."

• "Show me the next right step."

Guidance may come through intuition, conversation, books, memories, or unexpected insights. Spirit is always communicating when we become willing to listen.

4. Prophecy (Spiritual Insight)

Prophecy is not merely predicting the future. It is developing spiritual insight and recognizing deeper truths.

As understanding grows, we begin to see:

• Fear contracts life.

• Love expands life.

• Resentment does not heal.

• Forgiveness liberates.

• Kindness and generosity create healing.

We begin recognizing spiritual patterns and seeing life through a higher perspective.

5. Compassion

Compassion is understanding expressed in action.

True understanding moves beyond ideas and becomes visible through service, kindness, and acceptance.

Compassion asks:

• How can I help?

• How can I serve?

• How can I express love here?

Love matters more than labels. Spiritual understanding sees beyond differences and recognizes our shared humanity.

6. Understanding

At this stage, our perspective changes.

We begin making decisions based on spiritual principles rather than emotional reactions.

Questions become:

• What serves the highest good?

• How can I be an instrument of peace?

• How can I live my values?

Understanding becomes embodied:

• We practice peace.

• We become generous.

• We live from oneness.

7. Illumination

Illumination is the realization of our oneness with God and all creation.

Jesus lived from this awareness, expressing divine life in every thought, word, and action.

William Warch wrote:

"Whenever you meet something that you can't understand, it simply means that you can't see the order, the good, or any purpose to it."

Even in difficult circumstances, spiritual understanding reminds us:

• God is present.

• Love is available.

• We are never alone.

• There is a divine order unfolding, even when we cannot yet see it.

Living the Power of Understanding

Spiritual understanding invites us to:

1. Ask deeper questions.

2. See beyond appearances.

3. Listen for divine guidance.

4. Develop spiritual insight.

5. Practice compassion.

6. Live from principle rather than reaction.

7. Trust the presence and wisdom of God in all things.

The journey is:

From intellect to revelation.
From judgment to compassion.
From information to transformation.
From confusion to clarity.

Affirmation

I am open to spiritual understanding.
I see with clarity, I love with compassion, and I trust God's wisdom in all things.

Sermon Notes: July 11, 2026

Beyond Appearances: The Power of Divine Imagination - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv

We often become so focused on present conditions that we forget there is a greater reality seeking expression in our lives. The faculty of imagination is one of God’s gifts within us, enabling us to look beyond limitations, challenges, and appearances to envision new possibilities. Divine imagination invites us to see with spiritual eyes and to participate consciously in the creative process of transformation.

This message explores how the images we hold in mind influence our experiences and how faith and imagination work together to open the way for healing, abundance, and greater joy. By changing our inner vision, we begin to change our outer experience. When we align our thoughts with divine possibilities rather than worldly appearances, we create space for Spirit to reveal new pathways and unexpected blessings.

Key Points:

• Appearances are temporary; spiritual truth is eternal.

• Imagination is a divine power that allows us to envision greater possibilities.

• The pictures we hold in consciousness help shape our experiences.

• Faith and imagination work together to bring forth transformation.

• We can choose to see obstacles as opportunities for spiritual growth.

• God is always creating something new through us and within us.

• By seeing beyond current conditions, we become open to healing, abundance, and new beginnings.

Affirmation I activate my power of imagination. Divine ideas flow easily to me and I see good unfolding in every area of my life.

Sermon Notes: July 5, 2026

Sermon Notes: Rev. Sheryl Padgett
How much of your life is shaped by what is actually happening—and how much is shaped by the stories your mind tells about what is happening?

In Part 4 of our Living Untethered series, based on Chapters 17–20 of Michael Singer’s book, we’ll explore the fascinating relationship between our thoughts, dreams, memories, and emotional patterns. Together we’ll discover how unconscious preferences and stored experiences influence our daily lives, why the mind generates automatic thoughts, and how those thoughts often keep us trapped in cycles of worry, fear, and resistance.

Drawing from Unity teachings, Buddhist wisdom, and practical spiritual insights, we’ll learn that true freedom doesn’t come from controlling our circumstances—it comes from observing the mind without becoming imprisoned by it. As we celebrate Independence Day, we’ll also celebrate a deeper kind of freedom: the spiritual freedom that comes from living fully present in the Presence of God rather than in the endless commentary of the mind.

Key Takeaway: When we stop believing every thought and begin witnessing them with awareness, we discover the peace, wisdom, and freedom that have been within us all along