Unity of Walnut Creek

2025-01-05 January 5, 2025 – “Dissolving Drama & The White Stone Ceremony” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin opens the new year by sharing the delightful children's book "Jolly the Llama Who Helps Dissolve Drama" - the sequel to last year's beloved "Chip the Monk" - drawing out profound spiritual teachings about releasing drama through stillness, refusing to engage in gossip, and remembering that drama is simply "the great forgetting" of love. She then guides the congregation through Unity's traditional White Stone Ceremony, a ritual rooted in biblical history where each person receives a single guiding word from Spirit to carry as their north star throughout 2025. Rev. Kristin invites everyone to embrace both intentions - dissolving drama and evolving into their truest selves - as they step into the new year lighter, freer, and more connected to divine love.

2024-12-31 December 29, 2024 – The Gift Is You

2024-12-29 December 29, 2024 – “The Gift Is You” Ron Salazar, L.U.T. Ron Salazar delivers a heartfelt and humorous message reminding us that we ourselves are the greatest gift we can offer the world. Drawing on Charles Fillmore's 1923 Christmas talk and Paul Hasselbeck's teachings on divine purpose, Ron explores how our intuition connects us to our truest selves and how giving and receiving gifts are equally sacred acts of love. He encourages us to carry the Christmas spirit of generosity and blessing into every day of the year - whether in a crowded mall or a quiet moment - because the love within us is always present and always worth sharing.

2024-12-24 December 22,2024– "Airy Fairy Joy"

2024-12-22 December 22, 2024 – “Airy Fairy Joy” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin delivers a delightful and thought-provoking Advent message on joy, weaving together childhood wonder, astrology, and spiritual transformation to illuminate how joy is not merely a fleeting emotion but a deep, ever-available truth accessible through faith. She explores how the magi - learned astrologers who followed a star - were overwhelmed with joy upon finding the Christ child, and draws parallels to our own spiritual breakthroughs and the dawning Age of Aquarius. In a magical surprise, the Grinch himself appears to share his testimony of transformation, reminding us that no one can steal our joy when it lives within our hearts.

2024-12-15 December 15, 2024 – “Peace Like Water” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the deep connection between water and peace during this Advent reflection, drawing on the imagery of desert wadis, the shepherds' starry night, and Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. She invites us to recognize that when fear or a sense of lack disrupts our inner calm, we can return again and again to the living water within - that deep well of Christ consciousness available to all. Through meditation and spiritual practice, Rev. Kristin reminds us, we become a peaceful presence that naturally flows outward, calming those around us and helping create the world we long to share.

2024-12-08 December 8, 2024 – “Fire Up Love” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the powerful connection between fire and love during this Advent message, drawing from ancient fire-gathering traditions, the Christmas story of Zachariah, and the poetry of Rumi to illuminate how divine love ignites and transforms us from within. She invites us to enter the center of love's fire - to be consumed by it and become it - sharing moving stories of how open-hearted love can heal even the most callous encounters. Rev. Kristin reminds us that our sacred hearts, like those of Mary and Jesus, are meant to blaze openly, shaped by both grief and joy, compelling us to spread revolutionary love far, wide, and deep.

2024-12-01 December 1, 2024 – “Grounded in Faith” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin invites us into a richly embodied exploration of faith during this Advent season, weaving together the Christmas story characters of Mary, Elizabeth, and Zachariah to illuminate how faith is not merely a transcendent idea but something we feel, carry, and birth through our very bodies. Drawing on Unity teachings, ancient Egyptian mythology, and everyday moments of intuitive knowing, Rev. Kristin encourages us to welcome spiritual guidance with the same willingness Mary showed - accepting what wants to come through us and taking the next right step. This message reminds us that grounded faith moves like a strong, rooted tree - not easily shaken by life's winds - as we prepare to rebirth the Christ consciousness within.

2024-11-27 November 24, 2024 – "Designing Our Abundance Blueprint"

2024-11-24 November 24, 2024 – “Designing Your Abundance Blueprint” Rev. Kristin Powell In this inspiring conclusion to the eight-week Abundance Project series, Rev. Kristin invites listeners to move from inspiration into action by designing a personal abundance blueprint rooted in the truth that everything we need already resides within us. Drawing on the stories of Unity co-founders Charles and Myrtle Fillmore and activist Lynn Twist, Rev. Kristin illustrates how disciplined practice and committed action can transform dreams into reality. She introduces the LIFT practice - Living Into Feeling Tone - as a daily tool for expanding consciousness and encourages the community to embrace their visions with courage, reminding us that our greatest breakthroughs await just beyond the threshold of resistance.

2024-11-17 November 17, 2023 – “Healing Abundance Shadows & Values Conflicts” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin guides the community through powerful shadow work as part of the Abundance Project series, exploring how disowned parts of ourselves - those traits we were told were unacceptable - create blocks to our abundant good. Drawing on Carl Jung's depth psychology and the wisdom of King Solomon, Rev. Kristin leads a guided meditation to help listeners identify, befriend, and reintegrate their shadows, transforming inner conflict into wholeness. She connects this personal healing work to the collective, reminding us that each individual who reclaims their power through the divine "I am" contributes to the healing of community and country alike.

2024-11-10 November 10, 2024 – “Many Channels, One Source” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the powerful concept of our co-creation covenant with Spirit, reminding us that we are each clear channels for divine good and that every person in our lives serves as a potential channel for our abundance. Drawing from the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, Rev. Kristin illustrates how we must first honor our human emotions - clearing grief, anger, and fear from our channels - before miracles can flow through us. She emphasizes that our perception of others directly determines how much good they can bring into our lives, inviting us to widen our perspectives and ask for help as we step fully into our sacred agreement to be embodied expressions of Spirit in the world.

2024-11-03 November 3, 2024 – “The Law of Circulation” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin explores the law of circulation through the powerful metaphor of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, illustrating how the flow of giving and receiving creates abundant life. Drawing from Derek Rydell's Abundance Project, she reveals three essential components - having, giving, and receiving - and shows how the simple practice of conscious breathing can reconnect us to our inherent wholeness. Rev. Kristin invites us to slow down, fill our own cups first, and recognize that everything we need already exists within us, reminding us that true abundance flows from an internal source rather than external circumstances.

2024-10-27 Abundance Project, Part 4: "Seven Gifts that Give You Everything" Rev. Dr. Johanna van Gelder explores the transformative power of giving as part of the Abundance Project series, drawing from Derek Rydell's teaching that whatever is missing in our lives is what we are not giving. She illuminates seven "abundance activators" - giving out, giving away, giving up, giving in, giving thanks, giving to yourself, and forgiving - showing how each practice opens the channel for spirit to flow more freely through us. Using personal stories and the beautiful metaphor of a dried fern returning to life with attention and care, Rev. Dr. Johanna van Gelder reminds us that our source of abundance is not external but the infinite invisible energy within.

2024-10-20 October 20, 2024 – “More Reversing Abundance Blind Spots & Truths” Rev. Kristin Powell In this third installment of the Abundance Project series, Rev. Kristin explores two powerful abundance blind spots - the belief that you must believe before you can receive, and the tendency to shrink and adapt to challenging circumstances. Rev. Kristin shares her own journey from fearing public speaking to embracing ministry, illustrating that action precedes confidence rather than the other way around. Using the metaphor of a pedal-assist electric bike, Rev. Kristin reminds us that spirit engages when we start pedaling - we must act and ask rather than wait on the sidelines. Rev. Kristin invites us to expand rather than contract when life brings challenges, opening our channel of abundance through spiritual expansion and courageous action.

2024-10-13 October 13, 2024 – “Reversing Abundance Blind Spots” Rev. Kristin Powell In this powerful second installment of the Abundance Project series, Rev. Kristin explores the hidden blind spots that keep us from experiencing our true abundance - the unconscious beliefs that we are separate from our good, that wealth is purely material, and that money is somehow unspiritual. Through the parable of the prodigal son and practical one-minute mystic exercises, Rev. Kristin guides listeners back to the land of their soul, reminding us that real wealth is invisible, infinite, and already within us. She encourages us to be unapologetic about our divine birthright to have, give, and receive, recognizing that the creative power of the universe lives inside each of us.

2024-10-06 October 6, 2024 – “The Real Source” Rev. Kristin Powell Rev. Kristin launches the eight-part Abundance Project series by inviting listeners to look beyond material symbols of prosperity and reconnect with the real source of abundance - the divine intelligence that holds the pattern of all creation, including each of us. Drawing on Derek Rydall's work, the teachings of Jesus, and the Unity principles, Rev. Kristin reminds us that we are not lacking but simply forgetting who we truly are. She offers simple, powerful practices - shift to source and share - as the path to unlocking our natural abundance-creating capacity and living as generous channels of abundant life.

2024-09-29 September 29, 2024 – “Spiritual Maintenance” Ron Salazar, L.U.T. Ron Salazar shares a deeply personal and often humorous message about the power of spiritual maintenance in navigating life's most challenging moments. Drawing from his own experiences over the past two and a half years - including health scares, job loss, cancer, and family emergencies - Ron reveals how consistent spiritual practice and consciousness of the divine oneness within kept him from "melting" under pressure. He explores how Unity's five principles are not something we need to seek externally but are inherent within us, awakened through daily spiritual practices that connect us to our true goodness. Ron encourages everyone to keep walking their spiritual path, reminding us that whatever form our spiritual maintenance takes, it opens the door to peace and resilience.

2024-09-22 September 22, 2024 – “Don’t Fight With Reality” Guest Speaker: Christopher Brown Christopher Brown delivers a powerful message on the freedom found in accepting life exactly as it is rather than fighting against reality. Through humor, personal stories, and vivid analogies - including his own 15-year journey with chronic back pain - he illustrates how our instinct to resist what we cannot change drains the very energy we need to adapt and find new possibilities. Christopher invites us to put down our metaphorical swords, recognizing that true power comes not from battling circumstances but from surrendering to what is and choosing our present experience fully. His message reminds us that acceptance is not defeat but liberation - the freedom to be exactly as we are without needing to improve or struggle.

2024-09-15 September 15, 2024 – “The Law of Expression” Rev. Kristin Powell In this powerful conclusion to the CREATE Laws series, Rev. Kristin explores the Law of Expression - the idea that when we open to spirit and authentically express from our souls, the divine is revealed on earth. Drawing on vivid examples from art, dance, the film Like Water for Chocolate, and the extraordinary story of Balinese high priestess Ida Risi Alit, Rev. Kristin reminds us that our unique creative expression is not meant to be arduous but joyful, and that the world is hungry for the spiritual gifts only each of us can give. She invites us all to say yes to courageous, vulnerable, soulful expression.

Unity of Walnut Creek - Messages