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Saul’s Intentions
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 31, 2025
Is it OK to sort of or even mostly follow the Lord’s Commandments? Something is better than nothing, right? When King Saul was commanded to destroy the Amalekites, he mostly did what the Lord said. This Sunday we’ll find out how that went for him, and what it means for our intentions. | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralSaul’s Intentions
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 31, 2025
Is it OK to sort of or even mostly follow the Lord’s Commandments? Something is better than nothing, right? When King Saul was commanded to destroy the Amalekites, he mostly did what the Lord said. This Sunday we’ll find out how that went for him, and what it means for our intentions. | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Pure in Heart Shall See God
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 24, 2025
At the very beginning of Jesus’ most famous sermon – the Sermon on the Mount – He begins by calling out groups of people and offering them blessings. To one group He says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). This may seem strange, after all what does the quality of our heart have to do with our ability to see? In this message, though, there is a powerful message about how we receive and develop our faith. | By Steven Gunther | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Pure in Heart Shall See God
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 24, 2025
At the very beginning of Jesus’ most famous sermon – the Sermon on the Mount – He begins by calling out groups of people and offering them blessings. To one group He says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). This may seem strange, after all what does the quality of our heart have to do with our ability to see? In this message, though, there is a powerful message about how we receive and develop our faith. | By Steven Gunther | Bryn Athyn CathedralPerfectionism
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 17, 2025
Life would have little meaning or purpose if we didn’t set goals for ourselves and if we didn’t push ourselves to put in our best effort. But striving to be perfect is very different from being perfect. We often confuse the two. The first is part of the Lord’s plan, the second is a lie perpetuated by the hells which causes tremendous damage because we end up demanding perfection of ourselves and others. In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, the Lord addresses the question of perfectionism and provides an answer that is truly freeing (Matthew 19:16-22). | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralPerfectionism
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 17, 2025
Life would have little meaning or purpose if we didn’t set goals for ourselves and if we didn’t push ourselves to put in our best effort. But striving to be perfect is very different from being perfect. We often confuse the two. The first is part of the Lord’s plan, the second is a lie perpetuated by the hells which causes tremendous damage because we end up demanding perfection of ourselves and others. In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, the Lord addresses the question of perfectionism and provides an answer that is truly freeing (Matthew 19:16-22). | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralResults Don't Matter
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 10, 2025
Of course results matter! But they don’t matter in the way we might think. We tend to think that if some choice we make has a good or pleasant result, then we made the right choice; and if it has a bad or painful result then we must have made the wrong choice. The Lord, however, encourages us to do the right thing regardless of the (apparent) outcome. The immediate results won’t tell us much about whether we have done right or wrong. It’s more important for us to do what is right according to the Lord’s guidance rather than relying on our limited view of the results. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAOur Spiritual Reality: Grappling with Hell
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 10, 2025
If we want to really understand our spiritual reality, we have to grapple with the reality of hell. This Sunday, we will take some time with images and teachings about hell in the Old Testament, New Testament, and the teachings for the New Church. We will be looking directly at some of the most difficult and darkest aspects of human life. At the same time, we will reflect on our loving God, who shines light into even the darkest places and reaches out in love and infinite mercy to even the darkest of hearts. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralOur Spiritual Reality: Grappling with Hell
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 10, 2025
If we want to really understand our spiritual reality, we have to grapple with the reality of hell. This Sunday, we will take some time with images and teachings about hell in the Old Testament, New Testament, and the teachings for the New Church. We will be looking directly at some of the most difficult and darkest aspects of human life. At the same time, we will reflect on our loving God, who shines light into even the darkest places and reaches out in love and infinite mercy to even the darkest of hearts. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Great Potter
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 03, 2025
This Sunday’s family talk explores how the Lord is like a potter and we are like clay in His hands. We’ll see how the Lord shapes our lives, and how, when we create with love and care, our works can reflect His. | By Rev. Pearse M. Frazier | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Potter and Technology
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 03, 2025
This Sunday’s adult sermon explores the difference between the works of our hands and the work of the Lord’s. From pottery to AI, human creations often reflect our desires, but not always our wisdom. We’ll reflect on how technology can either serve or distort what only the Lord can truly form: a heavenly person. | By Rev. Pearse M. Frazier | Bryn Athyn CathedralMaintenance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 03, 2025
Things seem to fall apart and get broken rather easily—from our aging bodies, to the buildings we live in, to the equipment we rely on each day, to our lives in general and the world at large. Just think of your current to-do list of things that you need to fix, replace, clean, or sort out. What are we meant to do in the midst of this reality? Give up on fixing anything? Let’s talk on Sunday about the importance of maintenance and how to find the humility, courage, and trust to do the work to maintain what matters. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSABack to Basics: How Does God Work
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 27, 2025
Back in February I gave a sermon called Back to Basics: Who is God? In that sermon we covered why beliefs about God matter so much, and how God is simultaneously infinite and omnipotent and loving and personal. We only briefly touched on the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How can God be all three of these and still be one? We will explore how these aspects of God all work together in the one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Lies of the Serpent
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 27, 2025
The first liar in the Word is the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Ever since then, people have had trouble telling the truth. But in the book of Revelation, the serpent, also known as the dragon, is defeated. | By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Invention of Lying
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 27, 2025
The Heavenly Doctrine tells us fascinating things about how deception and lies made their way into the world. We are also told about the meaning of the eighth commandment and how the Lord is leading us into an age when bearing false witness will be increasingly rare. | By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn CathedralFree to Do What?
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 20, 2025
We’re taught that “all freedom is a matter of love…” (DP 73), and yet not all “freedoms” are equal. Eating a bowl of ice cream might seem like heaven on earth but it doesn’t carry the same kind of weight or significance as choosing to help a friend in need, or choosing to invent or create something that benefits society. The type of freedom which the Lord wants us to experience is not something we are born with. It doesn’t just fall in our lap. The truth will indeed “set us free” – it’s just a matter of asking ourselves how hard are we willing to fight for it. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralFree to Do What?
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 20, 2025
We’re taught that “all freedom is a matter of love…” (DP 73), and yet not all “freedoms” are equal. Eating a bowl of ice cream might seem like heaven on earth but it doesn’t carry the same kind of weight or significance as choosing to help a friend in need or choosing to invent or create something that benefits society. The type of freedom which the Lord wants us to experience is not something we are born with. It doesn’t just fall in our lap. The truth will indeed “set us free” – it’s just a matter of asking ourselves how hard are we willing to fight for it. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Power of Truth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 20, 2025
One of the most well-known stories in the Bible is that of David felling the giant Goliath with a simple sling. What gives us this power in our own lives? The answer from the Teachings of the New Church is... Truth! That might not sound exciting, if you think of truth as mere ideas. But when we use the Lord's truths properly, they are some of the most powerful tools in the universe. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAMemorial Service for Carly Rose Cole
Memorial Service - July 20, 2025
Carly Rose (Andrews) Cole passed into the spiritual world on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. She was 45 years old. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Bryn Athyn CathedralWhich Miracle Is Divine
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 20, 2025
1st Lesson: Exodus 7:8-13 2nd Lesson: Arcana Coelestia 7298 3rd Lesson: Divine Providence 71 Sermon: “Which Miracle Is Divine” | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PAMemorial Service for Marcie E. Gyllenhaal
Memorial Service - July 19, 2025
Martha “Marcie” E. Gyllenhaal passed into the spiritual world on Friday, June 13, 2025. She was 78 years old. | By Rev. Nathan D. Gladish | Bryn Athyn CathedralHow Long, O Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 13, 2025
How Long, O Lord? These words, "How long, O Lord?" were spoken by a group of people huddled under the altar, desperate to know how much longer it would be before their oppression would cease. Likewise, they are words that we might find ourselves saying when we seem unable to break free of our own sin. But although we might despair of ever being free, the Lord, in secret and hidden ways, is working for our growth and rebirth, if only we put in the little effort that we are able to. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAOur Spiritual Reality: Heaven
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 13, 2025
A big focus of the Lord’s teaching, when He was on earth, was the kingdom of heaven. Heaven is also a big focus of what the Lord reveals in the teachings for the New Church. This Sunday, as we continue our series on understanding our spiritual reality, we will explore a few of the Lord’s teachings about heaven and reflect on the impact that our beliefs about heaven can have on our day-to-day lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralOur Spiritual Reality: Heaven
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 13, 2025
A big focus of the Lord’s teaching, when He was on earth, was the kingdom of heaven. Heaven is also a big focus of what the Lord reveals in the teachings for the New Church. This Sunday, as we continue our series on understanding our spiritual reality, we will explore a few of the Lord’s teachings about heaven and reflect on the impact that our beliefs about heaven can have on our day-to-day lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn Cathedral