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Betrothal: “ What Matters to the Lord When People Get Engaged"
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 22, 2015
This morning we are going to witness a betrothal. It is a word which is not used much these days but is mentioned several times in the Word. What does 'betrothal' mean and what is important to the Lord when a couple get engaged? We are going to explore this topic this morning. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAPart 2 - Holding On
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 15, 2015
| By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSALetting Go - Part 1
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 08, 2015
Some of the most important decisions we make in life are about what we choose to let go of and what we hold onto with all of our might. Holding on can be a good thing or a bad thing, likewise letting go. This Sunday we're going to explore what the Word teaches about what to let go of and how to do it. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAMoney 3 “ What Does Money Mean to the Lord and About the Lord?"
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 01, 2015
What does money mean to the Lord and about the Lord? Over the last two weeks we've talked about what money can mean to and about us as individuals, and what money can mean to and about other people. This week we conclude this series by talking about what money means to and about the Lord. Does the Lord give people money as a sign of His favour? Does the Lord want us to give money to Him? Does the Lord care about money at all? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAMoney 2: “ What Does Money Mean to Others and About Others?"
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 25, 2015
Last week we explored different things that money can mean to us and what the way we use money means about us. This week we're venturing into the challenging territory of what money means to other people and about other people. We'll talk about money in marriage; we'll talk about the power that money gives us to affect other people's lives in good and bad ways; we'll talk about paying tax. Come along for the ride. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAMoney 1-What Does Money Mean to You and About You
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 18, 2015
We spend a lot of our time and energy on money. Earning it, saving it, budgeting it, arguing about how to spend it, worrying about having enough of it. It’s easy to get bogged down by it all. We need a higher perspective on money to help us figure out what to do. It’s not as simple as money is all bad or money is all good. Let’s see if we can learn from the Lord how to think about and handle money. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSALonging For Truth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 11, 2015
When we're desperate for an answer from the Lord--when we're desperate to make sense of something or to find a way forward--sometimes then the Lord seems most absent. It feels like we're desperately thirsty in a wilderness with no water anywhere in sight. This Sunday is a lay service and the sermon being read is by the Rev. Brian Keith and it has some great insights about how to turn to the Lord for guidance in the right way. | By Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith | Westville, RSAWaiting For the Harvest
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 04, 2015
Have you discovered some motivations in yourself that are not so good--in fact that are ugly and hellish? What should you do about that? This Sunday I'll be reading a sermon by the Rev. Brian Smith about the parable of wheat and the tares and what we can learn from it about how and when evil can be removed from our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSANaaman's Leprosy
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 27, 2015
When the great commander Naaman came to Israel to be cured of his leprosy by the prophet Elisha, he expected a big visible miracle. Instead, Elisha told him to simply wash in the Jordan River seven times and he would be clean. We can want spiritual healing to be big and instantaneous; but the reality is, spiritual healing usually happens in small, boring everyday things. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAWhat's Wrong with Swearing?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 20, 2015
Is it wrong to curse or swear? Why? Church people are often pretty clear on the idea that taking the Lord's name in vain is not OK – it's one of the 10 Commandments – but they don’t tend to be as clear on other cursing or swearing. Is it wrong? Is it breaking one of the 10 Commandments or is it OK? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAMarriage: It's Not About You, Looking Upward
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 13, 2015
Our final sermon in our series, “Marriage: It's Not About You,” is about looking to the Lord in marriage. You may have heard people talk about the importance of having the Lord in your marriage but that can sound kind of ethereal and abstract. What does that look like? Does it make an actual difference? How does it make a difference? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAMarriage: It's Not About You, Looking Outward
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 06, 2015
This week we continue our series on marriage. Last week, we talked abut the need to focus on our partner and our partnership rather than ourselves. This week, we will talk about the need for a couple to look outward together: to find ways of serving the community, in particular (for some) by the way they raise a family, and in general (for all) by all the ways they work together for the good of society. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAMarriage: It's Not About You
Worship Service: Children & Adult - August 30, 2015
It's easy in any relationship – and marriage in particular – for a person to focus on asking, “What am I getting out of this?” In our upcoming three part series, called “ It's Not About You,” we're looking at the ways we're called to flip that around, and focus instead on what we can give. Our first sermon, on the 30 August, will focus on the ways that we can put our partner's desires and the mutual needs of our marriage ahead of our own wants, without neglecting our own needs and desires. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAWeakness and Strength Part 3: After the Battle
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 23, 2015
The Gideon story unfortunately doesn’t end with the glorious victory over the Midianites. There’s some confusing, brutal conflict with other Israelites; there’s an execution of two Midianite kings; and then there’s an idol that Gideon makes that people start worshipping. It’s not the kind of story that we like to read and yet, if we want to gain an accurate picture of what is involved in living a spiritual life, it’s important to also look at the uncomfortable reality of what can happen after the times of strength and victory. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAWeakness and Strength Part 2 “ The Rout of Midian
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 16, 2015
In part 2 of our series on Gideon we get to explore the story of his victory over the Midianites - a battle in which his men were outnumbered 450 to 1. What can we learn from how the Lord orchestrated this miraculous victory about how He can orchestrate a similar victory in our inner landscape over the enemies that seem to vastly outnumber us? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAGideon Part 1 - Weakness and Strength – You Mighty Man of Valour
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 09, 2015
This week we begin a three-week series on the story of Gideon, one of the Judges of Israel. This week, we hear about his startling call: an angel appeared to him, called him a mighty man of valour, and told him he would rescue Israel from their enemies. The problem? Gideon was the youngest son in an unimportant family, and didn't feel much like a mighty man at all. And yet - God chose him to conquer the enemy. In our own lives: how does God transform our weakness into power? How can we see ourselves as mighty men and women of valour when we know from experience just how weak we are? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAThose Who Are With Us
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 02, 2015
The prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by a huge enemy army. It seemed hopeless - until Elisha prayed to the Lord and the servant's eyes were opened to see the angelic army that vastly outnumbered the enemy. When we feel alone, how can our eyes be opened to the reality that "those who are with us are more than those who are against us"? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAConjunction with the Lord in the New Church
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 26, 2015
This Sunday we will be reading a sermon by Rev Lawson Smith about conjunction with the Lord through the Holy Supper. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAThe Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Worship Service: Children & Adult - July 19, 2015
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus describes the eternal consequences for a rich man who refused to have compassion for the poor man on his doorstep. What is this parable saying to us? What are our responsibilities to the poor – both the physically poor and the spiritually poor? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Parable of the Talents
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 12, 2015
Our sermon this Sunday focuses on the parable of the talents. In English, a "talent" means a skill or ability, but in Biblical times it was a very valuable coin. The parable describes two "good and faithful" servants who use their master's coins well and make more for him, and a bad servant who buries the talent entrusted to him. Those "talents" symbolise more than just our natural skills and abilities - they represent a kind of spiritual treasure that we are called to use wisely. So, what does it mean to use our "talents" as good and faithful servants? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Prodigal Son
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 05, 2015
The parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of a young man leaving his father's house, wasting all that he had, returning to his father, and finding forgiveness. How are we like that prodigal son, and what does it mean for us to find our way back to our Father's house again and again? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAA New Heaven and a New Earth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 21, 2015
At the end of the book of Revelation, John records seeing "a new heaven and a new earth," and the Holy City descending out of heaven. As we've talked about for the last few weeks, in the New Church we believe this prophecy has been fulfilled and is continuing to be fulfilled. But where is that new heaven? Where is that new earth? And what does it mean to live within the walls of the Holy City? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Lord's Coming Part 3 - A New Heaven and a New Earth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 21, 2015
At the end of the book of Revelation, John records seeing "a new heaven and a new earth," and the Holy City descending out of heaven. As we've talked about for the last few weeks, in the New Church we believe this prophecy has been fulfilled and is continuing to be fulfilled. But where is that new heaven? Where is that new earth? And what does it mean to live within the walls of the Holy City? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Lord's Coming, Part 2: The Last Judgement
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 14, 2015
Some of the prophecies of the Lord’s coming are beautiful and hopeful but others sound rather cataclysmic and disturbing. This Sunday we’re continuing our series on the coming of the Lord by talking about the Lord coming to perform a Last Judgement. The New Church teaches that the Last Judgement has already taken place. Wondering how you missed it? Listen to it on-line. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAThe Lord's Coming Part 1
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 07, 2015
What is the Second Coming of the Lord? When the Lord was in the world, He promised that He would come again. In the New Church, we believe that this Second Coming has already happened, is happening now, and will continue to happen in the future. What does that mean? Over the next few weeks, we'll be talking about three aspects of the Lord's coming: His Second Coming, the Last Judgement, and the New Church. This week, we're talking about the coming of the Lord itself. What is the Second Coming of the Lord? And what difference does it make to my life here and now? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Westville, RSA