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Stories from the World of Spirits
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 21, 2021
Two weeks ago we talked about what life is like after death. We discussed the structure of the afterlife and the succession of states that we go through. This week and next week we want to flesh these ideas out with stories. The teachings of the New Church contain lots of stories about things that happened in the spiritual world. Why were these stories included and what can we learn from them about how things work after death? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Preparing for Easter - the Road to Jerusalem
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 14, 2021
Easter is still pretty far away (7 weeks, more or less). But the time from Ash Wednesday (17 February this year) until Easter Sunday is generally seen as a time of preparation for the holiday. You may remember that last year we suggested giving up a bad habit or picking up a new spiritual practice in this time period. This year we'll suggest similar ways to prepare. Specifically, this Sunday we'll look at how Jesus' steady ascent from the backwater of Galilee along the road up to the metropolis of Jerusalem and His own death can help us prepare for our own celebration of His resurrection at Easter. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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What Do People Do After Death
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 07, 2021
A lot of people have lost loved ones recently. When someone we love dies we can have a lot of questions. First, how do we know that they are still alive somewhere? If they are alive somewhere, what is their experience like? What do they do with their time? Is it a pleasant experience; is it an unpleasant experience? There is a lot of information about the afterlife in the teachings of the New Church. This Sunday we will scratch the surface of that body of teaching and try to cover some of the important basics of a New Church understanding of what life is like after death. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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False Virtues
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 31, 2021
We put great pride in certain virtues, both as individuals and as a society. When we embody these virtues it is a sign that we are spiritually growing. But virtues are not as easy to identify as we like to believe. Certain qualities that we view as virtuous are in fact unrelated to meaningful virtue. To take a simple example, many people take busy-ness to be a virtue, as if always being busy reflects on their character. In actual fact, being overladen with work says nothing about one’s character: it may be a sign of love for others, but it could just as easily be nothing of the sort. We need to evaluate where we put our worth, and if it is in false virtues then we need to look to the Lord to find the virtues that truly reflect a good spiritual life. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Practicing to Be Spiritual Through Meditation
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 24, 2021
How do we get better at being the kind of people we want to be? How can we get better at catching ourselves before we do the mindless or hurtful things that we find ourselves prone to doing? The same way that we get better at most things: by practicing. Practicing meditation is one way to practice being more spiritually awake. This Sunday we will talk about a New Church Christian approach to meditation and then we will practice it together. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 17, 2021
It’s bad enough to not be in a great place, either outwardly or spiritually. But it’s much worse to not just be in a bad place, but to actually be going backwards, undoing any progress that has been made. When things are going the wrong direction it can lead to hopelessness about the future. It would be nice if the Lord said going backwards was fine, but He doesn’t: in fact, He makes it clear that it is dangerous and damaging thing to experience. Rather than accepting backsliding as just another part of life, the Lord can give us hope that our prior progress has not been lost and that a better future is possible. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Taking Refuge in the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 10, 2021
Things do not feel particularly safe or secure in the world these days. There are many reasons for people to feel upset, fearful, and anxious. This Sunday we will reflect on passages from the Word about taking refuge in the Lord. How can we take refuge in the Lord? And then, from that place of security and peace, how can we move back into the world to face whatever we need to face? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Keeping to a Spiritual Timeline
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 03, 2021
Transitions are a useful reminder to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. We see this most prominently with the New Year: it is a time of appreciating all that has happened in the previous year and looking forward to what the next year has to bring. Or in the case of 2020, trying to forget most of the previous year and hoping things improve in the new. But deep down, we all know that the changing of the calender does not actually change anything. Covid is still with is, the problems of yesterday are mostly the problems we still face today. Although these natural-world cycles are useful reminders, the reality is that spiritually, any moment can be a new day, a new year, a new opportunity for change. Instead of being chained to the steady march of time, we can make our own beginning at any point, when we look to the Lord and His spiritual goals for us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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The Perspective of Anna and Simeon
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - December 27, 2020
After Christmas life goes on. Life can seem pretty long and hard without something to look forward to. How can the stories of Simeon and Anna, two old people who meet Jesus shortly after His birth, help us to gain a different perspective on our lives? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Shepherds and Angels
Worship Service: Informal Family - December 25, 2020
When Jesus was born the Gospel of Luke mentions two groups in particular that were present: shepherds who protected their flocks by night, and angelic armies sent from God on high. Both groups, in their own way, are powerful images of truth. Truth is not ideas. Truth, Divine Truth, is the Divine power that protects all goodness. Just as shepherds protect their sheep and angelic armies protect the heavens, truth, when lived, protects against all the forces of hell. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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"Let It Be to Me According to Your Word"
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - December 13, 2020
Last week we looked at the significance of the angel telling Zacharias and Elizabeth that John the Baptist would be born; this week we come to the story of the angel telling Mary that Jesus would be born. These stories have a lot of similarities and some crucial differences. Understanding those differences can help us understand the kind of salvation that the Lord longs to give us. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Zacharias: An Answered Prayer
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - December 06, 2020
The Christmas story begins with Zacharias receiving the astonishing news that his elderly, barren wife would give birth to a special child. Yet in the moment of his prayers being answered, Zacharias doubted; and so was made mute until the time of the child’s birth. How often do we do the same, doubting just when our prayers might be answered? It’s as if it’s too good to be true, and to protect ourselves from disappointment we refuse to let ourselves give in to false hope. But the Lord does not give false hope: His promises are sure and He brings to pass something greater even than our wildest dreams. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Building Relationships - 2 - Looking Outward
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 29, 2020
Last week and this we are doing a two part series on the relationships that we have, or strive to have, as a church community. Last week, Malcolm talked about the most personal and inward relationship: the one that each of us has with the Lord. This week we will focus on all the outward looking relationships: those with each other, with a husband or wife, with children, and with the broader community. Although there is almost infinite variety in these relationships, we will be able to see the common purpose that makes them all essential for a church community to function. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Building Relationships - 1 - An Active Relationship with the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 22, 2020
The vision of New Church Westville is to be a community that builds relationships, with the Lord and with other people. This Sunday we’re going to talk about how to build a relationship with the Lord. Our vision statement describes the kind of relationship we’re striving to build with the Lord like this: “We each have an active relationship with the Lord – walking with Him and asking what He wants us to do, turning to Him in times of need and joy, getting His help in turning away from what is harmful, learning from Him.” Let’s talk about how we each can make progress towards this vision. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Nature - Part 4 - Humanity and Usefulness
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 15, 2020
So far in our series on nature we have seen how the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms all reflect the Lord and His relationship with us. In our concluding sermon we turn to humanity itself. Everything that the Lord created, He did so for the sake of humanity. We are to subdue the Earth and have dominion over the animals. Yet that does not mean we can take creation for granted and abuse it. Our dominion is solely for the purpose of what is useful and good. We are stewards, rather than the owners, of the world that God has lent to us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Nature - Part 3 - Animals and Ecosystems
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 08, 2020
In our third sermon on the natural world we’re going to consider the animal kingdom. Why are there animals in this world we live in—from the smallest insect to the biggest whale—why are they here? Why are they part of the world that the Lord created and what purpose do they serve? This will also be an opportunity to reflect on topics like the theory of evolution from the perspective of New Church teachings and how we can cultivate a good spiritual ecosystem. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Nature - Part 2 - Vegetation and Growth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 01, 2020
We continue our examination of the natural world in light of its spiritual source. Last week we saw the order inherent in minerals and all physical things, reflecting the presence of God even at the atomic level. This week we move beyond inert rocks and turn towards living, growing vegetation. Within every seed the Lord has placed the potential for infinitely expanding life, reproducing, if given a chance, eternally and infinitely. In this we see the inherent quality of life from the Lord: it never ceases to grow, and would, if given the chance, fill the entire universe with Divine Love. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (31m 03s)
Nature - Part 1 - The Mineral Kingdom and Structure
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 25, 2020
For the next few weeks we’re going to have a bit of a change of pace—we’ll be doing a sermon series on the natural world and its connection to the spiritual world. This Sunday we’ll be talking about the least alive parts of the natural world—the rocks and minerals. In future weeks we’ll talk about vegetation and animals. This Sunday we’re also going to talk about the structure and design of it all with maybe a little chemistry and physics thrown in for fun. The goal is that you’ll come away from the sermon looking at the world around you with a fresh perspective. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Stages of Life - Part 4 - Old Age
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 18, 2020
Old age can be a time of great reflection: looking back on what has been, looking forward with wonder to what is to come after death. It can also be a time of trial and tribulation: as the body and mind fail, doubt and despair can creep in. Moses, at the end of his life, was able to reflect on the past and from that gracefully hand over his wisdom to the next generation. As we look at this concluding stage of life in this world, we will look at how we too can gracefully age and handover to the next generation. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Cecilie Young Memorial Service
Memorial Service - October 17, 2020
On 9 October 2020, Cecilie Francina (Buss) Young peacefully passed away at the age of 104. If you know Cecilie, you'll know that she has been ready for some years to pass on and so we can celebrate with her that she is finally done with her earthly life and can move on to the spiritual world where so many of her loved ones already are. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Stages of Life - Part 3 - Adulthood
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 11, 2020
In our series on the stages of life, this Sunday we come to the stage of adulthood. We will follow the story of Moses as he is called by the Lord to do something great. And we will also see how he tries to get out of it any way that he can. Moses eventually grows into one of the greatest leaders of the Children of Israel but he also experiences a lot of ups and downs, victories and defeats along the way. Such is adulthood and the Lord’s Word can help us to find our way through it. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Stages of Life - Part 2 - Teenage Years
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 04, 2020
This week we continue our exploration of the stages of life as seen in the story of Moses. As a young man Moses faced the challenges of putting his ideals into practice. On the one hand he could see with clarity the injustice his people faced. On the other hand, he struggled to reconcile how his own people treated each other, and in the end was forced to flee to a foreign land. These experiences illustrate well the dichotomy of the teenage years: a growing sense of right and wrong, tempered by growing awareness of the complexity of life. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Stages of Life - Part 1 - Childhood
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 27, 2020
Are you an adult still trying to figure out what it means to be an adult? Are you a teenager or young adult trying to figure out where you fit in the world? Or, are you feeling like you might actually be getting old now? Over the next few weeks we’re going to be using the story of Moses as a way of exploring the challenges and opportunities of the different stages of life that we go through in our lives. This Sunday we’re going to start with the story of baby Moses being put in a tar covered ark in the Nile river and what this can teach us about the first few years of our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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Technology - Useful Tool or Useless Distraction
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 20, 2020
We live in a world of technology, all the more so since the advent of COVID-19. This pandemic has highlighted the blessing of technology, as it allows us to carry on work safely, to connect with loved ones around the world, even to attend church while not being able to attend in person. But it has also highlighted the downsides of technology, as we yearn to get back to in-person connection and struggle with the frustrating limits of technology. As with any tool, technology will be useful or useless depending on how much it is used in the service of what is spiritual. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Soulmates? Therefore....what? Part 2: After You Get Married
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 13, 2020
What do you do if you’re pretty sure that the person you’re married to is not your soulmate? That’s a big question and we’ll be doing our best to answer it on Sunday. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
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