Search results clear search
Your Steering Wheel: How do we bring religion into life?
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 29, 2025
The Sabbath day is set aside to remember the Lord, but what can we do to bring religion and the Lord into life from Monday to Saturday? The Lord’s Word has some great ideas. | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralBowing to Bloom: Humility and the Tree of Life
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 22, 2025
Bowing is an ancient custom symbolizing the need to lower ourselves before what is Higher. We will explore the connection between humility and eating of the tree of life over the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. | By Rev. Ethan McCardell | Bryn Athyn CathedralBowing Before the Lord: The Humble Heart and the Tree of Life
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 22, 2025
As love of our own intelligence starts to give way to humility, we open ourselves to the experience the Lord’s blessings (barak, the primary Hebrew word for blessing, carries the connotation of what is higher flowing into what is lower) and a consequent uplifting of our life. We’ll explore the connection between this bowing before the Lord and the development of a spiritual life. | By Rev. Ethan McCardell | Bryn Athyn CathedralMemorial Service for Doris A. Halterman
Memorial Service - June 21, 2025
| By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Two Most Important Things
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 15, 2025
John saw a vision of two witnesses who were put to death and raised to life (Revelation 11). They represent the two essentials of the New Church: that the Lord in His glorified humanity is God and that people should live by the Ten Commandments. These two echo the two great commandments, showing us how to live heavenly lives. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Two Witnesses
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 15, 2025
In Revelation 11, John describes a vision of two witnesses. They represent the two essentials of the New Church. These two essentials are under constant threat of attack - in the vision, the two witnesses were even put to death - but the Lord protects them and can revive them, just as He revived the witnesses in John’s vision. | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Bryn Athyn Cathedral"God has made me laugh…" (Genesis 21:6)
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 08, 2025
The Lord doesn’t just want to cheer us up – He wants our hearts and minds to be filled with joy and laughter. Our grumpy, skeptical side tends to have a hard time believing this is possible. What’s there to laugh about – life is full of serious business; bills to pay, pressures at work, health issues, relationship stresses, etc.? Turns out, we have a lot of reasons to laugh if we’re to take our cue from the angels in heaven for “everything they see seems to laugh and play and come alive” (HH 489). What are they seeing that we aren’t seeing? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Cathedral"God has made me laugh…" (Genesis 21:6)
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 08, 2025
The Lord doesn’t just want to cheer us up – He wants our hearts and minds to be filled with joy and laughter. Our grumpy, skeptical side tends to have a hard time believing this is possible. What’s there to laugh about – life is full of serious business; bills to pay, pressures at work, health issues, relationship stresses, etc.? Turns out, we have a lot of reasons to laugh if we’re to take our cue from the angels in heaven for “everything they see seems to laugh and play and come alive” (HH 489). What are they seeing that we aren’t seeing? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralHere I Am. Send Me
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 01, 2025
Isaiah’s words are in response to the Lord’s, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6). Within them is an invitation to step forward ourselves to serve in the ways the Lord asks. We will explore our responsiveness to the Lord’s constant call to show up as a good person who strives to make a difference. | By Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss, Jr. | Bryn Athyn CathedralClear Truths
Worship Service: Ordination & Sermon - June 01, 2025
Ordination of Daniel Calvo and Thomas J. Jackson into the first degree by Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss, Jr. Readings by Daniel Calvo. Sermon by Thomas J. Jackson. Elijah retreated to a cave in a state of overwhelmed sadness when Jezebel sought his life. While there the Lord came to him and asked him the key question, “What are you doing here?” He then provided the perspective and guidance he needed most. He offers similar guidance to us, urging us to consider our situation and our next steps in light of the clear truths of His Word. | By Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss, Jr. | Bryn Athyn CathedralOur Spiritual Reality: We Also Have Bodies
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - May 25, 2025
This Sunday we will pick up the topic of our spiritual reality again by reflecting on a curious and inescapable aspect of our spiritual reality: we also have bodies. Why did the Lord create our spirits to be embodied in these complex, frail collections of bones, muscles, and organs? And how can we better navigate our spiritual reality when we take our bodies into consideration? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralOur Spiritual Reality: We Also Have Bodies
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 25, 2025
This Sunday we will pick up the topic of our spiritual reality again by reflecting on a curious and inescapable aspect of our spiritual reality: we also have bodies. Why did the Lord create our spirits to be embodied in these complex, frail collections of bones, muscles, and organs? And how can we better navigate our spiritual reality when we take our bodies into consideration? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn Cathedral“I Will Remember…” Psalm 77:11
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 18, 2025
The Scriptures urge us to remember – the Sabbath, the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, many important things. And yet we forget, not in the sense that these truths are lost or wiped from our memory but in the sense that their value can be forgotten. Thankfully, “remembering” is an act of mercy, done by the Lord alone. Let’s talk on Sunday about how the Lord helps us remember and then consider what new, spiritual practices we might want to incorporate into our lives to safeguard against our own forgetfulness. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralEveryone Who Asks Receives
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - May 11, 2025
On Mother’s Day we consider the origin of the love that leads us to care for children, that makes the birds sing, and that causes flowers to bloom. | By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn CathedralMother’s Day
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 11, 2025
"There is a divine field of heavenly love that constantly radiates from the Lord. From this field an earthly field arises. It is a field of love for babies and children. It is absolutely universal.” (True Christian Religion 308) As we honor this heavenly influx on Mother’s Day we also honor the ways that our church, our community, and our country are like a mother to us. | By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn CathedralGo, Make Disciples of All Nations
Worship Service: Sermon only - April 27, 2025
After His resurrection, the Lord told His disciples, “Go, make disciples of all nations!” (Matthew 28:20). It is in the nature of love to share what one has with others (Divine Love and Wisdom 47), so when we receive the Lord’s love in our hearts, we also receive a burning desire to share that love with others. | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Lord Cares: He Makes Good Things Happen
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - March 30, 2025
Joseph of the Old Testament had some bad things happen in his life. He was sold as a slave into Egypt. He went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Yet, things kept turning around and going well for him. It can and even does happen that way for you too! | By Rev. Mark D. Pendleton | Bryn Athyn CathedralHow Would You Summarize Your Experience of Life?
Worship Service: Sermon only - March 30, 2025
We know that the Lord cares about us, that He’s in charge of everything that happens, that He controls all the bad stuff in life, etc. If you were going to answer the question, how would knowing and believing these things contribute to your answer? | By Rev. Mark D. Pendleton | Bryn Athyn CathedralMemorial Service for Carl Hj. Asplundh, Jr.
Memorial Service - March 29, 2025
| By Rev. Kurt Hyland Asplundh | Bryn Athyn CathedralMaintenance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 23, 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 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? The Lord tells us to lay up treasures in heaven, because treasures on earth are susceptible to moth, rust, and thieves (Matthew 6:19, 20), but a big part of trying to serve heavenly goals is at least attempting to do useful things for other people in this natural world, even though things fall apart. Let’s talk on Sunday about how the Lord maintains us and how we can be part of maintaining what is good with the Lord’s help. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralSafe from the Storm
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - March 16, 2025
The Lord says that those who hear his Word and live by it are like those who build their house on a rock, where no storm can hurt them. Those who don’t are carried away into all sorts of trouble. Everyone experiences spiritual storms, times of temptation and uncertainty. Rely on the Lord’s Word, and not only will you survive hard times, but in the long run, you will thrive. | By Rev. Grant R. Schnarr | Bryn Athyn CathedralDemon-Possessed Man Healed
Worship Service: Sermon only - March 16, 2025
The story in Mark 5, about the demon-possessed man healed by the Lord is also a spiritual story, about every person being spiritually healed, freed from obsessive thoughts and addiction to evil. This story is a bit scary, dark, and brings up questions – all reminiscent of hard times in each of our lives. But the Lord comes to us; he casts out unwanted thoughts and gives us peace. | By Rev. Grant R. Schnarr | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Word on Fire
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - March 09, 2025
Moses sees a bush that is burning and discovers the Lord - who has big plans for him. When you learn to see the Lord in the Word, you can see He has wonderful plans for you too! | By Rt. Rev. David H. Lindrooth | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Word on Fire
Worship Service: Sermon only - March 09, 2025
John names the Word with a fascinating Greek term “Logos.” That word, according to the ancient Greek, means the underlying force that orders and organizes all things. John also calls the “Logos” God. We can take that literally and come to know the force the Lord offers us through His Word that orders us and prepares us for heavenly life. | By Rt. Rev. David H. Lindrooth | Bryn Athyn CathedralCome and See
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 26, 2025
We’re not very good predictors of the future and yet this doesn’t stop us from trying. Our predictions about the future tend to limit God’s capabilities which means we tend to anticipate “sameness” in our relationships and work, and in our sense of purpose and direction. We see this mindset in the brand-new disciple, Nathaniel, who, being invited by fellow disciple Philip to come see Jesus of Nazareth says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” to which Philip replies, “Come and see” (John 1:46). Nathaniel did “come and see” and his life unfolded in a way he could never have predicted. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Cathedral