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Practicing Gratitude
Worship Service: Informal Family - October 11, 2020
For week three of the Resilience series, we will look at the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, and Joseph’s rise to power where he helped Egypt prepare for a famine by storing up grain. “Storing up grain” is like practicing gratitude. How does practicing gratitude help us become more resilient? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallRe-Seeing Challenges
Worship Service: Informal Family - October 04, 2020
Joseph was a slave and prisoner for 13 years, yet we were told that “the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” (Genesis 39-40) We can reframe our challenges knowing that “the Lord bends everything bad into good.” (Secrets of Heaven 1079) | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallMindful Attention
Worship Service: Informal Family - September 27, 2020
This week we begin a five-part small group series on “Resilience,” in which we will look at the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph embodies resilience, as he goes through many hard times and yet continues to have faith in the Lord’s goodness. For week one, we will focus on Joseph’s dreams and his relationship with his brothers as an illustration of the ways that mindful attention can help us to be resilient. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallStrengthening Ourselves in the Lord
Worship Service: Informal Family - September 13, 2020
The Word gives us examples of people facing hard times like David and his men arriving back at their town of Ziklag and finding it burned and their wives and children gone. How can we recognize the Lord's loving and wise care in the hard times we can face and how can we best respond? | By Rev. Eric H. Carswell | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallOil in Your Lamp
Worship Service: Informal Family - September 06, 2020
Most of us show up to life trying to be loving people. But it's a lot harder to act with love than we'd like. What can we do to follow through as we'd like? | By Rev. Erik J. Buss | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallBoundaries
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 23, 2020
When we spend a lot of time together working and living, it is easy to have friction and conflict. Establishing good boundaries gives people on both sides freedom. “I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.” (Genesis 31:43-55, Married Love 56.2) | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Tower of Babel
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 16, 2020
In Genesis 11, all the people on earth went from speaking one language to speaking many different languages. What does this parable symbolize in our spiritual lives? What does it mean to speak a “different language” from someone else in our spiritual lives? And is it possible for us to return to speaking “one language” with the people around us? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Horses among the Myrtle Trees
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 09, 2020
The horses and their riders were waiting among the myrtle trees in the hollow, having returned from a tour of the land. They reported that the land was resting quietly, but this is not what Zechariah wanted to hear. | By Rev. Jeremy F. Simons | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallPatriotic Repentance
Worship Service: Informal Family - July 26, 2020
Loving our country sometimes means that we need to examine ourselves as citizens, and as a country, and try to do better. In 1 Samuel 24, Saul was king of Israel, but David was meant to be the new king, and Saul was trying to kill him. David’s actions toward Saul offer us an image of what it means to be a good citizen of our country. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallCommunicating Through Disagreement
Worship Service: Informal Family - July 12, 2020
How are we supposed to communicate with people with whom we completely disagree, or with people who hate us or our loved ones? Is it best to allow them to talk, or to tell them they are wrong, or do we just unfriend them? Here, we look at some modern examples and how those line up with what the Lord tells us in His Word. | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallDeath and Rebirth
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 24, 2020
Every stage of our lives involves a new beginning, like hatching from an egg (Secrets of Heaven 4378), coming out of a cocoon (True Christianity 12), or being born again (John 3). | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallWho Do People Say That I Am?
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 17, 2020
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Whom do people say that I the Son of man am?’” (Matt 16:13) The Gospel makes a point of telling us where Jesus was when He made these comments. Why would this be important to Him, to the disciples and to us?" | By Rev. Dr Andrew M. Dibb | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallSpiritual Sunlight
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 10, 2020
In Joshua chapter 10, the children of Israel and their allies were under attack from a larger enemy. In order to help them win the battle, the Lord miraculously made the sun stand still. How did this happen? And what does it symbolize in our lives? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallWhat do you notice?
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 03, 2020
When we are in a good state, we notice certain things, and when in a bad state we notice others. Happiness comes from being able to notice what is good and useful even when things are not great -- not in a Pollyanna-ish way but seeing what is really there. | By Rev. Erik J. Buss | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallUplifting - The Ascension
Worship Service: Informal Family - April 26, 2020
The last part of the Easter story is “The Ascension;” the time when the Lord was lifted up into heaven. What does this story symbolize in our own lives? And how can we be “lifted up” into states of heaven as well? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Lord’s Healing Power
Worship Service: Informal Family - April 19, 2020
Our service explores the story of Jesus' healing Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43)., and how the Lord is our healer. | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallRising from the Tomb
Worship Service: Informal Family - April 12, 2020
For the disciples, the Easter story took place during a time of fear and sadness. Many of them had lost hope. But Easter morning represents renewed hope, and the truth that the Lord doesn’t let anything happen that He can’t bring goodness out of. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Lord as Our King
Worship Service: Informal Family - April 05, 2020
On Palm Sunday we celebrate the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as a King. In times of crisis it’s comforting to know that Someone is in charge. But how exactly is the Lord a King in times like this? And how do we turn to Him as our King? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallWhat To Do In Captivity
Worship Service: Informal Family - March 29, 2020
At the end of 2nd Kings, the children of Israel and Judah were taken into captivity, away from the Promised Land. Jeremiah the prophet wrote a letter to them, comforting them, telling them the Lord would bring them back eventually, and giving them hope and advice about what to do during their captivity (see Jeremiah 29-31). This advice can be relevant for us during our current “captivity” as well. The video for this service is available at https://boxcast.tv/view/what-to-do-in-captivity-rev-solomon-keal-informal-service-z3h2bpurpenx42sc5vll Listen to a song by Chelsea Rose Odhner about "spiritual captivity": https://youtu.be/7adj6ho8Kl4 | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallRemembering and Not Forgetting
Worship Service: Informal Family - March 22, 2020
The Word has many passages that talk about "remembering" or "not forgetting." In the story of Noah's Ark, "remembering" is mentioned 3 times. How are "remembering" or "not forgetting" different? How are they the same? What should we be remembering? The video version of this service is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqkrXDj7wCM | By Rev. Kurt Hyland Asplundh | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallBaptism of Elizabeth Savino - Crossing the Jordan
Worship Service: Informal Family - March 08, 2020
Today's service includes the baptism of one of our newcomers: Elizabeth Savino. The talk will focus on the story of the children of Israel entering the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan river (Joshua 3-4). The Jordan river was where John the Baptist baptized people, and it was also the way by which people would enter the Holy Land. We will talk about how this story and the sacrament of baptism both symbolize being led by the Lord into a new state of life. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallFeast of Charity
Worship Service: Informal Family - March 01, 2020
The Lord modeled the Holy Supper as a time for us to share both food and drink, as well as goodness and truth with each other. This Holy Supper service is held in the format of a Feast of Charity (see TCR 433, 727). The room will be full of tables and chairs. You are welcome to bring an offering of food if you would like. You are also invited to bring a favorite quote that “feeds” you, to share with others | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Praise of the Lord
Worship Service: Informal Family - February 23, 2020
In the fourth and final week of our series “Growing through Challenges” we see Gideon's 300 men (with horns and torches) routing 135,000 Amalekites. Their battle cry is “The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” which contains two vital truths: first, that all power is from the Lord (as we learned last week)—thus the Sword is the Lord's. The second truth is that the Lord works in us and through us with our cooperation. So the Sword was also Gideon's. | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Power of the Lord
Worship Service: Informal Family - February 16, 2020
Gideon's army of 32,000 faced an enemy army of 135,000. But the Lord tells Gideon that his army is too big, and that he needs to let many of his soldiers go! (Judges 7:1-8). When we are facing challenges that feel too big for us, what do we need to let go of? How does the Lord’s power work in our lives? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Peace of the Lord
Worship Service: Informal Family - February 09, 2020
This is week two of the “Growing Through Challenges” series. This week Gideon is called to take action, and then to find even deeper trust in the Lord. We'll look at the role peace has in that process. | By Rev. Erik J. Buss | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall