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Letting 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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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, RSAJudging and Being Judged
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 31, 2015
We make judgements about other people based on how they look, what they eat, how they raise their children, how they spend their time and money, and the list goes on. What should we do with these thoughts? Are they bad? People often quote Jesus saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). But He also said, “Do not judge according to the appearance, but judge with just judgement” (John 7:24). Join us this Sunday as we explore with this important aspect of human relationships. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSALife Before Death
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 10, 2015
On Sunday we begin a two-part series on dying, death, and grief. This Sunday we will focus on life before death. What is the value and purpose of natural life? Why do some people die earlier than others? What comfort and perspective does the Lord offer in His Word to those who are approaching death or grieving the death of a loved one? Also, Being Mother's Day the children's talk focuses on the value of parents and mother's in particular. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSABe the Church 3 - Repenting of Evil and Serving Others
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 03, 2015
We’ve been talking for the past two weeks about different essential aspects of being part of a church. This Sunday we’re talking about how those different aspects all come together and what the ultimate factor is that determines whether you’re part of the spiritual community that’s following the Lord or not. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSABe the Church Part 1: "Worshipping the Lord & Caring in Community"
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 19, 2015
What is the purpose of church? What does it mean to be part of a church? Are churches still relevant in the 21st century? These are some of the questions that we're going to be digging into this Sunday and in the two weeks that follow. The church can be so much more than just a building you walk into; it can be something that changes your life. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAWhat Would Love Do Wk 7 – Love Rejoices
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 22, 2015
This Sunday we end our 7 week program with the same question that we asked at the beginning and throughout the program: what would love do? What is the loving thing to do for all the people we interact with in our lives with all their different needs and situations? And, as we try to push ourselves to become more loving, how do we not become worn out and jaded in the process? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAWhat Would Love do -Wk 5: Love Visits
Worship Service: Sermon only - March 08, 2015
Continuing our series on the different ways we are called to love and serve other people (What Would Love Do?), this week we're focusing on how to help the sick. Being sick is awful and it can be hard to be around people who are sick or know how to help them. What does the Lord teach us about how to serve this obvious but difficult need? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAWhat Would Love Do - Week 1 - Love Serves
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 08, 2015
This Sunday we begin the What Would Love Do? program by talking about the different ways that we are called upon by the Lord to love and serve other people. This week we will particularly focus on how to serve the hungry - the physically hungry and the emotionally and spiritually hungry. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAFullness of Joy
Worship Service: Informal Family - February 01, 2015
This Sunday we celebrate the founding of Kainon School. The theme for the service (which is based on the spiritual theme for the school year at Kainon) is “Fullness of Joy”. It sounds wonderful to be full of joy – we want that for ourselves and for those that we love – but is it possible to achieve in this world? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAUnderstanding John 3:16
Worship Service: Sermon only - December 14, 2014
John 3:16 is a key text for a lot of Christians in understanding why Jesus was born in the world. It says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” But how do we understand what is meant by this? Who is God? Who is His Only-begotten Son? What does it mean to believe in Him? Why will people who don’t believe in Him perish and not have eternal life? If we can find good answers to these questions we will have a much better understanding of the significance of Christmas. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSADo Not Resist Evil, Part 4 – Worthlessness and Shame
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 30, 2014
"You're absolutely worthless!" "I'm a useless piece of..." Do you ever hear these words--from other people or inside your own head? Are they true? Are you worthless? Or think about it the other way: if you are not worthless, why do you have worth? What makes you worthy? It's tricky to sort out. And dealing with feelings of worthlessness is even harder. But the Lord can help us to understand and deal with all of this, and differently from what we might expect. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSADo Not Resist Evil, Part 3: Understanding and Responding to Fear
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 23, 2014
What do you worry about? What are you scared of doing? How does fear or anxiety affect your behaviour and relationships? We all have to deal with fears of various kinds and, if we don’t deal with them appropriately, they can lead us to all sorts of unhealthy and dysfunctional behaviours. But, as we’ve already talked about with doubt and guilt, just pushing feelings of fear away doesn’t work. This Sunday we’ll talk about what the Lord teaches us about how to respond to fear. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSALiving Gratefully 2 - How to Practice Gratitude
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 02, 2014
Last Sunday we talked about the need for gratitude in our lives and the difference it can make. This week we're going to dig into how to practice gratitude. What habits and practices can we put into our lives so that we live every day gratefully? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSALiving Gratefully (excerpt)
On starting a gratitude journal. (To hear full recording, search by date: 11/02/2014) | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSALiving Gratefully 1: The Need for Gratitude
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 26, 2014
Do you feel like you’re on a treadmill that’s going too fast for you to keep up? It’s a busy and stressful time of year and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and like there’s just too much to deal with. How can the Lord help us cope with all of this? Gratitude—the Lord commands us to be grateful and when we understand why and start practising gratitude it can make a huge difference to our experience of even the most stressful situations | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAAmos - The Word of a Prophet Part 2: Is It Actually Hard To Understand
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 05, 2014
Cows of Bashan, sacrifices, worms devouring olive trees, death, opulence, corruption, rivers, exile, oppression, darkness—this is the content of the text that we’re going to be digging into this Sunday. We’re continuing our series on the book of Amos and continuing to grapple with the question of how we can hear the Lord speaking to us today through the ancient, sometimes obscure prophecies recorded in the Bible. This week we’re going to be particularly looking for how we can find a relevant message for our lives in these challenging texts. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA