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The Work of the Holy Spirit
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 25, 2018
The Lord Jesus Christ is present with us through the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth that leads to truth. We find this through Scripture and it is through Scripture that the Lord has a power effect to heal you and make you knew. | By Rev. Derrick Lumsden | Sarver, PAThe Two Gates
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 25, 2018
This Sunday we have the privilege of witnessing and taking part in the two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Supper. In some ways these two rituals seem worlds apart. In one, water is poured over a child's head as he is dedicated to the Lord. In the other we eat bread and drink wine, symbolic of taking in the Lord's love and wisdom. Yet these two rituals contain the whole span of spiritual life. Baptism represents the very first introduction to the Lord, the first glimmers of spiritual life. Holy Supper represents the fulfillment of that life, as we take in the Lord Himself to dwell within us. They are like two gates, and when we have gone through both, we are in heaven. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAControlling our Emotions
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 18, 2018
Did you know that the understanding does NOT lead the will? It is the other way around! So how can we stay centered and avoid being overly reactive to other people and things? ~ MDG | By Rev. Michael D. Gladish | Mitchellville, MDHeaven is Not for Sale
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 28, 2018
You can’t buy your way into heaven, no matter how much wealth you amass. That won’t come as a surprise to most of you. Yet somehow, subconsciously, we end up trying. Every time we feel entitled to reward because of our good deeds, we have diminished good deeds to a mere currency with which we can buy a slice of heaven. Every time we feel slighted for the ill fortune that befalls us in spite of our goodness, we have reduced God’s living Providence into a mere balance sheet of good countered by evil. It is only when we realize that goodness is its own reward that we can be free from the allure of heaven as a reward. Heaven is not a reward; heaven is the natural result of a life of goodness. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSARepenting from Stealing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 07, 2018
The teachings are clear: we have to repent. We have to identify and acknowledge the ways in which we are breaking the Lord’s Commandments and we then have to ask the Lord for help and actually begin to live in a new way. Our spiritual lives depend on our willingness to do this work. For the next three Sundays we will be looking at some of the 10 Commandments and how a person could repent from breaking those commandments. This Sunday evening we will talk about stealing. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSASafety In Jerusalem
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 07, 2018
Sunday School Service - Children's Talk Tile - Safety In Jerusalem 1st Lesson: II Samuel 16: 5-11, 19: 18-23; I Kings 2: 36-46 2nd Lesson: Arcana Coelestia 845 (portion) 3rd Lesson: Arcana Coelestia 6822 (portion) | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PAFrom Threshing To Vintage To Sowing Time
Worship Service: Sermon only - September 30, 2018
Evening Adult Service - Sermon Title - From Threshing To Vintage To Sowing Time | By Rev. Lawson M. Smith | Kempton, PAAm I Good Enough?
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 26, 2018
This is a question many of us ask. We'll be looking at it as we explore the Creation story. What is good enough? What does the Lord think is good enough? | By Rev. Erik J. Buss | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallOur Spiritual Journeys - Looking Back
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 26, 2018
Last week Joel spoke about the importance and value of telling the stories of what the Lord has done for us on our spiritual Journeys. When we do look back on what happened in the past, however there are also dangers. Our memories of the past have a powerful effect on our present experience. When should we try to leave behind what has happened in the past and not dwell on it and when is there value in reflecting on the past? This Sunday we will try to understand how the Lord would like us to hold our memories of the past. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAOur Spiritual Journeys
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 19, 2018
We all have a story. It is a story of our life, the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, the winding ways that we have come from where we were to where we are now. These stories are not just a dry account of our past. The story of our life is the story of the Lord's power and guidance, if we are willing to see it that way, and through retelling our stories we share that power with others. This Sunday we will look at the command given to the Children of Israel to constantly retell the story of how the Lord had saved them from slavery, so that generations to come would know the Lord's power and love. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAIdeals - Sorting Out What Matters and What Does Not
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 12, 2018
We can't live up to all ideals. We have to choose between them and then prioritise which of our ideals or values matter more or less in different situations. And what if we get it wrong? What if we reject a true ideal? What if we buy into a false ideal? What if we give something too much weight or too little? These are the questions we're going to wrestle with this Sunday. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSANoah and the Dove
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 05, 2018
Freedom from the Flood. During the Flood, Noah released first a raven and then a dove to see if there was any hope of dry land (Genesis 8). At first the dove came back with nothing. Next the dove came back with an olive leaf. Finally the dove didn’t come back at all. What does this symbolize about the gradual escape from spiritual “floods” in our own lives? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallSingleness and Marriage
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 05, 2018
Last week Malcolm talked about how we can hold ideals, especially around marriage. Next week he'll carry on with that theme. But this week, we are going to take a break from talking about marriage and put the focus on the other side: on singleness. Some of you are single yourselves; some of you are recently married; and some of you probably can barely remember what it was like to be single. In any case we will look at what the Lord has to say about this state of life and what even the long-time couples can learn from it. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAIdeals
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 29, 2018
Ideals are great when we feel like we’re living up to them. But what about when we don’t? What about when we fall short? What about when it’s impossible for us to live up to certain ideals, through no fault of our own? Do we abandon our ideals? Do we change our ideals to fit our circumstances? How does the Lord want us to hold our ideals? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA2018-07-23 7 Tuesday Morning Adult Lecture BDB
Jacob's Creek - Tuesday Morning Lecture - Rev. Brett D. Buick - Title - Letting the Light of the New Church Shine, Even on the Hard Subjects Suggested Readings: True Christian Religion 776, 779; Last Judgement 45-46 Conjugial Love 181, 457, 523 | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Jacob's CreekGood Humour
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 22, 2018
Humour is all around us - we tease people, they tease us, we make jokes, we laugh at jokes that other people make, we watch funny shows, we read funny things. Humour is great and life would be rather bleak without laughter. But humour can also be really painful and destructive. What does the Lord say in His Word about humour and what guidelines can we get from him about what sorts of jokes and humour to engage in and what stuff to steer clear of? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSADo You Want to Be Made Well?
Worship Service: Informal Family - July 15, 2018
A man had been sick for 38 years, and the Lord asked him a strange question: “Do you want to be made well?” Of course, he wanted to be made well! But maybe it's not such a strange question after all. Aren't there areas of our lives where part of us doesn’t WANT the Lord's healing? How can we allow the Lord to transform those parts within us? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallSpirit of the Law
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 15, 2018
We all break rules from time to time. We speed. We tell a little lie. We browse Instagram at work when no one is around. We always tell ourselves that it is justified. But then someone else does the same, and our righteous indignation bristles: well if they speed, I can cut them off! They lied, so I can bad mouth them to others! They slack off at work, so I can too! What we fail to see is that we are using the technicality of breaking a rule to justify us harming someone else. The Lord calls us to something greater: to look beyond just the letter of the law and focus on the spirit, and from there to have compassion on those who perhaps don't stay within bounds as much as we might hope. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAEternal Waters
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 08, 2018
We all have times when we thirst. We thirst for understanding, for insight, for justice, for knowing how to get through. We thirst for a better life or a better job or a better family. The kind of thirst we're going to look at this Sunday is the thirst for truth. Now you might not feel like you have a strong thirst for truth. But we all have a thirst for the truth that teaches us how to navigate the challenges of life and that leaves us feeling satisfied; the kind of truth that when it hits you suddenly know everything is going to be OK. If we are willing, this is the truth that the Lord will feed us with and satisfy our longing. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Blessedness of Forgetting
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 01, 2018
This Sunday evening will be a lay service, led by Warwick Schuurman. the sermon that I've picked for him to read is really good. It's a sermon by the Rev. Frank Rose about how the Lord carefully looks after our memories and sometimes helps us forget. We tend to think of forgetting things as a bad thing but really it's such a blessing that the Lord lets us forget things. A better understanding of how the Lord works with our memories gives us another window into seeing just how much and how well He cares for us. | By Rev. Frank S. Rose | Westville, RSAThe Woman Clothed with the Sun
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 24, 2018
This week's message focuses on a series of images presented to us in the 12th chapter of Revelation. We think about how the woman clothed with the sun is a symbol of the New Church, or New Christian era, coming into the world from heaven. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Phoenix, AZBuilding Up to New Church Day: Part 3 - The Eternal Life of Usefulness
In this third and final part of our 3-Part series, we think about how a truly Christian life is the produce of the Lord's goodness in a person's heart and His true ideas in that person's mind, being combined into a life a true usefulness. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Phoenix, AZUnveiling Our Hearts
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 17, 2018
When we are proud of ourselves there is nothing that we want more than for other people to know it. When we are ashamed we hide and hope no one notices. But when we hide our evils even from ourselves and the Lord there is no way to be healed of them. The Book of Revelation invites us to go through the painful process of exposing our own faults, so that with the Lord we can overcome them. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSABuilding Up to New Church Day: Part 2 - Truth Strengthening Love
In this part of our 3-Part series, we think about how the love for being a good and useful person that we want to be in our hearts, needs to be coupled with the true ideas that the Lord teaches us in His Word about what a loving life looks like. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Phoenix, AZThe Woman, the Dragon, and the Wings in Revelation 12
Worship Service: Informal Family - June 10, 2018
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun...And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads….But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle” (Revelation 12:1-14) We explore the meaning of the “dragon” and the “woman clothed with the sun” inside all of us. Thanks to the Odhner family Marionettes for depicting this story. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall