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How the Lord Uses the Different States We Go Through
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 19, 2012
We go through different states all the time in our lives and these are illustrated by many stories in the Word in parables. We will be looking at three stories of different people to illustrate these states and how the Lord can use these to teach us how we can improve our spiritual state. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 45s)
Lies About Love, Part 2 - Unconditional and Conditional Love
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 15, 2012
Unconditional love is a beautiful ideal: who doesn't want to be loved, no matter what they do? But then there are questions that come up when we try to put it into practise. How do you love someone unconditionally? Are we meant to love all people unconditionally or just certain people? Are there ever times when we need to put conditions on our love? This Sunday we're continuing our series on Lies about Love and we'll be trying to sort out the important truths from the harmful lies that can all be part of our ideas around unconditional love. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 41s)
Lies About Love, Part 1 - The Confusion about Love and Feelings
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 08, 2012
It's hard to think of anything more important than love. What we love affects everything about our lives. And yet, it's also really easy to get confused about love--what is it? What does it mean to love somebody? How do we show our love in this or that situation? Part of what makes it difficult is that there are a lot of misconceptions or lies about love out there. This Sunday we're going to start talking about some of the common wrong ideas about love and what the Lord teaches us instead. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 54s)
"As We Forgive Our Debtors"
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 20, 2012
Have you ever done something nice for someone else and not got the response that you expected or wanted? They're not grateful; they're not impressed; they don't even notice. What do you do with the feelings that come up inside you? What does the Lord say that we should do with those feelings? We say it every time we say the Lord's Prayer. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (30m 24s)
Reading the Word under the Supervision of Jesus Christ
Worship Service: Sermon only - April 15, 2012
The story for this Sunday is about two disciples (on the road to Emmaus) who got to walk along with the Lord and have Him explain the Bible to them. What an amazing experience! How can we have that same experience? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 40s)
Weeping in Jerusalem
Worship Service: Sermon only - April 01, 2012
When we think of Palm Sunday we think of the big celebration of the Lord coming into Jerusalem as a King but it also was a very poignant moment because, when the Lord came to the city, He wept over it. Understanding why the Lord wept can give us insight into what He was experiencing as He rode into Jerusalem that day. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (14m 00s)
Shift 5 - Shift of Motivation
Worship Service: Sermon only - March 04, 2012
In the story for this week Jacob leaves his uncle Laban after working for him for 20 years. When he leaves he has a large family and large flocks and herds; none of which he had before he worked for Laban. But he had to leave; he couldn't stay with Laban any longer, even though Laban desperately wanted him to. This week we're talking about things in our lives that we get something out of but ultimately have to leave behind. Addictions, unhealthy relationships, self-serving motivations; these are not easy to leave behind but the story for this week can help us to understand what's involved in successfully moving on from this sort of thing. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 42s)
Shift 3 - A Shift of Focus
Worship Service: Sermon only - February 19, 2012
How do we get motivated to actually change our lives for the better? There are a lot of different elements that go into it. One of the key elements of it, though, is something that I really hadn't thought of before I studied the story for this Sunday. So I'm pretty excited to talk to you about it. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 23s)
The Sacraments
Worship Service: Sermon only - January 29, 2012
Why are the sacraments of baptism and Holy Supper not just empty rituals? What is the real meaning behind these sacraments and how do they impact on our lives? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 53s)
The Promise of New Life
Worship Service: Sermon only - December 04, 2011
The Christmas story in Luke begins with an elderly priest named Zacharias performing his customary rituals in the temple. Why does it begin this way? In the overall story this scene sets the stage for the Lord being born because an angel comes to Zacharias and tells him that he will have a son who will prepare people to receive the Lord. But, on a deeper level, this first scene provides a picture of our state before the Lord is born into our lives. Has your faith or religion ever felt old, tired, ritualistic, and childless? An angel is about to come with some unbelievable news. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 30s)
What's the Alternative to a Selfish Love of Control
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 13, 2011
What do you do when somebody does something that drives you crazy or doesn't do something you really think they should? Do you struggle with wanting to control other people? If you do you're not alone! The teachings of the New Church say "The most difficult battle of all...is with the love of ruling from a love of self. One who overcomes this love, easily overcomes all other evil loves, because it is their head." (Divine Providence #146) Hear how we can fight this difficult battle. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (29m 02s)
Remembering the Sabbath Day
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 30, 2011
One of the 10 Commandments is "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." How do you keep that commandment? How do you break it? Is it just about whether you go to church or not on a given Sunday? To be honest, before I worked on a sermon about this in theological school I didn't really know the answer to these questions. Remembering the Sabbath is not just about going to church but, if you listen to this sermon, you will find out what it's really about. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 01s)
Teamwork
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 23, 2011
This is the second talk about a sports-related theme. This time we'll be talking about teamwork. Here's a question to think about: is life more of an individual sport or a team sport? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 15s)
Guilt and Shame
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 09, 2011
This talk is about guilt and shame. What things have you done that you feel guilty about? What things about yourself are you ashamed of? (You don't have to answer. ) These are the kinds of things that we'd rather not think about and really don't want other people to find out about. And yet, we need to find healthy ways of dealing with them. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 16s)
Judging Others and Being Judged
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 21, 2011
Have you noticed how often we make judgments about other people? We make judgments about them 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 judgment" (John 7:24). Another thing to think about is what it feels like to be on the other side of the interaction and having someone judge you. We might not like it, but are people always wrong for judging us? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 46s)
Stages of Life, Part 5: Old Age
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 24, 2011
We end our series on the stages of life by talking about old age. The Moses story ends with the poignant scene of Moses, shortly before he dies, looking into the land that he has spent his life leading his people towards but cannot enter himself. Reflecting on the final stage of Moses' life gives us a chance to learn about the final stage of our own lives and think about how the Lord can use this stage of life, with all its challenges and blessings, as the final part of our preparation for life after death. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (21m 00s)
Stages of Life, Part 4: Adulthood
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 17, 2011
In our series on the stages of life, this Sunday we come to the stage of adulthood. We're going to continue to follow the story of Moses as he is called by the Lord and grows into one of the greatest leaders of the Children of Israel. And we'll be talking about the joys and fears, the stubbornness and gratitude, the victories and defeats that are all part of the adult stage of gradually coming to have the Lord's Word lead in our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (27m 57s)
Stages of Life, Part 3: The Teenage Years
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 10, 2011
Part 3 of the series on stages of life. This one is about the teenage years. When we think about the teen years we might tend to think of the difficult things about it, and we'll talk about some of those, but we're also going to talk about the great things about this stage of life and how it is not just something to get through. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 06s)
Stages of Life, Part 2: Early Childhood
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 03, 2011
This sermon addresses the first five years of life. We are looking at the story of the baby Moses being put in a tar covered ark in the Nile river and what this story has to teach us about what goes on within each person, on a spiritual level, in the first few years of their life. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (18m 36s)
Stages of Life, Part 1: Finding the Joy and Use in Every Stage of Life
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 26, 2011
The first of a series of sermons on the stages of life. Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about childhood, puberty, adulthood and old age. The hope is that, through learning about these different stages, we will be able to understand better the stage of life we are in, to anticipate what's ahead of us, and to understand the stages of life of the people around us. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (17m 33s)
Limit(less), Part 3: Rising Above the Limitations of our Minds through Prayer
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 22, 2011
Part 3 of our series on limits is about the limitations of our minds. We don't tend to think about our minds being limited because we're not aware of what's beyond the limits of what we know and understand. That's what makes thinking about this useful. By understanding what limits our minds we can develop an attitude towards the way we see things that will allow the Lord to continue to expand our knowledge and perspective. Readings: 2 Kings 6:8-17; New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 36; Secrets of Heaven 129; True Christianity 187:2; Secrets of Heaven 2535. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (16m 38s)
Limit(less), Part 2: Spiritual Perspectives on Time
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 15, 2011
This sermon is Part 2 of our series about how the sometimes frustrating limitations of the natural world actually provide us with the opportunities we need to make conscious decisions about how we want to live our lives. The point is to get some spiritual perspective on these limitations and ultimately think about how we can use these limitations to invite the Lord into our lives in a more real way. In this sermon we're talking about time. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 11s)
Trying to Be Innocent Instead of Just Saying We Are
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 01, 2011
What should you do when you unintentionally do something wrong? The Children of Israel were required to perform a specific sacrifice when they unintentionally sinned. When we understand the inner meaning of that sacrifice we can also understand what we need to do in those circumstances. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (17m 04s)
Learning Not To Believe the Lies of the Scribes and Pharisees
Worship Service: Sermon only - April 24, 2011
In this sermon we celebrate the miracle of the Lord rising from the dead on the third day. We focus on a part of the Easter story that's not often paid attention to--the guards at the tomb. What forces within us try to keep the news of the Lord's resurrection from getting out? Were they successful in suppressing the story? What can we learn from this small part of the Easter story? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 37s)