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As in Heaven so upon the Earth
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 27, 2023
1st Lesson: Matt. 6:1-13 2nd Lesson: HH 374 Talk: “Heaven on Earth” | By Rev. Calvin Heinrichs | Kempton, PAWe Are Never Lost When the Lord Leads Us
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 20, 2023
The Israelites were lost in the wilderness for 40 years. Have you ever been lost? Even if there are other people lost with you, it can be scary. You don't know which way to go, you don't how long you will be lost. But, fortunately, in the Word, the story has a happy ending, for the Lord led them out of the wilderness. How can we get the Lord's help like that when we feel lost? | By Rev. Stephen D. Cole | Bryn Athyn CathedralWandering in the Wilderness
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 20, 2023
"They went astray in the wilderness" (Mark 9:24) Psalm 107:4 says of the Israelites: "They went astray in the wilderness." Their wandering in the wilderness is one of the major stories in the Old Testament and speaks to the way that many of us may feel, at least in certain times in life. When we feel lost or directionless, it is hard to know what to do. The wilderness is said to represent a state of temptation. But perhaps this prompts a question in the minds of some: If the Israelites were being tempted, what were they being tempted to do, or not to do? | By Rev. Stephen D. Cole | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Magical Thinking of Faith Alone
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 20, 2023
We don't really believe in magic anymore: no one thinks I could make a rabbit pop out of a hat by any means other than mere trickery. But we still do fall into a kind of "magical thinking" when it comes to faith. That is, we believe that if we say the right words or go through the right motions it will magically make us into new people. But the only way to actually change is to do the hard work of changing yourself. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSACome now and let us reason together, says the Lord
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 20, 2023
What is it like to reason with the Lord, and how is this different from reasoning with each other? Can the tone and quality of our dialogue with each other change if we have first reasoned with the Lord? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallNoah: Salvation Through Conscience
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 20, 2023
1st Lesson: Genesis 6:5-22 2nd Lesson: Arcana Coelestia 765 (part) 3rd Lesson: New Jerusalem & Heavenly Doctrine 131, 133, 138 Talk: “Noah: Salvation Through Conscience” | By Rev. Lawson M. Smith | Kempton, PAPray For His Coming
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 13, 2023
1st Lesson: Revelation 22:12-20 2nd Lesson: Apocalypse Revealed 949, 956 [Selections] Talk: “Come, Lord Jesus” | By Rev. Derrick Lumsden | Kempton, PA"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief"
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 13, 2023
(Mark 9:24) The human mind has a tendency to draw lines in the sand: here’s what I believe and don’t believe, end of story. It’s a fixed mindset, one that rushes to judgment, a final conclusion. In reality, our journey of faith needs a lifetime to grow and mature. It needs time to flex, to doubt, to question, to wait. In this service, we will consider how it’s okay to have doubts about the Lord, His providence, the Bible - lots of things, and that the Lord doesn’t think less of us when this happens. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Cathedral"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief"
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 13, 2023
(Mark 9:24) The human mind has a tendency to draw lines in the sand: here’s what I believe and don’t believe, end of story. It’s a fixed mindset, one that rushes to judgment, a final conclusion. In reality, our journey of faith needs a lifetime to grow and mature. It needs time to flex, to doubt, to question, to wait. In this service, we will consider how it’s okay to have doubts about the Lord, His providence, the Bible - lots of things, and that the Lord doesn’t think less of us when this happens. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralFamily
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 13, 2023
This week, we are focusing on family. Who is family? How do we define family? Does the Word have any teachings concerning the subject? In the event of conflicts and disagreements arising within families, how do we mend the “cracks” so that we be the family of happy memories . | By Rev. J. Bheki Dube | Westville, RSAOld and New Wineskins
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 13, 2023
In the Gospels, Jesus told His disciples that you can’t put new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9, Mark 2, Luke 5). In what ways do we sometimes try to put “new wine” into “old wineskins” in our spiritual lives? And how can we choose “new wineskins” instead? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallSlow and Steady
Worship Service: Informal Family - August 06, 2023
The Israelites really wanted to get into the Promised Land to establish their new home, but they needed some time in the wilderness to figure things out. Similarly, we may like the idea of sudden life change that fixes our problems, but that’s not generally the way life works. In what ways is time in the wilderness a necessary part of our journey toward spiritual life? (Apologies for the hum in the audio) | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallHealing for the Nations
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 06, 2023
1st Lesson: Ezekiel 47:12 2nd Lesson: Revelation 21:1-6, 22:1-2 Talk: “The Healing Power of Truth” 3rd Lesson: Apocalypse Revealed 348 Sermon: “Healing for the Nations” | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PAKnow Your Spiritual Enemies: The Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 06, 2023
A number of the enemies that the children of Israel encountered on their way to the promised land were their cousins, other descendants from the same family tree. And so, the children of Israel were forbidden to destroy these enemies or to take their land. And yet they were also forbidden to intermarry with them. This Sunday, as we learn more about the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, we will be trying to learn how to have the right kind of boundaries and relationships in our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralKnow Your Spiritual Enemies: The Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 06, 2023
A number of the enemies that the children of Israel encountered on their way to the promised land were their cousins, other descendants from the same family tree. And so, the children of Israel were forbidden to destroy these enemies or to take their land. And yet they were also forbidden to intermarry with them. This Sunday, as we learn more about the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, we will be trying to learn how to have the right kind of boundaries and relationships in our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralPrayer, 3: A Community of Prayer
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 06, 2023
Our final sermon on prayer will focus on prayers for other people. It’s hard to know exactly what these prayers do; they might not be as obvious as prayers for our own spiritual growth or that have to do with our personal relationship with the Lord. But when we pray for other people we are joined together in a heavenly community, one that turns to the Lord and looks to Him as the One who brings us all together. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSARest and Recreation
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 30, 2023
1st Lesson: Ex. 20:8-11, 23:12 2nd Lesson: Heaven and Hell 403 3rd Lesson: Charity 189 Talk: “Rest and Recreation” | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PATower of Babel
Worship Service: Informal Family - July 30, 2023
The parable of The Tower of Babel describes how misunderstandings, confusion, and division arise when we are more concerned with managing other people’s lives than our own, and more concerned with getting our own way than helping others get theirs. | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallCalming the Winds of Life
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 30, 2023
The Lord calmed the waters on Galilee when the disciples were afraid. How can the Lord calm our fears? What can we do when we are uncertain or afraid? See how this story can bring us calm and peace. | By Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith | Bryn Athyn CathedralCalming the Winds of Life
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 30, 2023
The Lord’s apparent absence when the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee during a storm mirrors our periodic sense of the Lord not being where we need Him. Yet, the Lord did come to them and stopped the waves. What can we take from this story? Where is the Lord in our troubled times? And what can we do to have the sense of His presence? | By Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith | Bryn Athyn CathedralPrayer 2 - The Power of Prayer
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 30, 2023
Last week we looked at how to pray. But this week we examine the question, what does prayer do? There are many answers to this question, and as many answers as to what prayer does NOT do that we wish it did. But at heart, prayer connects us to the Lord, so that we can receive His power to be reborn and regenerated. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSASeeking Reconciliation
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 23, 2023
1st Lesson: Matthew 18:11-17 Talk: “Seeking the Lost Sheep” 2nd Lesson: Matthew 5:20-26 3rd Lesson: Matthew 18:1-10, 18-22, 35 4th Lesson: Apocalypse Explained 746:2, 15 Sermon: “If Thy Brother Sin Against Thee” | By Rev. Lawson M. Smith | Kempton, PAIs That You, Oh Troubler?
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 23, 2023
We regularly have experiences of things and people that bother us. The story of Ahab helps us understand why these things bother us, and what we can do to get through. | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Source of Our Problems... and Solutions
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 23, 2023
We explore how the story of King Ahab can help us deal with our daily problems and the people we may see as “troublers.” | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith | Bryn Athyn CathedralPrayer, 1 - The Practice of Prayer
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 23, 2023
We are starting a three-part series on prayer. This week the focus is on the practice of prayer, practice both in the sense of applying an idea to real life and an activity done with the intention of improving. Because I would guess that most of us (not all, but most) could use some improvement in our prayer lives. The New Church has something of a history of being stiff and uncomfortable with prayer. This series will be an opportunity to become more active with our prayers and appreciate the power that prayer has. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA