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Taste and See That the Lord is Good
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - January 08, 2023
"How sweet are Your words to my taste" (Psalm 119:103) Before we swallow food, we go through two lines of defense: we smell it and then taste it to see if it’s good, if it’s worth eating. On a physical level, our nose and tongue rarely let us down but what about our spiritual sense of smell and taste? How do we distinguish between attitudes and habits that are “stinky” versus “sweet?” Can we figure this out on our own or do we need help? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralTaste and See That the Lord is Good
Worship Service: Sermon only - January 08, 2023
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) Spiritually speaking, taste has to do with perception, with the ability to discern whether something is pleasant (good) or unpleasant (evil). We might think we can cultivate our own spiritual palate, but this gets tricky when our old and new “self” present contradictory ideas of what is “good” and “sweet.” Thankfully, the Lord can help. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralKeeping Watch
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - December 24, 2022
| By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralHead, Heart and Hands
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - November 24, 2022
| By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Field HouseSeeing Providence: Adulthood
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - November 13, 2022
Week 3 | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralSeeing Providence: Adulthood
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 13, 2022
(Week 3) Moses was called to do a very important job. So are we. The way the Lord works through us during the “ups” and “downs” of adulthood (20-60 years of age) can be considered “holy ground.” Through every detail of life, the Lord is leading us toward the promised land. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralSeeing Providence - Providence Throughout Our Lives
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 30, 2022
Week 1 in the “Seeing Providence” series. Seeing Providence- is it even possible? New Church teachings suggest we can only see it when we look back on our life, and that we don’t typically “see” or “feel” the Lord’s leading in the present moment. So how does Providence work? This introduction to our new Journey Program, sponsored by Bryn Athyn Church, will explore some of the remarkable, uplifting teachings on Providence, which paint a new and refreshing image of our infinite and loving God. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralSeeing Providence: Providence Throughout Our Lives
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 30, 2022
Week 1: “Seeing Providence” - is it even possible? New Church teachings suggest we can only see it when we look back on our life, and that we don’t typically “see” or “feel” the Lord’s leading in the present moment. So how does Providence work? This introduction to our new Journey Program, sponsored by Bryn Athyn Church, will explore some of the remarkable, uplifting teachings on Providence, which paint a new and refreshing image of our infinite and loving God. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralSell What You Have
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 16, 2022
“Sell What You Have” (Mark 10:21) It started off simple: what do I need to do to get to heaven? You need to keep the commandments, the Lord said. I’ve kept them from my youth, was the reply of the young man. Then sell whatever you have and come follow Me. This the man couldn’t do, and went away sorrowful. What do we need to “sell” in order to follow the Lord and why might this be hard? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralLetting Go
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 16, 2022
We can be doing all the right things - “turning up” for work, family, and friends; putting in a good day’s work; reading the Word; volunteering at church or in the community - but still lack “one thing” (Mark 10:21). This “one thing” is different for everyone, but the “letting go” part is the same - it’s hard, very hard to do, but not impossible. Once we see what’s holding us back we become mentally prepared to “sell,” take up our cross, and follow the Lord. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Tower of Babel
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 02, 2022
The Tower of Babel is a parable about what happens to us when we place our needs and wants above others. We become so busy building our own “tower” of opinions and positions we find it difficult to “hear” what anyone else is saying. Thankfully, the Lord teaches us a new language. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralBabel
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 02, 2022
“Babel” is an apt descriptor for our public discourse right now - it seems as if we’re all speaking a different language. In the ancient parable of the Tower of Babel, the Lord offers us a way out, a road map that teaches us a new language, the language of mutual love and respect. (Congregational Holy Supper follows) | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralGathering
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 11, 2022
First "Community Service" in Bryn Athyn, with a children's talk followed by a sermon. No other services held in Bryn Athyn on this day. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralI Will Run in the Way of Your Commandments
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 28, 2022
(Psalm 119:32). The Scriptures are full of examples of people running: Esau running to meet his brother Jacob, the multitudes running to hear Jesus preach, Peter and John running to the tomb on Easter morning. Running carries with it the idea of urgency, of doing something from set-purpose. As to our spirit, we’re all runners. But what are we running toward or from? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralTo Run and Not Be Weary
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 28, 2022
(Isaiah 40:31) Running is hard to do half-heartedly. Either we do it or we don’t. In other words, we don’t run unless we’re intent on doing something important. This fits with the correspondence of running – "wanting to make something known" (AC 3804). As to our spirit, we "run" to communicate our intent, our desire. The goal is to run "in the way" of the Lord’s commandments, and away from the things that make us weary. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralLet Your Light Shine
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 14, 2022
Can a person really "shine?" If so, what is it in us that shines and why would the Lord ask us to do this? Who benefits? We will be exploring the difference between "hiding" our light and letting it shine before others, and how the former is actually a disservice to our neighbor while the latter is an expression of love and gratitude, an expression of charity. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralShine
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 14, 2022
Moses' face was said to have "shone" when he came down from Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets (Ex. 34:29). It was such a startling moment for Aaron and the children of Israel that they were afraid to come near him. We talk about a person's face "shining" or "beaming" (and how pleasant that is) but in the spiritual world this happens quite literally (see TC 209). The Lord wants us to shine, not simply for our own wellbeing and happiness, but for the sake of our neighbor too. We will be exploring why it is that our friends, neighbors and family need to see us shine. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralMemorial Service for Michael Alan Brown
Memorial Service - July 24, 2022
| By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Cathedral"Go Forward"
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 17, 2022
Even though the command to "go forward" seemed like certain doom, the Israelites did it anyway and the Red Sea was miraculously parted. But as the Israelites crossed the dry seabed, they looked back in horror to discover Pharoah's army driving towards them in chariots, but then the wheels of the chariots fell off! That changed everything. We will consider the spiritual significance of "wheels" and how they symbolize the power to go forward. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralGot Momentum?
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 17, 2022
When we have momentum in our lives, things go well, when we lose momentum, we get frustrated and lost. In the account of the Red Sea Crossing (Exodus 14) we learn how the Lord "troubled" the Egyptian army causing the wheels of their war chariots to fall off. We will consider how the Lord "fights" for us (v 25) by cutting off our negative momentum and replacing it with true, lasting momentum, the kind that carries us forward to happier, peaceful states. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThink Again
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 19, 2022
| By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe Seventh Seal
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 12, 2022
Revelation 8:1. There are a number of familiar images with the opening of the seven seals - the four horsemen, the souls under the altar, an earthquake, but the seventh reveals "silence in heaven for about half an hour." What is the meaning of this? Does silence serve a purpose? When is it important to be quiet? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralSilence in Heaven
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 12, 2022
Rev. 8:1. There are lots of reasons why we become silent - when we see or hear something astonishing, or deeply moving, or awkward and embarrassing. We also seek out silence as a way to collect our thoughts, to stop and think. The opening of the seventh seal, followed by silence in heaven, represents how the Lord helps us see things in ourselves we didn't (or couldn't) see before. We'll discover that the silence of heaven is as important to us as the air we breathe. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralIn Search of Beauty
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - May 08, 2022
"In search of beauty" Psalm 27:4. We live in a world of opposites, of stunning beauty and shocking ugliness. Unfortunately, the ugliness of evil has a way of blinding us to the beautiful things around us, but we can reverse this trend by modeling its opposite, by slowly, methodically, incorporating into our lives the inner calm and beauty of the Lord's truth and goodness. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralTo Behold the Beauty of the Lord
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 08, 2022
"To behold the beauty of the Lord" (Psalm 27:4). Beauty - what an incredible git. We see it reflected in all of the Lord's creation - in nature, in people, in literature, art, and science. Beauty is of a spiritual origin which is why we are affected by it so deeply. Standing in sharp contrast to the beauty we all desperately seek is the ugliness of war, violence, greed and hatred. What can we do to make our corner of the world a little gentler, kinder and beautiful? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Cathedral