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Are You a Pessimist or an Optimist
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 17, 2021
Are optimists better than pessimists? Are pessimists just realistic while optimists are naive? What about the Lord? Is He optimistic about our potential, or does He bemoan the woeful nature of humanity? We have those two broad categories of people that conflict with each other. And at times they may be useful. But this Sunday we will look a little beyond these two categories to try to find a more spiritual view of society, humanity, and our future. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAListening with Awareness
Worship Service: Informal Family - October 17, 2021
Starting our fall Journey sermon series “Tell Me More” with the story of Pharoah’s daughter discovering Moses in the basket along the riverbank. This service will also include commissioning the newly trained Stephen Ministers into the important use of compassionately listening. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Lord Is the Word
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 17, 2021
1st Lesson: John 1:1-14 2nd Lesson: Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture Talk: “The Lord Is the Word” (Text: John 1:1-5) | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PAA Man Born Blind
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 10, 2021
The gospel of John records the remarkable account of a man born blind receiving sight from the Lord. But what happens after the miracle is even more astonishing. It shows the formerly blind man's process of discovery as he moves from thinking Jesus is merely a man, to thinking He must be some kind of prophet, to realizing He came from God. This journey of discovering who Jesus really is parallels our own. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralOur Journey of Faith
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 10, 2021
"True Christianity" 538 says "unless God is approached in thought as a Person, all ideas of God perish." The formerly blind man is ruthlessly attacked by the Pharisees as they work to discredit the miracle, and when the man finally blurts out that Jesus must come from God or be God, he is excommunicated. In a similar way, the hells and secular society work to discredit our belief in God (and the Word). From being born "blind" we receive "sight" and then the real test begins - is Jesus God or not? Or put another way, in whom or what is our ultimate authority? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe 5 Senses - Part 3 - Touch
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 10, 2021
The last sense we’re going to cover in our series on the five senses is touch. Touch is a powerful sense and a big part of that is because of its role in relationships. Touch is one of the most powerful ways that we communicate and experience affection, comfort, and love; touch is also one of the most powerful ways that we communicate and experience anger, pain, and coercion. The Lord healed people through laying His hands on them. This Sunday we will reflect on touch and ask the Lord to bring us healing in this area of our lives too. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAStrength in Affirming the Word
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 10, 2021
1st Lesson: Judges 15:1-8 2nd Lesson: Divine Providence 310:2, 311:1-3, 5 Talk: “Samson Catches Foxes” | By Rev. Lawson M. Smith | Kempton, PACreating True Spiritual Impact in a Troubled World
Charter Day Service - October 08, 2021
| By Rt. Rev. David H. Lindrooth | Bryn Athyn CathedralMarking Our Doorposts
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 03, 2021
1st Lesson: Ex. 12:21-28 Talk: “Marking Our Doorposts” (Text: Ex. 12:21-28) 2nd Lesson: AC 7846-7847 3rd Lesson: AC 7878 Sermon: “Marking Our Doorposts” (Text: Ex. 12:21-30) | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PAListen to Moses
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - October 03, 2021
Candidate Steven Gunther. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16 can help us see the value in listening to the Lord and doing the work He calls us to do. If we push it off until some later time, we will only make it harder for us to do the right thing. | By Steven Gunther | Bryn Athyn CathedralAre You Convinced?
Worship Service: Sermon only - October 03, 2021
Candidate Steven Gunther. What does it take for us to believe something is true? We will look at the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to see what it really means to be convinced by something, especially the things that Lord teaches us in the Word. | By Steven Gunther | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe 5 Senses - 2 - Sight and Hearing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 03, 2021
We are in the middle of a series on the five senses. Each one of these physical ways of experiencing the physical world around us corresponds to the spiritual ways that we engage with spiritual reality. Last week Malcolm talked about how our senses of smell and taste reflect our ability to detect what is good or evil and choose to take in that which is good. This week we turn to sight and hearing, and we will explore what they teach us about learning and obeying what is true. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAThe Correspondence of the Harp
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 26, 2021
1st Lesson: I Samuel 16:14-23 2nd Lesson: Revelation 14:1-3, 15:3-4 3rd Lesson: Apocalypse Revealed 792, Apocalypse Explained 323:1, 3 Talk: “The Harp: Confessing the Lord from Truths” (Text: I Sam. 16:23) | By Rev. Lawson M. Smith | Kempton, PAWhat Do You Expect?
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 26, 2021
Our lives are built upon expectations. The Lord has gifted us with the capacity to "project" whatever kind of future we desire but we also know that our hopes and dreams don't necessarily materialize in the way we had hoped. The Lord's Word has a wonderful way of shifting our perspective, of re-aligning and restoring our expectations. We will use the Lords' words from Mt. 10:34 to illustrate this point. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralGreat Expectations
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 26, 2021
One of the biggest challenges in life is learning how to interpret setback and disappointment. Everyone, young and old, has high ideals, a strong sense of how things "should" be, but the school of "hard knocks" tells a different narrative. How we deal with loss and defeat, and how we view underlying causes, will do a lot to reshape our future. The Lord's Word records a number of incidents and events in which people expect one thing but are shown something quite different. Most of us don't like surprises but in the case of the Lord's surprises, these are often just what we need! | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralThe 5 Senses, Part 1, Taste and Smell
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 26, 2021
Have you ever thought about why the Lord gave you a sense of smell or why He gave you a sense of taste? This Sunday we’re beginning a sermon series on the five senses and we will be focusing on taste and smell. We will look at some stories from the Lord’s Word that involve taste and smell and reflect on the spiritual significance of these senses in our lives. How can we become more sensitive to the things that the Lord wants us to notice? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSAWhy does the Lord sometimes seem angry?
Worship Service: Informal Family - September 19, 2021
Many of the stories in the Old Testament describe an unhappy relationship between the Lord and the Children of Israel. The Children of Israel are disobeying the Lord’s commandments, sometimes in terrible ways. What can we learn from these stories that helps all of us better understand the Lord? | By Rev. Eric H. Carswell | Bryn Athyn Heilman HallThe Voice of Jehovah
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 19, 2021
1st Lesson: I Samuel 7 2nd Lesson: Apocalypse Explained 817 3rd Lesson: Apocalypse Revealed 472.3 Talk: “The Voice of Jehovah” | By Rev. Brett D. Buick | Kempton, PASlaying the Amalekites
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 19, 2021
Throughout the Old Testament, the Amalekites are a persistent enemy of the children of Israel. They were desert nomads who hid in the mountains and chose to attack and prey upon people when they were the most vulnerable. This is why they were an enemy that the Lord said should be blotted out completely and utterly destroyed. We will look at how we can prepare ourselves to fight against such a ruthless enemy. | By Rt. Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs | Bryn Athyn CathedralSlaying the Amalekites
Worship Service: Sermon only - September 19, 2021
Throughout the Old Testament, the Amalekites are a persistent enemy of the children of Israel. They were desert nomads who hid in the mountains and chose to attack and prey upon people when they were the most vulnerable. They represent in us the "falsity arising from interior evil" which remains hidden and only seeks to confuse and entrap us in our weakest states. That is is why they were an enemy that the Lord said should be blotted out completely and utterly destroyed. We will look at how we can prepare ourselves to fight against such a ruthless enemy. | By Rt. Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs | Bryn Athyn CathedralStrands Through Scripture - 3 - Covenants
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 19, 2021
We are continuing to follow threads of meaning through the many stories of the Word. This Sunday we will follow the idea of the Covenant, the special agreement between God and mankind. On the surface it appears that this agreement changes drastically from the very contractual, blind-faith based one of the Old Testament to the loving, caring relationship presented in the New Testament. In reality, these covenants are one and the same, seen from different points of view. We’ll look at how we can change how we see our own agreements with the Lord so that we can form a relationship that inspires and transforms our lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSAConfidence in the Lord
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 12, 2021
1st Lesson: Daniel 6:10-23 2nd Lesson: Divine Providence 268-275 Talk: “Confidence in the Lord” | By Rev. Matthew L. Genzlinger | Kempton, PANew Beginnings
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - September 12, 2021
Our lives switch tempo with the start of a new school year, as the summer wanes and a new season approaches. The pace picks up for all of us, whether or not we, or a loved one, are going back to school. In anticipation of "new beginnings," we will consider the topic of change and how the Lord promises to switch out our "heart of stone" with a "heart of flesh" (Ezek 26:26). How does this work? It sounds painful. Is it? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralA New Spirit
Worship Service: Sermon only - September 12, 2021
The Word of the Lord is a book about change - "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). As a result, each page breathes change, anticipates change, and encourages change. You won't find a chapter or verse promoting the status quo and yet change is not always welcomed by us. Studies suggest about 90% of our daily routine is habitual which means if we are serious about forming a better habit we must recognize that we're competing against a busy schedule. But the Lord doesn't leave us stranded - we've been given some powerful tools to begin life anew. | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick | Bryn Athyn CathedralStrands Through Scipture -2- Precipitation
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 12, 2021
This Sunday we are going to look at another strand that runs through scripture from beginning to end: the imagery of precipitation. We might think of weather in the Bible as something going on in the background while the real story plays out between the human beings in the story but we can learn a lot about what’s going on in different stories by paying attention to the atmospheric conditions. We’ll look at the symbolism of the whole water cycle and also touch on things like dew, snow, and hail. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA