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Breaking Bread
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 20, 2022
This Sunday, as preparation for taking the Lord’s Holy Supper, we will be talking about the significance of breaking bread and sharing it. Particularly in Western culture there can be a lot of emphasis on individuality and working on our individual lives but the Lord’s goal for us is to be part of a larger whole in which we give and receive freely. How can we work towards that goal? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 50s)
Self-Sacrifice
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 30, 2022
In Genesis 22, it appears that God wants Abraham to give up his son Isaac. Fortunately this is not actually the case. What does this symbolize in our own lives? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (26m 38s)
Daily Repentance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 23, 2022
The last couple of sermons have dealt with how we address our own evils. In essence this is repentance: admit you did something wrong, stop doing it, and live a better life. Repentance happens on a grand scale when we have done something egregious or when we are battling a lifelong tendency. But repentance can also be something that we are working on in little ways every single day. That might sound daunting: repent every day?! But when we understand what it means we can embrace it as both a possibility and a blessing. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (21m 14s)
Coming Through the Fire
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 23, 2022
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego followed the Lord even when doing so meant they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. How can we find that kind of courage and confidence? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
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OK and Not OK
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 16, 2022
Last week Joel preached about admitting you were wrong and it got me thinking about how important the time after we’ve done something is. How we think about what we’ve done—whether it was good or bad—really matters. When we’ve done something wrong, do we acknowledge it or try to justify it? When we’ve done something good, what do we think about the action or ourselves afterward? Each day we’re going to do a whole bunch of different things and likely some of those things will be somewhat good and some will be somewhat selfish. We need the Lord’s help to sort out what in all of that is OK and what is not OK. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 13s)
Admitting You Were Wrong
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 09, 2022
How do you respond when the Word tells you something that you don’t like? What if a way you see the world doesn’t fit with how the Word describes the world? How do you respond when you find out that something you’ve been doing for years and thought was fine is condemned in the Word? It’s a difficult question to answer. So today we are going to wrestle with how to listen to the Word and deal with the fear, sadness and embarrassment of admitting that you were wrong. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (18m 37s)
Opportunities for Growth
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 09, 2022
Most of us would acknowledge that for quite a long time normal life has been far from normal for many of us. What would the Lord like us to take away from these experiences? How can they serve the Lord’s goals for our lives now and on to eternity? | By Rev. Eric H. Carswell | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (20m 15s)
Where Have You Come From and Where are You Going
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 02, 2022
As we start a new year, it’s useful to reflect on the questions that the angel of the Lord asks Hagar in the desert: Where are you coming from? Where are you going? And what’s the matter? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (15m 07s)
Strength and Surrender
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 02, 2022
Spiritual life requires both “strength and surrender.” At the shore of the Red Sea, Moses told Israel to “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” and at the same time to “Move forward” (Exodus 14). Peter was able to walk on water, but then he wasn’t (Matthew 14:22-34). Why do we so often fail in self-control and resolutions? | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (24m 42s)
An Eternal Perspective
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 28, 2021
As another year draws to a close and as many people are dealing with the stress of a manic time of year, let’s turn to the Lord’s Word this Sunday for passages about the Lord’s eternal perspective. Let’s zoom out for a few minutes on Sunday and think about what will still matter in a hundred years or a thousand years and then see if we can bring some of that perspective back into all that we’re trying to do before the end of the year. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 17s)
False Humility
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 14, 2021
Jesus teaches that the first will be last, and the last first. He also teaches that he who would be great must become a servant. To be meek and mild therefore seems like the goal we should all aspire to. And this is true! But sometimes our very pursuit of humility can be hijacked by pride and turned into just one more means of gratifying our pride. Humility can be falsified, and true humility may look far more boisterous and assertive than we imagine. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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A Sermon about Sermons
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 07, 2021
One of the main things we do as part of our weekly worship services is have a sermon. But why? What is the purpose of a sermon? What makes a sermon good or not so good? How can you get the most out of even a mediocre sermon? Come on Sunday for a sermon about sermons. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 43s)
Religion and Politics - 2 - Heavenly Leadership
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 31, 2021
It’s often taken as a given that politicians will be self-serving, corrupt, incompetent, or all of the above. They seem to rank just below lawyers as the butt of jokes. Yet the position of being a government official is in itself, or at least ought to be, a sacred one. Anytime someone enters into leadership they take on the responsibility to serve, and the higher the position, the greater the responsibility. This Sunday we will look at how leadership works in heaven (and by contrast, in hell) and see what we can learn both about our own governments and our own roles as leaders. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 39s)
Religion and Politics, 1, Seeking the Lord's Justice in a Corrupt World
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 24, 2021
We don’t often talk about politics in church and with good reason. It can be done wrong in so many ways. And maybe it is better for there to be a “separation between church and state” in society. However, it’s not good for there to be that separation within an individual—it’s not good for there to be a separation between church and state in you. What can we do to try to better integrate our spiritual beliefs and our political beliefs? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (21m 10s)
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, RSA
See Event (31m 29s)
The 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, RSA
See Event (31m 05s)
The 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, RSA
See Event (35m 03s)
Strands 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, RSA
See Event (29m 42s)
So He Gives His Beloved Sleep
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 05, 2021
The Word is written in such a way that every word and concept has a deeper spiritual meaning. These meanings are threaded through the entirety of the Word, tying together disparate and varied stories into one story with one message. This Sunday we will follow one of these threads by exploring sleep and wakefulness. In this theme we learn about the need to be vigilant and awake spiritually, as well as the need to rest and sleep in the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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What Kind of God do You Believe In?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 29, 2021
There are many ideas of God in the world. Over the history of the human race and in all the different religions around the world there is a huge variety of ideas about what God is like. So what God do you believe in? This Sunday we are going to look at a number of the different ways God is depicted and described in the Bible as an opportunity for you to reflect on your relationship with God. We’re also going to look at some common ways in which people’s beliefs about God can be hurting them. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (30m 48s)
Renewed Life
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 22, 2021
Sometimes we think fondly back on the simplicity of childhood. Our biggest concerns seem small in comparison to what we face as adults. It’s a pity we cannot go back to that simple mind-set of trust and innocence. Or at least, that’s what a cynical world tells us. But the Lord offers hope in the face of pessimism. Even though we may have exchanged childish idealism for adult realism, that does not mean we can never go back. In fact the Lord promises that we can regain our innocence and find abundant hope even in a troubled world. It’s not too late. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (29m 18s)
Genuine Goodness - 3 - Is it Wrong to Want Some Credit
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 15, 2021
We’ve been talking for a couple of weeks about genuine goodness and this week we’re going to venture into some of the thorny issues around motivation. Does it matter what our motivations are if the actions we do are good? Is it wrong to want some credit for the good things we do or does that somehow spoil them? Why does the Lord care about our motivations? Spoiler alert: the Lord cares about our motivations because He cares about us and He knows what will make us genuinely happy. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (31m 11s)
Genuine Goodness - 2 - Picking and Choosing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 08, 2021
We all want to be good: but how do we decide which good things to do? No matter how much we do, there is always more to be done. When faced with just how many needs there are in the world we can become overwhelmed. We cannot possibly do it all. In order to be good we have to constantly make a judgment call about what good things we will do, and just as importantly, what good things we will not do. We’ll talk about how to make those choices this Sunday. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (46m 21s)
Genuine Goodness - 1 - Doing Good When You Don't Feel Like It
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 01, 2021
There’s something in each of us that wants to be good—that wants to make the world a better place. But how do we do that? There’s a lot to talk about here. For this Sunday we’re going to start with the rather mundane topic of the good things that we do that we don’t feel like doing. We all have things that we are asked to do, required to do, nagged into doing, or have to do because nobody else is going to do it. Often we don’t feel like doing those things. Should we do them anyway? Should we not? Let’s talk about it on Sunday. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (40m 27s)
Strengthen Your Heart
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 18, 2021
It has been a hard week. This Sunday we will have a special service with Joel, Malcolm, and the Rev. Bheki Dube each playing a part. In the Psalms we read, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (27:14). Join us online as we ask the Lord to strengthen our hearts. | By Rev. J. Bheki Dube | Westville, RSA
See Event (56m 12s)