Advanced search
Search results clear search
False Virtues
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 31, 2021
We put great pride in certain virtues, both as individuals and as a society. When we embody these virtues it is a sign that we are spiritually growing. But virtues are not as easy to identify as we like to believe. Certain qualities that we view as virtuous are in fact unrelated to meaningful virtue. To take a simple example, many people take busy-ness to be a virtue, as if always being busy reflects on their character. In actual fact, being overladen with work says nothing about one’s character: it may be a sign of love for others, but it could just as easily be nothing of the sort. We need to evaluate where we put our worth, and if it is in false virtues then we need to look to the Lord to find the virtues that truly reflect a good spiritual life. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (29m 26s)
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 17, 2021
It’s bad enough to not be in a great place, either outwardly or spiritually. But it’s much worse to not just be in a bad place, but to actually be going backwards, undoing any progress that has been made. When things are going the wrong direction it can lead to hopelessness about the future. It would be nice if the Lord said going backwards was fine, but He doesn’t: in fact, He makes it clear that it is dangerous and damaging thing to experience. Rather than accepting backsliding as just another part of life, the Lord can give us hope that our prior progress has not been lost and that a better future is possible. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 00s)
Taking Refuge in the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 10, 2021
Things do not feel particularly safe or secure in the world these days. There are many reasons for people to feel upset, fearful, and anxious. This Sunday we will reflect on passages from the Word about taking refuge in the Lord. How can we take refuge in the Lord? And then, from that place of security and peace, how can we move back into the world to face whatever we need to face? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (00m 00s)
Re-Creation
Worship Service: Informal Family - January 10, 2021
As we begin a New Year, we will look at the story of the beginning of all things in the depiction of Creation in Genesis. How does each day of the Creation story describe aspects of new beginnings in our spiritual growth and resolutions that we may focus on in the new year? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (28m 19s)
Keeping to a Spiritual Timeline
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 03, 2021
Transitions are a useful reminder to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. We see this most prominently with the New Year: it is a time of appreciating all that has happened in the previous year and looking forward to what the next year has to bring. Or in the case of 2020, trying to forget most of the previous year and hoping things improve in the new. But deep down, we all know that the changing of the calender does not actually change anything. Covid is still with is, the problems of yesterday are mostly the problems we still face today. Although these natural-world cycles are useful reminders, the reality is that spiritually, any moment can be a new day, a new year, a new opportunity for change. Instead of being chained to the steady march of time, we can make our own beginning at any point, when we look to the Lord and His spiritual goals for us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 21s)
Stages of Life - Part 4 - Old Age
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 18, 2020
Old age can be a time of great reflection: looking back on what has been, looking forward with wonder to what is to come after death. It can also be a time of trial and tribulation: as the body and mind fail, doubt and despair can creep in. Moses, at the end of his life, was able to reflect on the past and from that gracefully hand over his wisdom to the next generation. As we look at this concluding stage of life in this world, we will look at how we too can gracefully age and handover to the next generation. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (41m 10s)
Stages of Life - Part 3 - Adulthood
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 11, 2020
In our series on the stages of life, this Sunday we come to the stage of adulthood. We will follow the story of Moses as he is called by the Lord to do something great. And we will also see how he tries to get out of it any way that he can. Moses eventually grows into one of the greatest leaders of the Children of Israel but he also experiences a lot of ups and downs, victories and defeats along the way. Such is adulthood and the Lord’s Word can help us to find our way through it. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (00m 00s)
Stages of Life - Part 1 - Childhood
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 27, 2020
Are you an adult still trying to figure out what it means to be an adult? Are you a teenager or young adult trying to figure out where you fit in the world? Or, are you feeling like you might actually be getting old now? Over the next few weeks we’re going to be using the story of Moses as a way of exploring the challenges and opportunities of the different stages of life that we go through in our lives. This Sunday we’re going to start with the story of baby Moses being put in a tar covered ark in the Nile river and what this can teach us about the first few years of our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (32m 27s)
Technology - Useful Tool or Useless Distraction
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 20, 2020
We live in a world of technology, all the more so since the advent of COVID-19. This pandemic has highlighted the blessing of technology, as it allows us to carry on work safely, to connect with loved ones around the world, even to attend church while not being able to attend in person. But it has also highlighted the downsides of technology, as we yearn to get back to in-person connection and struggle with the frustrating limits of technology. As with any tool, technology will be useful or useless depending on how much it is used in the service of what is spiritual. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (43m 44s)
What Becoming Like a Little Child Means
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 16, 2020
Jesus said that we must become like a little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Elsewhere He says that we must be born again. We investigate what it means to become the type of humble and wise child who can be part of His kingdom. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (25m 59s)
Beyond the Prayer
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 09, 2020
Over the last three weeks we have looked at the Lord’s Prayer. In our services, we often follow the Lord’s Prayer with the familiar phrase, “Lord, forgive us our trespasses; as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is based on the teaching that Jesus gave immediately after giving His disciples His Prayer. Having prayed, it is a useful reminder that we must also live the words that we have spoken; that we must actively work on repentance from sin so we can forgive and be forgiven. So this week we leave the Prayer behind as a spoken conversation with the Lord and turn to how we live it in our daily lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (31m 43s)
Jonah - Part 3
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 09, 2020
The final section of the Jonah story focuses on his hatred of the people of Nineveh. The question here is, why would we hate people when the Lord encourages us to feel joy when another person feels joy. Or, put differently, to look for reasons why we should love others rather than despise them. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (23m 42s)
Jonah - Part 2
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - August 02, 2020
Jonah after being rescued from the sea by the sea creature that the Lord prepared, went to Nineveh as commanded. The people of Nineveh heeded the warning and showed their remorse. This is a message about how we all should be listening to both the Lord and the people in our life who help us to see that something about our life is harmful and needs to change. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (24m 17s)
Jonah - Part 1
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 26, 2020
The Jonah story describes a human situation in which false assumptions and prejudices almost cost Jonah and the other people on the ship with him their lives. Being rescued by the Lord in the belly of a sea creature gave him the chance to truly reflect on his life and on the Lord's mercy. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (28m 23s)
From a Mustard Seed
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - July 19, 2020
In the Lord's parable He tells us that His kingdom within us starts tiny like a mustard seed. We are encouraged to work with Him so that the seed will grow into something wonderful and we will truly be part of His kingdom. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (22m 35s)
Fools for Christ
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 12, 2020
The wisdom of God seems like foolishness to the world, and so following God's wisdom inevitably leads to us feeling foolish. The pressure to give in and embrace the "wisdom" of the world can be strong. Resisting takes sacrifice, from passing on a promotion, to ending a relationship, to letting go of ego, and beyond. But until we are willing to be seen as fools by the world, we are not able to fully follow the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (31m 33s)
You Have Enemies and You Need to Love Them
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 05, 2020
If I asked you, "Do you have any enemies?" you would probably answer, "No." I think most people don't think that they have any enemies. So does the Lord's revolutionary command to love our enemies not really apply to most of us? Well, we all have people that we treat as enemies and we need to recognise that fact. And then we need to learn what it means to love them and then do it. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (39m 14s)
Comings and Goings
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 28, 2020
Psalm 121 speaks of the Lord protecting your going out and your coming in. This speaks to times of transition, times in which it is especially crucial that we remain in the Lord’s care. A prominent example is the Children of Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt and going in to possess the Promised Land. But this story also illustrates the struggle of times of transition: between coming out of Egypt and going into the Land there was forty years of wandering the wilderness. As much as we would like to directly leave hardship and enter good times, more often than not there is an intermediate stage of trial and growth that the Lord must lead us through. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (35m 00s)
Restoring Innocence
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 07, 2020
In Revelation 5 the Lord is pictured as a Lamb that appeared to have been slain. It is a picture of how humanity has been continually trying to destroy innocence. This is because He is Innocence itself. In our world of racial conflict and pain, imagine how better things would be if we were all more innocent. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Sarver, PA
See Event (28m 42s)
Protecting each Child
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - May 31, 2020
We can be assured that no matter what is happening in and around us, we are under the Lord's protection. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Pittsburgh, PA
See Event (31m 36s)
How Are You Doing?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 31, 2020
Why would the omnipotent God of the universe ask a mere mortal a question? Wouldn't He already know the answer? Yet there are many examples of God asking questions in the Word. God does not ask questions so He can learn the answer; He asks questions so that we have a chance to reflect and respond in the context of His perspective. In a similar vein, there is value in letting the Lord know "how we're doing." He already knows of course; we don't have to tell Him anything. But this Sunday we will explore the value of reflecting on how we are doing and sharing that reflection with the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (34m 28s)
Vessels for the Future
Worship Service: Sermon only - May 24, 2020
We are taught that we should work to develop the vessels of love and wisdom within us so that we use those vessels to keep growing ever more wise and charitable toward others in the life to come. | By Rev. Garry B. Walsh | Pittsburgh, PA
See Event (25m 24s)
Death and Rebirth
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 24, 2020
Every stage of our lives involves a new beginning, like hatching from an egg (Secrets of Heaven 4378), coming out of a cocoon (True Christianity 12), or being born again (John 3). | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (12m 35s)
The Tabernacle, Part 3 - Wrapped in Garments of Salvation
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 03, 2020
As we have seen in the past two sermons, the Word's description of the Tabernacle is, spiritually, a description of the many complex things that make up our lives. This week we look not at the Tabernacle itself, but the clothes that the priest had to wear to be able to work in the Tabernacle. These garments stand for the ways that we weave love and goodness into our outer lives so that we can truly reflect the Lord's work in the world. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 01s)
What do you notice?
Worship Service: Informal Family - May 03, 2020
When we are in a good state, we notice certain things, and when in a bad state we notice others. Happiness comes from being able to notice what is good and useful even when things are not great -- not in a Pollyanna-ish way but seeing what is really there. | By Rev. Erik J. Buss | Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
See Event (21m 38s)