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How Long, O Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 13, 2025
How Long, O Lord? These words, "How long, O Lord?" were spoken by a group of people huddled under the altar, desperate to know how much longer it would be before their oppression would cease. Likewise, they are words that we might find ourselves saying when we seem unable to break free of our own sin. But although we might despair of ever being free, the Lord, in secret and hidden ways, is working for our growth and rebirth, if only we put in the little effort that we are able to. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (33m 50s)
Is it Useful
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 06, 2025
This week we ask "How do we measure usefulness?" At the heart of this question is putting truth and kindness into action. Truth and kindness without use are simply airy ideas. By asking "Is it useful?" we bring our focus to the actual impact that our words will have on the people around us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (00m 00s)
Is it Useful
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 06, 2025
This week we ask "How do we measure usefulness?" At the heart of this question is putting truth and kindness into action. Truth and kindness without use are simply airy ideas. By asking "Is it useful?" we bring our focus to the actual impact that our words will have on the people around us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (26m 41s)
Accept the Gift
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 15, 2025
The difference between payment and a gift is that we are entitled to payment for the work we have done, while a gift is freely given. So if the Lord freely forgives and saves us, why does it seem like we have to work so hard for it? What do we get credit for and what do we have to acknowledge is the Lord's? If we can clearly see how the Lord freely gives us what we need to work with, we'll be able to accept that gift in every situation through the choices we make. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Unintended Consequences
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 25, 2025
Intentions matter more than actions. In other words, someone who is good hearted but makes mistakes is better off than someone who is malicious even while doing the right thing. Yet even the most well-intentioned person can cause harm. Their good intentions do not negate the damage they can cause in ignorance. Rather than justifying ourselves or others by saying, “they meant well,” we must find ways of addressing the harm and correcting it, even as we support and acknowledge the good intentions lying behind it. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Strong in the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 18, 2025
The Lord lends strength to those who rely on Him, the strength to resist temptation, to overcome hardship, and to do what is right and good. But when we claim credit for that strength, and take pride in ourselves over the Lord, the strength is lost and we falter. Even so, through hard work, we can turn back to the Lord and again find strength in Him. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Changing Our Spiritual Landscape
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 11, 2025
You can tell a lot about someone by the things and people they surround themselves with. On the one hand, this is because where we choose to put time and effort is a reflection of what we value. On the other hand, it is also because we are shaped by our environments: we become like what we are surrounded by. This statement is true spiritually. If we surround ourselves with heavenly influences, we will become heavenly. If we surround ourselves with hellish influences, we will become hellish. Where and how we spend our time is not just a matter of personal preference. It is a matter of choosing who we will become. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Heavenly Imbalance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 23, 2025
“Everything in moderation” seems like a sound rule for life. After all, anything, even something good, can become harmful when taken to an extreme. Yet this common-sense truth finds surprisingly little support in the Lord’s Word. As just one example, Jesus says, “no one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). There is no moderation or balancer here: rather pick a side and wholeheartedly follow it! This Sunday we will look at how a blind devotion to moderation can be harmful and why thinking in terms of prioritisation is a more heavenly outlook. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Pearls of Wisdom
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 16, 2025
What would you be willing to give up in order to get the Lord's truth? Sometimes it seems like we don't have to give up anything: all we need to do is learn a little! But to really take in the truth and have it become part of our lives, we need to be willing to let go of other wants, points of view, and habits that get in the way. We have to be like the merchant in the Lord's parable who was willing to sell all that he had in order to acquire the pearl of great price. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 56s)
Half Measures
Worship Service: Children & Adult - March 09, 2025
When Saul was commanded to destroy all the Amalekites and all their possessions, he only half obeyed: he destroyed all the worthless possessions, but kept the precious things, and spared the king. Yet he still claimed that he had obeyed the Lord. How often do we only follow the Lord halfway, but claim that we have done everything He asks? And how do we come to a place of wholeheartedly separating ourselves even from the evils that we really love and are attached to? | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
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Belonging to the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 26, 2025
What is the Lord’s? In a broad sense all things are the Lord’s: He created and sustains everything in the universe. Yet we also feel as if we are our own masters. There is an innate sense that what goes on in our minds and hearts is ours and ours alone. Yet even here all that is good and true belongs to the Lord. Miraculously, when we acknowledge that truth and live it, we can actually feel more, not less, ourselves. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 59s)
Overcoming Avoidance
Worship Service: Children & Adult - January 19, 2025
Avoiding is something we all do. We do it with small things, like when we ignore our body’s signals that it’s time for bed or when we procrastinate on the dishes. We do it with bigger things, like when we put off that important but difficult conversation we need to have or when we put future decisions out of mind. And we do it even with the most important things in our spiritual lives, when we know we have an issue but it is to challenging to face. But if we are to grow spiritually we cannot put off or ignore our flaws. We need to address them head on. This Sunday we will look at some of the reasons we avoid spiritual challenges and what we can do to overcome that tendency. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 48s)
From Blindness to Sight
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 12, 2025
We are all born into ignorance. None of us knows how to do this thing called life well. But the Lord provides the tools that allow us to learn and to improve. We will never have perfect knowledge of right and wrong; but we can come to better know the truth, and so know better how to live good lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (15m 43s)
Looking Forward
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 05, 2025
The challenge with the future is the unknowns. It is easy to see how the Lord led us even in hard times when we look back. It is more of a challenge to look forward and trust that the Lord will continue to lead us. And this is as it should be: the Lord asks us to plan for an uncertain future, and work towards it, so that He can direct us down the right path. When we find the right balance of planning and trust we can face what is to come with confidence. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 04s)
Abundance and Famine, Part 2, Perservere
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 24, 2024
Hard times will come, no matter how prepared we might be. We cannot avoid them. What we can do is put our preparation to use, so that we can persevere through the hard times. In fact, through this perseverance we are strengthened in both love and wisdom, and may come out the other side better people. Even if we feel that we are inadequately prepared for the challenge, the Lord always provides what we need in order to get through it. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 31s)
Abundance and Famine Part 1 Prepare
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 17, 2024
We have a tendency to think that whatever we are going through right now is how things will always be. But whether you are going through a time of blessings or of hardship, this too shall pass. In this two part series we will look at how we can prepare for hardship in the good times, and persevere through hardships to get back to the good times. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 18s)
True Freedom
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 10, 2024
In the western world we tend to value individuality above almost anything else. The freedom of the individual is sacrosanct. The Lord also values individual freedom. Without the freedom to make personal choices we would not be able to choose heaven over hell. Yet that does not mean that all freedom is equal: one kind of individual freedom leads to hellish anarchy while the other leads to heavenly order. If we want to follow the Lord, we need to spend time distinguishing between the two. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 27s)
What is at the Door
Worship Service: Children & Adult - November 03, 2024
Right at the door, right at the passage from our homes out into the world, lies a choice. It is a good choice! A choice we get to make every single day. Join us as we look at what is at the door or maybe, who is at the door. | By Rev. Charles E. Blair | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 31s)
Picking and Choosing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 27, 2024
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 (28m 21s)
Being Fed By Ravens
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 20, 2024
Our Story is about a Raven sent to feed Elijah. Why a Raven? This bird is a scavenger. It feeds on dead creatures/carrion. Yet today, it is a choice bird that the LORD uses to take care of Elijah. Is there more to the story than meets the eye? | By Rev. J. Bheki Dube | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 47s)
Water into Wine
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 13, 2024
In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ first miracle consists of turning water into wine. While this miracle is powerful in it’s own right, it also represents a spiritual process that we all must go through: just as Jesus turned simple water into good quality wine, the Lord can transform the basic ideas we know into a way of life. What were once simple truths can become the good habits that lead to heaven. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 31s)
Are You a Pessimist or an Optimist?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 06, 2024
Are optimists better than pessimists? Are pessimists just realistic while optimists are naïve? 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 (23m 07s)
Doing No Harm
Worship Service: Informal Family - September 29, 2024
The Lord gave us the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) because He loves us and wants to keep us safe. Not doing evil (that is, doing no harm) is the first part of caring for others (True Christianity 435). | By Rev. John L. Odhner | Bryn Athyn Cathedral Undercroft
See Event (28m 49s)
Bringing Evil to Light
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 22, 2024
What’s the point of reflecting on your inner life? The things that go through your heart and mind? The problem is that evil that remains hidden will ultimately actually change who we are as individuals. The Lord wants us to work on our inner selves, our motivations and intentions, so that we can become truly heavenly people, in other words, people who do not just act heavenly, but who are heavenly at heart and in mind. In order for this to happen, the evils that exist within us must be examined, brought to light, and dealt with openly. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 25s)
Abide in Me
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 15, 2024
There are many ways we can think about what the Lord wants for us. One of the ways the Lord frames it is that He wants us to abide in Him so that He can abide in us. During the service we will be exploring how we can live our lives in a way that allows for the Lord to most fully abide in us, where we can feel His presence and experience His joy | By Rt. Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs | Westville, RSA
See Event (43m 04s)