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Rich and Poor, Wealth and Luxury
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 28 Jan, 2024
If you are rich, what are your obligations to the poor? If you are poor, how should you view those richer than you? The Lord in the Gospels teaches us about wealth and poverty and the Teachings for the New Church build on those concepts to help us understand how Christians ought to view these things. | By Rev. Calvin Heinrichs , Westville, RSA
Struggling
Worship Service: Informal Family - 28 Jan, 2024
The mysterious incident of Jacob “wrestling” with God all night speaks to an important principle – as much as we may try to avoid spiritual pain and suffering, these struggles are nevertheless the mechanism which enables us to grow and mature. Jacob’s new name carries the idea of being tied up with God’s purposes. How do we become more “tied up” with God’s purposes? | By Rev. Derek P. Elphick , Bryn Athyn Cathedral Undercroft
Reacting to Evil Part 3 Amending
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 21 Jan, 2024
Last week we looked at how we need to adjust our view of people who commit evil: we must bring charity to bear, so that we can focus on the good. This week we will look at what we can actually do to stop or amend the evil. This is a tricky endeavour: on the one hand, we can have a great deal of influence or even control over how other people behave; on the other hand, we are often powerless to change someone’s behaviour, and although we can influence and encourage people to change, we have no power whatsoever to actually change them. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Renewed Life
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 7 Jan, 2024
| By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Lord Won't Let You Down
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 19 Nov, 2023
The life of David is one of courage and trust in the Lord. Yet even David, as king, fell away from the right path. It turns out that heroes can never quite live up to our hopes and expectations. The same is true of life: we build up hopes and expectations, but then feel let down when they don’t turn out. The Lord, however is different: He will never let us down; His promises always come to pass, and they turn out to exceed our hopes and expectations. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Choosing Sides
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 12 Nov, 2023
Life seems to be full of complicated choices, and the world we live in can often seem so confusing. Yet, the Lord in His Word is continually urging us to make the right choice to follow Him. Why does this many times become so hard for us to do? Clearly this choice is wise, but why isn’t making this choice easy? | By Rt. Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs , Westville, RSA
The Woman at the Well
Worship Service: Sermon only - 5 Nov, 2023
Do you seek the Lord on a regular basis? Are you eager to share with others the things you have learned from Him? The story of the woman at the well provides a wonderful example of how we can go about doing these two very important things! | By Rt. Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs , Westville, RSA
Where Did We Go Wrong?!
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 22 Oct, 2023
Have you ever found yourself in a bad place and wondered how on earth you got into this mess? Things were once so great! Life was sailing along smoothly and you were proud of how much growth you’d seen in yourself. Yet here you are, back to your crabby, unhappy, selfish self. What went wrong? This pattern is common not just in individuals but in communities and even across history. Luckily, it does not happen by chance. This Sunday we’ll look what Revelation can tell us about this cycle and how we can avoid it. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Gratitude for the Work of Others
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 15 Oct, 2023
We have a lot to be thankful to the Lord for. He is the source of each and every good in our lives. But this Sunday we will focus on one particular aspect of what the Lord provides; or rather, the means by which He provides. That means in other people: so much of what the Lord gives us comes by way of the people He inspires to serve and to do good. This Sunday we will reflect on how we can feel and show gratitude for the many people through whom the Lord works. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Am I Enough
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 1 Oct, 2023
We are bombarded with messages that we need to do more, give more, be more. Whether these messages are overt and intended or subtle and implied, they push us to ask ourselves, “am I enough?” Am I enough for my children? Am I enough for my spouse? Am I enough for my work? Am I enough for my society? And above all, am I enough for the Lord? The bad news is that we are all lacking; the good news is even in our lack we are enough in the Lord’s eyes. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Unified in the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 24 Sep, 2023
What makes someone your neighbour? In a literal sense it refers to people who live close by. But when the Lord said to “love your neighbour as yourself” He was most certainly not saying to love people next door. Spiritually speaking our neighbours are the ones who are close to us spiritually; and regardless of our individual backgrounds and cultures, all of us are brought together into this spiritual closeness when we look to the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Water to Wine
Worship Service: Informal Family - 10 Sep, 2023
One of the first miracles that Jesus did was turning water to wine at a wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11). What can this miracle teach us about spiritual transformations in our own lives? The piano interlude is included with permission of author Solomon Keal. | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal , Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
Feed What Grows
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 3 Sep, 2023
We often prioritize things that aren't working. Sometimes this is a good thing: after all, if it isn't working it needs to be fixed. But often we also pour energy into areas that are not bearing fruit. The Lord invites us to put aside the things that aren't working, and instead focus on the things that will bear fruit: things like love to the Lord, charity to the neighbour, and the joy of service. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Leaving the Past Behind
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 27 Aug, 2023
We sometimes think that to leave our mistakes behind we can just forget about them; but we also know that really doesn’t work. The alternative seems to be to somehow make up for them, and there is truth in this. But what does it take to make up for a mistake? Especially a mistake that rises to the level of being evil? It can feel like we have to undo our mistake, and yet there is no way to change the past. The reality is that repentance (the Lord’s way of making up for mistakes) is not so much about the past, but the present: repentance does not undo the things we have done; instead it allows us to become a different person in the present moment. It’s all about who we are, not who we used to be. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Old and New Wineskins
Worship Service: Informal Family - 13 Aug, 2023
In the Gospels, Jesus told His disciples that you can’t put new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9, Mark 2, Luke 5). In what ways do we sometimes try to put “new wine” into “old wineskins” in our spiritual lives? And how can we choose “new wineskins” instead? | By Rev. Solomon J. Keal , Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
Slow and Steady
Worship Service: Informal Family - 6 Aug, 2023
The Israelites really wanted to get into the Promised Land to establish their new home, but they needed some time in the wilderness to figure things out. Similarly, we may like the idea of sudden life change that fixes our problems, but that’s not generally the way life works. In what ways is time in the wilderness a necessary part of our journey toward spiritual life? (Apologies for the hum in the audio) | By Rev. Jeffrey Smith , Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
Good vs Right
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 9 Jul, 2023
Which matters more: being good or being right? As a church we know that both matter, and at the same time that goodness is the more important of the two. Yet often we can switch things around and put way too much emphasis on being right to the detriment of being good, This Sunday we will look at the letter to the Church in Ephesus, which urges those who put great weight in being right to focus more on doing good. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Gift of Responsibility
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 2 Jul, 2023
| By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Uncertainty
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 25 Jun, 2023
“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” (Matthew 6:34) This simple phrase holds immense power. It’s easy to become caught up in what the future holds: worry, anxiety, fear. Our instinct is to reach for certainty and take control to make sure everything works out. This pattern becomes exhausting and is futile. Yet when we listen to the Lord we can let go of the need for certainty and instead hope, with the sure trust that the Lord will lead us through all hardships. This week, when you worry about the future, change that worry into a hope. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Thirsty for Truth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 28 May, 2023
It turns out that we don’t have all the answers and that we don’t have life more figured out than anyone else. When life gets hard we can quickly go from self-satisfied to despairing over ever knowing how to overcome our troubles. While we might seek to avoid this trap of thinking we have everything figured out only to have it all crash down around us, it is inevitable. Thankfully the Lord uses this experience to lead us to a place of true peace and contentment. This process is laid out for us in the story of Hagar and Ishmael. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
As in Heaven so Upon the Earth
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 7 May, 2023
The Teachings of the New Church describe heaven as a place of beauty and peace. Some of the passages go into intricate detail as to what we can expect there. But although heaven is a place that can be described as our future dwelling-place, it is much more than that too. The more we know about what really makes heave heaven, the more able we will be to create heaven on earth. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Cast the Net on the Right Side
Worship Service: Informal Family - 7 May, 2023
After the Lord’s resurrection, His disciples went fishing. All night they caught nothing; but in the morning, when Jesus appeared on the shore and told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat, they did so – and they caught a huge number of fish (John 21). What does this story teach us about changing how we approach things that aren’t working in our lives? | By Rev. Coleman S. Glenn , Bryn Athyn Heilman Hall
A Shift in Perspective
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 23 Apr, 2023
By default we see the world from our own point of view. This is an inescapable fact of life; but our own desires, wants, and wishes shape how we see other people and the world around us. The Lord calls us to lift our minds above our default perspective so that we can look from the Lord’s heavenly one. When seen from His point of view we will find that the world is a much better place with more opportunities than we could otherwise imagine. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Joy from Heavenly Treasures
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 16 Apr, 2023
This sermon is adapted from one written by Rev. Gerald Waters in 2010. In it we will explore where true joy comes from, and how through a life of service we can build up a never-ending supply of happiness. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Humanness of God
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 26 Mar, 2023
Easter celebrates the Lord’s victory over hell, at a time in history when hell was at its strongest. Yet Easter was not just a moment in time: in His moment of victory the Lord conquered hell to eternity. His conquest carries on in us today, and it is able to carry on specifically because of the humanness that God took on, and that still defines Him today. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA