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Warriors for the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 1 Jun, 2025
What does it mean to engage in spiritual warfare? What does it take to become like one of the angels of Michael and fight for our Lord? These questions are important for us to explore because spiritual life is not always easy or peaceful. There are times when we struggle to follow the Lord and when it takes real effort to treat people the way He commands us to treat them. If we want the New Church to descend into the world then we must prepare the way by engaging in this conflict: before the Holy City can descend, the dragon must be confronted and defeated, and we must each do that as individuals if we want that Holy City to be present in our lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Unintended Consequences
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 25 May, 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
Strong in the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 18 May, 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
Changing Our Spiritual Landscape
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 11 May, 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
Making Faith Our Own
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 4 May, 2025
When you were born you knew nothing about the world and how it worked; nor did you know anything about the Lord or spiritual life. These were things that had to be taught to you, from a young age, both through education and through the examples set by the people around you. As you matured your faith became your own. No longer did you have to rely on others: you could enter into an adult relationship with the Lord and an adult understanding of spiritual life. Yet as simple as that sounds, we can all stand to reflect on how much of our faith is really our own, and how much work still needs to be done to move past what we were taught and live our faith for ourselves. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Finding the Risen Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 20 Apr, 2025
Easter is of course about the Lord's Resurrection after His Crucifixion. But just because the Lord rose and lived again does not mean that we ourselves feel His living presence within ourselves. There is a process of being led to Him; it is a process that involves both the head and the heart, a process that involves grief and joy, faith and doubt. This Easter Sunday we will explore what the Gospel of John has to tell us about finding the Risen Lord in our own lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The View From the Cross
Worship Service: Children & Adult - 16 Apr, 2025
We mostly think of the view that we have of the Lord. When we think of the crucifixion, perhaps we picture the Lord on the cross. But what was (and is) the Lord’s point of view? In His moment of suffering and death what did He observe, and in observing, what was His response? For an ordinary person they may have felt despair or anger; yet the Lord, even then, continued to look out with mercy and love, even on His enemies. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Coming Kingdom
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 13 Apr, 2025
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the onlookers took it to be an ancient symbol of kingship. And indeed, it was. Yet their expectations of that coming kingdom were far removed from the kingdom that Jesus sought to establish. Jesus knew that the people expected an immediate overthrow of oppression and the onset of an earthly kingdom with Jesus as their benevolent ruler. The kingdom Jesus actually established was one of hard work and repentance, in other words, a spiritual kingdom. This Sunday we will look at how our own expectations are contrary to what the Lord actually intends for us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Face and Clothing of Love
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 30 Mar, 2025
Marriage is an important part of love for many people. And yet the Word has very little to say about it directly! Part of the reason is that people have so many warped ideas of what marriage is or ought to be. When the Word was written, a true explanation would have been rejected. But in the Teachings of the New Church we find that clearer explanation, and at heart, marriage is about friendship. Through cultivating a genuine friendship, a married couple can establish trust, mutual support, and true marriage love. | By Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith , Westville, RSA
Heavenly Imbalance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 23 Mar, 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
Pearls of Wisdom
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 16 Mar, 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
Half Measures
Worship Service: Children & Adult - 9 Mar, 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
Being Forgiven - Sorry Doesn't Cut It
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 2 Mar, 2025
We have all needed to be forgiven at one time or another. It's tempting at these times to think a simple "I'm sorry" will suffice. But when it comes to forgiveness "sorry" just doesn't cut it. Although when we say sorry it may be heartfelt it does nothing to change us or our situation. It is when we recognize our fault and make an effort to change that we can receive real forgiveness. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Back to Basics: Part 3 How Does the Bible Work?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 16 Feb, 2025
The Bible, the very Word of God, is our link to the Lord and His Teachings. And yet, it is not always obvious how it works. What are we to make of the confusing parts? Or the contradictions? Why is God so obtuse in revealing Himself to us? A large part of the answer to these questions can be found through understanding the spiritual sense that lies beneath the surface of every verse of the Word. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Back to Basics: Part 2, What is Salvation?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 9 Feb, 2025
Salvation is at the heart and soul of Christ’s message. But what actually is it? Salvation is meaningless if we do not understand what we are being saved from and how we can achieve that salvation. The New Church teaches that all of us have an inclination towards evil that would destroy us if we weren’t protected by the Lord; and that to be truly and fully saved, we need to look to the Lord, reject evil, and live a good life, based on His teachings. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Back to Basics Part 1 Who is God
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 2 Feb, 2025
The most important question that almost any religion tries to answer is, “Who is God?” In our day to day lives we may find other questions more pressing, such as “how do I keep my temper when my three-year-old scrawled crayon all over the wall AGAIN?” But how we see God actually filters into how we see all those basic day-to-day questions of life. So who is God, and how can we come to know Him better? That’s what we’ll explore this Sunday. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Belonging to the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 26 Jan, 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
Overcoming Avoidance
Worship Service: Children & Adult - 19 Jan, 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
From Blindness to Sight
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 12 Jan, 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
Looking Forward
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 5 Jan, 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
Countless Blessings
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 22 Dec, 2024
The Lord’s birth in a lowly manger in the crowded town of Bethlehem was set in motion by a census ordered by Caesar Augustus. Everyone was required to return to their home town to be registered, which meant that Joseph had to return to Bethlehem with Mary. This census, a fairly innocuous historical event, carries a deeper spiritual meaning: it represents the human tendency to put our worth in material things, to count them up and compare our worldly success with that of other people. This mindset crowds out the Lord, and ironically, it is only when we let go of our own success and ascribe all things to Him that we can receive the true success and happiness that we want. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Trampling the Serpent
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 15 Dec, 2024
There are prophecies of the Lord’s coming scattered throughout the Old Testament. Many of these are well known: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” for example. But the first prophecy of the Lord’s coming is much more obscure and less well known. It is spoken by Jehovah to the serpent in the Garden of Eden: I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall trample your head, And you shall batter His heel. Not your usual Christmas cheer perhaps, but this prophecy describes the purpose of the Lord’s coming: to confront the selfishness that rises like a serpent within each of us and trample it down until we can be saved from it. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Good News to All People
Worship Service: Informal Family - 8 Dec, 2024
To kick off our Carol Sing we will begin with a worship service in the church for the whole family. The news of Christmas was not just for a few people, but for all people, no matter who or where or when. Although “all people” covers a lot of diversity, we are all united when we come to the Lord together. We get a taste of this when we sing joyfully about the Lord together: all our individual voices are joined into one voice, united in our common love for the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Word Became Flesh
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 1 Dec, 2024
In two of the Gospels the Christmas story is told in the familiar way: Jesus was born to a virgin, Mary, born in Bethlehem, and visited by Shepherds and Wise Men. Yet the Gospel of John tells the same story in a far more enigmatic way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:1, 14) What was this “Word”? And what does it mean for it to have become “Flesh?” These details tells us something important about the Lord’s coming into the World, and even about how we still relate to Him today. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Abundance and Famine, Part 2, Perservere
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 24 Nov, 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