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Living in a Post-Apocalyptic World - Part 2 - New Foundations
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 14 Jun, 2020
The New Church teaches that the Apocalypse has already taken place: in fact, it took place over 250 years ago, as the New Church was being born into the world. Understanding the spiritual events from that time period can help us better understand the world we live in today. Last week, Malcolm talked about how the mere existence of the New Church did not automatically make people better: even New Church people have, and still can, support abhorrent practices. This week we will talk about the difference the New Church does make, and why it matters that a New Church was established and continues to exist. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
How Are You Doing?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 31 May, 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
Misconceptions of Providence - 2 - Coincidence? I think not!
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 17 May, 2020
This week we continue our series on misconceptions about Divine Providence. There are moments when something so unlikely and unexpected, and yet so wonderful, occurs, that we cannot help but see it as the hand of God at work in the world. But if God intervenes so forcefully in the world sometimes, it serves to highlight the many times when He does not (apparently) intervene. Why is one person miraculously spared from cancer, while thousands of others are condemned to die? The truth is that God’s Providence is not just at work in the unlikely and the obvious ways we see. His Providence extends to each and every moment of our lives, even down to the most mundane. He is never absent. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Tabernacle, Part 3 - Wrapped in Garments of Salvation
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 3 May, 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
The Tabernacle, Part 1: A Dwelling Place for the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 19 Apr, 2020
The Tabernacle was a tent that served as the centre of Israelite worship. But in this archaic structure we can also see a heavenly model for our own minds. This week we will explore how the materials willingly given by the Children of Israel represent the many pieces of our hearts and minds out of which the Lord builds a place for Him to dwell within us. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Rejoicing in Hope
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 5 Apr, 2020
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the crowds greeted Him with joy. Yet at that point, nothing had changed: after merely looking around, Jesus left the city again to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. The joy and hope of the crowds was only realized after the events of Jesus' capture, trial, torture, death, and resurrection. Even so, the joy of Palm Sunday is an important part of the Easter Story. Many of us, I am sure, are feeling that we have little to rejoice in at the moment: we have a long struggle ahead of us. But even if we cannot rejoice in the conclusion of this process yet, perhaps we can rejoice in the hope that the Lord will lead us to victory. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Finding Jesus in the Life of Elisha: Persistently Seeking the Lord
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 22 Mar, 2020
In the challenges that we face, and that many of us are facing right now, it is important that we continually go back to the Lord. Spiritual life does not just happen: it takes intentional and persistent work, work that goes on even when life is at its hardest. Remember that this service will be streamed live online at 9:30am this Sunday at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville. There will be a children's talk before the adult sermon. We encourage you to not just watch the video, but to actually experience worship: open your own copy of the Word, light candles, kneel for the prayers, sing some worship songs before or after the service, and so on. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Render Unto Caesar
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 8 Mar, 2020
The teachings of the New Church point out how important it is to distinguish between things that are spiritual and things that are natural. This might sound like a bit of abstract philosophy, but you've probably run afoul of doing it wrong: have you ever felt like a bad person for cheating on a diet or wearing the wrong thing to a wedding? That guilt comes, in part, from lending spiritual weight (being a bad person) to a natural rule (diet or dress code). If we can do better at distinguishing spiritual from natural, it will lift an unnecessary weight from our lives. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Lose Something Good to Gain Something Better
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 23 Feb, 2020
When we think of removing things from our life, our mind probably goes to the harmful, destructive, negative things. After all, why would you get rid of something that is helpful, good, and positive? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But at times, our attachment to something good holds us back from moving on to something better. This Sunday we will look at how to recognize those times when we need to move on, even if it means the end of something good. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Missed Opportunities
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 9 Feb, 2020
It is frustrating when we miss an opportunity for something good: It is impossible to go back and change what happened, but we like to dwell on what might have been, if only we had known. This same mindset troubles us spiritually. It is not pleasant to think, “if I had made different choices earlier today, or last week, or last year, right now I would be a kinder, better, happier person. But since I missed my chance, I’ll never be quite as good as I could have been." The Lord, however, in bringing His friend Lazarus back from the dead, gives us hope that even if we cannot change the past, we never lose the chance for a better future. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Out of Control Evil
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 26 Jan, 2020
What do you do when you lose control? Not in a wild and crazy sort of way. But more in the sense of knowing exactly what not to do, even having boundaries in place, but then helplessly observing yourself cross every boundary and break every commitment. In short, how do we come back from not being able to control our evils? The Word tells the story of a man possessed by demons, so possessed that even chains could not bind him. Yet what the man could not do on his own or even with the restraint of his neighbours, the Lord Himself could. Come learn how the Lord heals our evils and gives hope when we are hopeless. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Feed the Things that Grow
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 12 Jan, 2020
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
Trampling the Serpent
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 22 Dec, 2019
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
Halfway There
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 24 Nov, 2019
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
Unintended Consequences
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 10 Nov, 2019
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
Embracing Weakness
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 6 Oct, 2019
If someone called you weak, you would take it as an insult. But what about when the Lord calls you weak? Because He most certainly does: compared to Him, we are utterly powerless. And yet far from being insulted, if we embrace our own weakness, we can let down the burdens of perfection and self-reliance, and receive from the Lord a greater power than we could ever muster on our own. We may be utterly helpless, but the greatest force in the universe is on our side. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Innocence is Bliss
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 15 Sep, 2019
There is a certain magic in holding a little baby. Their innocence brings a sense of contented peace. But what does it mean to be innocent really? It doesn’t mean being naive. It doesn’t mean being ignorant. But it doesn’t mean being perfect either. Can we keep our innocence as we grow? Should we? This Sunday we’ll explore what Jesus Christ tells us about innocence and what we need to do to live a life led by the Lord. - By Richard Glenn | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Good News, Fresh from Heaven, Part 2: Seen, Heard and Felt
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 1 Sep, 2019
This week we continue to explore the Teachings of the New Church and what they can mean for us. One of the more unusual aspects of these works is the descriptions of conversations with spirits and angels and the surroundings in which they took place. Swedenborg did not just share ideas, but also the things that the Lord allowed him to see, hear, and feel. Although unusual, what can these experiences teach us about heavenly life that mere ideas could not? | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Good News, Fresh from Heaven
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 18 Aug, 2019
People are often intimidated to try reading Emanuel Swedenborg’s books. He wrote a lot of books and they get into some pretty deep and complex topics. And yet in his own words, these books are "the coming of the Lord." So how do we approach these books in a way that moves beyond philosophy and enters into a real, living relationship with the Lord? | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Samuel, Part 3: Less Than Ideal, But Better Than Nothing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 4 Aug, 2019
Towards the end of Samuel’s life the Children of Israel began demanding a king. They wanted someone in charge who could defend them from their enemies, and besides, all the neighbouring tribes got to have their own king. God had two responses to their demand: Don’t do it If you do, here’s how you need to do it Even though God knew that having a king was less than ideal, He was also willing to work with their demands and show them a way of doing it that would be successful. Likewise, when we balk at the Lord and demand to be able to do spirituality our own way, God is willing to compromise, provided we remain within a certain framework of truth. This Sunday we’ll talk about that less then ideal but still workable way of following the Lord. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Samuel, Part 2: Beyond Skin-Deep Spirituality
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 28 Jul, 2019
What makes someone spiritual? Is it how they talk and what they say? Is it the rituals they take part in or the practices they have developed? Is it how they treat other people? All of these things do go into a person's spirituality, but what really makes a person spiritual does deeper, to what is going on in the heart. The Children of Israel's superficial treatment of the Ark of God, and their subsequent defeat, has a lot to teach us about the need to go deeper than just going through the motions and to take what God says to heart. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Heavenly Imbalance
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 14 Jul, 2019
“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
Joy Comes in the Morning: Dealing with Depression from a Spiritual Standpoint
Banquet Address - 22 Jun, 2019
Joel Glenn's banquet speech at the 2019 New Church Day Banquet at New Church Westville. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
The Spiritual History of the Human Race, Part 2: The Ancient World
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 16 Jun, 2019
The Spiritual History of the Human Race, Part 2: The Ancient World In the lead up to New Church Day we are looking at the spiritual history of the human race, in other words, all the churches that went before and how they contribute to where we find ourselves today in the New Church. Last week Malcolm talked about how mankind began in a kind of purity and innocence, but then fell away from that when they decided to make their own sense of self more important than God. This week we’ll look at the next era in spiritual history: the Ancient Church. This is the time period in which people became disconnected from spiritual reality and the Lord had to find other ways of reaching them. By studying this process we can start to understand why God can seem so distant from us today. | By Rev. Joel C Glenn , Westville, RSA
Am I Enough?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - 2 Jun, 2019
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