News

This Sunday we get to witness a baptism. The teachings of the New Church tell us that the sacrament of baptism was instituted by the Lord to replace the ritual of circumcision. We might prefer not to think too much about circumcision but, if we spend a bit of time reflecting on the purpose and function of circumcision, it can give us a different and useful angle from which to get a better understanding of the sacrament that replaced it, baptism.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  We will have three songs during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

The 4th Commandment directs us to “honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.” I hope you have a chance today to do some of that honouring. But of course, this commandment goes far beyond just one day of the year and beyond just one earthly mother. More broadly we can reflect on how we honour motherhood in general, and how those qualities of motherhood come into our spiritual practices. Whether your mother is still here or has passed on, whether your relationship with your mother is deep, conflicted, or non-existent, it is possible to honour spiritual motherhood.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  We will have three songs during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

We’re going to look at a story this Sunday where the Children of Israel are facing a powerful enemy and they decide to bring the ark of the covenant into battle with them. But then they get absolutely slaughtered by their enemy. There are other stories in the Bible where the presence of the ark of the covenant with the people brings about a miraculous victory for the Children of Israel. There are also times in our lives where we’re facing something difficult and we feel like we’re making an effort to follow the Lord but He doesn’t seem to be helping at all. What’s going on?

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  We will have three songs during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

So far we have seen why education is a necessary part of life and how education is really an opening up of a path to the Lord. This Sunday we will look at some of the ways that we do the actual practice of learning and teaching. For learning to be useful we have to make sure we are taking account of all that the Lord says about our minds and how they grow.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  We will have three songs during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

Last week Joel talked about the necessity of education. This week we will be talking about a model of what education does for a person and how a New Church worldview can inform what we educate people in and how we educate them.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  We will have three songs  during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here on Sunday morning.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

We are beginning a series on education, specifically New Church education. Education is more than just what you learn in school: it is a process of growing from ignorance into wisdom, from selfishness into selflessness, from hell into heaven. This Sunday we will look at the reasons that we all have to learn, and why we need to keep on learning into eternity. Education is something that we can never be done with, especially if we want to follow the Lord and be part of His Kingdom.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  Preludes will being 10 minutes prior to the service (9:20). We will have three songs  during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

Easter is an opportunity to reflect on the Lord’s life, death, and resurrection. But what if you’re not sure what you believe about all of that? Or what if you believe that it happened but it doesn’t feel particularly relevant to your life? In either case, you’re in good company. On Easter morning the disciples did not immediately believe that the Lord had risen from the dead. It took them a while and a number of experiences to get to the point where they believed that it was true. On Sunday we’ll look at some of the stories after the Lord’s resurrection from the Gospel of Luke and what we can learn from them about the process of growing in our belief in the Lord.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  Preludes will being 10 minutes prior to the service (9:20). We will have three songs  during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

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.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  Preludes will being 10 minutes prior to the service (9:20). We will have three songs  during the service that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.

The role of the prophets was to communicate God’s messages to the people. They did that by speaking and writing but also by embodying the message they were communicating in one way or another. The prophet Ezekiel was often commanded to do some rather weird things to embody the messages he was communicating. This Sunday we will be trying to understand why he did these things and what that can reveal to us about why Jesus did the things that He did as the Word made flesh who dwelt among us.

The service will be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live. You can also watch the service later at that same link.

• Song Lyrics
  About 10 minutes before the service starts (9:20) we will have some songs that you can sing along with at home. You can download the lyrics to the songs here.
• Readings
  The readings for the service can be found here.
• Text Sermon
  A PDF of the text version of the sermon can be found here.

If you are planning on attending in person you must fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire each time you are attending on the Sunday morning before the service.

You must also read the full explanation of the rules.