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Jesus’ birth is described as the light shining in the darkness. One of the purposes for which Jesus came was to shine the light of truth into the world. But this truth was not just cold, hard, knowledge. It was truth that could show and lead to real love and goodness. In Him was life, and that life is the light of men.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.
• Readings
  The readings from the Word can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

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.

There will be no morning service.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

• Readings
  The readings from the Word can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

• Readings
  The readings from the Word can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

• Readings
  The readings from the Word can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

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.

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

• Sermon
  The written version of the sermon can be found here.

• Readings
  The readings from the Word can be found here.