25 December 2025

The Two Christmas Stories, Part 2: Luke

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There is not just one “Christmas Story:” Matthew recounts Joseph’s dilemma, the arrival of the wise men, and the threat of Herod, while Luke recounts the annunciation to Mary, the infant Jesus being placed in a manger, and the shepherds coming to see Him. Keeping these stories separate in our minds helps us understand the spiritual significance of each one: Matthew has a lot to say about how we receive the Lord in our minds through truth, faith, and understanding. Luke on the other hand tells us more about how we receive the Lord in our hearts, in goodness, charity, and our will. On Christmas Day we will explore how Luke can help us be more accepting, trusting, and loving in how we receive the Lord.

Previous Sermons

13 September 2026

To Be Part of a Whole

We talk of organizations as if they have a life of their own: "The company made some good decisions last year;" "The rugby team is making good progress." But of course, no organisation does anything apart from the individual choices of its members.

6 September 2026

The Golden Calf

When Moses was up on Mt. Sinai getting the Ten Commandments, the people down below became impatient. They began to doubt that Moses would ever return or that the Lord would be with them.

30 August 2026

Render Unto Caesar

The teachings of the New Church point out how important it is to distinguish between things that are spiritual and things that are natural.

23 August 2026

Hypocrisy

One of the things that Jesus most called out in the leaders of His day was “Hypocrisy.” Spiritually, hypocrisy is what happens when there is a mismatch between what we think or feel and what we say or do.

16 August 2026

People Need People

The Teachings of the New Church assert that "People are not born for their own sake; they are born for the sake of others."

9 August 2026

Make a Choice

When confronted with hard choices sometimes the easiest thing to do is to make no choice at all. Yet this choice is often the worst choice of all: in trying to keep our options open we lose out on all of them.

2 August 2026

Fostering Empathy

A crucial part of loving other people is to be able to see ourselves in them, and to feel and share what they are feeling. Yet in order to do this well we also must remain distinct from other people.