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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.

This week we continue to look at how the Old Testament prophets reflect the life of Jesus. This Sunday we turn to Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived in a time when impending invasion and doom hung over the people of Israel, and yet the prophets promised peace and prosperity. Jeremiah’s role was to proclaim the reality that things would get worse before they got better unless they changed their ways. This seemingly pessimistic message echoed the spiritual message that Jesus brought hundreds of years later: this time a spiritual doom threatened, and Jesus urgently pushed people to repentance lest they be overcome by sin.

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.

The teachings of the New Church say that the whole of the Word relates to the Lord Jesus Christ and what He went through while on Earth. And so we’ve done sermon series in the past on finding Jesus in the life of Abraham, Joshua, and Elisha. This time we’re going to focus on three of the major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. This will be a chance to learn a bit about these prophets, about what the Lord went through on Earth, and about the role of a prophet in difficult 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.

• 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.

In the New Church we talk a lot about the afterlife. A few weeks ago we talked some about the structure and process of the afterlife. But raw information never shows the full picture. Stories of daily interactions and interesting anecdotes flesh things out. That is why we are looking to the stories from the Teachings of the New Church that lay out just a glimpse of what we can expect in the afterlife. This week we will hear stories that take place in heaven and in hell.

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.
• Additional Reading
  • Articles on Memorable Relations (PDF)

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.

Two weeks ago we talked about what life is like after death. We discussed the structure of the afterlife and the succession of states that we go through. This week and next week we want to flesh these ideas out with stories. The teachings of the New Church contain lots of stories about things that happened in the spiritual world. Why were these stories included and what can we learn from them about how things work after death?

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.
• Additional Reading
  • Articles on Memorable Relations (PDF)

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 still pretty far away (7 weeks, more or less). But the time from Ash Wednesday (17 February this year) until Easter Sunday is generally seen as a time of preparation for the holiday. You may remember that last year we suggested giving up a bad habit or picking up a new spiritual practice in this time period. This year we’ll suggest similar ways to prepare. Specifically, this Sunday we’ll look at how Jesus’ steady ascent from the backwater of Galilee along the road up to the metropolis of Jerusalem and His own death can help us prepare for our own celebration of His resurrection at Easter.

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.
• Additional Resources
  • Preparing for Easter

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.

A lot of people have lost loved ones recently. When someone we love dies we can have a lot of questions. First, how do we know that they are still alive somewhere? If they are alive somewhere, what is their experience like? What do they do with their time? Is it a pleasant experience; is it an unpleasant experience? There is a lot of information about the afterlife in the teachings of the New Church. This Sunday we will scratch the surface of that body of teaching and try to cover some of the important basics of a New Church understanding of what life is like after death.

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.
• Additional Resources
  • Read Heaven and Hell
  • Read a short abridged version of Heaven and Hell called Our
    Life After Death
  • Read a longer abridged version of Heaven and Hell called
    Afterlife: A Guided Tour of Heaven and Its Wonders
  • Having a Loved One “On the Other Side” (PDF) by the Rev. Grant Odhner
  • Watch videos about what the teachings of the New Church say
    about life after death: offthelefteye.com/category/life-afterdeath/

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 put great pride in certain virtues, both as individuals and as a society. When we embody these virtues it is a sign that we are spiritually growing. But virtues are not as easy to identify as we like to believe. Certain qualities that we view as virtuous are in fact unrelated to meaningful virtue. To take a simple example, many people take busy-ness to be a virtue, as if always being busy reflects on their character. In actual fact, being overladen with work says nothing about one’s character: it may be a sign of love for others, but it could just as easily be nothing of the sort. We need to evaluate where we put our worth, and if it is in false virtues then we need to look to the Lord to find the virtues that truly reflect a good spiritual life.