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You can’t buy your way into heaven, no matter how much wealth you amass. That won’t come as a surprise to most of you. Yet somehow, subconsciously, we end up trying. Every time we feel entitled to reward because of our good deeds, we have diminished good deeds to a mere currency with which we can buy a slice of heaven. Every time we feel slighted for the ill fortune that befalls us in spite of our goodness, we have reduced God’s living Providence into a mere balance sheet of good countered by evil. It is only when we realize that goodness is its own reward that we can be free from the allure of heaven as a reward. Heaven is not a reward; heaven is the natural result of a life of goodness.

What does it mean to covet? Do you know how to recognise when you’re coveting? More importantly, do you know how to repent from coveting? The teachings of the New Church say that the two commandments about coveting cover some pretty important things for us to work on. We can learn to notice when we’re coveting and, with the Lord’s help, we can repent from coveting. Come find out how.

Looking for the repentance worksheets? Find them here: Repentance Worksheets and Resources.

The Ten Commandments forbid saying things that are not true; or do they? The 8th commandment is often summarized as “you shall not lie,” but it actually reads, “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” This wording is significant. It implies something broader then just telling facts or lies. Even the “truth” can be used to bear false witness against someone. We are called to heed our thoughts and our words, making sure that they are not only factually correct, but that they bear witness to the true goodness of character of the people around us.

The teachings are clear: we have to repent. We have to identify and acknowledge the ways in which we are breaking the Lord’s Commandments and we then have to ask the Lord for help and actually begin to live in a new way. Our spiritual lives depend on our willingness to do this work. For the next three Sundays we will be looking at some of the 10 Commandments and how a person could repent from breaking those commandments. This Sunday evening we will talk about stealing.

Last week we talked about some of why to read the Bible and how to read the Bible. This Sunday we’re going to talk more about the realities of trying to read the Bible: both the reality of what it’s like to try to read difficult parts of the Bible and also some intriguing things that the teachings of the New Church say are really going on under the surface when we read the Lord’s Word.

We all know that we should probably read the Bible more than we currently do. This Sunday will be a reminder of the value of spending time reading the Lord’s Word, with a focus on the unique value of the New Testament.

The primary phase and Grade R’s have been practicing for the Bible Pageant which will be held this Sunday at 9:30am in the church. The theme for the pageant this year is taking care of those around us, with a focus on forgiveness as one of the ways that we can take care of people. We are looking forward to seeing all the children enacting parts of Bible stories which depict forgiveness. We welcome all parents and the church community to attend.