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The wisdom of God seems like foolishness to the world, and so following God’s wisdom inevitably leads to us feeling foolish. The pressure to give in and embrace the “wisdom” of the world can be strong. Resisting takes sacrifice, from passing on a promotion, to ending a relationship, to letting go of ego, and beyond. But until we are willing to be seen as fools by the world, we are not able to fully follow 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.

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 and fill out a very short survey to let us know if you and/or the other members of your household would like to attend in person (if allowed). It’s not the same as the questionnaire.

• 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 I asked you, “Do you have any enemies?” you would probably answer, “No.” I think most people don’t think that they have any enemies. So does the Lord’s revolutionary command to love our enemies not really apply to most of us? Well, we all have people that we treat as enemies and we need to recognise that fact. And then we need to learn what it means to love them and then do 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.

• 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.

Psalm 121 speaks of the Lord protecting your going out and your coming in. This speaks to times of transition, times in which it is especially crucial that we remain in the Lord’s care. A prominent example is the Children of Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt and going in to possess the Promised Land. But this story also illustrates the struggle of times of transition: between coming out of Egypt and going into the Land there was forty years of wandering the wilderness. As much as we would like to directly leave hardship and enter good times, more often than not there is an intermediate stage of trial and growth that the Lord must lead us through.

This service will be streamed on Facebook. Go to https://www.facebook.com/newchurchwestville/live where there will be a live video from about 30 minutes before the service is scheduled to start.

• 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.

What’s going to happen in the future of the New Church? What are things going to look like in the next 50 years or the next 1000 years? Will there be a need for another new church? This Sunday, as we celebrate the founding of the New Church 250 years ago, we will try to get a picture of the future of the New Church and an understand of what our role is right now.

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.

The New Church teaches that the Apocalypse has already taken place: in fact, it took place over 250 years ago, as the New Church was being born into the world. Understanding the spiritual events from that time period can help us better understand the world we live in today. Last week, Malcolm talked about how the mere existence of the New Church did not automatically make people better: even New Church people have, and still can, support abhorrent practices. This week we will talk about the difference the New Church does make, and why it matters that a New Church was established and continues to exist.

Things in the world these days can seem rather apocalyptic. Intriguingly the teachings of the New Church say that the apocalypse has already happened, over 250 years ago in fact. What does that mean for us today? How can that larger narrative help us to understand what’s going on in the world at the moment?

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.
• Recommended Reading
  The main article referenced in the sermon is “200 Years and 100 Miles: Doctrine’s Failure to Settle the Slavery Debate in the New Church” by the Rev. Christopher A. Barber. It was published in New Church Life in 2019. Go here to download the issue it’s in: https://bit.ly/2MCup68 and then go to page 416.

Why would the omnipotent God of the universe ask a mere mortal a question? Wouldn’t He already know the answer? Yet there are many examples of God asking questions in the Word. God does not ask questions so He can learn the answer; He asks questions so that we have a chance to reflect and respond in the context of His perspective. In a similar vein, there is value in letting the Lord know “how we’re doing.” He already knows of course; we don’t have to tell Him anything. But this Sunday we will explore the value of reflecting on how we are doing and sharing that reflection with 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
  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.
• A Prayer for South Africa
  A text version of the prayer shared during the service can be found here.