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What Does it Take to Make Good Decisions in a Difficult Moment?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 11, 2019
There's a lot about life that is beyond our control and so it's easy to feel like life is just happening to us and we are being dragged along for the ride. Despite that we do still have choices to make--big ones and little, day-to-day ones. How do we make good choices? What things do we need to have in place in our lives to give us the best chance of making good decisions in the midst of our busy, stressful, or just overwhelming lives? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (19m 45s)
Samuel, Part 1: Hearing the Lord's Call
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 21, 2019
This Sunday we’re starting a series on the story of Samuel. As an adult, Samuel becomes a pivotal figure in the history of the Children of Israel but his story begins in his childhood. The Lord calls out to him and at first he doesn’t know that it’s the Lord. We too can struggle to distinguish the Lord’s call in our lives from a lot of other inputs. With Samuel we can learn what it takes to recognise the Lord’s call and what sort of messages the Lord has for us. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 44s)
We Need Times of Rest
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - July 07, 2019
This Sunday we will be looking at the spiritual significance of the year of Jubilee. This was a law that the Children of Israel had that, every fifty years, they had to let the ground lie fallow and not plant seeds or harvest. Also, any land that had been sold during those fifty years had to then revert to the original owner. What is the spiritual significance of all of this for our lives and our need for fallow times? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (23m 15s)
The Spiritual History of the Human Race, Part 3: Christianity and a New Church
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 30, 2019
This Sunday we will finish our series on the spiritual history of the human race by talking about the beginning of Christianity all the way until today. What happened that made it necessary for there to be a new church after the church started by Jesus Christ? And where do we go from here—what do we believe will happen in the next 500 years of the spiritual history of the human race. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 14s)
Jean Powell Memorial Service
Worship Service: Sermon only - June 26, 2019
Memorial Service of Jean Powell, including eulogies by Malcolm Powell, Victoria (Powell) Browning, and Rodney Harber. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 03s)
Becoming One - What It Means and What It Does Not
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 23, 2019
In wedding ceremonies and love songs people talk about two people becoming one when they get married. That sounds beautiful and poetic but is it actually possible? To people who are in love it can feel very possible; to people in the midst of a difficult conflict or who have just drifted apart it can feel entirely impossible and naive. And what does "becoming one" even mean? Does it mean always agreeing with your partner? Does it mean you have to lose yourself in your relationship for it to work? These are the questions we're going to be digging into this Sunday. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (23m 28s)
Ancient Words: What Led Me to the New Church
Banquet Address - June 22, 2019
Paul Mayer's banquet speech at the 2019 New Church Day Banquet at New Church Westville. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (17m 39s)
The Spiritual History of the Human Race, Part 1: The Earliest People
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - June 09, 2019
On Sunday we’re starting a series on the spiritual history of the human race. This Sunday we’re looking at the earliest people. What does the Word teach us about what the earliest people were like? How were they different from us and how were they the same as us? And how can understanding what they went through all those thousands of years ago help us to understand ourselves better today? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 53s)
Children and Parents
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 26, 2019
If you have children, you probably spend a fair amount of time talking about parenting—how things are going for this child or that child, what you’re fighting with your children about (what they’re eating or not eating, screen time, homework, etc.), your worries about their future. But what is the goal? What is the role of a parent meant to be? And what about these children that we’re trying to parent—are they perfect, uncorrupted little angels, are they disrespectful brats that need to be brought into line? There are many opinions about all of these things in the world but what I want to talk about on Sunday is what the Lord says about all of this in His Word. What does He teach us about the nature of children and how does He define the role of a parent? Gaining clarity about this can really help us hold the hard work of parenting in a better way. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (22m 39s)
Let the little children come to Me...
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - May 12, 2019
This Sunday we’re beginning a sermon series on children with the story in which Jesus says, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them….” The context of this statement is that people were trying to bring their children to the Lord but the disciples were telling them to go away. We might think, why would the disciples try to send the children away from the Lord? But there are actually plenty of times when we might be inclined to do the same exact thing. Let’s take a look. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (21m 41s)
The Movement of Easter, Part 2: Baptise and Teach
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 28, 2019
Last week we read about the Lord commanding His disciples to go forth and make disciples of all nations and we talked about what He is asking of us in that command. The Lord didn’t just give them that general command; He also told them specifically to baptise people into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach them to keep all the things that He had commanded them. Are we all meant to baptise people? Why did the Lord talk about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Are we all meant to teach other people what the Lord commanded? If we want to take this command of the Lord’s seriously, then we need to really think this through. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 23s)
The Movement of Easter, Part 1: Go Forth and Make Disciples
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 21, 2019
There is a lot of movement in the story of the morning of the Lord’s resurrection. Words like go, come, went, ran are used 18 times in the last chapter of Matthew and almost two-thirds of the verses contain some sort of movement. Women go to the tomb, they are told to go and tell the disciples to go to another place. When the disciples go to that place, the Lord tells them to go out to all nations and make disciples, baptise, and teach. What movement does the Lord want from us? It’s easy to celebrate Easter, eat a few too many chocolates, and go back to normal life without anything having changed. Where does the Lord want us to go this Easter and how do we get up and do it? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 31s)
Can You Recognise the Messiah
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 14, 2019
This Sunday we celebrate Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. When He rode in some people recognised Him as the Messiah, other people didn't know who He was, and other people strongly rejected the idea that He was the Messiah. We hope that we would have been among those who saw Him as the Messiah but, a few chapters later, the Lord warns people not to be fooled by people pretending to be the Messiah. Can we tell the difference between the Lord and people pretending to be the Lord? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (20m 06s)
Love Over Ego - Part 5 - The Writing is on the Wall
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 10, 2019
The phrase “the writing is on the wall” comes from the story that we’re going to be exploring on Sunday. During a wild and profane party, the new king of Babylon, Belshazzar, sees a hand write a mysterious message on the wall. And the meaning of the message, as explained by Daniel, is that Belshazzar has been evaluated, found to be deficient, and so will have the kingdom taken from him. In our process of working to have love triumph over our ego, we will have times when the writing is on the wall for some aspect of our lives. Are we willing to have that part of us die? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 15s)
Love Over Ego - Part 3 - The Freedom to Say No
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 24, 2019
This Sunday we will be working through the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego and how they were not willing to bow down to an idol that Nebuchadnezzar set up, even if it would mean that they would be burned to death in a furnace as punishment. How did they have such strength in their convictions? Would we be willing to stick to our faith if doing so could result in us facing similarly dire consequences? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 33s)
Love Over Ego - Taking a Stand
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 10, 2019
This Sunday we begin our series on the Daniel story, Love Over Ego. When the story begins, Daniel is taken far away from his home to live in captivity in Babylon. But Daniel is given an opportunity to get special treatment and to move up the ladder. When we find ourselves in similar difficult circumstances it’s very easy to justify doing whatever we need to do in order to get ahead. But Daniel, instead, does not just go with the flow and take what’s given to him; he takes a stand for what the Lord teaches. Come on Sunday to hear what happens to him and to reflect on how we also can take a stand for what the Lord teaches. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (26m 18s)
Burn Out
Worship Service: Children & Adult - January 27, 2019
A number of people online are discussing and writing articles about burnout at the moment, prompted by this article posted a few weeks ago. And so it seemed good to spend some time thinking about burnout from a New Church Christian perspective. What does the Lord teach about burning out and how can He help us to notice when we’re heading that direction and change course? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 53s)
Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 13, 2019
The sermon for this Sunday is one by Coleman Glenn, our former Associate Pastor. The text is a dramatic vision that the prophet Ezekiel had of a valley full of dry bones that come back together, have sinew, flesh, and skin cover them again and ultimately turn into a huge group of living people. It's a dramatic symbolic picture of how the Lord can take what's dead within us and bring us back to spiritual life. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 22s)
Heaven is Not for Everyone
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 04, 2018
We’re doing a series called “Appealing Heresies” which is about ideas that sound good and sound true but actually are quite problematic when you think them through. This Sunday evening we’re talking about the appealing idea that everyone can go to heaven, no matter what they believe. Many people believe this. Many people think this is what the New Church teaches. It’s not. What’s wrong with this idea? Come on Sunday evening as we unpack the implications of this appealing heresy and try to understand what the Lord actually teaches on this topic. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 49s)
Una Elphick Memorial Service
Memorial Service - October 26, 2018
Celebrating the Life of Una Elphick | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (18m 51s)
Repenting from Coveting
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 21, 2018
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. The video mentioned in the recording is "How Not Coveting Could Change the World" by offthelefteye on YouTube. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (30m 11s)
Repenting from Stealing
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 07, 2018
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. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (24m 13s)
Reading the Bible - How Do You Know If You Are Doing It Right
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 23, 2018
If you try to read the Bible and get some idea of what it means, how do you know if it's right or not? This Sunday we'll talk about what's most important for us to do to understand the Bible in the right way. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (26m 49s)
Why and How to Read the Bible
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 16, 2018
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, including some thoughts about how much to read and what to do if you don't understand what you read. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (23m 22s)
Our Spiritual Journeys - Looking Back
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - August 26, 2018
Last week Joel spoke about the importance and value of telling the stories of what the Lord has done for us on our spiritual Journeys. When we do look back on what happened in the past, however there are also dangers. Our memories of the past have a powerful effect on our present experience. When should we try to leave behind what has happened in the past and not dwell on it and when is there value in reflecting on the past? This Sunday we will try to understand how the Lord would like us to hold our memories of the past. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (33m 13s)