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Fullness of Joy
Worship Service: Informal Family - February 01, 2015
This Sunday we celebrate the founding of Kainon School. The theme for the service (which is based on the spiritual theme for the school year at Kainon) is “Fullness of Joy”. It sounds wonderful to be full of joy – we want that for ourselves and for those that we love – but is it possible to achieve in this world? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (26m 20s)
Understanding John 3:16
Worship Service: Sermon only - December 14, 2014
John 3:16 is a key text for a lot of Christians in understanding why Jesus was born in the world. It says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” But how do we understand what is meant by this? Who is God? Who is His Only-begotten Son? What does it mean to believe in Him? Why will people who don’t believe in Him perish and not have eternal life? If we can find good answers to these questions we will have a much better understanding of the significance of Christmas. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (30m 04s)
Do Not Resist Evil, Part 4 – Worthlessness and Shame
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 30, 2014
"You're absolutely worthless!" "I'm a useless piece of..." Do you ever hear these words--from other people or inside your own head? Are they true? Are you worthless? Or think about it the other way: if you are not worthless, why do you have worth? What makes you worthy? It's tricky to sort out. And dealing with feelings of worthlessness is even harder. But the Lord can help us to understand and deal with all of this, and differently from what we might expect. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (29m 07s)
Do Not Resist Evil, Part 3: Understanding and Responding to Fear
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 23, 2014
What do you worry about? What are you scared of doing? How does fear or anxiety affect your behaviour and relationships? We all have to deal with fears of various kinds and, if we don’t deal with them appropriately, they can lead us to all sorts of unhealthy and dysfunctional behaviours. But, as we’ve already talked about with doubt and guilt, just pushing feelings of fear away doesn’t work. This Sunday we’ll talk about what the Lord teaches us about how to respond to fear. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 04s)
Living Gratefully 2 - How to Practice Gratitude
Worship Service: Sermon only - November 02, 2014
Last Sunday we talked about the need for gratitude in our lives and the difference it can make. This week we're going to dig into how to practice gratitude. What habits and practices can we put into our lives so that we live every day gratefully? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (36m 15s)
Living Gratefully (excerpt)
On starting a gratitude journal. (To hear full recording, search by date: 11/02/2014) | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (14m 40s)
Living Gratefully 1: The Need for Gratitude
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 26, 2014
Do you feel like you’re on a treadmill that’s going too fast for you to keep up? It’s a busy and stressful time of year and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and like there’s just too much to deal with. How can the Lord help us cope with all of this? Gratitude—the Lord commands us to be grateful and when we understand why and start practising gratitude it can make a huge difference to our experience of even the most stressful situations | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (29m 18s)
Amos - The Word of a Prophet Part 2: Is It Actually Hard To Understand
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - October 05, 2014
Cows of Bashan, sacrifices, worms devouring olive trees, death, opulence, corruption, rivers, exile, oppression, darkness—this is the content of the text that we’re going to be digging into this Sunday. We’re continuing our series on the book of Amos and continuing to grapple with the question of how we can hear the Lord speaking to us today through the ancient, sometimes obscure prophecies recorded in the Bible. This week we’re going to be particularly looking for how we can find a relevant message for our lives in these challenging texts. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (39m 03s)
Relationship Dynamics 3 – Changing the Dynamic
Worship Service: Children & Adult - September 14, 2014
For the past two weeks we’ve been looking at different dynamics in relationships. What do you do if there’s a dynamic in one of your relationships that you don’t like? You’re stuck in a rut or a pattern of interaction that is unhealthy, harmful, or just frustrating for both of you; what can you do? This Sunday we’re going to look at what it takes to change the dynamic in a relationship. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (34m 57s)
Relationship Dynamics 1 - Fighting
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 31, 2014
Who are you fighting with at the moment? How does that fight affect the rest of your life? This Sunday we're starting a 3 week series on dynamics in relationships and we're beginning the series by talking about fighting. Being in conflict can cause us a lot of stress and pain and so we often do everything we can to avoid it. When we understand why we're fighting and what we're fighting for it can help us to fight the good fight when necessary. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (23m 10s)
Malcolm Cockerell Memorial Service
Memorial Service - August 19, 2014
| By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (18m 10s)
Repentance 4 - Beginning a New Life With the Lord
Worship Service: Sermon only - August 17, 2014
For the past few weeks we’ve been looking at the steps of repentance, the spiritual process the Lord calls us to go through to reject what is evil and harmful in our lives and begin a new life. This week we come to the final step: actually beginning a new life. Scared? Does it even seem possible to make a real and lasting change in your life? Join us this Sunday to take an honest look at the challenges of beginning a new life and to learn how the Lord makes it possible for us to do this. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 19s)
The Blessings That Come From Blessing the Lord
Worship Service: Sermon only - July 20, 2014
Are you blessed? Do you feel blessed? This week we are going to look at one of the Psalms and reflect on what being blessed by the Lord means. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (25m 29s)
Idolatory 4: Other People's Idolatory
Worship Service: Family (may include music) - June 08, 2014
For the past few weeks we’ve been looking at idolatry in ourselves—how we can be tempted to worship idols of various kinds instead of Jesus Christ. This Sunday we’re going to dig into the difficult question of how to respond to other people’s idolatry. How should we treat people who worship other gods than us? And the even more challenging question, how should we treat people in our own church or family or community that have different beliefs and priorities than we do? | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (36m 05s)
God with Us as Lord and God
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 20, 2014
The disciple Thomas only acknowledged Jesus to be his Lord and God when he could see and touch the Lord's body for himself. We will never have that opportunity so is it possible for us to still believe that Jesus really was here and really did rise from the dead and really is God? On Sunday we will explore how faith develops and how we can come to believe that Jesus is our God even though we've never seen Him physically. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (37m 36s)
God with Us - How?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - April 13, 2014
As we've led up to Easter we've been exploring the concept of God being with Us - God with us as a King, God with us as an Example. This week we'll listen to the Lord talking to His disciples right before He was about to leave them, explaining to them how He could still be with them once He was gone physically. This will give us the chance to learn how God can be with us too, even though He's never been with us physically. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (48m 10s)
God with Us as Jesus and the Christ
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 30, 2014
This Sunday we're beginning a sermon series that will take us through Easter called "God with Us." We'll be digging into the Easter story as it's told in the Gospel of John. For this week we'll be focusing on how we react to the idea of the Lord's kingdom coming. We might think we want that to happen but when it starts to affect how we're living our lives it suddenly becomes not such an appealing idea. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (41m 45s)
7 Practices of Peace: Navigating
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - March 02, 2014
After cultivating new habits, a new stage comes when we start to experience the benefits of living a better way. We become lit up about the new way of living, and our love leads us forward. When we have faith in its positive effects, navigating our way through life becomes easier, more peaceful and more joyful. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (33m 28s)
7 Practices of Peace - Cultivating
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - February 23, 2014
Once we've acknowledged God's presence in our lives, and begun to see that there is a higher way, we are ready to take action (cultivating). These practices lead us toward creating a life that continues to be a blessing to others. The small seeds within these actions will go on to bear more fruit, more seeds, positively affecting people we may never meet. Gen 1:9-13, AC 9, TCR 529, TCR 528, AC 29 | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (30m 11s)
Why Does What You Believe Matter?
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 19, 2014
| By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (23m 45s)
"When You Have Eaten and are Full"
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - January 05, 2014
When things are going well and we are 'full' it is easy to forget the Lord. Moses had some warnings about this when speaking to the Israelites before they entered the promised land which we would do well to take heed of. This is a slightly adapted version of a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Reuben P. Bell. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (26m 05s)
Where is He Who is Born King of the Jews
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - December 15, 2013
The wise men followed a star that eventually led them to where the Lord was. And the way we picture them is either purposefully travelling across the desert, following the star, or having arrived at their destination, kneeling before Jesus. Before they made it to the Lord, however, they got a bit lost. When we're trying to follow the star in our lives we also will probably end up not in the right place at first. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (28m 28s)
Jesus' Dodgy Family History
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - December 01, 2013
This Sunday we're going to be looking at the genealogy - the long list of names - at the beginning of the gospel of Matthew. Before you decide that you've definitely got something more important to do on Sunday evening, let me explain why I chose this. I've wanted to preach about the genealogy for some time precisely because it seems boring at first. Why is it there? Why does the whole New Testament start this way? What I found is that, if you look at the list of names more closely, you see that there are actually some quite juicy details contained in it and some important information about what family Jesus was born into. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (32m 26s)
What We Can Learn from Mindfulness and Meditation about Spiritual Practices
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - November 17, 2013
As human beings we have a lot to deal with - stress, grief, ambition, conflict, joy, confusion, pride, exhaustion, excitement, frustration, guilt, etc. - and rarely does it feel like we have the time and space to deal with what comes up properly. It's a hectic time of year, with lots of work and social commitments, and at times like this life can feel particularly overwhelming. This Sunday we're going to talk about simple but profound truths about how we can learn to respond to life differently. To gain the benefit of these truths will absolutely require that we change our behaviour but it will also change our lives. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (38m 07s)
Path of Integrity 6 - Have Compassion
Worship Service: Childrens Talk & Adult Sermon - September 01, 2013
One of the hardest things to do is to let go of hurt or shame we've carried. In time, however, we may learn to see blessings that have come from our struggles and we can forgive others as well as ourselves. | By Rev. Malcolm G. Smith | Westville, RSA
See Event (32m 13s)