Bryn Athyn Church Family Service
Weekly readings and sermons from the 9:30 family service at Bryn Athyn Church in Bryn Athyn, PA, a congregation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Readings are drawn from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Heavenly Doctrine for the New Church contained in the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Episodes
13 episodes
The Fourth Commandment: “Honor Your Father and Your Mother” | Rev. Coleman S. Glenn
(Exodus 20:12) Our heavenly Father is perfect, but this commandment calls us not just to honor Him but also to honor our literal parents and other imperfect human beings who make up His church. How do we keep this commandment in every sense?
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14:55
Thanksgiving Service - Where Does It Come From? | Rev. Steven P. Gunther
A lot of work and preparation goes into our Thanksgiving celebrations, but even before we do any of our work there are countless others whom we will probably never meet who have made it all possible. Similarly, the Lord is the source of all goo...
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12:55
Live Your Faith | Rev. Jeffrey O. Smith
Our church has beautiful teachings that people of any faith can go to heaven. Does this mean it doesn’t matter what we believe? The simple answer is “of course it matters.” This Sunday we will learn about how important it is. Readin...
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16:40
Keeping the Jar Full | Rev. Steven P. Gunther
We all go through seasons of life where we search for meaning and guidance. We can picture the kind of life we want, but we aren’t sure how to get there. When Elijah is sent to visit a widow in 1 Kings 17, he asks her for something that she isn...
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16:33
The Third Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath Day, To Keep It Holy” | Rev. Derek P. Elphick
(Exodus 20:8) The Hebrew word for “Sabbath” means rest. Physical and mental “rest” is relatively easy to obtain but a holy day of rest requires a different mindset and a different skill set. This commandment draws our attention to the fact that...
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15:05
Building on a Sound Foundation | Rt. Rev. Brad Heinrichs
How we develop our minds on a firm foundation of knowledge and truth is a subject that has been of keen interest to those interested in New Church education over the years. Two stories that deal with this are building our house upon a rock and ...
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25:01
Getting Our Hearts in the Right Place | Rev. Malcolm G. Smith
It can be hard to figure out how the Lord would like us to be in different situations. Does He want us to be more gentle or more firm? Persistent or adaptable? Should we speak up when something upsets us, or quietly let it go? This Sunday, at o...
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26:52
In Search of Sacred Ground | Rev. Derek P. Elphick
For all the technological, material advances we’ve made as a society in the last 20 years or so, people report feeling lonelier and unhappier than ever before. The ground has shifted so much, people don’t know what’s real (sacred) anymore. The ...
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15:45
“Speak, For Your Servant Hears” | Rt. Rev. Peter Buss, Jr.
(1 Samuel 3:10) Samuel’s words remind us that the Lord wishes us to hear many things from Him about how to live our lives. One place He speaks to us is in His Word, for we learn that “the Word's Divine truth is the voice of Jehovah” (Apocal...
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17:34
The Second Commandment: “You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain.” | Rev. Steven P. Gunther
What does it really mean to “take the Lord’s name in vain?” For many of us, this commandment may feel like an easy check mark, but if we look below the surface, we will find that there is much more than meets the eye. In one interaction in the ...
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15:43
“The Very Hairs of Your Head Are Numbered...” | Rev. Derek P. Elphick
The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. As He sat at the table with the twelve disciples at the Last Supper, we can picture the Lord looking each disciple in the eye, one by one, helping them see things they couldn’t have seen on their...
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11:21
Don’t Tell Anyone | Rev. Malcolm G. Smith
In the Gospels, sometimes the Lord heals someone in an amazing way but then tells them not to tell anyone. Other times, He specifically instructs them to go and tell others what has happened. This Sunday, we will explore why the Lord might have...
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16:04
The First Commandment: “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before My Face” | Rev. Malcolm G. Smith
“You shall have no other gods before my face.” (Exodus 20:3) This is the first of the Ten Commandments and all the commandments that come after it relate back to it. What and who do we bow down to and serve instead of the Lord our God? How can ...
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15:57