Description: What is the Lord asking us to do when He invites us to "count our blessings?"

References: Genesis 15:1-6 Psalm 139 Arcana Coelestia 8939

References: Lessons: Exodus 4:1-5, John 15:1-5, AC 6954

Sarver, PA

1st Lesson: Genesis 3:1-5 2nd Lesson: Revelation 12:3-9, 13-17; 20:1-3 3rd Lesson: Arcana Coelestia 6952.4 Sermon: “The Serpent of Old”

One of the central teachings of the New Church is that the Word has a deeper, spiritual meaning. This meaning runs through every story, every phrase, and even every word. This Sunday we'll talk about this deeper spiritual sense, and why it was revealed only hundreds of years after the Word was written, and the role it plays in the establishment of the New Church.

This week we continue with the them of the essentials of the New Church, in other words, the core ideas that define what the New Church actually is. Last week we looked at a unique view of God. This week our focus is on life. In the New Church one of the central teachings is that we must follow the Lord’s teachings, and it is only through this that we can receive salvation and eternal life. In the book of Revelation we see images of what it means to truly live what we believe and fight mightily to put it into practice.

Our sermon series for New Church Day is going to be three parts. What's new about the New Church? We're going to look at what's new about an idea of the Lord, what's new about how you live your life, what's new about an understanding of the Lord's Word. The first one about the Lord, which we're going to do this Sunday, is going to be all about the oneness of God. How, when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, we're seeing the fullness of God. We're seeing the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, all of it together in this one person who we can go to, relate to, have a relationship with, learn from, and worship.

The relevant lessons were Matthew 13:24-30 on the parable of the wheat and tares, and AC #3993:8-9 on "mediate goods."

When are you going to choose heaven? If you keep putting it off, when are you going to get there?

"Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land." (Exodus 23:30)

References: Lessons: John 1:parts; Exodus 23:20-30; Revelation 21 & 22 parts

Sermon of the Week - New Church Audio

We are living in an unsettling time. Emotions are high, opinions stronger than ever, and charity wanes. We can think we are right and others are blind. But all of us are blind to some degree, from ignorance and from evil. But the key to seeing is the same - to allow the Lord to heal us with His strong truth and call to repentance, to open our eyes, even to the point that we not only see the truth about life, but our sight is opened to the Lord himself.

 Lessons: John 2, 9:1-41; Apocalypse Explained (AE) 475:17 Text: John 9:25