“Angels Reduced,” 1/22/23 Sermon by Rev. Ron Brugler
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Tag Archives: Angels
“THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” #SundaySermon
“THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”
Sermon Text
Rev. Dr. Sherrie Connelly
New Church of Montgomery [Cincinnati]
Sunday, July 28, 2019
The Lord is your everlasting light,
and God is your glory.
The Lord is the strength of my life,
so I need not be afraid.
The Lord will protect me,
and lead me on a smooth path.
The light of the world
shines on the hill top
on a lampstand,
lighting the world and illuminating
the heavens.
The Lamb is God’s light.
Heaven’s light is spiritual,
not worldly, it is divine love.
The Lord’s light is divine truth,
shining on the angels,
who are warmed by divine good.
The Lord is our everlasting light,
and God is our glory.
The Lord is the strength of our lives,
so we need not be afraid.
The Lord will protect us,
and lead us on a smooth path.
The hilltop shines full of light.
The heights of the lampstand
reflect and illuminate
the whole world.
The Holy Lamb in the heavens
is God’s divine light.
Heaven is full and fulfilled
with divine love, divine truth
and divine good,
lit by a chorus of angels.
Our Lord’s everlasting light
is God’s glory.
Our lives are full and strong
when filled by our Lord God.
A smooth path lies before us
under the Lord’s divine protection.
From the heights of the hilltop
the Lord’s light illuminates the
entire world.
Our hearts are full, embracing
the three levels of heaven – natural,
spiritual, and celestial.
As we express our love of the Lord,
our neighbors, and each other,
we are filled and fulfilled
by the light of the world.
Amen.
Photo by Maggie Panyko 2019
News from Heaven: “How to See the Light of Heaven
From the Swedenborg Foundation: this clip explores Emanuel Swedenborg’s “Secrets of Heaven”, number 1521.
#Angel Trivia #ThursdayThoughts
The angels in the highest heaven are in that heaven because they receive God’s love and truth directly into their hearts, or intentions, and act on it immediately and in complete innocence. They do not have to think about it and consider whether or not it is good and true. They trust in the Lord, and in everything that comes from the Lord, simply and completely–and they have a very clear and instantaneous perception of what does and does not come from the Lord. They are therefore the wisest and most powerful angels. However, at a distance they appear like little children because of their full innocence and trust in the Lord. (Compare Jesus’ saying in Matthew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”) These angels are the beating heart of heaven. -Lee Woofenden via https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/40071/according-to-emanuel-swedenborg-why-are-there-different-types-of-angels
Words of the Magnificat:
“My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
Charity
[2] The form which charity takes is so plainly visible in the next life that charity itself is that which produces the form, as well as being that which is portrayed within it. Indeed that form is such that the whole of an angel, especially the face, is so to speak charity – charity which is visible to the eye and perceptible to the mind. When it is beheld that form is one of indescribable beauty which stirs with charity the inmost life itself of the beholder’s mind. Through the beauty of that form truths of faith are displayed in a visual image from which they also are perceived. People who have lived in faith in the Lord, that is, faith that inheres in charity, in the next life become such forms, that is, forms of beauty. All angels are such forms, endlessly varying; and it is these forms that constitute heaven.~~Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia, n. 553 (Elliott, trans.)
Church and Community
The Church is all the cells that comprise what Emmanuel Swedenborg calls “the Universal Human” (or “Grand Man” in some older translations)—the Church on earth as well as in the heavens with God as the head. All the people who choose good and who reflect God’s image in their acts of love to the neighbor are the Church.
“It is worthy of note that just as heaven as a whole presents itself as one entire human being, which is therefore called the Grand Man, .. so each community in a similar way presents an image of a human being. For the image of heaven as a whole imprints itself on communities and makes them similar to itself, and not only on communities but also on the individual persons within a community. This is where the individuals get their human form from, for each person in an angelic community is heaven in the smallest form it takes. Variations in their human form are determined by the kind of good and truth with them, which explains why each spirit and angel is seen in a form exactly matching his thoughts and affections that he communicates to communities round about. This being so, the more that spirits and angels are governed by goodness and truth, the more beautiful is their human form. “~~Emmanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia, n. 6605 (Elliott, trans.)
#Angels: Interaction & Origins; Tonight!
Tonight’s Meetup is at 7 pm at 845 Congress Avenue, Glendale, OH.
Join us for drinks, dainties and discussion!
RSVP to newchurchofmontgomery@gmail.com
#Angels this #Sunday 10:30 am
Come to church on Sunday to experience wisdom from the angels in an introspective, yet open format. Sue Kern presents. Time this week 10:30.
#WednesdayWisdom #12Steps
“(Angels) picture wisdom as a magnificent and finely decorated palace. One climbs up to enter this palace by twelve steps. One can only arrive at the first step by means of the Lord’s power through joining with Him…As a person climbs these steps, he perceives that no one is wise from himself but from the Lord…The twelve steps into the palace of wisdom signify love in union with faith and faith in union with love.” Emanuel Swedenborg, Divine Providence, Paragraph 36
#MondayMirth : Children; Angels here and beyond
“Swedenborg tells us that because we are all born for heaven, and because children have not yet had the chance to make life choices that might have distanced them from God, all children who leave this world are immediately taken up to heaven and become angels…”
http://www.swedenborg.com/emanuel-swedenborg/explore/angels/
New Church of Montgomery, in Glendale 