Please join us for a Zoom church service with Rev. Dr. Sherrie Connelly this Sunday, March 12, 2023. Fellowship begins at 10:30 am; Worship Service at 11:00 am. The title of her service is “God’s Well of Living Water.” Remember to “Spring Forward” and set your clocks an hour ahead! (Zoom link will be provided to church members and their contacts.)
Join us this Sunday, May 15th, for a hybrid in-person/zoom service from the Glendale New Church. Our guest minister is Rev. Julie Conaron.
“Trust: do we have issues with trusting others, even with the Divine?”
Rev. Julie Conaron
Fellowship at 10:30, Worship at 11:00 am. Zoom link will be provided to church members and their contacts. You may also attend in person.
Please join us for a Sunday Sermon with Rev. Dr. Sherrie Connelly. The theme of the service is “Following Our Lord.” Come and see what that means to you, and learn what it means to others. Fellowship at 10:30 am, Worship at 11:00 am. Zoom link provided to church members and their contacts.
Please leave your reflections in the comment section.
Psalm 130, New Living Translation
Psalm 130, Science of Correspondences
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
Psalm 130, Verse 7
for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
We are happy to enjoy a close relationship with our sister church, the Glendale New Church. We share their message here today, courtesy of Pastor Clark Echols via YouTube.
Please leave your reflections in the comment section.
Psalm 94, New Living Translation
Spiritual Translation of Psalm 94 in Science of Correspondences.
6. By father in the genuine sense is signified good, and in the supreme sense the Lord. A. 3703.
Please leave your reflections in the comment section :
Psalm 32
1
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2
Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3
When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4
Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
5
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
6
Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7
For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory.
8
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10
Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11
So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Join us Today, in welcoming back Guest Minister, Rev. Jenn Tafel.
10:30 Hospitality, 11:00 am Worship; @ The Glendale New Church 845 Congress Ave, Glendale, OH 45246
Rev. Jenn will examine:
Bible Verses:
OT: Genesis 32: 22-31
NT: Luke 18: 1-8
…and discuss how “often when we hear stories or have personal experience in wrestling with God it’s rare to hear that there was an immediate outcome…or one that could be defined at all.
This week’s message will focus on the stories of Jacob wrestling “with a figure through the night” and the persistent widow. Have you wrestled with God? Have you fought for justice? What inspires you to seek justice and answers?
Sermon Title: “Wrestling with God and Receiving Justice”
Chawne Kimber, “slow poetry 1: the one with apprehension,” 2017-18.
Please enjoy Guest Minister, Rev. Julie Conaron’s selected readings and sermon from Sunday, August 4, 219, at the New Church of Montgomery.
“BE NOT AFRAID”
Fear runs a large part of our lives, and there’s much fear in the Word. How do we cope with this debilitating feeling in our lives?
CONTEXT
Fear/being afraid/frightened is a common thread for many of us in our lives, from childhood up to old age.
Be thinking of the many ways fear seems a part of our lives.
READINGS
Genesis 50:15-21 When Joseph’s brothers saw their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us and will certainly pay us back for all the wrong we did to him.” So, they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “I beg you, forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin. For they did evil to you.”’ Now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and said, “We are your servants.” Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?But as for you, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many lives. So now, do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So, he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
(Despite what Joseph’s brothers did to him he bore them no ill will. He had so much faith and trust in God he was not afraid. However, his brothers were very fearful, thinking he would pay them back for treating him so badly.)
A similar story happened with Esau and Jacob:
Genesis 33: 1-17 Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming and four hundred men with him. So, he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph last. He went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he said, “Who are those with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and they bowed down. Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed themselves.
Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.” Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my gift from my hand. For I have seen your face, and it is as though I have seen the face of God, with you having received me favorably. Please take my blessing that has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So, he urged him, and he took it.
Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds with young are with me. If they are driven too hard one day, all the flock will die. Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the livestock that goes before me and the pace the children will be able to endure, until I come to my lord at Seir.”
So, Esau said, “Let me leave some of the people that are with me with you.”
But Jacob said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
So, Esau returned that day making his way back to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock.
(Of course Jacob was afraid. He had done bad things to his brother Esau: pretending to be him and stealing his birthright. However, Esau bore him no ill will: he was just happy to see him again.)
MESSAGE
So, both Esau and Jacob and Joseph and his brothers had had issues with each other. Yet the characters who were afraid were those who had done their sibling wrong, not the wronged sibling. And these stories are different: the brothers who did wrong behave differently
Here are some definitions of fear:
feeling fear; filled with apprehension: afraid to go.
(feeling regret, unhappiness, or the like: I’m afraid we can’t go on Monday.
feeling reluctance, unwillingness, distaste, or the like: He seemed afraid to show his own children a little kindness.)
WHAT DO THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINES SAY?
In the spiritual world the Writings tell us that those in evil and falsity are afraid, but there are other fears as we progress on our spiritual journey
AC 4249. “And Jacob feared exceedingly, and was distressed.” That this signifies the state when it is being changed, is evident from the fact that fear and distress are what are first in temptations, and that when the state is being inverted or changed these take precedence. The arcana which lie hidden in what is here said that Esau went to meet Jacob with four hundred men, and that Jacob therefore feared and was distressed can’t easily be set forth, for they are too interior.
When good is taking the prior place and is subordinating truths to itself, which takes place when we’re undergoing spiritual temptations, the good that then flows in from within is accompanied by very many truths which have been stored up in our interiorperson. These can’t come to our mental view and understanding until good acts the first part, for then our natural begins to be enlightened by good, when it becomes apparent what things in it are in accord, and what are discordant, from which come the fear and distress that precede spiritual temptation. For spiritual temptation acts upon the conscience, which is in our interior person; and therefore when we enter into this temptation we don’t know where such fear and distress come from, although the angels with us know this well; for the temptation comes from the angels holding us in goods and truths while evil spirits are holding us in evils and falsities. ** (like Jacob wrestling with the angel?)
[2] For the things that come forth with the spirits and angels who are with us are perceived by us exactly as if they were in us; for while we’re living in the body, and if we don’t believe all things flow in, we suppose the things which come forth interiorly are not produced by causes outside of us, but that all the causes are within us, and are our very own; yet such is not the case. For whatever we think or will (our every thought and affection) are either from hell or heaven. When we think and will evils, and aredelighted with the consequent falsities, we may know our thoughts and affections are from hell; and while we are thinking and willing goods, and are delighted with the derivative truths, we may know they are from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord. …the combat of evil spirits with angels …appear as fear and distress, and of temptation, in us.
AE 80 (talking about John’s fear). Saying unto me, Fear not, signifies renewal of life. This is evident from the series of things in the internal sense. For John lay as dead, and the Lord, seen as the Son of man, laid His right hand upon him, and said to him, “Fear not.” His “lying as dead” signified failure of his self-life; the Lord’s “laying His right hand upon him” signified life from Him; therefore His saying to him “Fear not” signified renewal of life; for all who come suddenly from self-life into any spiritual life are at first afraid, but their life is renewed by the Lord.
This renewal is effected in this way that the Divine presence, and fear on account of it, are accommodated to reception. The Lord is present, indeed, with all in the universe, but more nearly or remotely according to the reception of good by means of truths with them from Him (as when we take the Holy Supper). For good is that in which the Lord is present with angel, spirits and people; therefore the extent and quality of good from the Lord with them are what determine the extent and quality of the Divinepresence; if the presence goes beyond this, there is anguish and tremor; but by accommodation to reception there is renewal of life. This renewal is what is signified by “Fear not;” also in other places, where it is said by the Lord or by the angel of the Lord when seen: Renewal of life, that comes by accommodation to reception, appears in the spiritual world, when it is presented to view, as a cloud. All societies there are encompassed by such a cloud, denser or rarer according to reception. (Fears come between us and the Lord, heavens)
Note several different fears here: fear of losing what we had/fear on taking a new journey
SOLUTION
So, what do we do when those fears attack us? How do we cope with that unpleasant feeling?PRAYERS TO GOD
Are we in spiritual temptation, or are we allowing hell to attack us?
Stories: fear of loss by families/can lead to denial of situation/fear of the unknown.
How does fear affect your life?
Here are some nurturing passages from the Word:
Jos 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Isa 44: 1- 8 Yet now listen, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob, My servant, and you Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring;
and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
One will say, “I am the Lord’s”; another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
and another will write on his hand, “Belonging to the Lord,” and name himself by the name of Israel.
Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; besides Me there is no God. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it, and recount it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And let them declare to them the things that are coming, and shall come. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old, and declared it? You are My witnesses! Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any.
Amen
Photo by Maggie Panyko 2019, Outer Banks, North Carolina
“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
New Church of Montgomery, in Glendale 