It’s Easy to Feel Left Out

In religion, we can often feel left out. We can easily feel left out when one teaching is stressed more often than another. Marriage is one such example. Single, divorced, widowed, or separated can easily feel that big chunks of the Lord’s Word and teachings are irrelevant to them. We can feel left out or…

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Sharing Your Faith

Swedenborg Potluck Presentation – Sharing your faith The hope for the evening of Friday, 28th January, was that by the end of it, we might have more confidence in sharing a small part of our faith with others when the opportunity arises. We started by sharing some of the barriers that we experience in talking…

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New Beginning relate to inner life

Beginnings of Inner Life

New Year As we enter the beginning of a new year, we are reminded of the cycle of the Lord’s creation, day & night, summer & winter. We see the cycles of this natural world, and we understand clearly the need and importance of these regular cycles. We recognize that in Divine Providence, everything in…

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Why does the church exist

Why does the church exist?

“Union with the Lord and regeneration are the same thing……If one person loves another and is not loved in return, then as the one draws near the other backs off; while if there is love in response, as the one draws near so does the other, and this brings about union. Love wants to be…

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ritual is a doorway

Ritual is a doorway

Every now and again we need reminding from the Lord that the ceremonies, rituals and services in themselves are not the goals of religion. Rituals are not Worship itself. It is essential to be reminded that rituals are a means to an end. A Ritual is a doorway which we can choose to use to…

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True Worship has no Restrictions

We again find ourselves having to make changes to our life and routines to abide by COVID restrictions. As with any change, there comes a mix of emotions ranging from welcoming the safety measures and caring for the vulnerable, to frustration that people’s livelihoods are being taken away and that there is such a negative…

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Where am I leading you to?

As a congregation you voted to have me serve you as Pastor. The role is vary varied across both the church and school. The essence of the role you have called me to, is that of spiritual leader. The hope from your side is that I use my training, my time and my talents to guide all that we do to connect more deeply with the Lord.

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Foggy road

Remove the Fog

Do you know the danger sign of a stagnant spiritual journey? Do you know the danger signs that could seriously damage the church? Our journey stagnates for a number of reasons as we get caught up in a fast-paced life and changing environment. It happens when we leave “our first charity.” It happens when we…

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Church growth is personal spiritual growth

Before the outbreak of COVID, we had started to look at our church and community and we asked ourselves, “Where are we going?”, “Why are we doing the things we do?”, “Who are we serving?” To begin the process, I asked for your feedback on a survey in December that asked, “What do you value…

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Spiritual Comfort of Holy Discontent at Carmel New Church

Spiritual Comfort or Holy Discontent?

In Heaven & Hell we read, “Kindred souls gravitate toward each other spontaneously, as it were, for with each other they feel as though they are with their own family, at home…When they are with kindred souls, they enjoy the fullest freedom and find life totally delightful.” (HH n.44) What a beautiful image of spontaneously,…

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