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“This is the thing which Jehvoah has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” (Exo. 16:16)

Communities are made up of people who share something in common. It could be a shared location (like a neighborhood), a shared interest (like a fan club or a book club), or shared goals (like a political party). A church community (a congregation) is no different because it is founded on the shared ideals of religion. Just like a fan club exists to help you enjoy something more by sharing your delight, and a political party exists to help you make civil changes by sharing resources, a congregation exists to help you change your life for the better by sharing a common good and the additional life flowing in from the Lord from that goodness.

In heavenly communities, the Lord’s life flows through the members into the community as a whole and from there back into all of the members. What one angel gains is shared with the community as a common good. And what is gained by the community is shared with every single member. Imagine how much strength and joy is available to angels through this powerful connection.

Congregations, or church communities, are meant to be no different. We have the disadvantage of not all being angels yet, but in a church community what one person gains through reading the Word, worshiping, working hard on repentance, etc. is shared with everyone who is also contributing what they have to create a common good. Being part of a community of individuals striving to become useful and happy people allows everyone in that community to share the burden, to each give what the Lord has given to them and receive what they need from what the Lord has given others. United congregations are powerful.

To see that this is so, read: Psalm 133; Exodus 16:11-21; Divine Love and Wisdom 431.

(This is a synopsis of the sermon preached by the Rev. Amos Glenn at 11:00am on August 30, 2006. Listen to it here.)

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does Jehovah require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

What does the Lord require of us, when it comes to worship? Why do we come to church? Why do we pray? Why do we read the Word?

All these activities make up what might be called the life of piety. This sort of worship, though, is only external. The Lord has told us several times that vain repetitions, extravagant ritual and external worship in general is not what He is chiefly concerned with. External worship is merely a representative of-and support for-real worship.

Internal, true worship is a life of charity. It is repenting, shunning evil, being useful, and doing good works for our neighbors. This doesn’t mean external ritual doesn’t matter. External worship is like clothing: we need it, but it can be changed. The only requirement is that it serve internal worship.

Proper external worship is whatever ritual we choose that inspires, instructs and prepares us so that we may make our daily lives into continual, true worship, which is the life of charity.

To see that this is so, read Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 6:5-8; Arcana Caelestia 10143:3-5, 6.

(This is a synopsis of a sermon on the topic of true worship preached at Pittsburgh New Church by the Rev. Glenn “Mac” Frazier. A full text version of this sermon can be found on Mac’s site, where you can also listen to it.)

“But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Living the life of religion requires us to make commitments. Before we are regenerated and motivated by good, we must do what is true and right even when we don’t want to. Committing ourselves to doing what the Lord commands is the essence of the life of religion. The hells, then, will do whatever they can to prevent and subvert al your attempts to make and keep commitments.First, the hells will try to convince you to make half-commitments, to hedge your bets against disappointment and failure. But like Moses told the Israelites, we cannot find the Lord if our attempts are half-hearted. Moving away from the depression of evil towards the happiness of good requires a whole-hearted commitment to learning and doing the Lord’s will. Just making the commitment is often enough to quiet the hells…for a bit.

The hells will next try to convince you that the commitment you made was foolish or pointless because it cannot result in anything good. When the Lord told Simon to “let down your nets for a catch”, Simon complained of the pointlessness and futility because they’d been fishing for a long time and caught nothing. But Simon is committed to serving the Lord. He lets down the nets and he and his companions catch more fish than the boat can carry. They then left everything behind and followed the Lord. We do not need to avoid commitment; these lessons will help us stay committed in the face of hellish attacks.

(This is a synopsis of a sermon on Deuteronomy 4:29, by Amos Glenn. Readings: Deuteronomy 4:25-31; Luke 5:1-11; Arcana Caelestia 4353. You can listen to it here.)

“‘And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’” (Matthew 25:25)

In the parable of the talents given to the three servants, the Lord is reminding us of what success and failure are rally about. The servant who failed was the servant who was too afraid to take any risks with what his master has entrusted him with. The other servants took the risk, even though they may have been scared or uncomfortable, and the results were consistently successful. The successful servants were not successful because they were lucky, or smart, or hard working. They were successful because they were willing to take the risk. We might wonder: what would have happened if one of the servants had returned with fewer talents than he started with? But that’s just not possible. The Lord grows the talents, we just need to be willing to try. Psalm 37 teaches the same lesson when it says that everybody falls, even the righteous. The difference is that when we take a risk and fall, the Lord catches us so that we are not “utterly cast down.” To the Lord, mistakes are not failures only learning experiences.

Taking risks means being willing to do something that is not easy or comfortable; it means struggling in temptation. As a congregation, we need to continually be willing to take risks, to try new things not for the sake of newness but to continually stretch towards stronger health as a congregation. As a congregation, we need to be willing to undergo the temptation of not wanting to grow or change. We need to face our fears, acknowledge them as real, and then take a risk. And even if our attempt at something new doesn’t work, it is still not a failure but just a learning experience that leads us towards better, healthier decisions. The only way to fail is not to try.

To see that this is so, read Matthew 25:14-30, Psalm 37 and Arcana Caelestia 8162

(This is a synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. Amos Glenn.)