New Philadelphia Moravian Church
4440 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27104
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2008.
A view from the old deck at Higgins Lodge. Did you know that Laurel Ridge now rents rooms to individuals? Meals are included in the price, and it make a nice affordable family get away. Click on the picture for a larger view. Follow this link to check availability.
When I was on Sabbatical, I spent many hours reading books and essays by skeptics, doubters, and militant atheists. I read them so that I could stand before you in the integrity and sincerity of my convictions to advocate the Way of faith. In my reading, I hit upon a two-fold truth. On the one hand, most agnostics and atheists have abandoned faith in God precisely because they cannot reconcile the idea of a loving God with all the pain and suffering in our world, a wold that lives under a sentence of death. On the other hand, when they begin their attack on God, they always begin by attacking the god of the philosophers and deists, in that they usually begin by attacking the philosophical proofs for the existence of God.
I found this interesting because we Moravians have never bothered to defend the god of the philosophers and deists. Rather, we proclaim the God the New Testament calls, “The God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Consider if you will the 2nd of the Eight Essentials. It does not proclaim “the love of God” for the world. It proclaims “the love of God the Father for the world.” The mere mention of “God the Father” reminds us of “God the Son.”
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First Wednesday of each month
2:00 – 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Meet in the Craft Room.
We are working on items to be sold at the 2009 Bazaar.
We welcome all to come and join us!
No experience required.
We have jobs for all.
A sermon from The Rev. John G. Rights, preached September 14, 2008.
Seventy-seven times or seventy times seven … the point is not the number. The point is that whoever counts has not forgiven at all, but is only biding time. If you’re keeping score, then you’ve missed the point entirely. Don’t ever stop forgiving.
The weather was wonderful, the day delightful, the worship inspirational, the company superb, the food delicious. Here are a few images from the day:
This is a Lightbox Picture Gallery. It requires that “javascript” be enabled on your browser. Click the “More” tab to see all the pictures. Click on the first thumbnail in the gallery. A larger version of the photograph will appear in a “lightbox.” It will be labeled “1 of 15″, etc. Click on the right edge of the photography to see the next in the series, and the left edge to see the previous. Once you have viewed all the images in a gallery, close the “lightbox” by clicking the “X.” Alternately, you can enlarge only the thumbnails that interest you.
A sermon from The Rev. Dr. David A. Marcus, Jr preached on September 7, 2008. This sermon provides a guideline to improving communication and solving conflicts with each other.
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This is the 1st of 8 sermons on The Eight Essentials of the Moravian Church as described by several general synods held in the 19th century. They are no longer the official doctrine of our church, having been replaced in 1957 with a statement of theology known as “The Ground of the Unity.” The Ground of the Unity can be found on this site on the “Parish Papers” page. Though the Eight Essentials no longer represent the official theology of our church, they are still representative of the “kerygma” or “preaching” of the early Church, notably the list of Eight Essentials closely parallels the preaching of the Apostles in the sermons in the Acts of the Apostles. Once learned these essentials are wonderful “pegs” onto which to hand the various doctrines of the New Testament that make up what the New Testament calls ” the Good News,” “the gospel” or “the gospel of Christ.” This sermon is a DVD sermon. The text of the sermon is pretty much what was said on Sunday. The notes add information. I recommend that one read the sermon first, then read the notes, thus gaining additional insights into the texts.
This morning I take up the first of the Eight Essentials. This first essential has been published in various forms since the General Synod of 1818. It reads:
The doctrine of the universal depravity of humanity; that since the fall, no health remains in humankind, and we are powerless to save ourselves.
The first essential makes three assumptions: 1) All human beings are sinners. 2) Sin exercises great power over us, and we are sick with it, individually and corporately. 3) We are powerless to help, heal or save ourselves. If this first essential were an advertising slogan it would read:
“Humankind has fallen, and we can’t get up.”
