"When we lose something of value, we focus on what’s LOST to neglect of what’s UNLOST."
As we celebrated Pentecost yesterday - aka "the birthday of the Church" - I wanted to reflect on what it means to be the Church and how that identity translates into my life today.
We looked at three parables of Jesus and saw that being the Body of Christ is all about PEOPLE and making sure you have the right "PEOPLE CATEGORIES."
Check out the message above to see what I mean.
Read More
For those of you who are keeping track at home, it’s now been 46 days since Easter Sunday. While that may not mean much to you, it certainly means a lot to me. Why? Because that means that we are in one of my favorite seasons of the entire Church year – the period after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven (40th day after Resurrection), but before the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (50th day after Resurrection).
One of the best things about the Orthodox church is the balance that it gives to our spiritual lives through the various seasons of the year. There’s a season for fasting and a season for feasting! A season for focusing on repentance and a season for focusing on rejoicing! A season for solitude and a season for mission!
Read More
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Last week I wrote about how excited I was for this past weekend. It was the weekend of our public launch at STSA – the weekend where we felt God wanted to take the good things we have going inside the church and make them known to the community outside. And just as the first century church “went public” on the Day of Pentecost, we felt like God wanted us to do the same this past weekend as we celebrated Pentecost as well.
So how’d it go?
FANTASTIC! Magnificent! Best weekend to date! YAHOO!!!!!!
Read More
This is one of those weeks for me. One of those weeks where I don’t know what to blog about or what to say. It’s one of those weeks that I absolutely live for and dread at the same time. It’s a week where I really feel – with all my heart, soul, mind and strength – like God is going to do something big… something huge… something massive… something historically grand… something that is exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even imagine! And He’s going to do that right here – right in front of my eyes!
What in the world am I talking about? Let me explain.
As you probably know, I have been blessed to be serving at St. Timothy & St. Athanasius church (STSA) - aka THE GREATEST CHURCH EVER!. I love my church so much and from day one, I have felt that God has a special calling and a special mission for this church (go back and see the very first blog post I ever posted and you’ll see what I am talking about).
Read More