How I Prepare for Sunday Mornings

March 20, 2019

It’s Sunday morning, 8:30 am. The alarm goes off. Exhausted from staying up till 1 am the night before, you snooze 3 more times, buying you 27 more minutes of sleep. By the time you roll out of bed, shower and get dressed, it’s 9:21 am. You have 9 minutes to drive 11 miles, find a parking spot and get to your seat. In other words, YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CHURCH!

And because you’re late (again), parking is scarce, there are no good seats left and you’ve already missed part of the service. You can’t focus because you missed the beginning and you’re trying to play catch up the whole time. You are tired. You are frazzled. You are frustrated. Is this what Sunday morning is supposed to look like?

Preparing for Victory - THE PROMISED LAND, Part 3

July 30, 2018

It's Part 3 in our study of the book of Joshua, THE PROMISED LAND and in this week's message, we're getting ready for the victory that God promised us.

Special thanks to my good friend Peter Karras as he gives us four invaluable lessons on what it takes to move in and possess the land/life God promised us. We know it's there for the taking, but we need to do our part to turn the promise into a reality.

Performing Orthodoxy – A Newbie’s Take!

May 12, 2017

In the Orthodox Church, we are now in the period known as the "Holy Fifty" – a period of feasting where the church celebrates Jesus’ presence with the disciples after His resurrection – and yet, my heart is still meditating on Christ’s last week on earth before the crucifixion.

Throughout Holy Week, as I attended daily liturgical worship services, I reflected over the mode of worship in Orthodoxy, which emphasizes outward expressions of piety and devotion. I don’t mean this in a negative sense. Consider. Almost every part of the Orthodox Church is intended to lead Christians through a physical act of worship in order to model for us the posture that our hearts should be taking.

“How Much Longer Left in the Liturgy?”

January 13, 2017

Today's guest post comes from Michael Guirguis - a dear friend and founding member of STSA who has since moved back home to Atlanta, GA. As an ordained subdeacon, Michael has invested his life to making Coptic hymns more accessible by recording them in English (see CopticHymnsInEnglish.com). He also just launch a new podcast called MEET & RIGHT, which aims to help you apply the Liturgy to your daily life. If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.

WHY WE WORSHIP THE WAY WE DO – Ancient Faith in a Modern World Part 3

July 11, 2016

Why is Liturgy so boring? Why does it have to be so long and with so much standing up? Does it even really matter how we worship God? What matters is the heart right???

If you’ve ever wondered about why Orthodox worship looks the way it does, be sure to check out the message above. In it, I talk about how liturgical worship helps us to achieve EXACTLY what we need – more than enjoyment, more than entertainment, more than a nice inspiring message. Liturgical worship is where we exchange our life for the life of Jesus.

And that’s what we really need.

How to Worship in Spirit AND Truth

October 28, 2015

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit AND truth.” (John 4:23-24)

What does it mean to worship in spirit AND truth? What's the difference between the two? And how do I properly address each?

LET'S GET TO WORK - The BodyShop Part 3

March 9, 2015

God gives power to the Church. The Church gives power to the members. The means by which this power is distributed is called LITURGY.

That was the main message in our 3rd message in The BodyShop series as we continue to look at the different markers that make a healthy member of the Body of Christ. This week's topic...LITURGY, our communal response to God.

We talked about WHAT liturgy means (much more than a just bunch of prayers said in a church building on Sunday mornings). We talked about WHY liturgy is something we should desire to be part of (it gets results, it brings joy, it prepares us for heaven). And at a very practical level, we discussed HOW we can get the most out of liturgy (hint: it requires more than just showing up).

So check out the message above and hopefully it'll open your eyes to a new level of worship and prayer as a member in Christ's Body.

Do Not Be Afraid (sermon video)

April 22, 2014

Christ is risen!!! WOO-HOO!!!! And by His death, He has defeated death itself and given life and hope and joy to all those who believe Him and walk in His ways.

Because of that, the one expression that should fill the hearts and the mouths of His followers during these blessed days is DO NOT BE AFRAID. But unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Despite the fact that Christ defeated our greatest enemy (death), many still walk in fear today.

That's why I'm posting this sermon video today. The title is simple: DO NOT BE AFRAID. It was a sermon I gave on the first Sunday after Easter several years ago and I think it could speak powerfully to many people today.

Hope you enjoy!

Spiritual Sweat Part 6 - WORSHIP

February 18, 2013

Worship - a word that means many different things to many different people. Yesterday I spoke about what the word means to God and what God is looking for when it comes to us worshiping Him. From the earliest days, who/what you worshiped determined whether or not you belonged to God's family or not. The people of God worshiped the One True God and they did so in the way in which He prescribed. We need to check our worship to make sure it's in line with what God is looking for today.

Take a look at yesterday's message, the 6th part in the Spiritual Sweat series, and let me know what you think.

Your Input Determines Your Output

May 29, 2012

Last summer, I took my family through a rite of passage for all families living in America. It wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to; but it was something that I knew had to be done at some point. And if you have kids too, my guess is that at some point you’ll have to bite the bullet and go through this one day as well...WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!

Now, if you’ve never been there, you need to know that going to Disney World isn’t like any other vacation in the world (and you’ll know right away from the price of everything!). Disney World is appropriately named because it isn’t a resort or a destination or a vacation spot…it's a whole other world!

There is so much to do (but you have to pay for doing it) and so much to see (and you have to pay for seeing it too). There’s just so much going on that it can be very overwhelming if you’re not prepared (and did I mention the cost yet?). So during the weeks leading up to this “vacation”, I did what any Type-A, well-organized and well-prepared man would do…I CAME UP WITH A PLAN!

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