Recorded live at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in McKinney, Texas. Visit us online at www.orthodox.net
Commemorated today:
᛭ Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew (60)
Readings:
Ephesians 4:1–6
Luke 10:25–37
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxs6xt51cws
We begin with a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, perhaps an unlikely beginning to an Orthodox sermon. It is about having “enough.” How do we learn to have enough? The Apostle Paul teaches us, in Sundays reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Video: https://youtu.be/UCoa6E8Xx18
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-sun-16_2022+having-enough+kurt-vonnegut-joseph-heller-story_2cor6-1-10.mp3
Partial timestamps
0:00 – 1:09 A story of Kurt Vonnegut quoting Joseph Heller: “I’ve got something that he can never have. …Enough.”
6:24 – 7:42 “As deceivers, and yet true.”
8:23 – 10:12 Concerning praying regarding “Darkness of soul” and the Akathist of the Inexhaustible Cup.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCoa6E8Xx18
Comforted and Comforting. St Paul’s prescription for victorious living 2 Corinthians 1:1-1 10th Thursday after Pentecost. 2023-08-10
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-thu-10_2023+comforted-and-comforting_2corinthians1-1-7.mp3
Video: https://youtu.be/NnO4oZE9Mgk
Being a Christian is simple (but not easy at first). St Paul speaks of comfort here, and assures us that being comforted by God (by the Comforter!), whether in tribulations or not, and transmitting that comfort to others is the victorious way to live. If we have this comfort, we can even enthusiastically emulate Paul and joyfully describe our tribulations as *abounding*, unto our comfort and consolation.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnO4oZE9Mgk
Ephesians 4:7–13
Matthew 4:12–17
What happens after baptism? The encounter with Christ must change us, or else the Grace of God is wasted in us. We are given grace “according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” How we are to understand this phrase from the epistle reading. What the death of Jesus accomplished is what baptism accomplishes in us - freedom from sin.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuenzOuxwUY
2022-06-25 On the day after the historic overturning of Roe V Wade by the Supreme Court, we talk about the sober reaction a Christian must have to this news. It is never right to do something that is wrong. Overturning an immoral law is necessary, but NOT SUFFICIENT. We should not “celebrate” – we must increase our prayer. There is still a terrible amount of suffering.
Apologies about the recording quality. I made a mistake in recording. If I have time, I will edit the transcript and record again. This is a critical topic, and I did not want to let perfection be the enemy of the good (enough).
YouTube: https://youtu.be/W4CsJBG9W4k
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/misc_2022+christian-reaction-to-roe-v-wade-overturn.mp3
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4CsJBG9W4k
Some thoughts while watching the sunrise, at North Padre Island beach, and after watching the movie: "A Hidden Life", and chewing on the quote at the end of the movie, which perfectly describes the courageous hidden life of all true Christians and also describes our disordered times of secular fear and compliance with uncanny accuracy. How are we to build this hidden life? If we fail to do so, we are dead, even as we appear outwardly to be alive.
"For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” ― George Eliot, Middlemarch "
YouTube: https://youtu.be/IY8Jia8I3hs
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY8Jia8I3hs