Many people who praised Jesus when He entered Jerusalem a few days later condemned him, as a hymn from the service teaches: "First they sang in praise of Christ our God with branches, but then the ungrateful Jews seized Him and crucified Him on the cross. But with faith unchanging let us ever honor Him as Benefactor, crying always unto Him: Blessed art Thou that comest to call back Adam." How can we be different than them? It does not just happen by magic, or if we are passive. The epistle today tells us two necessities - inner prayer with rejoicing, and Christian morality. Philippians 4:4-9 2019-04-22
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj3Yv138Xd0
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/gl-sun-04_2023+beatitudes-a-ladder-of-divine-ascent_mat4-25-5-12.mp3
Video: https://youtu.be/K93jJcPXB7U
Audio & Video Timestamps
1:11 – 2:16 The Beatitudes as a “Ladder of Divine Ascent”
2:16 – 10:30 Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
3:13 Children are poor in spirit. An illustration that many former children will remember.
4:37 – 7:48 An example of how the “poor in Spirit” are powerful and confident! From the movie “The Island”, which is fiction, but depicts spiritual truth.
7:48 – 10:34 HOW do we learn to become “poor in spirit?”
9:51 – 10:34 Do NOT say that you are TERRIBLE!
10:34 – 14:24 “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted”.
13:45 – 14:24 Mourning for ourselves is NOT enough.
14:24 – 18:00 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5
18:06 – 19:19 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6
19:19 – 20:20 “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.“ Matthew 5:7
20:22 – 21:10 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
21:10 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9
21:33 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10 and (23:04) “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Matthew 5:11
24:23 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:12
24:41 – 25:59 Let’s struggle to fulfill the first beatitude, the first rung of the ladder of ascent.
25:59 - 27:37 “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93jJcPXB7U
A command that is easy to fulfil in a practical way: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice … And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Exegesis of Romans 12:1-3. The Christian life is really not complicated. Even St. Paul, who writes in a very theologically complicated way tells us some simple commands here which are very easy to fulfill in a practical way. Our thoughts do determine our lives. How are we to think about St. Paul’s commands, in such a way that we fulfill them in daily life?
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pen-sat-06_2023+-present-your-bodies-a-living-sacrifice_rom12-1-3.mp3
Video: https://youtu.be/d3fEI42s_f8
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3fEI42s_f8
A prophesy of Sophonios (Zechariah) promises "thou shalt not see evil any more." Is it true? You must know what evil is, and hate it in *all* its forms to understand this prophesy and be energized by it.
With voice-over cameos by Monster man and the Little Obowski
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRMuhKVaB1A
Cheesefare. Great Lent is upon us now, and it is time to awaken, as St. Paul exhorts us, from the slumber of our daily lives and bad habits. Why Lent should never be associated with tedium and deprivation, but with forgiveness and joy. The point of our Lenten struggles is to help us to feel God in our hearts.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnlEz8CD4C0
Healing of the Paralytic. Knowing the Hidden Reality. Paralysis and sin.
In any given situation, there is an apparent reality, easily understood with our eyes and ears and human intelligence, and there is a hidden spiritual reality, which we often do not see and cannot understand. Victorious Christian living is only possible if we develop the skill to see the inner reality of things. The story of the healing of the paralytic demonstrates this hidden reality, and how we must react to it. We are all paralytics. What paralyzes us?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLl387kf4qg
Martyr Gordius, 01-03. The love of Christ compels a man to give up all earthly honor and even his life.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/oz0BOPGmAXM
The martyr Gordius was a soldier under Diocletian, and a secret Christian. He was not a coward though. When he saw all of the terrible tortures he was disgusted, and gave up all his military honors and went into the hills to pray. This was not in order to escape death, but rather to prepare for it. Later he made his witness by going bravely in the amphitheater in the middle of a spectacle and rebuking the pagans. The love of Christ makes a man gladly give up on her and even his life. We can learn from his witness, and bake his intercessions in the event that we may be tried.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz0BOPGmAXM
Audio: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/misc_2023+learning-to-be-intimately-close-to-the-saints+a-cloud-of-witnesses.mp3
Video: https://youtu.be/2w5_biVeNw8
Developing a skill – learning to be intimately close to the saints. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, “ Hebrews 12:1 A clip (from 15:01 – 28:06), of a sermon on the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints of Russia
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w5_biVeNw8