Posts Tagged ‘unity’
Nothing Can Separate You from God
It is too easy to feel alone in a world filled with billions of people. It is all too common. In the middle of struggle, we look around and feel alone. We feel nobody ‘has our back’ or that nobody understands what we are going through. We even wonder if God has forgotten us. Brethren,…
Read MoreFaithful to the End
Being faithful today is synonymous with being loyal. We are loyal to friends. We are loyal to family. We are loyal to our employers. If any of these groups betray us, our loyalty fades or even disappears. As Christians our loyalty is to Christ, who never betrays us. In those days, Peter said to the…
Read MoreEternal Union
It is easy to talk about forgiveness when it doesn’t matter. Too often I hear, “Sure I forgive them. God will take get them. I don’t have to.” I’m sorry to tell you, this is not forgiveness. This is vengeance. The problem isn’t now. The problem comes later when we are eternally together. There are…
Read MoreCommon Life
In every Divine Liturgy we proclaim our common life in Christ when we pray, “Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” We do not commend our unison lives to Christ. We commend our life, singular, to Christ. That should mean something. Brethren, let any one who thinks…
Read MoreEpisode 431 – United in Faith for the Forgiveness of Sins
When Christ saw the faith of the friends of the paralytic, He said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Christ didn’t heal the man until He wanted to show His power to forgive sins. When we are united in the faith of Christ, our sins can be forgiven by God. When we pray each…
Read MoreDivision is the Devil’s Work
There is no doubt that our society has become extremely fragmented in recent years. This is nothing new in the life of the Church. That doesn’t mean we should be ‘ok’ with division. The only one who celebrates division is the devil. Anyone who creates division does the devil’s work. Brethren, I appeal to you…
Read MoreUnity in Love
Since before Christ’s Holy Passion, He has been urging us to unity in love. In the twenty centuries since, the Church has been fighting to maintain unity. We have not always been successful, so we have also been fighting to restore unity where it has been lost. The Lord said to his disciples, “The words…
Read MoreBe Strong
Among the many struggles of being a Christian in 21st Century America is the reality that we are not living among fellow believers. Either we are among Christians who are not Orthodox, or we are among non-Christians. Worse than both is to be among Orthodox Christians who do not live nor believe as Orthodox Christians.…
Read MoreTogether we are Stronger
Intuitively we know this to be true. You remember from school, don’t you. It is easy to break one stick. It is nearly impossible to break a bundle of sticks. One lone column cannot hold up a wall, but dozens together can hold up buildings. What is true with sticks is true with people. Nothing…
Read MoreCompetition in the Church
We live in a very competitive society. Businesses compete for customers. Politicians compete for voters. Even Churches compete for members. Competition might be good for business, but it is lousy for salvation. Competition has no place in the Church. Brethren, as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have…
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