St Peters Orthodox Church

July 8, 2018 - In Acts Chapter 17, St. Paul teaches that God made us for the time we have on earth to seek Him in hopes that we might grope for Him and find Him. He is speaking of a life that is dedicated to reaching to toward God out of our need for Him. Do we live a life deliberately moving toward God so that we might encounter Him in the moments of our life. We are to move toward a God who is always moving toward us and promises that those who seek Him will surely find Him.

July 1, 2018 - Suffering is something everyone of us will endure at one time or another in this life. At the same time, we are assured that God is a refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble. So where will we be found when calamity strikes our lives? Will we be outside the fortress enduring the brunt of the storm? Or will we be found in the fortress knowing God as our deliverer through and to the other side of the season of suffering?

June 24, 2018 - Today we celebrate the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner. When we look at the life of St. John we see the life of a Saint; a life to which we are all called and graced to become. Sometimes when we look at the lives of the Saints we begin to ask the most important questions about our own lives. Are we like them and what keeps us from living in that manner? These questions, when asked prayerfully to God, are questions our Lord longs to answer so that we can truly follow Him as His blessed disciples. Today we look at the life of St. John the Forerunner and consider some of these important questions.

June 17, 2018 - Today, on Father's Day, we remember the importance of fatherhood. There are many fathers. We have the fathers of children, spiritual fathers, and we also have father figures. Our Heavenly Father presents the most true model for fatherhood and the order that comes from His fatherhood. It is no surprise that there is such an attack in recent generations on fatherhood and order. Today we are reminded of the goodness of fatherhood because of the goodness of our Father in Heaven.

June 10, 2018 - On this first Sunday in the Season of Trinitytide, we are given an incredible teaching on becoming love as God is love by St. John in St. John Chapter 4. In this reflection we consider his words section by section. We remember that we cannot become love without first being recipients of the love of God in our own lives. What keeps us from experiencing God's love toward us? When the answers to that question are thrown down we are able to receive the limitless love of God which draws us to Himself and transforms our lives forever.

June 3, 2018 - This Trinity Sunday we reflect on the fellowship shared by the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are three distinct Persons that are so united in love, in one mind, and in singleness of purpose that the Three are indeed One. The result of their union is the giving of life. Scriptures tell us that we have been Baptized into Christ. Therefore, we being joined to the Fellowship of the Trinity are both recipients of life and, by God's desire, are the vessels through which God bestows life to the world.

May 27, 2018 - Today is the Feast of Pentecost and we hear again at the very beginning of Mass the vision of Ezekiel from Ezekiel 47 describing the water that would flow from the Temple; and everyone that the water would touch would be healed. Jesus said in the Gospel of St. John Chapter 7, "He who believes in me, out of his innermost being will flow living waters." The Holy Spirit would be poured out on the Day of Pentecost filling every believer with Living Water. Now, from us God desires for that same Living Water to flow for the healing of all.

St. Peter begins to conclude his First Epistle beginning with these words, "But the end of all things is at hand..." Based upon this reality, he ends this Epistle by teaching what is most important regarding how we should live in times such as these as believers and as Christ's holy Church. In this session we set our attention on his concluding things of having fervent love for one another, using our spiritual gifts for the benefit of one another, suffering for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and living with spiritual sobriety and vigilance all our days.

May 20, 2018 - On this week before Pentecost, Jesus tells His disciples that it is better for Him to return to the Father, for then the Comforter will come. Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit and one of the meanings of the word comforter means "one who will come along side." This homily explores how the Holy Spirit comes along side every Christian.

May 16, 2018 - Today is one of the Twelve Major Feasts of the Christian Faith, the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is one of the Twelve Major Feasts specifically because of what Christ provided on our behalf by His Ascension to the Father. Today is a day of great rejoicing and this homily places before us a number of the incredible benefits made available to us through Christ by His Ascension.

The Church has always been governed by a hierarchy of order and oversight. What is the purpose and wisdom of such a framework and how does it function to oversee the faithful in Christ? This session seeks to help bring an understanding to these important questions.

St. Peter teaches the Church to, "Be of one mind." What an important reality we are being taught. For each living stone in Christ's Church to be of one mind is to exist like the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Persons yet One. How are they One? The exist in the bonds of absolute love, unity, and harmony of the will. So the Church is called to be of one mind with one another and with our God. Our God is glorified in the wonder of Christian unity.

May 13, 2018 - St. James teaches us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. He says that those who are hearers only are deceiving themselves. Why? Because being a disciple of Christ, a follower of the Resurrected Jesus Christ, is an actual living experience and not just a mere intellectual or rational one. In this teaching, we examine the power of habits in our lives. Habits can either be life-giving to the Christian or they can be great distractions or even destructive to the beloved in Christ. By the grace of God, when we are doers of the Word, we become that which we do...we become like God.

In the second half of 1 Peter 2 and the first half of 1 Peter 3, St. Peter instructs the Church on how they are to glorify God by the way in which they live; even and especially as they are facing Roman persecution. He begins by reminding Christians that they are sojourners and pilgrims in this world. Therefore, the world needs to see just how foreign the Christian is in this world. From there St. Peter moves to teach very practically how Christians must live in regards to submitting to civil authorities, how Christian servants are to live toward their masters, and how husbands and wives live together in Holy Matrimony in such a way that the relationship of the Trinity is made manifest for all to witness.

Creating sacred space in the home, but also spending time with God in that sacred space, is a vital part of our ongoing experience of the union we have been giving with God. This class discusses prayer, our communion and fellowship with God, in the place in which we dwell.

May 6, 2018 - On this 4th Sunday after Easter we listen as Psalm 98 tells us to "Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things." But what is the new song of the Christian. In this sermon we remember that the new song is Christ Himself. He is the content of the new song and we have all become the expression of that content. We are the voice and instruments to the song of the Resurrected Jesus Christ.

April 29, 2018 - Today we remember the testimony of St. George the Martyr, who when the government persecuted Christians stood up against the government and would not bow down to their actions was martyred for his faith in Christ. St. Peter instructions us in our Epistle reading from 1 Peter that we are to submit to the government. So where does the Christian draw the line. We are to submit to our government for Christ allows all governments to be in place. In this homily reminds us, however, of where our true allegiance belongs. We are a people of the Kingdom of God and we stand for that Kingdom first and foremost both when governments make room for our faith and when they strike against it.

St. Peter ended chapter 1 of his first Epistle by calling the Church to live in the love of God toward one another. He begins chapter 2 encouraging the Church to lay aside all things that hinder us from loving one another. St. Peter then moves to remind us of who we are as individuals in Christ, but equally as important, who we are as the Body of Christ. He teaches us that Christ is the Cornerstone, the Apostles are the foundation, and we are are the Living Stones built upon that foundation to be the Temple of God through which God intends to glorify Himself and offer His life to the world.

Today's Catechism Class focuses on the role of the Spiritual Father in the life of the Christian. In this teaching, we are encouraged to see the Priest as a familial Father who is placed in that position by God to help every Christian soul grow to maturity in Christ by feeding them all they need by his time, listening, teaching, and offering every Sacrament given by God for the health of all God's children. We are also encouraged to see the Priest as a physician; one we go to with the suffering of our soul in hopes that we might hear, through the Priest, our true Great Physician Jesus Christ who offers the remedy to the illness of our soul.

April 22, 2018 - Today we cover 1 Peter Chapter 1. Remembering that St. Peter is writing a pastoral letter to those suffering the beginning of the Roman persecution of the Church under Nero, St. Peter begins by calling the Church to great praise. And, by doing so, he is calling them to fix their eyes back up Christ in order to receive all of the grace He longs to give them to endure this time of trials. St. Peter also begins reminding them just how to live as the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ in the face of persecution.