Resurrection of Our Lord

Thanksgiving Matins sermon

November 26, 2009

God made man from the earth. Our very first father, Adam, was made from the clay, but he came alive when God breathed into Adam the breath of life. And not only was Adam made from the earth, he depended on the earth for his life. The food that he had to eat came from [...]

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Quasimodo Geniti

April 20, 2009

“Peace to you.” They are the very first words the risen Lord Jesus says to the gathered disciples on Easter evening. Something important there. “Peace to you.” Those words summarize the result of Jesus’ work. What does it mean that Jesus died? “Peace to you.” What does it mean that Jesus rose again? “Peace to [...]

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Those in the tombs shall rejoice

April 14, 2009

More Schmemann: Only Christ has risen from the dead, but in doing so He destroyed our death, He destroyed its dominion, its hopelessness, its finality. No, it is not nirvana or a shadowy life beyond the grave that Christ promises us, but an eruption of life, a new heaven and a new earth, joy in [...]

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Life erupted out of death

April 13, 2009

More profundity from Schmemann: Christianity is above all the belief that Christ did not remain in the grave, that the light of life erupted out of death, and that in Christ’s resurrection the absolute, all-encompassing and uncompromising law of mortality and death has been torn apart and overthrown from within. As an Orthodox theologian, he [...]

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The Resurrection of Our Lord

April 12, 2009

  Some of you have journeyed with the church every step of the way this Holy Week. Rejoice! This is the day for which you have longed. Some of you have not been here in a long time. You too, rejoice in this day! On this day everything is made new. But whatever joys or [...]

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The seal of the grave is broken

April 12, 2009

“This is the night” rings out over and over again in the Great Thanksgiving of the Easter Vigil. Tonight it was a great blessing to have Chaplain Richard Townes and Chaplain Jonathan Shaw serve at Immanuel’s Vigil. One of our catechumens, James, was also baptized tonight, filling me with great joy. This is the night [...]

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Chrysostom's Easter Sermon

April 12, 2009

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom Pastor of Constantinople (~400 AD) Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord! Are there any weary with fasting?  Let them [...]

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Do our people truly believe in resurrection?

April 11, 2009

It wasn’t until my late twenties, as a newly-minted pastor, that I had my first real encounters with common beliefs about death and afterlife among Christians. My vicarage was at a fairly large congregation, but no one died that year, and I had few family experiences of death at that point. The most significant death [...]

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Meditation on Psalm 16

November 12, 2008

Continuing our midweek series on the Psalms… +  +  + INJ +  +  + The foolish man says, “I am god, and all the good I have comes from me.” But the wise man is taught by the sixteenth Psalm to say, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.” Men run [...]

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Nascar and Norman Greenbaum

March 25, 2008

Great thoughts from Pastor Beecroft on death, life, and the resurrection of Jesus in his Easter sermon. Here’s an excerpt: The secular world says there is nothing else. There is only freedom in this life to choose a way that you find meaningful and significant and then there is death. This is the only world [...]

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