It’s part 2 in the series ST & SA: Who Are They? And this week we looked at the life of one of the truly great figures in Christian history: ST. ATHANASIUS.
This man was a true giant of the faith and in this week’s message we see what lessons we can learn from his life and his legacy. You’ll also hear the story of how I almost ended up with his name as well :)
Read MoreHappy new year! We kicked off 2020 with a bang yesterday as we started a two-week series called ST & SA: Who Are They?
The series is about our patron saints at STSA: St. Timothy (ST) and St. Athanasius (SA). In this week’s message, we learn about St. Timothy from his namesake, Fr. Timothy! We learn not just about the life of this great saint, but also a) what we can learn from it and b) why his name was chosen for our church.
Read More“We exist to transform lives in the DC metro area through an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ founded upon the life and teachings of the Orthodox faith.”
That’s our mission statement at STSA and yesterday, we decided to take a step back and reflect upon how God is using us to accomplish that in our local community and beyond.
So if you’re one of the many people have supported the ministry at STSA - whether through prayer, or giving, or serving - then you NEED to know that you are making a difference in the world.
Check out this week’s message to learn more about the great work God is doing in the lives of so many - and it’s all THANKS TO YOU.
Read MoreTHE WELL IS BACK!
I apologize for the loooong layoff, but what was supposed to be just a 3-week hiatus for the holidays turned out to be much longer due to several factors outside of our control. But thanks be to God, we finally got back to work this past weekend and the video is above.
That’s the good news.
The bad news however is that we – once again unfortunately – had technical difficulties and the recording is both INCOMPLETE (first 5-6 minutes didn’t record) and well BELOW THE QUALITY that you’re used to and deserve. For that I apologize but it was really out of our control.
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"Your wife is so sweet... your wife is such an angel... your wife is the nicest person I've ever met."
That's Marianne – my lovely wife – and those are the comments that I usually hear from people describing her. And those who know her understand why. She really is the nicest person ever. She is sweet, she is kind, she is gracious and she is generous. She is the pillow to my sword and she really is the best!
BUT....(all the husbands out there need to pray for me because I am risking my life here with this next sentence).... at times my wife reminds me of a gorilla (may God help me!).
Read More"When we lose something of value, we focus on what’s LOST to neglect of what’s UNLOST."
As we celebrated Pentecost yesterday - aka "the birthday of the Church" - I wanted to reflect on what it means to be the Church and how that identity translates into my life today.
We looked at three parables of Jesus and saw that being the Body of Christ is all about PEOPLE and making sure you have the right "PEOPLE CATEGORIES."
Check out the message above to see what I mean.
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If you’re in the DC metro area and have always wanted to come for a visit to STSA Church, this is the weekend to do it! It’s Friends & Family Day and we’re kicking off a new series titled “ANCIENT FAITH IN A MODERN WORLD” and YOU are invited!
Check out our website to help plan your visit.
Yesterday marked the four year anniversary of the departure from this world of a true spiritual giant, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I therefore thought it fitting to honor this saintly man with a post I wrote back in 2012, just days after his death, speaking about some of my experiences with the departed Pope and some lessons learned as well. May the Lord accept the prayers of this righteous man on behalf of us all and on behalf of His Beloved Church.
Over the past few days, a lot has been written about the life and legacy of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. As is often the case with a righteous man, it isn’t until after his departure from this world that we realize the true greatness of the man that was in our midst
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I’ve been waiting for this weekend for more than 6 months. Ever since I saw the movie, THE WAR ROOM, I’ve been telling everyone how great it is and the changes it brought into my life and how excited I am to see the impact it can make in our church and in our community.
And finally, the time has come for me to tell you why.
Read More[NOTE: Audio missing for the first 3 minutes. Technical difficulties. My apologies.]
"Love isn't just loving your neighbor; it's also loving your neighborhood."
Week 4 in the Love Is series and this week we looked at the fourth characteristic when it comes to Christ-like love: LOVE IS LOCAL.
In this message, you'll hear me talk about one of the foundational principles upon which STSA was built: Genuine Love for our Community. More importantly, you'll get to hear someone else share about how fulfilling this principle made a huge impact on their life and deepened their relationship with God and with His Church.
Check out the video about and see for yourself. And get ready to start seeing your neighborhood in a whole new light!
Happy Easter everyone! Christ is risen and THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! I hope you had a blessed Holy Week and Easter (regardless of when you celebrated it) and that you're now living in the light of His glorious resurrection and viewing all things in light of that truth. Last week was also special because it marked the FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY of STSA on April 28.
So in order not to let such a historic day pass, I am reposting some thoughts I put together last year as we celebrated the 3 year anniversary. Enjoy
Read MoreIf rain, sleet and snow won't stop the US Postal service, then it certainly won't stop us either! We had a foot of snow in the DC on Saturday and that stopped us from being able to meet together in person; but it didn't stop us from Church!
Because as we saw in yesterday's message, the Church isn't a place we go... the Church is who we are! I am the Church and there is no greater honor than for me to say that and identify myself as a member of the "theanthropic" Body of Christ (big word explained in the message).
That's the point of our newest series, The BodyShop. We'll been given a great honor in being part of the Body and every week in this series, we'll look at a different aspect of what it means to be a HEALTHY member of that Body.
Welcome to The BodyShop!
Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is officially here! Over the next few weeks I plan to blog/speak/think a lot about what God is giving us during this season (His Incarnation into the world) and then in response what we are going to give Him back.
But before we focus on WHAT we should give Him, we need to first understand HOW we should give it. As you'll see from the post below - originally written 2 years ago - HOW is more important than WHAT.
Read MoreToo often, it seems like there's a disconnect between God's promise and our possession. In other words, we hear/read many great things that God promises to His children (peace, joy, power, victory, etc.) but we seldom find any of those things in our possession. Why is that? Check out yesterday's message from The Well - LAYING HOLD OF GOD'S PROMISE - and you'll see why.
The problem isn't that God doesn't fulfill His promises; the problem is that we aren't looking for the right thing.
We're looking for trees, but God is giving out seeds.
ONE WEEK LEFT in the Build Your Kingdom campaign! As we approach the end and our goal seems nearly impossible, this week we got a reminder of what a true Kingdom Builder mindset looks like. Focus on BRICKS, not BUILDINGS. Or as Solomon put it "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:31)
And keep laying those BRICKS!!!
Over the past few weeks, you've heard me talk a lot about our Build Your Kingdom campaign and about how we're trying to build a house for God here in Arlington, VA. You may be asking yourself "Why? Why do you need a building? Why do you need it now? And why this particular building?" Well here's your answer!
Below are three videos that will answer your questions: Our Story,Our Need, and Why This Building (this third one is the longest but it's my favorite because in it I tell the story of how we came to know that God wants this building - very personal, very moving, don't miss this one!).
Enjoy!
Read MoreDiscouragement: we've all been there. We've all faced it. We know how it feels and how paralyzing it can be. The only people who avoid discouragement are people who never attempt to do anything hard/great in this world.
So what happens when a kingdom builder gets discouraged? Is that even allowed? Aren't the "spiritual" people always supposed to be upbeat and positive? What happens when the "good guys" get down?
That's this week's topic in the Build Your Kingdom series. Check out the video above and watch as I share how I personally went through some discouragement recently and how I dug my way out of it. Trust me, if you're feeling down or discouraged, you MUST watch this message.
And I pray that God uses it to pick you up as He did me as well.
"No praying man or woman accomplishes so much with so little expenditure of time as when he or she is praying." A.E. McAdam
Part 2 of the Build Your Kingdom series and this week we looked at our most important tool when it comes to building God's Kingdom. Not money, not manpower, not experience or intelligence... our most important tool is PRAYER.
Why? Because "unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1)
In this week's message, we look at Nehemiah - a man who led God's people to accomplish an incredible feat - as a model of the kind of prayer that builds kingdoms. We'll see what was Nehemiah's secret to success and see what four factors make up kingdom building prayer.
You’re trying to build a “home” for God by buying a church building? Are you serious? Does God really need a physical building to have a home? Isn’t the entire universe His home? Why does He need a building? And how does that building have anything to do with the Kingdom of God?
Those are some of the questions you might be asking as you hear about the BUILD YOUR KINGDOM campaign which kicked off last weekend at STSA.
And those are all fair questions. Does God really NEED a building? Does He even want one? Doesn’t God care about spiritual buildings more than physical ones? Who cares if there’s a building or not?
Read More"Consider now, for the Lord has chosen YOU to build a house for the sanctuary;be strong, and do it.” 1 Chronicles 28:10
The Build Your Kingdom series officially kicked off yesterday with a message titled "THE CALL TO BUILD." We looked at why having a visible building is so important to a invisible God (hint: it isn't for His sake as much as it is for our sake).
- God built a home for He and Adam (the garden of Eden).
- God commanded Moses to build a home for Him among the Israelites in the wilderness (the tabernacle).
- God put it on David's heart to build him a permanent home in Jerusalem (the temple).
- And when that temple got destroyed, God moved in heart of the king and in the spirits of His people to rebuild that home and restore His sanctuary (see the book of Ezra).
And now God is putting it on our hearts at STSA to build Him a home as well - not for the purpose of building a building, but rather for the purpose of BUILDING HIS KINGDOM.
Check out part 1 of the series above and let's get ready to build!
