The Word


24
Nov 2019
Annunciation of the Virgin Mary

I would like to ask a question to all of us – how many of us listen to the news daily? How many hours? A lot. The next question is, how much of this is good news? And, on the other hand, how much of this is bad news? At the end of the day, you may not hear even one bit of good news. Today we read about the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary – translated, the “annunciation” means “the good news.” (Luke 1:26-38) How, as Christians, can we distinguish between......

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17
Nov 2019
Zechariah and John the Baptist

When we go to church after a long week, facing challenges in our life, we seek comfort, peace and rest in our mind, heart, body and thoughts. And we also seek forgiveness from the Almighty one to wash our hearts, receive His spiritual food – His body and blood – and we can charge our mind. So, we can go through the new week strong, facing our life without any fear. This is what the church is about. And so, the church prepares readings, and we can see the feasts, memorials and......

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27
Oct 2019
The Sermon on the Mount

When we read from Matthew 5, 6, 7, which we call the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus, we know there is nothing more important and significant. And he always said, “You heard…” and follows with “But I say to you…” Usually as a King gives decrees, only the King himself can make the change. In the Old Testament, Moses gave the commandments and the people kept and memorized those commandments. Nobody could change a single figure, until the arrival of Jesus Christ. Jesus, by saying “You heard” and “But I say......

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20
Oct 2019
Syriac Orthodox Church Sermon

When we speak about Jesus, we speak of good things. But when you test yourself through a hard time in your life, or you are not walking according to His word, no matter what you do or what you think, He is thinking of you. We see this in the story of the young man in the Book of Luke chapter 18 There was a young man, a ruler. He had a good social position among his people, and he was a rich young man. He showed Jesus all kinds of respect......

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29
Sep 2019
Rest with the Lord on the sabbath day

We thank God today because when He created the universe, the Bible said on the last day God rested. And by doing this, God taught us people, who He created in His image and likeness, are to follow what He did and also rest from our labor. And today — Sunday — is a day for doing good things and doing merciful actions. Unfortunately, the world is trying to turn the real meaning of the day of the Lord from spiritual meaning to physical meaning. We try to make ourselves Holy, go......

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22
Sep 2019
Pharisees and Sadducees - Syriac Orthodox Church

I was reading a story about a father who wanted to find out how smart his two sons are, and how well he raised them. He gave the same amount of money to both of them to fill a room. The one who filled more would succeed in understanding what he meant. The first one had very big bags filled with sponges, and yet it was not enough to fill the room. The other had nothing but five candles. He turned off the light and filled the room with the light of......

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15
Sep 2019
Discovery of the Holy Cross

Happy feast of discovery of the Holy Cross. We thank Him because the sign of the cross was before a curse – the Old Testament said that those who are cursed are hung on wood, trees, and crosses. Jesus, by his mercy, transformed this sign so it is now a blessing. It is a sign of protection, our faith, something we are very proud of. Because Jesus was able to crush the head of the evil one. We thank Him for this beautiful feast we always celebrate on September 14. And, at......

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08
Sep 2019
Give from your heart Assyrian Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary

Whenever we begin our prayer, we should give thanks to the almighty one because he gave us His life. When He died on the cross, He taught us the ultimate giving, and forgiving, is based on love only. We should also thank Him back by learning these virtues. Today, we learn in the reading of Jesus in front of the temple, watching people give their donations, their good deeds. And while he was watching that, the Bible says there was a very poor widow wanting to participate by giving what she can.......

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01
Sep 2019
Don’t Delay Your Repentance

We have an invitation. God himself is inviting you to enjoy the body and blood of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was once telling a story in the Book of Luke, someone told him “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Luke 14:15, followed by Jesus inviting all of us to participate in his body and blood, and He said, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited men.” But they all, with one accord, began to make excuses. So which kind of people......

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21
Jul 2019
Jesus is the Water of Life - Share it with Love

St. Aphrem said the most important gift that God has given us is the Bible. When we read the Bible, we should read it at least six days a week. Without it, we will lose comfort, peace, and His happiness. And we will not understand the things in our life. And in church for the 7th day, we will also be in the Word. For instance, in today’s reading, when Jesus was talking with his disciples, he said the Jesus among us are in those who help. And “For whosoever shall give......

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