There are generally three approaches that Christians have taken when it comes to their surrounding cultures: 1) Rejection, resistance, and hostility: This approach sharply distinguishes the Church from the world, emphasizing that the Church is so much “not of this world” that the world must be fled and an alternate community established. It is a posture that is fully closed to the world —…
Sunday before the Theophany of Christ, January 3, 2016 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We are now just three days into 2016—the new year. It would be tempting, of course, to say that for Orthodox Christians, this is not the “real”…
Sunday after Theophany, January 12, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick A recording of this sermon can be heard via Ancient Faith Radio. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is the Sunday after the Great Feast of Theophany, and even though the feast is now past, we are still within the…
The following sermon was preached on the Sunday after Theophany 2009. As we continue in the economic mess that was so fresh in that January of a little over two years ago, I think this still very much applies, especially as the referenced epistle reading makes mention of the Ascension of Christ, which is celebrated today. Our fundamental economic problem is still fundamentally a…
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. amen. More than 400 years ago in Tudor England, there was a custom of celebrating a holiday called “Twelfth Night,” which took place on January 5th. Twelfth Night was so named because it was the twelfth day of Christmas, beginning with December 25th as the first day.…