Orthodox Christian Leadership
By Diane Karavitis
A few weeks ago, Father Anthony asked me to talk about “Christian Leadership”. I was truly humbled and accepted the offer. All kinds of thoughts were running thru my head, it was difficult where to begin and where to end. I thought long and hard and concluded, that I should start with our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no better example for Christian Leadership than Christ Himself. I remembered reading the story quite a long time ago about “The Good Shepard”. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. It is within this verse that I think we see the perfect description of the concept of Christian leadership.
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Talking Finance
By Bill Galatis
Thank you Father Anthony and Good Morning
Today, I am not here to talk numbers, but rather to talk about the new changing attitude & culture that is sweeping across our Parish. We are changing the way we conduct Parish business. We have made changes that have strengthened our financial health today and already planted seeds that will be securing our financial future for tomorrow.
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Reconciliation and Unity
By Narge J. Sparages
Thank you, Fr. Anthony, for asking me to lead the Reconciliation Ministry and to share my thoughts today on what this can mean for our community. In the last Koinotis, you declared a year of unity and reconciliation. Reconciliation does not mean getting together with those who love us. Christ our Lord says even the sinners and the Pharisees do that. Reconciliation means looking into the eyes of people and accepting them the way they are, not for the sake of molding them after our own image and demanding loyalty to our own ideas but to see them as free and equally loved Children of God.
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The Orthodox Church Music
By Richard Barrett
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, I would like to thank Fr. Anthony for inviting me to speak today on a topic that is dear to my heart -- the musical ministry of the Greek Orthodox Church, and why singing is so central to our worship. I open my mouth, and pray the Spirit fill it / Ἀνοίξω τὸ στόμα μου καὶ πληρωθήσεται πνεύματος.
St. Paul exhorts us “to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all [our] heart” (Eph 5:19), but he doesn’t spend much time answering why we should do that. To that end,....
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Orthodox Christian Stewardship
By Angela Michalakapoulos
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters,
When Fr. Anthony asked me to come speak about Stewardship today, I must admit I was hesitant. I have various time commitments, one of which is a newborn that keeps me up most nights; I came up with a bunch of excuses as to why I shouldn’t be the one coming up here to speak today. But instead of responding right away, I took a pause and waited. When I discussed it with my husband he said, “being asked to give a sermon is an honor and it wouldn’t be me speaking, it would be God speaking through me”. Right away it hit me, “how could I possibly say no?” The newborn that is keeping me up at night, is a blessing from God. It is HE who decided when I would become a mother. The ‘time’ I do have in this life is also a gift from God.
So here I am today to speak to you about Stewardship - and what that means. The definition of a Steward is someone who is hired to manage or look after something. God gave each of us time, different talents and various treasures to manage on his behalf and calls us to use them to look after his children.
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