SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Rejection

“All of us have experienced times of discouragement, times when we feel that all in the world has turned against us. Our intentions are misunderstood, our words are misinterpreted, our suggestions are ignored, and our offers of help are met with rejection. As a result, we begin to feel marginalized and unappreciated, and became very dejected.” (Rev. Andrew J. Demotses) "Rejection can damage my life as few other things can, if I don’t hand it over to God’s unchanging love and

Children of God

“Human beings are created and saved to be the children of God, sons and daughters of the Father in Christ the only Son, by the indwelling Holy Spirit.” (OCA Synod) “In a world so consumed and fixated with worldly pleasures and riddled with secularism, it has become dangerously easy for the Christian to lose touch with his identity as a child of God and to forget who he is and why he lives. Each day we are bombarded by forces that smother the Spirit in us and attempt to strang

Jesus Christ

“Jesus participated in our nature and in our sufferings on earth…He understands our weaknesses and intercedes for us in the presence of God the Father.” (Foundation Study Bible, Hebrews 2:17) “Jesus Christ had to experience all of the things that the human being experiences. And in order to do that, He had to become a human being…Because He was made like us, He understands us…He understands what it is like to be one of us…He even understand the temptations and the assaults of

Incarnation

“The uncreated Son of God will assume created human flesh, restoring the relationship with Him that mankind lost as a result of the Fall (see Rom 8:19–23). The whole world shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord…through the incarnation, God and humanity are reconciled and communion is restored not according to a substitutionary formula or measure of infinite satisfaction for sin in God’s mind but by the power of divine love, first in Christ the God-man and second in th

Value

“Each of us has some manifestation of Christ’s grace in us. This comes out in our personalities and our talents. There is no one who has no gift to offer the world, or who has no gift to offer back to Christ. Because we are ALL made in the image and likeness of God, then everyone has infinite value in the eyes of God. So, while our gifts and talents may be different, God doesn’t value anyone more or less than anyone else—we all have infinite value in His eyes.” (Fr. Stavros N

Spiritual Depth

“The moral/spiritual life, when treated as one more progressive project, is largely marked by constant failure or worse. We cannot teach a corpse to behave like a living human being. Until the inner-man is healed, all outward efforts will end in frustration or a false existence. What is required in our life is not new behavior but a new creation. That new creation begins in the very depth of the soul. The journey to that depth is marked by weakness, shame, loneliness and what

Hurt

“…behind every hurt there is healing, and that behind every crucifixion we endure there is a resurrection waiting to occur.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul) “Love swings back and forth between hope and hurt…Christ changed the hurt of the Cross into the help of the Father through His obedience, as a good Son always is, for the hope of us all. He saved us to become saviors, even when it hurts.” (Bishop Anthony) “Our forgiveness is relative to the degree to which we are free from our contin

Brokenness

“Brokenness is never an easy experience…There is no other way into the deep things of God but a broken spirit.” (Michael Youssef, Smith Wigglesworth) “Until we can honestly accept the broken reality of our lives and desire our true humanity and natural movement toward God, our lives will remain in this downward spiral.” (Kevin Scherer) “God-dependence only begins when self-dependence ends. And self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, aff

Tears

“…as long as distress and anguish stay cramped and compressed in our hearts, they darken our thinking. When they are emptied and evaporate through the words of our supplication and the tears which flow from our eyes as we pray, they bring a great brightness to the soul. Why? Because, like the rays of the sun, God’s help has entered into the soul of the person who is praying.” (St. John Chrysostom) “To be much for God, we must be much with God. Jesus, that lone figure in the w

Opposition

“If man is not made for God, why is he not happy except in God? If man is made for God, why is he so opposed to God?’ (Blaise Pascal) Our own opposition to God often has its roots in deficient theology, self-righteous morality, self-seeking, and pride…The reason why wicked men and devils hate God is, because they see Him in relation to themselves. Their hearts rise up in rebellion, because they see Him opposed to their selfishness." (Dynamis 4/19/2015, Charles Finney) "Pride

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