Sunday School

• Deacons Service
• 2021-10-03: Faithfulness and Wisdom in Reading
• 2022-01-12 Deacons' Meeting
• 2023-08-27: Am I Spiritual?
• 2023-10-29: Wisdom and Discernment
• 2024-02-04: Performing our Daily Vows
• 2024-03-30 - Let us Attend
• 2024-12-11 - Giving
• 2025-11-30: Reverence for the House of God
• High School Service
• 2022-08-12: St Moses the Strong
• 2022-09-09: Life of Martyrdom
• 2022-09-30: The Book of Job
• 2022-12-02: Manhood - Integrity
• 2023-01-13: Offering of Incense
• 2023-01-20: Theophany, Baptism, and Sanctification
• 2023-02-17: Be a Peacemaker
• 2023-02-24: Spirituality of Fasting
• 2023-02-24: Consecrate a Fast
• 2023-06-16: Ethics and AI
• 2023-09-29: The Cross in Our Lives
• 2023-10-13: The Eternal Existence of God
• 2025 HSG Winter Convention (SALT): Intro Topic
• 2026 Spring Break Spiritual Day - Introduction (IOTA)
• 2026-07-14: “I Send You to the World” (HSB Summer Convention)
• MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat
• 2021 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat
• 2022 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat
• MSB Sunday School
• 2022-03-03 Parents Meeting
• Responsibility as a Deacon
• Responsibility in Boundaries
• 2026-08-05: History of the Liturgy (2026 Summer MS Boys Convention)
• Newsletter
• 12/2025 - Kiahk Article

Deacons Service

2021-10-03: Faithfulness and Wisdom in Reading

Nehemiah 8

The people had not read the word of God for a very very long time. Especially after having come back from captivity. They weren't even familiar with some of the laws and the feasts that Moses had written about. So they called for Ezra to come and to read it to them.

¹ Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. ³ Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

When the deacon says "Stand up in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel" it is a message to stand and be attentive and to hear and listen to the word of God. You can test yourself now and ask "do I remember the Pauline from today? Do I remember the Catholic Epistle and the Acts and the Gospel from today?"

⁴ So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose;

A platform of wood that was made specifically for this purpose - this is for us, the ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ. And it was a platform higher than the rest - actually the ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ should be at the highest point in the church so that all of us are standing below the word of God because the word of God has authority over us. ⲙⲁ is Coptic for "place" and ⲉⲩⲁⲛⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲟⲛ is "Gospel" so ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ is the "place of the Gospel"

and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

This is like when Abouna reads the gospel and we find deacons on his left and his right, holding the candles.

⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Just as Abouna says "blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" before reading. And he holds the Gospel above his head when he says it in order to say that "all of us - even the priest or bishop - are under the authority of the word of God" and this is why the bishop or patriarch removes the crown from his head while reading.

And all the people stood up, as the deacon says "Stand in the fear of God" - and if you enter the church and the gospel is being read, just stand in your place and don't move until the Gospel is done.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Just as when we say "Blessed is he..." we all bow our heads toward the ground

⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.

Sermon is to explain the gospel of today to the people, just as here the Levites when to help the people understand the law.

⁸ So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

This part is very important for readings. "Distinctly" - "Gave Sense" - there is a difference between someone who is reading and saying all the words right, and someone who is giving sense. When you read a question, it's different from reading a sentence. You have to know how to read in a way to give the sense to the people - with the right pauses, and inflections. Need to read with a loud voice and help the people to understand.

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

There was no screen or Coptic Reader back then, all they did was hear the word of God. And the word of God pierced their hearts even to the point that they were emotional and started to weep and mourn because they were not following the Law. It is a big responsibility for the readers. Maybe there's someone in the church who doesn't read the Bible at home... maybe this is the only time in the whole week that he hears the word of God. Give it a chance to pierce His heart. Maybe he will be like St Anthony, who heard a single verse in the church and went and sold all that he had.

All of this applies just the same with those who are serving in the sanctuary. Almost every deacon response is an instruction for the Congregation... "Pray for the Holy Gospel" - "You who are seated stand" - "Let us attend." - "Amen Amen Pray" - etc. If the congregation cannot hear you, then who are you talking to?

So when you come to say a response outside and you don't see a microphone, take the microphone and bring it to you to say your response. Or if you see the microphone is already out and the leading deacon took care of it, come close to it and say in it. And if you're on the altar, turn the microphone on, come close to it and say your response clearly. 

In this way, we are giving our beloved congregation members the chance to hear the word of God clearly and to understand it, to  follow along in the prayers, and to understand their role in the liturgy.

2022-01-12 Deacons' Meeting

Spiritual

Acts 6-7: Contemplations on the Life of St Stephen

• First of seven men to be chosen and ordained as a deacon
• Ordained because the apostles needed to give their time to Spiritual work
• The spiritual work is for apostles, bishops, priests. So the deacons are serving in the administrative work
• The role of deacons in the church is big. It's not just serving in the altar:
  • Making orban
  • Cleaning the church and its facilities
  • Preventing the heretics from entering the church
  • Serving on the board
  • etc.
• The apostles gave qualifications and criteria for those servants (Acts 6:3)
  • Good Reputation (inside and outside the church)
  • Full of the Holy Spirit (having the fruits of the spirit)
  • Full of Wisdom
• The Apostles, Bishops and Priests have a different role (Acts 6:4)
  • Ministry of the Word (i.e. sermons and preaching)
  • Prayers
• If the deacons didn't do their part, it ends up falling on the Apostles... And this happens sometimes now with Abouna
• The Result of the Deacons' Service (Acts 6:7)
  • The service multiplying
  • The word of God spreading
• When the service is organized and everyone is doing their part, the Church of God will grow and the Word of God will spread

Lessons from the Life of St Stephen

Brave Enough to Say Yes to the Call of Service

• "Speak O Lord, your servant hears"
• Christianity was not easy or popular in those days. The environment of service was martyrdom. It was a great risk
  • St Stephen and the deacons took a risk and showed great courage.
  • He didn't shy away when the times got rough, but received martyrdom
• We don't have risk of martyrdom, but we have many inconveniences and difficulties in our life and service. Schedule, tired, family, work, etc.

Filled with Faith and the Holy Spirit

• How could the apostles measure faith or holy spirit? It was manifested in their life and actions
• St Luke mentions St Stephen full of the Holy Spirit four times in these two chapters
• Conduct in our lives, in our business dealings, in daily transactions, etc.

Handled Opposition and False Accusations with Grace

• He did not defend himself but simply shared his faith with grace and love, seeking their salvation
• Be strong in the faith and stand up for the Truth

Good Knowledge of the Word of God

• No one would dare have this conversation unless he knew the Word of God
  • Acts 7 is a good A-Z summary of the Old Testament
  • "Be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15)
• This is shown in how you read the word of God. Someone who reads well can deliver a message to the hearer.
  • Sometimes the reader can delivery a clearer message than the sermon.
  • Every deacon should be ready enough to give a sermon in a moment's notice

Pray for those who Persecute You

• Many will stand against us and oppose us - Good intentions or bad, with knowledge or without
• How do I handle this?
  • Do I carry a grudge?
  • Do I speak evil of them?
  • Between deacons should be care and love, but we all still can grow
• Pray for those who treat us badly

Strive to be of Good Reputation

• When you have the urge to respond in a secular way, remember who you are and Who you are serving

Administrative

• Deacons' Meetings
  • These are important and require commitment
  • If you have a valid reason to miss it (i.e. sick, traveling, work, school), please communicate it with Abouna
  • The service of the Reader and Subdeacon is as important as Sunday School - both are services for TEACHING
• You should wear your Tonia even if it's not your day for service
  • "There's already a lot of people" is a reason sometimes, but if that's the case why would the Lord make thousands of thousands of angels?
  • To stand and serve as a deacon is the service you are ordained for, and you will greatly benefit from it
• Scheduling
  • Sending availability in a timely manner on the group every two months
  • Sending availability on groups for weekday liturgies (see Jonah in February)
  • Sending a message when you will be unable to make it to your service
• Attending the Tasbeha and standing with the deacons or in the front rows - especially during Kiahk
• Father of Confession and regular confession
• Proper Vestments (including Tonia, Badrashel, Taleeg) and respect for them
• Arriving 15min before the Liturgy Starts, regardless of your position

Announcement - New Adult Deacons Class

• Every Wednesday at 8:00-9:30pm
• Arabic and English
• Rituals, Dogma, Hymns, and the Deacons Service in General
• Purpose:
  • To remember things that were forgotten from lack of use
  • To be in harmony with the rituals and practices in our church
  • To serve the adult deacons
• Jan Guirguis will be responsible for and serving that class
• Required attendance for Saturday Altar Servants
• Required attendance for Friday Altar Servants who are not already attending the Advanced Hymns
• It's okay if you don't know, but what is more important is a willingness to learn
• Starting Feb 2, 2022

 

2023-08-27: Am I Spiritual?

Spiritual vs Church-Goer

What is a spiritual person?

A spiritual person is someone who, when he prays, he means it. He is not just saying words or going through motions, but he is speaking to God with genuineness.

What is a church-goer?

A church goer is someone who goes to church – they go to liturgy and Sunday school and Keraza and Bible Study and preservants and Vespers and Tasbeha.

It is important to attend the Liturgy and receive the Eucharist on Sunday because it is the day of the Lord. 

Some people say “well Sunday is so crowded” or “Sunday is so long” – but Sunday is the day of the Lord!

Some people say “well I went on Friday” or “I went on Saturday” – but Sunday is the day of the Lord! It’s good to go to an extra liturgy during the week and many people are even serving in the Friday or Saturday liturgy…. But Sunday is our day and the day of the Lord that we should be spending with Him and hearing His word and receiving His Body and Blood. Actually, the Church lectionary is based on the Sunday readings! The message that the Church is trying to give you is in the Sunday lectionary! On Friday and Saturday and the weekdays, it is related to the saint of the day… so it may be the same readings every week even… but Sunday the Church has a specific message for us that is communicated in a cycle over the whole year

One of the Commandments is to keep the day of the Lord, and that is Sunday. In Egypt, their day off every week is on Friday and so every church in Egypt has liturgy on Friday… but even so, the Christians pleaded with the government and said “we need to go to church on Sunday this is the day of the Lord” and the government said “fine – Christians can go to work at 10am on Sunday instead of at 7 or 8am”

Are all church-goers spiritual?

No… you might be going to all of the services and liturgies, but you do not have any relationship with God. And actually this is called living a dual life.
Life in the church – you are a servant, you are a deacon, you attend some meetings… but in the end, you have 0 relationship with God. And maybe not just that, but you are doing bad things! This is the life of hypocrisy (Matthew 23).

Are all spiritual people church-goers?

Yes! You cannot be spiritual without the Church.

Some people think that when they grow in their spiritual life, then it becomes less important to go to church (e.g. because they are spiritual and are speaking to God regularly outside of church prayers, and are fasting and doing prostrations, etc. That is not right. Actually, the more spiritual you grow, the more you need the church. The church feeds your spirituality and your spirituality feeds your benefit from the church.

People can go to church and they are not spiritual… but you cannot be spiritual without going to church!

How to be Spiritual (and not just church-goer)

Have a Spiritual Canon and Commit to it

With your Father of Confession

• E.g. You need to pray the 1st hour of Agpeya, 12th hour of Agpeya, read one chapter, write one line of meditation, fast Wednesday and Friday
• E.g. When you pray, focus on the quality and the depth; connect with God; not just reading.
• E.g. When you go to church, don’t be just doing things… preparing the censer, lighting candles, organizing things… but not praying!

I will ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer them with yourself... don't answer them out loud, but really answer them seriously with yourself.

Do you Pray?

Do you pray every morning and every night? If you do not, then you don’t have a spiritual life.

How can you grow spiritually without communicating with God?

You need to start your day with prayer and end it with prayer. Every day!

And not just “Our Father” – you are not children anymore. Use your Agpeya. Every morning and every night, at least!

Focus on the quality of prayer.

If you do not pray every morning and every evening... then you are just a church-goer.

Do you Read the Bible?

Do you read the Bible every day? If you are not, then you don’t have a spiritual life!

How can you grow spiritually if you are not hearing the voice of God? In Prayer, I talk to God – in the Bible, God talks to me.

If you are not reading the Bible every day, then you are a church-goer.

Sometimes we do read the Bible every day, but we get nothing from reading it. It goes in one ear and out the other. We might close the Bible and not even remember one word that we read, and have nothing to apply for ourselves and it changes nothing for us... in this way, the Bible to me is DEAD like any other book.

But instead, after you read it, ask yourself: “What is God’s message for me?”

I can find in a chapter one verse, one promise, one inquiry, one request, one prohibition, one privilege… write it down! And write one or two lines reflection/meditation. This is what we give to you in MS and HS as the Bible Passport. It is for your own spiritual growth. It's one of the ways that we want to help you to become spiritual and not just church-goers.

In this way, I change the Bible from just “words on a page” – to LIFE.

Do you Fast?

Do you fast Wednesday and Friday? Did you fast St Mary’s Fast? Apostles Fast? Great Fast? You are not young… Fasting will not hurt your health. Fasting will help you to develop self-control.

When you fast, you need to be serious in your fasting… don’t say “I’m going out with my friends so it’s okay today to break my fast… no big deal. Fast is 55 days if I break one it’s not a big deal.” This is not fasting. It’s lack of self-control.

Fasting is not just abstain from a certain kind of food, but works with repentance, prayer and bible. Not instead of, but beside.

Fast from devices instead of spending hours and hours on devices. “e.g. This fast I will completely stay away from social media” 

Fasting has three dimension: abstinence, quantity, quality

• Abstinence – when you wake up, wait a little bit before eating and drinking (according to your FoC… 11am, 12pm, etc.) On Sunday you don’t eat until 12 and no one is fainting! First meal in the morning is called what? BREAK-FAST
  
• Quality – sometimes when we’re fasting, we ask our parents “I’m fasting please bring me this and this and this” – where is the self-control? Vegan meat, vegan cheese… I am not fasting! Fasting is also about the quality of food. Whatever they bring me, I will eat it with thanksgiving. Whatever in the house is prepared for me, I will eat it with thanksgiving. 
  
• Quantity – sometimes I like the food, so I eat until I am full and then I eat some more. And I might even have a stomach ache from eating too much… and this is called gluttony. Where is the self-control? If you like a food and can’t even tell yourself to stop eating it, then you don’t have self-control. And if you don’t have self-control, you will fall into sin because you can’t say no to yourself.
  

If you are not fasting and not developing your self-control, then you are just a church-goer.

Do you Confess?

Do you have a Father of Confession? Do you confess regularly? Are you honest in your confession? Are you living the life of repentance?

I lie, I swear, I gossip, I judge, I…. And Abouna prays the absolution, and two weeks later I come back and give him the same list. I am not fighting. I am not trying to be a godly man. I am not asking the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me to live a godly life.

Steps before confession:

1. Admit to yourself that you are wrong (some people will deny that they are wrong)
   
2. You are sorry about it (some people know they are wrong and brag about it)
   
3. I will do whatever it takes to avoid it again through the grace of God (I will fight the good fight, I will complete the race) – some people know they are wrong and are sorry, but don’t want to stop
   
4. Correcting the result of sin (e.g. if I got angry at someone, I need to go and apologize and say “I am sorry, I was angry and I should not have spoken to you like that”; if I lie, I should apologize and tell them the truth)
   Prodigal Son, St Paul, St Peter, Ninevites, Jonah, Nicodemus, Manasseh the King, Rahab, Thomas, Samaritan Woman, Adam and Eve, Demas the thief, Zaccheaus – restored 4 fold and gave half his goods to the poor
   
5. Have confidence that God will accept your confession and forgive you (e.g. unlike Judas, who doubted God’s forgiveness)
   

Then, after these five steps, sit with Abouna in confession.

If you are not living a life of repentance, if you are not confessing regularly, if you are not honest in your confession... then you are just a church-goer.

Is God the Priority in your Life?

We can sum these up with this question. 

How much time do you spend with God and how much do you spend on your phones, tablets, social media or video games? If you spend 2-3min with God and 5 hours with the other things… what do you think?

For a church-goer, God is Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning and that's it.

For a spiritual person, God is every minute of every day. Everything that I do is for the glory of God. I like to spend time with the Lord every day. To speak to Him and to hear His words for me. To develop self-control that I may abstain myself from falling into temptation. To live a life of repentance. To mirror Him.

2023-10-29: Wisdom and Discernment

https://notes.morcous.com/books/virtues/page/the-virtue-of-discernment-wisdom-he-metropolitan-youssef

Introduction

• Talk about milk vs solid food
• Hebrews 5:14
• What is Wisdom
  • Christ
  • Holy Spirit
  • Gift of the Holy Spirit

Wisdom the Requirement of the Deacon

Heavenly Wisdom vs Earthly Wisdom

• Story of Rebecca
• Example of craftiness - "I just took communion, but I know that we have an agreement in Deacons' Meeting that we don't go out to the water fountains during the Distribution... I see Morcous is standing in the front row today. Okay I'll make a plan - when he takes the little boys in to take communion, I'll sneak behind him to get to the water fountain. What a crafty and cunning plan! So clever!"
• Examples of craftiness - When I use a method to "get ahead" at work or financially that is not edifying for me, or that is hurting someone else. Or making a plan to take an exam a day late so that I can cheat on it or get the answers from someone else. Craftiness.
  

Acquiring Heavenly Wisdom

• Prayer
• Reading Scripture
• Consel
• Learning from the Mistakes of Others
• Reading

Why do I need Wisdom?

• To make good decisions in my life
• Protection from false spirituality
• To deal with crafty people
• To discern when to speak and when to keep silent
• Dealing with others in general

2024-02-04: Performing our Daily Vows

Introduction

• We are all composed of body and spirit
• Our body is taken from the earth - that's why our body tends to like the earthly (laziness, sin)
• Our spirit is taken from God - so our spirit tends to like holiness and connection to God
• "For the flesh wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh" (Galatians 5:17)
  • There is always a war between the flesh and the spirit
  • In order for our spirit to win this war, there must be some rule/canon/law - what we call Spiritual Rule/Canon/Law

Spiritual Rule

• • If you don't have a Spiritual Rule, you will be under Spiritual Mood
    • "if you're in the mood to pray, you'll pray"
    • "if you're in the mood to read the bible, you'll read the bible"
    • "if you're in the mood to go to church, you'll go to church"
    • People who live according to their mood or what they "feel like" will go down because our natural tendency is laziness... lacking discipline
  • "If anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." (2 Timothy 2:5)
    • If I want to be crowned at the end, I need to have a rule
  • "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Cor 14:40)
    • Spiritual Rule will organize your spiritual life and put it in order
  • Spiritual Growth is connected with the Spiritual Rule
    • "The main difference between the saints and us is seriousness." - HH Pope Shenouda III
      • They took their life seriously. They respected their spiritual canon. They did not break it. They started as beginners, but because of their discipline, they were able to grow.
    • For example, imagine two people who are in school together
      • One has a scheduled study time every day and a rule for studying; he takes his studies very seriously - and he is successful.
      • The other one studies whenever he feels like it, whenever he's in the mood - this person is not successful.
    • [Not HEMY] For example, imagine two people who want to get in shape
      • One takes his exercise and his diet very seriously - he has calendars and schedules, he wakes up early to hit the gym every day, he plans all of his meals.
      • The other one exercises whenever he feels like it or he's in the mood, and eats healthy if he finds something. 
      • Which one will be in shape at the end?

What is the Spiritual Canon

• "So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows." (Psalm 61:8)
  • No one makes a vow every day, but he is referencing here his Spiritual Rule
  • Take this verse as a motto for our life
• St John the Short, when attacked by Satan responded as such: "Today I am alive and I am healthy and I am able to pray; tomorrow, I don't know if I will be alive or healthy or able to pray. So let me pray today."
• "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:5-9)
  • Those who live according to the flesh are the ones who do things when they feel like it
  • Those who live according to the Spirit are those who have a Spiritual Rule
• Barriers to Spiritual Rule
  • Maybe I want to pray, I want to read the Bible, I make a Spiritual Rule, I discuss it with my Father of Confession... but to apply it? I can't. I get bored easily.
    • Satan will fight you, and you WILL get bored.
    • There is a virtue called the Virtue of Coercion
    • "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:27)
      
    • I need to force myself to build discipline... it will be difficult in the beginning, but once it becomes a habit, that's it! And you will even enjoy it.
• Spiritual Rule includes:
  • Prayers - How many Agpeya Prayers? How many Psalms in each hour? Personal prayers? Discuss with spiritual father
  • Readings - Scripture. Spiritual Books.
  • Fasting - All the fasts of the Church, besides personal fasting. How do you fast? What time are you abstaining? Unfortunately many don't take fasting seriously... No abstinence. Taking it easy (e.g. coffee with milk; pizza with cheese; etc.). Spoiling your flesh, not disciplining it.
  • Prostrations
• Spiritual Canon and the way we worship God is how HE wants us to worship Him, not as how WE like it.
  • For example, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. And He appointed to Abraham a mountain that was more than three days walking away from where Abraham was. 
  • Abraham didn't say to God "isn't it enough that I'll offer my son as a sacrifice? And you want me to walk three days? What difference does it make??" - but rather, he respected God. God wanted him to offer in THAT place.
  • Sometimes we worship God according to what we see right, not what God is asking us to do
    • I get tired, I go to school, long day of studying... I cannot do a spiritual canon.
    • 20minutes in the morning and 20minutes in the evening is indeed, tiring and not convenient. But what does it mean when the Lord said "Enter through the narrow gate" and "walk in the difficult way"
    • This is the narrow gate, when we discipline our body and bring it into subjection
    • Don't take your Agpeya and lay in bed and read the Agpeya... no. "Grant us sobriety O Lord that we may know how to stand up before You at times of prayer."
• "The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force" - you have to FORCE yourself into the Kingdom of Heaven!
  • King David was a king with many responsibilities and a whole kingdom, and yet he says "Seven times everyday I praise Your holy name"
  • Daniel and the three youth were in captivity, living as slaves, and the king wanted them to eat certain food which is considered unclean for the Jews. "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." (Daniel 1:8)
    • Sometimes we're fasting but if we're invited to a birthday party, we break our fast. We don't have the purpose and seriousness that Daniel had in his heart.
  • Why did the Lord Jesus commend John the Baptist? He was serious in his life! "Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.... Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist." (Matthew 11:8-11)
    
• Spiritual Life is a life void of Distraction
  • Like Mary (sister of Martha) - it is time to sit at the feet of the Lord and to learn. But if I am praying and I get a text message, let me answer it real quick. My phone rings while I'm praying, I will answer it. Wait until you finish before you answer. What will happen if you don't? Nothing! But let me be serious.
    

Fruit of the Spiritual Canon

• Grow Spiritually
  • "How do I overcome the sin of anger? Lust?"
  • "How to grow in virtue of love? Humility?"
  • I don't have other answers besides what you know... pray, read the Bible, go to Church, confess, fast, repent, etc.
  • If you follow your Spiritual Canon and you're committed to it, you will grow spiritually.
  • Commitment.
• Discipline
  • Gives structure in your life
  • How to be disciplined in your life
  • Sense of responsibility - you are a responsible person
• Satisfaction and Spiritual Nourishment
  • Every day you take your spiritual nourishment from the Lord, so you will be satisfied by your relationship with God
  • Your heart will be full of peace as you communicate with the King of Peace
• Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
• Living a Life of Repentance
  • The Holy Spirit will rebuke and convict you when you do something wrong!
• Acquiring Virtues and Overcoming Weaknesses
• Strengthen your relationship with God
  • Any relationship is strengthened by communication
  • Spiritual Canon is our communication with God
• You will know the will of God in your life
  • You will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly as you grow in your commitment to your canon
  • You will be able to discern the voice of God

Some Practical Steps

• Set a Time
  • 7am I will pray the 1st Hour; 7pm I will pray the 12th Hour; 5pm I will read my Bible
  • Put alarms on your phone
  • Sometimes I say "I will read it later" or "After I finish this" or "After I do this" - and then I come to the end of the day and I say "I am tired... tomorrow I'll read two chapters instead of one" and then tomorrow is the same thing
  • In the monastery, when the bell rings at specific times of the day, every monk drops what he is doing and goes to the church to pray. If he's asleep, he wakes up. If he is working, he drops it.
  • One of the biggest excuses is "I don't have time"
    • It is not a matter of not having time, it is a matter of priority.
    • What is your priority? Ask yourself - what is the first thing you do in the morning? Check your phone? Instagram? Text messages? Play games on the phone? That is your priority.
    • When we have a convention or a Spiritual Day, we find that in a single day we have a Liturgy, we pray all hours of Agpeya, we have Vespers and Midnight Praises, we have two or three Lectures, a Bible Study, a Talent Show, and free time. How are we able to do so much in one day?? Because we have time management. There is a schedule. So everything fits.
    • When the Lord broke and gave the 5 Loaves and 2 Fish, He told the disciples to collect the fragments and they collected twelve baskets of remaining fragments. Collect the fragments of your time. 10min here, 15min here, etc. If you use these fragments of time, it will add up to hours. Want to respond to text messages or check your social media, do it in these small fragments of time so that you can dedicate time to your Spiritual Canon.
• Keep a Table
  • Keep it by your prayer corner with the list of your Spiritual Canon and check it off
  • Challenge yourself to have a perfect record weekly
  • Choose an accountability partner - a friend, or your Father of Confession, or a servant - to keep you on track
  • Prayer, Bible, Prostration, Wed/Fri Fasting, Sunday Liturgy, Tithing, Confession,

2024-03-30 - Let us Attend

Copy and Shadow of the Heavenly Things

• "There are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:4-5)
• "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” (Isaiah 6:1-7)
• Isaiah said "For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" - who is he referring to? He is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know this because St John in his gospel quotes from Isaiah chapter 6 and then he says: "These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him" (John 12:41)
  
• What does this scene remind us of? The Divine Liturgy! But really, it is the opposite - when we stand in the Divine Liturgy, we should be reminded of this scene. When we stand in the Divine Liturgy, we should recognize and realize that we are standing in the throneroom of God
• "Whenever we stand in Your holy sanctuary, we are considered standing in heaven" - Agpeya Part 6
  • We are surrounded by the cloud of saints in the iconography
  • We see incense
  • We see the vestments of the priest and deacons
  • We see the Body of the Lord Christ and His Blood in the Chalice
  • We see candles
  • All of these things are there to help us realize our presence in the throne room of God
• The chorus of the deacons should represent the angels that are in heaven 
  • God is calling us to synchronize with the angels in heaven and to join their choir
  • So what is it that these angels are doing? What is it that we are expected to do? We have a hint!
  • "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3) - when do we say this in the liturgy? (The Sanctus)
  • Now going from the Sanctus let's move backwards a little... the Sanctus is the last part of the Preface of the Liturgy. The beginning of the Anaphora.
• Anaphora
  • "O You, THE BEING, Master, Lord, God of Truth, being before the ages and reigning forever; who dwells in the highest and looks upon the lowly; who has created the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is therein; the Father of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, by whom You have created all things, visible and invisible; who is seated upon the throne of His glory; and who is worshipped by all the holy powers."
    • You who are seated stand
  • "Before whom stand the angels, the archangels, the principalities, the thrones, the dominions, and the powers."
    • Look toward the East
  • "You are He around whom stand the cherubim full of eyes, and the seraphim with six wings, praising continuously, without ceasing, saying -"
    • Let us attend
  • "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your holy glory."
• The Liturgy is preparing us for this moment when we chant "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your holy glory." - this is the praise of the Seraphim. This is what they say when they are around the throne of God. The Church is telling us to be prepared to enter the Throne Room of God with three commands: You who are seated stand, Look towards the East, Let us attend.
• Before we talk about them, one more point: they are actually said TWICE!
  
  • At the end of "Greet one another... Offer in order. Stand with trembling. Look toward the East. Let us attend."

You who are seated stand

• In Isaiah 6, we read that the Seraphim were standing
• The concept of standing to pray is very important
  • "And whenever you stand praying..." (Mark 11:25)
  • "Forasmuch as there are certain persons who kneel on the Lord's Day and in the days of Pentecost, therefore, to the intent that all things may be uniformly observed everywhere, it seems good to the holy Synod that prayer be made to God standing" (Council of Nicaea Canon 20)
  • "We pray standing, on the first day of the week, but we do not all know the reason. On the day of anastasin we remind ourselves of the grace given to us by standing at prayer, not only because we rose with Christ, and are bound to "seek those things which are above," but because the day seems to us to be in some sense an image of the age which we expect, wherefore, though it is the beginning odays, it is not called by Moses first, but one. For he says: "There was evening, and there was morning, one day," as though the same day often recurred. Now "one" and "eighth" are the same, in itself distinctly indicating that really "one" and "eight" of which the Psalmist makes mention in certain titles of the Psalms, the state which follows after this present time, the day which knows no waning or eventide, and no successor, that age which ends not or grows old. Of necessity, then, the church teachers her own foster children to offer their prayers on that day standing, to the end that through continual reminder of the endless life we may not neglect to make provision for our removal from there." (St Basil - On the Holy Spirit Ch. 27)
• How do we stand?
• In the Liturgy of St Gregory:
  • Let us stand well
  • Let us stand reverently
  • Let us stand earnestly
  • Let us stand in peace
  • Let us stand in the fear of God, trembling and stunned
    
• So the purpose is not simply to be standing, but to stand well, reverently, earnestly, in peace, in the fear of God. The message is to put away laziness and focus on prayer - physical laziness and spiritual laziness.
• Sometimes when you see one of the elders sitting simply because the flesh is weak. But yet when he sits, it is well, with reverence, with earnest, in peace, and in the fear of God.
  • Compare it with how we sit sometimes, we are sitting as if to relax. Coming to the liturgy, in the presence of God, and just lounging on the pew. It is completely inappropriate!

Look towards the East

• Why do we look towards the East?
  • St Basil (On the Holy Spirit Ch. 27) says: "We all look to the East at our prayers, but few of us know that we are seeking our own old country, Paradise, which God planted in Eden in the East."
  • "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed." (Genesis 2:8)
  • "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:27)
  • "Our holy place is the paradise - our original place. And since it was in the East, we are told to face the East when we pray." (St Ephrem the Syrian)
    
• Liturgically, the East is wherever the altar is. In a church that is being built, it is always built with the altar facing the East. But sometimes, when a church is bought or temporary or something, it might not work to make it in the East... so in that case, the East is wherever the altar is.
• In the long "Greet one another"
  • O clergy and all the people, with prayer and thanksgiving, with dignity and silence, raise your eyes toward the East: to see the Altar, and the Body and Blood of Immanuel our God placed upon it.
• Again, we see that looking in a specific direction by itself is NOT the main point. But to focus our eyes on the Altar, and on the Body and Blood of Christ. To look with dignity and silence. To look with prayer and thanksgiving.
• Looking towards the East helps deacons avoid distractions
  • Sometimes we are distracted by the deacons on the other side
  • Sometimes we are distracted by the deacons next to us
  • Sometimes we are distracted by the people in the congregation
    
  • Sometimes we distract the deacons on the other side, or next to us, or we distract the people in the congregation

Let us attend

• The command of "Let us attend" means let us be attentive. Let us focus. Let us put our phone away and be attentive to the Liturgy.
• It is a preparation for singing the heavenly hymn of the Seraphim and attending with them around the Throne of God.

2024-12-11 - Giving

Our topic for today is the virtue of Giving. The Lord Jesus in Luke 6 says: "Give, and it will be given to you"

The commandment that He tells us is "give" - there is no specific, just "give."

There are many things that we can give: a smile, a good word, money, time, energy, a listening ear, a warm welcome. And the more we give, the more we receive.

We'll read together today from 2 Corinthians 8. We read in the Book of Acts, that there was going to be a famine in the world. And the disciples determine to send relief to Judea. So St Paul, as part of his missionary journey, collects some of those funds to go back to Jerusalem.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, St Paul talks about giving to the Corinthians, by giving them the example of the Macedonians.

"Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality."

• The churches of Macedonia (e.g. Philippi, Thessaloniki) were persecuted churches. They were being persecuted by the Jews and had great trials of affliction, and on top of that, St Paul tells us "deep poverty." Yet, what gave them joy was that they were able to generously give to the brethren in Judea.
• Giving Imparts Joy
  • We are in the season of Christmas here, a season of giving and you see the joy on someone's face when they give a gift, and even more, the joy of the gift-giver. It is something we have all experienced.
  • When you call someone to ask about them, and maybe no one has asked about them before, and they are joyful.
  • When you visit someone who is mourning, and your visit brings joy to their face
  • When you give appreciation to someone who has worked hard and done a great act, they have more joy from your gift of appreciation, than from accomplishing the thing itself
  • When you encourage someone who is down, they are joyful
  • And their joy is infectious and you too become joyful

"For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability"

• There is a servant who gives in his service according to his ability. Katar khero. But then there is a servant who gives beyond his ability. This is what the Macedonians were doing.
• Give Beyond Your Ability
  • We can remember here the two mites of the widow. This woman only had two small coins - it was beyond her ability to give anything in the Temple. And yet, she did not hesitate to drop them both in the collection box.
  • Fr Reweis told me a story once about a very elderly man in Canada who was over 80 years old, and insisted to stay in the service of Orban. And those of you who serve in the Orban know that it is not a gentle or light service. But you come out sweating and having exerted yourself. So this man was serving BEYOND what his body and his age allowed. And one day they came to the church and found him laying in the street outside the door of the church from exhaustion, after completing his service. He was giving beyond his ability. 
    
  • Many times when asked of a service, I might look at my ability and say I can't do it. But actually, I am underestimating my ability. 
    • One time a youth told me that he cannot serve the service of the altar because he can't wake up that early because he sleeps late. But on the same day, another servant would work a shift the whole night, fasting from food and water, so that he can come to his service after work. Beyond the ability.

"they were freely willing,"

• The Macedonians heard about the need in Jerusalem, and they encouraged each other to give as much as they could and even more, freely. They didn't wait for St Paul to tell them or to ask them for anything.
• Giving is Freely Willed
  • The carnal man may look at his paycheck and say "if I give from this, I won't have enough to pay my bills." But the spiritual man will look at the paycheck and say "let me give from this, knowing that God will provide for me to pay my bills."
  • HE Metropolitan Youssef has said before that "man says seeing is believing, but God says believing is seeing." Believe first, and you will see.
  • Freely willed means giving without thinking. Someone asks a service of you and you say yes before knowing the details. Before thinking about it. Someone says "I need a service from you" and you say "I am at your service"
    • Fr Daoud Lamei gives an example of one time they were doing a service in a place of less means, and one of the men with them was so moved by what he saw that he took everything out of his wallet and asked Abouna "will God accept this from my hand?" To the point that Abouna told him "it's too much!" and the man said "if I knew people were living like this, I would have done more. But this is what I have right now. Will God accept it?" - He was not thinking or trying to be logical about it. He was giving with a free will.
  • I can't wait for someone or the church to tell me "come serve" - but let me go and serve, and that day of service will be the most valuable day of the week.
  • I can't wait for the church to say "we have a project and we need funds" - but let me come and give, and the day of giving will be for me the most valuable day of the week.
  • There is a point that sometimes waiting for someone to say "give me" may ruin the blessing of giving. Sometimes we have a servant very dedicated to the liturgy on a weekday, so we tell him "come and serve" with us and we put him on the schedule and after that, he only comes on the day he is scheduled.

"imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints."

• The Macedonians went to St Paul with humility and urged him to accept their gift to minister to the saints in Jerusalem.
• Giving is a Grace
  • See how St Paul calls the gift "the grace" (in Arabic translation... el ne3ma).
  • He who gives is just a middleman - taking from the hand of God, and putting it in the hand of someone else who needs it.
  • If you give a smile - where did you get that smile in the first place? Was it not from God, who imparts all joy and happiness? 
  • If you give from your talents - where did you acquire those talents in the first place? Was it not from God, from whom all good gifts come?

"And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God"

• The Macedonians gave themselves to the Lord first, and then to the apostles - who are the ministers of the Lord.
• Giving is to God
  • To give yourself to the Lord means to say that all that I have is Yours. My talents, my money, my virtues, my ideas, my thoughts, my energy, my time - all is in Your hands. And then to give yourself to the ministers of the Lord - is to give all of those to the Church, represented by the father the priest, and to say "use it." Use my talents, my money, my virtues, my ideas, my thoughts, my energy, my time.
  • Sometimes we want to pick and choose what to give. I was talking to a youth once who told me "when I come to the church, no one gives me the microphone to sing in it" and this is not uncommon in the service of the deacons. But it's the wrong attitude. When I come to the church and to my service, I am giving myself in the Lord. I am giving my talents to be used in the service however I am asked to use them. And in the end, it is an offering to God.

"So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well."

• Titus went ahead to Corinth before St Paul, in order to start the process with them. The giving here was organized with Titus responsible for it - receiving the gift, organizing it, documenting and recording it, making sure it's delivered appropriately, etc.
• Giving is with Order
  • Any gift is given in order. When the Lord was given 5 loaves and 2 fish as a gift, He did not just haphazardly pass it around. But He told the disciples to organize the people in groups of 50, and then gave them baskets with which to distribute the food to those groups. 
  • When we come to give ourselves in service, as deacons, we come and find that the liturgy is arranged with who will serve in what position, what does each position do, etc.
  • When we give from our money in the church, we find there is someone who is collecting it, counting it, documenting it, taking it to the bank, allocating it to specific services and projects and to the poor and needy, etc.
  • When we give guidance, it needs wisdom and planning, and to be sound
  • When we have a condolences in the church and we attend it (yes, this is giving!) we find that it is organized with prayers and psalms and songs and hymns and a spiritual word, with some other times for greetings and words of comfort.

"But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also."

• The Corinthians were abounding (excelling) in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in diligence, and in love. And St Paul is reminding them - see that you also abound and excel in the grace of giving.
• Giving is Necessary
  • Someone might say "well I pray and read the Bible and I attend many liturgies. Why do I need to give?" - see that you abound in the grace of giving also.
  • "Well I serve in Sunday School and I give from my time and my energy. Time is money! So why do I need to give from my money?" - see that you abound in this grace also.
  • "Well I give tithes and even more than tithes. Why do I need to give from my time or my energy? Or why should I go and serve?" - see that you abound in this grace also
    

"I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others."

• St Paul here was not giving a commandment to the Corinthians or trying to force or compel them to give, or to give a certain amount. But he was giving them the example of the Macedonians and their diligence and how it brought them joy.
• Giving is Love
  • I cannot give if I do not love. And by giving, I show my love.
  • When I ask about someone and call them and say "we missed you today!" - this is giving, and this is out of the abundance of love for him.
  • When I encourage someone and tell him "it will get better, the Lord is with you" - this is giving, and it is out of the abundance of love for him. 

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."

• Christ, who was the richest, who sat on a throne and was ministered to by angels - decided to be born in a manger, to a poor family, to live as a carpenter. He came to the earth in its poverty, so that He can give us the whole of the Kingdom of Heaven in its riches.
• Giving has a Reward
  • As the commandment says: "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom."
  • The Lord here used the imagery of a generous merchant. A cheap merchant may take his measuring cup and swipe it into the barley and hand it to you. But a generous and fair merchant will take the measuring cup, swipe into the barley, press it down, shake it to occupy all the space in the measuring cup, and keep doing this until the cup overflows. This is our Lord, the generous Giver who will give to us when we give.

"And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have."

• The Corinthians had made a commitment to give to Jerusalem about a year ago, and now St Paul is telling them to finish what they started - "Shed 7elak." And again, he is not commanding them, but giving them advice.
• Giving is Contagious
  • When we first give, we are unsure. But then we see that there is a blessing, so we give more. The blessing increases and there is peace and goodness, so we are transformed from the Act of Giving to the Desire of Giving. It becomes second nature to us. We stop thinking about it.

Finally, what can I give?

• When we think of giving, we always think of money. And it is good and right and commanded of us to give from our money and our earnings that God has given us. But some people don't just need money...
• Some need for someone just to ASK about them
• Some need a smile
• Some need encouragement
• Some need appreciation
• Some need comfort (tub tub 3aleh)
• Some need visitation
• Some need guidance
• Some need honor and respect
• Some need a compliment
• Some need to mourn and someone to mourn with them
  
• Some are in need of money and other things like medicine or clothing or furniture

All of these are needs that have in front of them the virtue of giving

• I should give from my time
• I should give from my energy
• I should give from my talents
  

As deacons, we are servants. The deacons in Acts 6 were chosen in order that they can serve the tables and serve the widows. We are servants of the people, and part of our role and our responsibility is to give to the people. We have a very important liturgical role in guiding the people in prayer - whether from inside or outside. But the more important role is to give.

2025-11-30: Reverence for the House of God

The Church: House of God

Psalm 84

How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
² My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah

¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

The Dwelling of God

1. The First Paradise
   • God and man dwelling together
   • We lost this and were separated from God
     
     
2. The Altar
   • Meeting with God
     
     
3. The Tabernacle & The Temple
   • God dwells among us but He is still separate from us
     
     
4. The Church
   • God abides in us and we in Him

God is Holy

• Meet and right
• For truly it is fitting and right, and holy and becoming, and profitable to our souls, bodies, and spirits at all times and in all places of Your dominion, to praise You, hymn You, bless You, serve You, worship You, thank You, and glorify You.
• "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Leviticus 19:2)

My Response to Holiness

• Moses had to remove his sandals (Exodus 3:5)
• Joshua had to remove his sandals (Joshua 5:14-15)
• Isaiah recognized his sinfulness when in the presence of holiness
  • "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips!" (Isaiah 6:1-5)
• The High Priest would wear his bells and his robe when entering the Holy Place
  • "And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die." (Exodus 28:35)
• Elijah, when he heard the voice of God as a gentle whisper, covered his face with a mantle
  • "¹¹ Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave." (1 Kings 19:11-13)
    

Consumed by Holiness

• When Moses was going to receive the Ten Commandments, God gave bounds to the people not to approach the mountain. "Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death" (Exodus 19:12)
  
• Nadab and Abihu were consumed for disrespecting God's worship
• Uzzah was struck for handling the Ark of Covenant without reverence
• God's holiness is a consuming fire. When you put metal in fire, all of the impurities are consumed away and what's left is just the precious metals - the gold, silver, etc.

How to Approach God's House

• What do I wear
  • Clothing reflects reverence
  • We dress for interviews, weddings, graduations, etc. - how much more for God's house?
  • I am coming to meet the King of kings!
    
    
• How do I speak?
  • The Church is a house of prayer, not a house of conversation
  • Guard your tongue - silence gives room for prayer
  • If a conversation is needed, then quickly and in hushed tones
    
    
• How do I walk?
  • Walk quietly, not running, not wandering aimlessly
  • I'm not chewing gum, I'm not eating or drinking, I'm not taking a phone call - honeslty - I shouldn't even take a text message
    
    
• How do I stand?
  • Attentively
  • Not leaning
  • Not sitting casually
    
• How do i behave?
  • Games?

High School Service

2022-08-12: St Moses the Strong

Objective:

The Transformative Power of Repentance

Key Verse:

"Return to me, and I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7)

Visual Aid:

Attached to this page.

Introduction:

Stories of Abba Moses:

Body:

Application:

Contemplation:

Sometimes the thing that stops us from sitting in confession is the very thing that we should be repenting of and confessing about! Lord, give us the strength of Abba Moses who overcame the demons that were enslaving him. Give us the courage of Abba Moses who left behind his old life and his past self, and was reborn and consecrated to You. Give us the humility of Abba Moses who recognized and admitted his weaknesses and his sins. Give us the patience of Abba Moses who even before his repentance, did not cease to seek You. Give us the asceticism of Abba Moses who despite his size and his strength, did not focus on the physical needs as much as the spiritual. Let us be like Abba Moses, Lord, we who are black with sin, who are slaves of sin, who are lacking in our repentance. Let us be light in the world of darkness as Your Saint, Abba Moses was. Through the prayers of St Mary and St Abba Moses the Strong and St Rebekah, grant this to us, O Lord, and more. Amen.

Resources:

2022-09-09: Life of Martyrdom

Objective:

Martyrdom in our Daily Life

Key Verse:

"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39)

Visual Aid:

Attached to this page.

Introduction:

• This week we will be celebrating the Feast of Nayrouz which is the Feast of the Martyrs... and these martyrs lived a drastically different life than we do

• In our modern day, we want fame and status and comfort…

  • If we had a convention and we said “sorry but everyone is gonna have to sleep on the floor for one night," we would hear complaints and no one would register and parents would call Abouna or Sayedna and it would be chaos.

  • We have spiritual days and people complain about the food.

  • We want to plan a monastery trip and someone says "they don't have wifi there" - anywhere I go, if I can't get the wifi password, I'm upset
  • I come to the Liturgy and say "the pew is uncomfortable" or complain that the Church is not giving me a meal afterwards

• We are so attuned to being comfortable. We don’t want to feel uncomfortable. 

• We want to gain status and fame and ranks and we wouldn’t give them up for anything. 

• But in these things, there is no fellowship with God.

  • When was the Lord Jesus Christ concerned about His status? It’s the opposite – He emptied Himself and took the form of man, despite being God. He left His throne and His chariots of Cherubim and was born in a manger – a feeding trough for animals in a barn.

  • When was the Lord Jesus Christ concerned about being famous? It’s the opposite – He would flee from the large crowds.

  • When was the Lord Jesus Christ concerned about comfort? Was it when He had “no place to rest His head”? Was it when He allowed Himself to be arrested and beaten and spat on? Was it on the Cross?

• Fellowship with God can come from a variety of ways (Prayer, Scripture, Service, etc.) but in all of these there is a common denominator – Suffering.

  • Fellowship with God means to suffer. Means to leave your comfort zone. Means to offer yourself and your body as a sacrifice to God.
    

  • It means that I stand for prayer even if my legs hurt, or my voice hurts, or I'm tired
  • It means that I read the Scripture even if I don't have time, or if I don't understand it
  • It means that I stand in prayerful silence during the Liturgy even if I don't know this hymn
  • It means that I go and do my service even if it means I will be driving out of my way, or going to a bad area in the city, etc.
• Take the examples of the saints
  • The Martyrs who suffered with physical death for the sake of the Lord Jesus
    • St Rebekah who had to first endure watching her children get beheaded and then she was beheaded, herself
    • St Abanoub who endured many kinds of physical torture
    • Sts Cosmas and Damian who after studying medicine and surgery, offered their services for free and then were tortured and killed by Diocletian
    • Millions of martyrs who suffered for the sake of Christ
      
      
  • The Ascetics who inflicted on themselves suffering for many years in the desert without food or water, in the heat, in prayers and fasting
    • St Anthony
    • St Paul
    • St Macarius
    • Etc.
      
      
  • The Bishops and the Patriarch who take upon themselves the responsibility of all of the people and their problems and their issues
    
    
• Martyrs
  • The first of the saints are these Martyrs - those who gave their life to the Lord Jesus Christ and received for it an additional crown in heaven
  • That's why whenever we have hymns in the Church, we always start with worshipping God and then venerating St Mary and the angels, and then the martyrs are first line. Followed by the Confessors, and the rest of the Saints.
  • What lessons can we learn from the martyrs? How can we experience a hint of martyrdom in our daily life?

Body:

• Martyrdom in our Service
  • "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:5)
    
  • Here we can consider the example of our Shepherd HG Bishop Youssef.
    • If you look at his schedule for the year you will see that every month he is visiting Texas, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. In the 52 weeks of the year, he is trying to visit as many churches as he can, and minister to them.
    • If you look at his schedule for the week that he visits a church
      • Thursday night he does visitations
      • Friday night and Saturday morning he visits a community in the same area or a few hours driving. He gives a Bible Study and a Sermon.
      • Saturday night and Sunday morning he visits the Church and He gives Bible Study and then a Sermon (different from the ones he already gave)
      • Saturday after his Bible Study, he would love to attend the tasbeha, but he sits in the office and meets with the congregation one by one and listens to all the people's problems
      • Sunday night to Tuesday night he goes on visitations and by Wednesday he flies to the next state to do it all over again.
    • And he still makes time in the middle of the week to go to the Monastery in Texas and hear the confessions of the fathers the monks, and to go to the Convent in Georgia. When he has a long drive or a long flight, he is answering the countless emails and texts that he gets. And despite all of this, every day he prays all the hours of the Agpeya and every night he prays the Tasbeha and every morning the Morning Praises. He doesn't always have a place to lay his head. He is doing interviews for TV and answering questions for a whole diocese. He's managing 50 churches and 75 priests and several monks and nuns. He is called to serve on Clerical Councils... and all of this he does for the sake of the service. For you and me and the rest of the diocese. All of this he dies to himself for the Lord. 
      
    • HG Bishop Gregory told a story one time that in the days of HH Pope Shenouda's departure, HG Bishop Youssef was in Egypt for a lot of the time just trying to figure out how they're going to pick the next Pope... and one day he called the monastery and said "I am coming to take confessions" and he got there very late around midnight, he sat with each monk one by one and took their confessions and the next morning he was back on a flight to Egypt.
      
      
  • HG will be visiting us next week for the Feast of St Rebekah and I hope that you will make as much time as you can to spend with him, to sit at his feet, to listen to the words of the Holy Spirit by his mouth, to ask for his wisdom, to tell him your name and ask him to pray for you
    
    
• Martyrdom in our Daily Life
  • Scripture:
    • "Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter" (Psalm 44:22, Romans 8:36)
    • "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24)
    • "always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2 Cor 4:10)
    • "as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;" (2 Cor 6:9)
    • "Are they ministers of Christ? - I speak as a fool - I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often." (2 Cor 11:23)
  • Practical:
    • Wake up early to stand in prayer and to read the Scripture
      • Even though I'm in High School now and I have to be up at 6 - let me die to myself and my desire for sleep and wake up at 5:45 so that I can stand for prayer
      • Even though I have a ton of homework in the evenings, let me die to myself a little bit and read the Scriptures first
    • Fasting
      • Wednesday and Friday are fasting days - I can die to my desires on those days by fasting, abstaining from food in the morning even if I'm hungry, and then eating a vegan diet even if my friends or my school are not. Even if it's my favorite food at school.
      • At Lockheed Martin, we have Sushi day in the cafeteria on Wednesday. I've had it one time which was during the Holy Fifty Days - for me it is one of the ways I die to my desires especially when I see all my coworkers and friends at work having sushi.
      • Schools throw Pizza Parties and they're always on Fridays, or during Christmas time or before Spring Break (Lent) - can I die to myself on that one day?
    • When there's a line to eat a meal (e.g. at a convention, family gathering, school lunch, etc.) - I may be tempted to try and be first in line to get the freshest food. Let me die to myself every once in a while and resist that temptation, and instead be last and get the leftovers or get the food after it has sat for a little while.
    • When I enter a room and I see that there are many comfortable chairs and some uncomfortable chairs - let me sit in the uncomfortable one first, so that others may have the chance to be comfortable. And if everyone comes and there is space on the comfortable, then maybe I can take it.
    • I'm in Liturgy and my friends go to the Bathroom. Let me die to myself and my desire to socialize (which is a natural desire that is given to us by God) so that I can instead spend time with the Lord and honor His House
    • Let me die to myself and my desire (sometimes addiction) to have my phone at all times. And let me just have time with the Lord, or with my family, or with myself in silence without those distractions.
    • Let me die to myself and my desire to have the most expensive shoes and clothing and stuff, when I know there are others without clothes or shoes. Instead of 200 dollars on shoes, I can spend 100 on two pairs and donate one of them. Or 50 on four pairs and donate three of them. Or do I only give from the bottom of the barrel to those in need? Do I only give the things that are ripped and used, after I've gotten all the use out of them? No, let me die to myself.
      
    • When I am rebuked or challenged, let me deny my desire to fight back. Whether it's my parents, or someone at school, or my SS Servant, or my friend.
    • When I have an idea and I share it, or I give someone advice, and they ignore it or disregard it, or ridicule it, let me deny my anger.
    • Dying to yourself is more than just avoiding sin, but it's denying yourself pleasures and desires in order that you may better serve God and serve others.
      
      
• Blessings and Rewards
  • The Lord has promised us many blessings and many rewards - some on earth, and some in heaven. 
  • Fear God and not man
    • We might wonder how in the world these martyrs were not scared to give up their life... where did their fear go? If I was in their place, I would be terrified.
    • The fear of God casts out the fear of men.
      • "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18)
    • They contemplated on the heavenly and the glory of the heavenly, so their hearts clung to those things, and the worldly becomes valueless.
      
      
  • Genuine faith is tested
    • "that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7)
      
      
  • Crown of Life
    • "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

Conclusion: 

• Living a life of suffering or a life of martyrdom is difficult. It can't happen overnight
• We should slowly find desires and passions and temptations in our life to die to, in order that we can grow in fellowship with the Lord
• And we will receive the Crown of Life

Application:

• Each person should decide in what way they can die to their desires this week and document it in their Bible Passport
• Honor the martyrs by attending the Nayrouz Vespers and Feast on Saturday and Sunday

Contemplation:

Lord, we have too often forgotten Your suffering on our behalf on the Cross, Your humility in emptying Yourself and taking our form, Your life of service, and all that You do for us on a daily basis. Even when we give thanks to You in our prayers, and utter words of gratitude, we find ourselves not living a true life modeled after Yours. Let us, O Lord, live a life of suffering. Let us leave behind our comforts - let us remember Your discomfort on the Cross when we have a minor inconvenience. Let us pray for those who persecute us and hurt us. Let us love them. Let us strive to serve You, even (and especially) at our inconvenience. Let us suffer for the sake of others - accept less for the sake of someone else receiving more. Lord, we can only strive to be like You, but through a life of suffering, and fellowship with You, we can know You. And may we, according to Your will, receive the reward that our fathers and mothers the martyrs received - those who truly lived in fellowship with You.

Resources:

• Legacy Curriculum: https://suscopts.org/ssc/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Grade11.pdf 
• Elements

2022-09-30: The Book of Job

Objective

• To know the story and basic structure of the book of Job
• To take the example of Job

Key Verse

• “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5)

Body

Introduction

• Job is considered to be one of the Poetic books of the Old Testament (along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach)
• He lived after Abraham, but before Moses
  • We know because his friend Bildad the Shuhite is from the sons of Shuah (son of Abraham by Keturah)
  • No mention of Aaronic Priesthood, Mosaic rites
  • No mention of Exodus
  • Mention of Creation, Fall of Adam, Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah
  • He lived 140 years which is atypical for Moses time
• 42 Chapters
• Job was righteous
  • "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1)
  • He was blameless, but he knew that. And this led to self-righteousness and pride. ("I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life" (Job 9:21)
• God allowed Job to be tempted by the devil in some extreme ways, to help Job work through his pride, and to defeat Satan
  • Possessions - he lost all of his wealth
  • Children - his children all died
  • Bodily Disease - he was struck with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head
  • His friends - the devil used them to move him in the wrong direction. They all came to try and comfort him, but their worldly comfort had the opposite effect.
• Structure:
  • Chapters 1-3: Job is tempted
  • Chapters 4-14: First Debate
  • Chapters 15-21: Second Debate
  • Chapters 22-31: Third Debate
  • Chapters 32-37: Elihu the Wise
  • Chapters 38-42: The Lord speaks to Job
• The Book of Job asks a very important question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
  • This question is the pinnacle of Atheism and we should know how to give a good answer for it
  • The Atheist will say:
    • If God is all-loving and all-powerful then He will not allow any evil or pain or suffering to happen in the world
    • But the Atheist falls into the same pitfalls as Job and his friends here
• We will act out the story of Job, then we will discuss this question - Why do bad things happen to good people?

Skit

Characters:

• Job
• Eliphaz the Temanite
• Bildad the Shuhite
• Zophar the Naamathite
• Elihu

First Debate

Job: My friends, I am so glad that you came by to comfort me.

Eliphaz: Job, I had no idea you looked so awful. What in the world did you do for God to do this to you?!

Job: I did nothing. I am totally innocent.

Eliphaz: Yeah right... if you were innocent, this wouldn't have happened to you. But look at you, your sons are crushed and dead. Your possessions are completely gone. God is the one who does great things - who gives rain and water and children and prosperity. You DEFINITELY did something.

Job: If only God would take my life, so that I no longer have to feel this pain! But as for you - you call this coming to comfort me? What does your arguing prove? You want to rebuke me? Then show me my mistakes! What did I do wrong to deserve this?

Bildad: Look Job, I think what you need to do is ask God for forgiveness. I mean if your sons sinned, then they got their reward. But you're still here so ask God to forgive you! God is the one who holds the whole world in his hand!

Job: That I can agree on. God is almighty. I am amazed at the wisdom of God that would allow a righteous person to suffer. I am blameless, yet I do not know myself. 

Zophar: You're all talk! You want to be vindicated? Stop talking - everything you're saying is foolish. You're a liar! Oh (mockingly) "my doctrine is pure and I am clean in the eyes of God" - get out of here. What God has done to you is less than your sin deserves.

Job: Here I sit, being mocked by my friends. I, who call on God and God answers me. I, who am just and blameless - and I am ridiculed. I am as wise as you. I know that the Lord holds all of the world in his hands. (praying) Lord, I ask of you just two things - do not withdraw Your hand from me. And do not let me be afraid of You. Call out to me and I will answer. Or let me speak and then You respond to me. Make me know my transgressions and my sin.

First Debate Summary: 

• Job's friends argue the following:
  • God is just
  • Therefore, God runs the whole world in a perfectly just way
  • Therefore, Job sinned and is being punished
    
    
• Job is arguing the following:
  • God is just
  • But Job is blameless and has not sinned
  • Therefore, God's justice in the world is not as black and white as we think
  • But still, Job does not deserve to be punished

Second Debate:

Eliphaz: Is this conversation even worth my time? This is absolutely pointless. Who do you think you are? I'm telling you what all the elders have told us, and what I have seen with my own eyes. The WICKED lives in pain; he dwells in desolate cities; he will not be rich; he hungers. The WICKED.

Job: You are all terrible comforters! Not one of you is wise! Lord, please give me relief.

Bildad: You think WE are stupid?! You're the one tearing yourself in anger and not understanding us. The wicked loses everything. He lives in darkness. He lives in terror. He lives without shelter. He is surrounded by traps and destruction. These are the dwellings of the wicked and this is the place of him who does not know God.

Job: How long will you torment me with your words? Aren't you ashamed of how you're treating me? No. I know that my Redeemer lives.

Zophar: But Job, haven't you seen it yourself? Haven't you seen how the wicked in this world live? They don't live happy and joyful lives. They live in misery! We've all seen it.

Job: I'll tell you what I have seen. I have seen that the wicked live and grow old and even mighty in power. I have seen that they have many children and descendants. I have seen that their houses are safe from fear. I have seen that their livestock and their animals reproduce. I have seen that they sing and dance and spend their days in wealth. Even though they reject God. How often does a wicked person live in darkness? How often does destruction come on them? Can anyone teach God knowledge? How can you comfort me with empty words that are full of lies and falsehood?

Second Debate Summary:

• The friends are telling Job of their experience of wicked people having bad things happen to them
• But Job tells them the truth - good things happen to bad people, a lot. 
• We see it in our lives:
  • Someone who doesn't know God, and finds themselves rich and famous. But someone who loves God, and finds themselves poor.
  • Or someone who doesn't know God and is living in good health, but someone who loves God and serves Him, and finds themselves with cancer.
  • Someone who doesn't know God, and has many children, but someone who prays to God with their whole heart to have just one child, and they don't get pregnant.
• If we ask "Why do bad things happen to good people" - then we also ask "why do good things happen to bad people?"

Third Debate:

Eliphaz: Why should God even care if you are righteous, or if you make your ways blameless. What do you think, that because you fear Him, he brings judgment on you?! That makes no sense. Your wickedness is great. Your iniquity has no end. You probably made people swear to you. You probably took clothing from someone who needed it. You probably didn't give water to the thirsty, or food to the hungry. You probably sent widows away empty and hurt orphans. You are so far into your sin that you can't even see it.

Job: My complaints are futile. If only I knew where God was, so that I could go and present my case to Him. Then, at least I would know His answer to me. Then He would take note of me. I cannot see Him, He is not here. He knows my way - I have kept His way, I have kept His commandments, I have treasured His words. But others on earth have been violent - violent on others, on animals, and even on the land - and yet they are not charged with wrongdoing. And if I'm saying something wrong, which of you will prove me to be a liar?

Bildad: How can any man be righteous? God has all dominion and fear. No one who is born of a woman can be pure.

Job: No matter what, I will not forsake God. I will not speak wickedness. I will keep my integrity. Where does wisdom come from? From God! The fear of the Lord is wisdom, departing from evil is understanding. As I was in the days of my prime, when I had everything and people would come to me for wisdom and for help - even people older than me. But now even the ones younger than I am come and mock me. My wealth has been turned into poverty.

If truly I have sinned, then let God's justice come upon me, but let it be weighed on honest scales. It's not fair.

If I have looked at a woman in lust, then let others bow down for my own wife.

If I have mistreated my male or female servant, or taken from the poor, or raised my hand against an orphan, then let me arm fall off my shoulder.

If I have put my trust in gold, or rejoiced in my wealth, or stolen food or money from someone, then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.

Third Debate Summary:

• Job is questioning God's fairness. He admits that if he has sinned, he needs to be punished, but doesn't think his punishment is fair.
• What about the people who murder? Or the people who rob the widows? Those who are committing violence in the world and their punishment is not as severe.
• "The words of Job are ended. So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job." (Job 31:40-32:3)

The Fourth Friend: Elihu

Elihu: Since I am younger than all of you, I waited before speaking. And I listened to all of your words. So now you listen to my words. Job, I heard you saying many times: "I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, there is no iniquity in me. Yet God finds occasions against me and counts me as His enemy." Look, Job, in this you are not righteous.

Who are you to contend with God? How can you say whether or not God counts you as an enemy? Don't you realize that we should all be delivered to the Pit?

Self-righteousness is in itself sin! God is good and He loves everyone - the righteous and the wicked - equally. He shows no partiality to anyone.

Conclusion

• After everyone had spoken, God Himself spoke to Job through a wind
• God explained to Job that He holds the whole world in His hand, and that executing justice in the world is not as easy as he thinks. It's complex. Job doesn't see the bigger picture that God sees. Job sees a miniscule slice. 
• God asks where Job was when He was forming the foundations of the world, or the sun and moon and stars. God reminds Job that He is the one who stops the sea from approaching on the land, tells the sun when to come up, brings snow and hail in the winter and rain in the summer, etc.
• God asks what Job knows about the animals - when does a deer or a wild mountain goat give birth? How many months should it be? What about a wild ox? Will he serve you? The strength of a horse
• Job repents and listens to what the Lord says to him
• Then the Lord restores to him all of his losses. He got the same number of sons and daughters, and double all his possessions. And He gave him a long number of days.

Lessons

Lessons from Job

• Do not give up - the Lord is with you
• Trust that all things are in God's hands
• Live a life of integrity and honesty and righteousness - no matter your circumstances
• Look for the future eternal reward

Lessons from Job's Friends

• When your friend is hurting or going through something difficult, give them good comfort

Why do bad things happen to good people?

1. Who are good people?
   • "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
     
     
2. What are the bad things?
   • Sin that comes from man
     • Can we blame this on God? God has given free will to all people. When people sin against each other, this cannot fall on the shoulders of God
   • Natural Disaster
     
     • Nature does not discriminate good or bad - a fire might be warm to someone (favorable) and uncomfortably hot (unfavorable) to others.
     • Hurricanes are uncomfortable for Floridians, but they have ecological benefits in tropical environments. The rain gives a needed boost to wetlands and flushes out lagoons to remove waste and weeds. The winds move sediments from bays into marsh areas to revitalize the nutrients, etc. They help to balance the heat in the atmosphere.
     • But even Natural Disasters are a result of the Fall of Man
       • "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:22)
   • Illness
     • Illness is also a result of the Fall of Man
     • However, God may use it for good
       
       
3. Why might God let a "bad thing" happen to someone
   • Suffering might be a warning to avoid future sin
   • Suffering might be an opportunity to have faith in a difficult time and to be rewarded
   • Suffering might be to widen your perspective about something or someone and push you to repent
     
     
4. Can we always know the reasons for suffering?
   • No - but what we know is that God uses all things for good.
   • "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Application

• This week, let us remember the "bad things" and give thanks for them
  • Let us give thanks to the Lord in faith, for the Hurricane that came on us
  • Let us give thanks to the Lord in faith, for the illnesses and diseases of our loved ones

Contemplation

Lord, we cannot stand before You and compare ourselves to Job - Your righteous and faithful disciple, who lived a life of love and sacrifice for You. And even Lord in his hardship and tribulation, in his temptations, he loved You. And yet we falter at the slightest inconveniences. I consider if I have said an evil word in traffic because I was inconvenienced by a few seconds. I consider if I have fallen into anger simply because of a common cold. I consider all of my sins O Lord before You, that were not worth the time or the effort that we put into them and yet we consider them small or insignificant, while falling short of Your glory. I ask You, O Lord, to give me the repentance and righteousness of Job that I may live my life in faith and in the trust that all good things come from You and that You will use all things for good.

Resources

2022-12-02: Manhood - Integrity

Visual Aid:

Attached to page

Objective

• The value of having integrity in "Being a Man"
• Even the world values Integrity, but our integrity is different
• To be a man of my word, but more importantly a man of THE Word

Key Verse

"Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." (Titus 2:6-8)

Introduction

What makes you a man?

When do you go from being a boy to being a man?

• The world tells us so many different things:
  • Some will say "When you turn 18"
  • Some will say "When you've gone through puberty... you have a deep voice, you have a beard, you gain some height and muscle mass, etc.
  • Some will say "When you have a career" or will base it off some measure of success
  • Some will say "When you have sex"
• This is our third lesson in this series so we must know some things by now
  • We talked about the Godly View of Success and what it means to be successful - it's not about fame or fortune. We know people who are famous grown adults who we wouldn't consider them to be "men" - they don't act like "men." We know people with a lot of money, who don't act like "men"
  • We talked about how to deal with anger - this is a big part of being a man. When you see someone at a restaurant berating the waitress and yelling at her because she got the order wrong or she dropped something, you never think "wow he's such a man." Rather, you think "why is he acting like a child?"
  • And that's the thing about being a man: you can instantly recognize someone who is a man. And it's not by how they look, but by how they act.
• Today we're going to talk about Integrity and what that means for us as Orthodox Christians and as men

Scripture on Becoming a Man

"Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." (Titus 2:6-8)

St Paul is writing to Titus here and giving him instructions to exhort the young men with. To guide the young men into manhood.

• Sober-minded
• Pattern of good works
• Integrity
• Reverence
• Incorruptibility
• Sound speech that cannot be condemned

We can relate these to many of our topics, but one that stands out is Integrity

Integrity

The dictionary definition of Integrity is actually pretty good - The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

We are gonna break this down into two parts for today:

1. Being a man of your word
2. Being a man of THE Word

In essence - Don't be Fake! One of the big attractors to non-believers in the first centuries to join Christianity was that the Christians were genuine and full of integrity. They did what they said. They believed in what they said. They acted morally and ethically even when the pagan society did not.

Nowadays, many people leave Christianity or reject Christianity because of Christians. Because they don't do what they preach. They're fake. They don't have integrity.

Today we're going to look at these two parts and take some case studies for them and decide in those case studies what the right thing to do is.

Body

Case Study 1

Kyrillos is a 9th Grade boy who loves playing video games. He hops on Xbox Live twice a week with his friends from church around 8pm, after he finishes his homework and they play 2k for a few hours. One night, Kyrillos’ mom needed to head to bed a little early because she had an early morning; so she reminded him of one of his weekly chores: “Don’t forget to take out the trash tonight!” Kyrillos responded “Bet! I got you mom – after I finish this game.” She said goodnight and went to sleep. That night, Kyrillos and his friends played until midnight. Kyrillos was really tired at the end and couldn’t even focus on what was in front of him; he knocked out on the couch. In the morning, Kyrillos’ mom woke up very early, realized the trash was still in. So she took the trash out herself.

• Did Kyrillos act with integrity?
  • Kyrillos did not act with integrity. If this is the first time, then hopefully Kyrillos will apologize and will make it a point to take out the trash every week. Maybe even without being asked. Integrity means giving priority to small things and not just big things. The Lord talks about going the extra mile – imagine taking out the trash without being asked at all!
• What are the consequences of this scenario? (For Kyrillos, his mom, and in general)
  • She was giving him an opportunity here to be a man and help around the house and stick to his word. She trusted him, and this incident can start to form cracks in that trust.
• What should Kyrillos have done differently?
  • He could have done it on the spot so he doesn’t forget
• What would you say about someone who puts video games above helping his mom, helping his house, and keeping his word? Would you say that he's a man?

Case Study 2

Anthony is a 10th grade boy who has a lot on his plate – he is taking an almost full schedule in High School, along with 2 College Classes. He’s also on the school’s Basketball team. He does Preservants at church. He has chores to do at home. Anthony was visited in his home by two servants – they were surprised to find his Bible Passport completely empty… they explained to him the importance of reading the Scripture on a daily basis. Anthony agreed with them. Anthony gave them his word that he would start from that day and try to read at least three times a week. That night, Anthony read 12 chapters and filled in three boxes a week for the next four weeks.

• Did Anthony act with integrity?
  • Integrity is not always just about results – it’s about how you get there. It’s about being honest with the end AND the means.
    
• What are the consequences of this scenario?
  • Anthony missed out on the blessing and grace of daily Scriptural reading. Anthony also may find himself receiving a gift or a reward for something he didn’t do faithfully. Anthony does not build a habit of reading Scripture in this way, and loses the whole point of the Bible Passport. Anthony’s servants, unaware of what is happening, will consider him to be growing and may serve him in a way that is different, but not what he needs.

Case Study 3

Pishoy is a 9th grade boy who doesn’t have that much money. One day, he’s out with his friends and they decide to hit McDonalds for a quick lunch. Pishoy only has two dollars to spend, so he decides to grab two things from the dollar menu. He also gets a water cup. He sees that the rest of his friends also purchased a drink cup. When he gets to the soda machine, he looks behind him to make sure the employees aren’t looking, and he fills his water cup with Sprite. He takes his place with his friends and eats his meal.

• Did Pishoy act with integrity? What are the consequences of this scenario?
  • Sometimes we use the excuse “well no one got hurt” – It’s true that McDonalds isn’t going to suffer a loss from the one drink Pishoy didn’t pay for. But someone got hurt here: Pishoy did. Pishoy is not being honest with himself and he has fallen into the sin of theft. And his integrity is in question.
    

Pishoy did not end up repenting from his McDonalds sin… in fact, he justified it in his mind and said “well it’s not like McDonalds needs the money.” A few days later, he’s with the same group of friends and they decide to hit the 7-11 for some snacks. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money. All his friends would be snacking on Takis and Hot Fries without him… he realizes that 7-11 is just as rich as McDonalds and they wouldn’t feel any pain from a bag of chips. He uses the “5-finger discount” and grabs a bag of Takis.

• What do you think of Pishoy's progression?

Case Study 4

Petro is a 10th grade boy who maintains a 4.0 GPA. He is, by God’s grace, very intelligent and very hard working. This semester, he started to take a college math class in addition to his High School classes. The college class turned out to be much more difficult than any class he’d ever taken. Petro needed help. He needed to maintain his GPA… and it’s not like this class ACTUALLY matters for the career he wanted. Petro’s assignments were stacking up. He didn’t have time to focus on these difficult math assignments. Petro started googling the answers… he found a website made for his exact textbook. Just enter the numbers from your problems and you get a solution – with the work and the answer and all. Petro used this to solve all of his assignments and his online exam. Petro did not get caught.

• Did Petro act with integrity? What are the consequences of this scenario?
  

Petro, not learning from or repenting from his past indiscretion, took another college class the next semester – English Composition. This class was even harder and more workload than the math class. He had an essay due in just a few days that he wasn’t sure where to start with it. When doing his research, he found a similar essay online about a similar topic. He took the essay and changed several of the words in it from the other topic to his topic. The new paper was unrecognizable from the old one and Petro was proud of the work that he had done. Petro submitted it. The Plagiarism Checker returned a 75% match and Petro got caught.

• What do you think of Petro’s progression?
  

Case Study 5

Samson is a 10th grade boy. He attends Sunday School and Bible Study every week, and he is a deacon. He understands the principles of his faith and tries to live by them. A girl at school takes interest in Samson. She starts showing him more attention and starts to text him pretty regularly. At lunch, she sits by him and sometimes they take pictures for the ‘gram. They aren’t officially dating or anything like that, but Samson starts to spend some time with her outside of school as well. Samson starts posting some of the pictures on his social media. When confronted by a servant, Samson tells the truth – they aren’t dating; they’re just friends; even though he knows that she likes him.

• Is Samson acting with integrity? What are the consequences of this scenario?
  
  • Integrity doesn't just mean saying things that are truthful - it means telling the truth; the whole truth. Without omission.
  • Samson did not act with integrity because even if there’s no official title of “dating” or “girlfriend” or anything, there is clearly a 1:1 relationship happening where at least one side is romantically attracted to the other. Samson is also not acting with integrity with the girl – he is leading her on. She may think that he likes her or that he will eventually “give in” and start dating her.
    

Contemplation

Grant us, O Lord, to have integrity in everything that we do. Integrity in our school and work. Integrity in our homes with our wives and children and parents and siblings. Integrity in our ministry and our service. Integrity in all of our actions and interactions. Let us, O Lord, be like You - You who never wavered in doing what is right, in accomplishing Your ministry and Your goal, You who never said You'd do something and didn't do it. You, O Lord, who are the perfection of all that is good and the model for Integrity. Let us take the example of the saints before us who lived lives of integrity. The example of Job who when his friends even asked him "Why do you still have integrity" he knew to be unwavering. Let us not succumb to the temptations that test our integrity - peer pressure and image and falsehood.

Resources

2023-01-13: Offering of Incense

Objective

• A greater appreciation for the rites of the Offering of Incense

Key Verse

“Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2)

Visual Aid

Attached

Body

Introduction

• The use of incense in Scripture
  • Used in the Old Testament at the Altar of Incense
  • Used in the New Testament for Jewish worship
  • Used in Revelation in the heavenly church
    
• Where does the Offering of Incense fit in the grand scope of the Divine Liturgy
  • Agpeya Prayers
  • Offering of Incense
  • Divine Liturgy
• Offering of Incense was a big part of the daily life of early Christians
  • They would wake up in the morning and go attend Matins in the church before work
  • Then they would go to work
  • Then they would come to the church and attend Vespers before going home
  • Then they would go home
• Now let's head into the church and go through the rite of Vespers and Matins Offering of Incense

Vessels of the Offering of Incense

• The boys can sit/stand in the women's altar at first, and then in the deacons area on the right side
• The Censer
  • Review what does it represent and how
• The Cross
  • The use of the Cross
  • How the Cross and the Gospel book are used together and represent the Lord Jesus Christ
• The Book of the Gospel
  • Readings of the Offering of Incense

The Order of the Rite

• Thanksgiving Prayer
• Verses of Cymbals
• Minor Circuit of Incense
• Litanies [Order of the Litanies]
• Doxologies
• Major Circuit of Incense
• Creed
• Ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛⲁⲓ ⲛⲁⲛ
• Psalm and Gospel
• Short Litanies
• Absolution

The Circuits of Incense

• Two circuits of incense - minor circuit during Verses of Cymbals, major circuit during Doxologies
• Demonstrate the route that Abouna takes when he goes around
• Read the prayers that Abouna prays in both
  • The Three Litanies (Peace, Fathers, Assemblies)
  • Incense Prayers to the Trinity, on our behalf, with the angels and the saints
  • The blessing of the morning/evening incense, may its holy blessing be with us. Amen.
  • Prayer of Confession

The Litanies

• Offering of Incense Litanies
• Five Minor Litanies

Application

• Attend Vespers and Matins and try and pay attention to those things, remember that at all times you are praying and being prayed for
• 2023 Resolution - to attend Vespers and Matins

Contemplation

Lord, we thank you for allowing us to experience and to live the work of salvation on a weekly and even daily basis. We thank you for giving us and preserving for us ritual practices that bring us closer to Your saints and Your heavenly ones. We ask you O Lord that our prayer is lifted up to you as incense and that You smell the aroma of our prayers as a sweet aroma of incense - well pleasing to You. Let us be dependent on Your will for us, and accepting of Your will for us - for we know that all good and perfect things come from you, and that all things that come from You are good and perfect. Let our prayer reflect this - let us continually pray that Your will be done. And in this way, we participate with You. 

2023-01-20: Theophany, Baptism, and Sanctification

Objective

• Understanding the place baptism has in the Scripture, History and Tradition
• Understanding the preciousness of the gift that we have received in our baptism
  

Key Verse

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Body

Introduction

• When you are a kid, we always learn "Christ was baptized in order to set an example for us to be baptized and baptism is removing our sins."
• None of this is wrong, but as high school seniors, we want to go deeper. We might have questions like "if Baptism replaced Circumcision, why was Jesus Circumcised AND Baptized?" or "if Baptism is to remove sin, why was Jesus baptized?" or "what is baptism and why did St John start doing it"
• We want to understand what was happening in the Old Testament with Circumcision, where did Baptism come from? what happened at the baptism of Christ, what the Apostles and the Church taught about Baptism, what happens when I am baptized, etc.

What was the Purpose of Circumcision?

• Circumcision came as a sign of the covenant made between God and Abraham in Genesis 17
• A Covenant has two sides - on God's side, He will establish the descendants of Abraham as a nation, He will give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession, and He shall be their God. On Abraham's side, they must be circumcised
• God deigned to bring salvation upon the world through the incarnation of the Logos IN THE BEGINNING. And He foreknew everything.
• Part of this economy of salvation was that God would not take one of the existing nations and become their God - for example, He did not go to the Canaanites and become their God. He did not go to the Hittites or the Amorites or the Amalekites. Of the 70 nations listed in Genesis 10, the descendants of Noah and those that were scattered after Babel, God did not choose any of those families. But rather, He chose Abraham and brought from him a new family. God's family. And Circumcision would be the sign of participation or membership in this family. It would be a sign that you forsake everything else and become one of God's family.
• Circumcision was participation with God in His covenant with Abraham
• Not to get off topic, but we'll see later on another covenant with Moses at the time of the Exodus, and this would be remembered by the Passover

Where did Baptism come from?

• If you read the Old Testament, you won't see baptism mentioned anywhere. We have types of it like Noah's flood and Moses' crossing the Red Sea and Joshua's crossing the Jordan River - salvation through water. We have other hints like the four rivers that flow into the Garden of Eden that water the Tree of Life, or the Spirit of God that hovered over the waters in the beginning. But Baptism itself is not a regular practice in the Old Testament.
• In the New Testament, St John the Baptist started to baptize people in the Jordan a baptism of repentance
  • Actually, this was not an abnormal practice
  • By the time of the New Testament there are a lot more Jews than before - a lot of people who have a lot of ritual washings to practice. They had the idea of Ritual Impurity and before you could become ritually clean, you had to offer sacrifices and you had to have ritual washings. But there were so many people that it would have been impossible for everyone to wash every day
  • So they setup in the Temple several pools that were used for ritual washings. The people would get in in large groups and come out the other side ritually clean.
• So when John started baptizing, people were not surprised by the practice. But what John was doing was very different
  • He was baptizing in the Jordan on the other side away from the Temple - some people (especially the Sadducees  were offended by this and took it as a sign that John was against the Temple)
  • He was baptizing a baptism of repentance - he called the people to "bear fruit worthy of repentance"
  • He was announcing the coming of Someone after Him - the Messiah
  • He was not doing it on his own authority, but he was instructed to by God
    • And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34)
• John's role was forerunner - to prepare the way for the Christ
  

What happened in the Baptism of Christ?

• The Lord Jesus Christ went to be baptized before beginning His ministry
• He approved of the work that John was doing and asked John to baptize Him, himself
• When Christ entered the water, some things happened:
  • The Father spoke from heaven and affirmed that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah
  • The Holy Spirit showed Himself as a dove and came upon the head of Christ anointing Him as High Priest, as King, as Prophet. These are the three roles that were expected of the Messiah.
    • When the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord, He opened the door for God the Holy Spirit to dwell in humanity, Who we will accept on the day of our Baptism
  • Christ, in the water, conquered the demons and renews the Creation
    • "You have crushed the heads of the dragon hidden therein [in the Jordan]" (Lakkan Liturgy of Water)
    • "You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces" (Psalm 74:13 - used in the Tasbeha Canticle for Theophany)
    • Creation in Genesis 1 came "out of the waters"
    • God's salvation for Israel through the Red Sea is a type of "new Creation"
• All of these points are important for us in our own baptism

Baptism in the Church

• The Lord Jesus instructed the apostles to baptize all the nations: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)
• Since the beginning, the Church has baptized all believers
  • Acts, the Ethiopian Eunuch who asks "There is water, what prevents me from being baptized now?" and is baptized
  • St Paul was baptized by Ananias

What happens on the day of our Baptism?

• Exorcism
  • "look upon Your creation, this oil, and let it become for the casting out of demons and their magic, sorcery, and all idolatry" (Baptism Prayers)
  • "In the name of the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, may [this body] be delivered from every demon and every uncleanness. Let all darkness flee from this body, and let all unbelieving thoughts flee from this soul. In the name of the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, you shall be purified, and be delivered from all demons forever. Amen." (Baptism Prayers)
  • "I renounce you Satan, and all your unclean works, and all your wicked angels..." - "Come out O unclean spirit." (with the breath of the priest) - (Baptism Prayers)
    
    
• Renewed Creation
  • "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (1 Cor 5:17)
    
  • "Take off the old man and put on the new and superior one" (Ⲁⲣⲓⲯⲁⲗⲓⲛ)
    
  • "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
  • "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6)
    
    
• Sanctification
  • The abiding in us of the Holy Spirit
  • The oil of the Myron sanctifies us on:
    • The head, the two nostrils, the mouth, the right ear, the right eye, the left eye, and the left ear (8)
    • The heart, the navel, the back and the spine (4)
    • The right shoulder above and in the armpit, the right elbow joint and around it, the right palm and on its back (6)
    • The left shoulder joint above and in the armpit, the left elbow joint and around it, the left palm and on its back (6)
    • The right hip joint and the right thigh, the right knee joint and around it, the joint of the tendon of the right foot and above it (6)
    • The left hip joint and the left thigh, the left knee joint and around it, the joint of the tendon of the left foot and above it (6)
      
      
• We become members of the Body of Christ; the Lord Jesus abides in me and I abide in Him by the receiving of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist
  • This is like the Circumcision and Passover that for Jews meant becoming part of the family of God
    
  • "Today, you have received the pledge of life and have become rooted in the true and orthodox faith. The day on which you were born, you were a slave and not free. But today, you have become a conqueror over the plots of the wicked."

Application

• You are now part of God's family
  • "Be diligent in learning the holy Scriptures which are the breath of God, and attend church services in the mornings and evenings, and fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Holy Forty Days fast, and all the fasts; and in keeping the Church laws and apostolic commands." (Baptism Commandment)
    
    
• Your body and senses are sanctified and sealed with the Holy Myron
  • "Guard yourself and do not go to unsuitable places, so that the Lord may guard you from satanic temptations. Cultivate inside you beautiful qualities. Plant within you righteousness and praise. Pour inside you purity. Plant within you obedience, love and holiness. Plant within you compassion, charity, and justice. Cultivate within you godliness, patience, and goodness. Plant within you honesty and every good work that pleases God so that your soul may live."
  • Don't forget that your mouth is sanctified, to use good language and sing hymns of praise.
  • Don't forget that your ears are sanctified, to listen to words and music that is fitting for them.
  • Don't forget that your eyes are sanctified, to see videos and movies and pictures that are holy. 

Resources

2023-02-17: Be a Peacemaker

Objective

• If we are true Christians, we must behave as Christians
• An evil person must not shake the inner peace, and we must not resist them
• Let us not shake anyone else's inner peace

Key Verse

"But I tell you not to resist an evil person..." (Matthew 5:39)

Body

Peace

• What is peace?
  • The world defines peace as quiet, tranquility
  • Psychology also defines peace as ease, tranquility, awareness, peace of the unchanged
  • In both cases, peace seems to come about in certain places, times, conditions.
  • In both cases, peace is something that is internal or mystical in the mind
  • External peace is simply when there is no war or fighting
  • Is this definition in line with the Christian understanding of peace?
• What is peace to Christians?
  • Peace is knowing that God is in control... even if I am surrounded by anger and fighting and conflict, I can have inner peace. Conversely, there may be no war or fighting, but internally I am really struggling with hateful thoughts, anger, etc.
    
• What about Peacemakers? 
  • The Lord is the source of all peace
    • "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
  • The Lord Jesus Christ was a peacemaker on earth, and we as Christians, likewise, should be peacemakers
    • "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20)
  • There is a special blessing for peacemakers
    • "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9)
  • Inner peace begets external peace
    • A peacemaker is someone who has inner peace and it can shine from him and manifest as external peace
    • "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify Your Father in heaven."
• When might I lose my peace?
  • In Rebellion: "He's trying to control me, so let me show him that he's not in control."
  • Testing Boundaries: "Let me see how far I can go and how much I can bother him before he snaps."
  • Vengeance: "He wronged me, so I need to hit back at the same level or harder."
• With whom might I lose my peace?
  • With my enemies
  • With my parents
  • With my friends
  • Even with myself

Peacemaking & Troublemaking

• Two categories of peacemaking
  1. Peacemaking when you are provoked ("Do not resist an evil person")
  2. Peacemaking when you are not provoked ("Don't be a troublemaker")
• Peacemaking is a show of my love to God

Peacemaking

• Do not resist an evil person
  • "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." (Matthew 5:38-42)
  • Imagine if you are being robbed by someone and they say "give me your wallet" and you respond with: "take my wallet and my phone too" - this is the principle that the Lord is teaching. This is the Christian life.
  • Do not resist an evil person - Christ did not resist the evil people who crucified Him. Joseph the righteous did not resist the evil brothers who sold him. Able did not resist Cain.

  • Some people went to St Anthony once and asked him for a spiritual word of benefit. And he told them “You read the Scriptures, and they will give you all the words you need.” So they said “please, something from your mouth our father.” So he recited to them this verse: “Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” And they said “we cannot do that” so he said “if you can’t turn the other cheek, then patiently endure the first blow.” and they said: “We can’t do that.” So he said “if you can’t do that, then do not return the blow you received” and they said “we can’t do that.” So he said “If you can’t do that and you won’t do this, then what can I do for you? You need prayers.” (Sayings of the Desert Fathers - Anthony 19)

• It is a difficult principal to put into action in our lives today… but unfortunately, we do even worse than those young men who went to see St Anthony. Nowadays, we don’t even treat our NEIGHBOR or our FRIEND or the person WHO LOVES US, in the right way… let alone our enemies.

  • Imagine if the servant of your class, who loves you, who cares for your salvation, comes to you and says ‘you’re using your phone too much. Give it here.’ – what is your response?

    • Ignore him and rebel

    • Get upset and start yelling

    • Accuse the servant of whatever “being unfair” – “picking on me” – whatever.

  • So we make someone who is not our enemy into our enemy, and then treat him in a way that is non-Christian.

  • No my beloved, let it not be this way. But rather, let us learn the Christian response and make good habits.
    
    

• Here will be an impromptu skit.

  • Kirollous will start to talk to Gabriel

  • Morcous: "Kiro"

  • Kiro keeps talking and ignores Morcous

  • Morcous (2 more times): "Kiro"

  • Morcous: KIRO

  • Kiro: What dude calm down

  • Morcous: Can you stop talking to Gabriel?

  • Kiro: I'm not even talking

  • Morcous: Yeah but you were

  • Kiro: Everyone else was talking

  • Morcous: Okay so are you gonna stop?

  • Kiro: We'll see

  • 
    

    Let’s have a round of applause for Kiro on his acting skills.

• Now I want to analyze what happened here?

  • When Kiro ignored me, I started to get angry – this is not good on my part, but if Kiro was a peacemaker and used the technique that I will teach you in a second, it wouldn’t have happened
    

  • When Kiro finally answered, he told me to calm down which I took as an accusation
    

  • Then Kiro didn’t take responsibility for his action when he said “I wasn’t talking” and he tried to reflect it on everyone else
    

  • Then when I asked Kiro for a resolution, he didn’t give me one. Just “we’ll see”

• Do you recognize this conversation? It happens a lot in this class, in Bible Study, in Liturgy, in the Bathroom, etc.
  
  

• So today I will teach you a technique to overcome all of these pitfalls and it is called "Yes" - "Okay" - "I have sinned" (na3am 7ader a5tet)

  • HG Anba Peter was telling us one time that one of the things they teach in the monastery is called “na3am – 7ader – a5tet.” They would tell the new novices that you can answer any conversation with “yes?” – “okay” – “I have sinned”

    • Someone calls you over? “Yes?”
      

    • Someone asks you to do something? “Sure!”
      

    • Someone rebukes you? “I have sinned”

  • Here will be another impromptu skit.

    • Andria will take out his phone and start using it

    • Morcous: Andria! 
      

    • Andria: Yes?
      

    • Morcous: Can you put your phone away please?
      

    • Andria: Okay, I will
      

    • Morcous: How can you pay attention when you’re always on your phone?
      

    • Andria: I have sinned, forgive me

    • Let’s have a round of applause for Andria on his acting skills.

  • Now I want to analyze what happened here?

    • In this scenario, Andria used our new technique, and it made peace – even though I was acting as a character who didn’t want peace.

    • I was gonna go at Andria even after he put his phone away. But with those simple words “I have sinned, forgive me” he shut down anything I could have said or done.
      

    • There is power in the words “I have sinned, forgive me.”

  • With these three words, you can save yourself a lot of trouble

Troublemaking

• The Opposite of a Peacemaker is a Troublemaker
• No one likes to be called a troublemaker because typically, we are not setting out to make trouble!
  • I'm not using my phone in Sunday School to make trouble, I'm just checking the message I just got
  • I'm not sleeping during the Sermon in the Liturgy to make trouble, I'm just tired
  • I'm not going to the bathroom during the Liturgy to make trouble, I'm just bored and I want to take a walk
  • I'm not skipping my homework or my Passport to make trouble, I just forgot
• I may find myself having a reputation for being a troublemaker... at home, at school, at church.
• I may find that I have a reputation as a troublemaker in just one of those places... at church, at home, at school.
• Why is this?
  • Sometimes, troublemaking is used as an outlet for our inner emotions and inner feelings
• So how do I overcome it? Inner Peace that we talked about
  • One who finds himself living a life of prayer, will not at the same time find himself bored in the Liturgy
  • One who finds himself regularly reading the Word of God, will not at the same time find himself speaking the language of the world
  • One who finds himself submitting himself to the Lord in repentance and confession, will not at the same time find himself resisting his elders (parents, servants, priests)
  • One who finds himself regularly bringing his body into subjection through fasting and prostrations, will not at the same time find himself falling into the sins of the flesh

Peacemaking is a Show of my Love to God

• St Basil has a writing called "The Morals" where he lists out 80 Morals one by one and then supports them with verses from Scripture and expounds each of the verses
• Rule #5: "That we must be free from all enmity toward all men and love our enemies; and, when necessity requires, lay down our life for our friends with a love like that which God and His Christ had for us."
  • Cap 1: That the mark of the disciples of Christ is their love for one another in Him
    
  • Cap 2: That to wrong one’s neighbor in any way or to cause him such disedification that his faith is destroyed is a sure sign that one does not possess the love of Christ for one’s neighbor, even if what is done is allowed by the Scripture for a special reason.
    
  • Cap 3: That the Christian must serve even one who is vexed with him, in every way, at least so far as he is able.
    
  • Cap 4: That he who has the charity of Christ sometimes causes pain, even to one whom he loves, for his good.
    

Application

• "Yes?" - "Okay" - "I have sinned"
• "Na3am" - "7ader" - "Akhtet"

Contemplation

Resources

• St George and St Rueiss Curriculum G10
• The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
• St Basil - Ascetical Works

2023-02-24: Spirituality of Fasting

Objective

Key Verse

Body

The Antiquity of Fasting

• Adam
  • Fasting was the first commandment given to Adam from God - "Do not eat from a certain type of tree"
  • God was setting a limit for Adam not to exceed the desires of the flesh and to behave over the level of earthly and materialistic things
  • Adam was defeated by temptation. He gave greater authority to his flesh than to his spirit
  • Conversely, Christ, the Second Adam, began His service with fasting and did not fall into temptation
• Old Testament Prophets Fasted
  • King David: Ps 35:13, Ps 69:10
  • Daniel: Daniel 3
  • Ezekiel: Ezekiel 4:9
  • Moses: Exodus 24:18, Deuteronomy 9:18, 25
• Whole Congregations Fasted
  • Nineveh fasted and the Lord accepted their repentance (Jonah 3:5-10)
  • The Jews fasted in the time of Esther and the Lord was with her when she met the King (Esther 4:15-17)
• The Lord Jesus taught about fasting
  • "However, this king does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21)
  • "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (Matthew 6:16-18)
• The Apostles Fasted
  • St Peter: Acts 10:10
  • St Paul: 2 Cor 6:5, 2 Cor 11:27
  • All the Apostles: Acts 13:2-3
• The Early Church Fasted
  • Didache (1st Century): "But do not let your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on Monday and Thursday; but you shall fast on Wednesday and Friday" (Chapter 8)
• Fasting Precedes all Feasts
  • Advent Fast and Paramoun before the Nativity
  • Paramoun before the Theophany
  • Lent before Palm Sunday
  • Pascha before Resurrection
• Fasting Precedes all Sacraments
  • Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Unction of the Sick, Priesthood, and Matrimony (in the original rite)
  • The only exception is Repentance in order not to delay repentance
• Fasting Precedes all Service
  • Christ fasted before beginning His ministry
  • Moses fasted before receiving the Tablets of the Covenant
  • St John the Baptist fasted before his ministry
  • The Apostles fasted before their ministry (Acts 13:2-3)
  • A priest who is ordained fasts for 40 days before beginning his ministry
  • A bishop who is ordained fasts for one year

What is Fasting?

• What is Fasting?
  • Enrichment to the soul by means of denouncing the desires of the body
  • If there is no spiritual growth, then it is not fasting; it is just a diet
• Let's look at the benefits to both body and soul

Fasting and the Body

• Abstaining from Food
  • If we look at the physical part, fasting is not just eating vegan food, but the more important part is the abstaining from food.
  • Having a "no-food period" is the important part
  • The length of the time period is different from one person to another depending on:
    • Degree of spirituality of the person
    • Age of the person
    • Health of the person
    • Type of work and efforts required in it
  • In all cases, there is a minimum level that is coordinated with the Father of Confession
    • Christ - "And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry" (Matthew 4:2)
    • St Peter - "Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance" (Acts 10:10)
    • St Paul - "I know how to be abased, and I know how to be abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Philippians 4:12)
    • St Paul - "in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness..." (2 Cor 11:27)
  • Fasting reaches its desired level when the person is hungry
  • "Devils take great delight in fullness, and drunkenness and bodily comfort. Fasting possesses great power and it works glorious things. To fast is to banquet with angels" - St Athanasius
• Vegan Diet
  • God created man a vegetarian "And God said, 'See I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.'" (Genesis 1:29-30)
  • After Adam forced himself out of paradise, his descendants were given meat to eat after Noah's Ark (Genesis 9:1-3)
  • When God led the people in the wilderness 40 years, he gave them vegetarian food (Manna) and then reluctantly gave them meat to eat (Quail) (Exodus 16:31, Numbers 11:33-34)
  • Vegetarian food was the choice of Daniel and his friends (Daniel 1:8-12, 10:3)
  • Ezekiel ate vegetarian food (Ezekiel 4:9)
• You can think of it as - we try to become like spirit, who don't eat food. But when we fall weak, we try to go back to our original nature in the Paradise of the Garden where we eat without meat and dairy.

Fasting and the Soul

• "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly." (Joel 2:15)
  • Consecrate means to make something special and to dedicate it (i.e. to God)
  • The days of fasting are holy days, dedicated to God and not to the world
• What is the Goal of your Fasting?
• Fasting is to be accompanied by repentance
  • "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6)
• Fasting is to be accompanied by more prayers
  • "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21)
  • Living a victorious life over the temptation of the devil, requires fasting accompanied with prayers
• Fasting is to be accompanied by spiritual readings
  • Set with your Father of Confession a plan for your Scriptural Readings
  • Take for yourself a spiritual book to read in addition to the Scripture, or read the lives of the saints
• Fasting is to be accompanied by some alone time
  • "Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." (Luke 6:12)
  • The Lord used to take some alone time
  • To grow deeper in our spiritual life, we have to exercise silence around us and be alone
  • Turn off the phone, turn off the TV, the social media, the video games, even the social events and hangouts and just take some quiet time
• Fasting is to be accompanied by participating in the church's spiritual activities/programs
  • More liturgies during fasting period
  • Attend the things that you haven't been attending (e.g. Bible Study, Sunday School)
  • Participate in more activities (e.g. like in our HSB class)
• Rejected Types of Fasting
  • The fasting of the Pharisees (Luke 18:9-14)
  • The fasting of the people who said they will neither eat nor drink until they had killed St Paul (Acts 23:12-13)
    

Why Fast

• We fast to prepare
  • The Church teaches us that fasting is used to prepare for the Sacraments, for the Feasts, and for Ministry (see above)
• We fast to be set free
• We fast to be fruitful

How to Fast

• Avoid Extremes
  • Nominalism: Get through a fast with the minimum effort possible.
    • We don't want the fasting lifestyle to disrupt our regular lifestyle too much. We simply want to "pay our dues" and do the minimum possible to take communion and be a "part of this community"
    • Jonah fell into this when he didn't want to preach to Nineveh and he finally goes, he walks one day into the city - even though the city is a three day walk across
    • St Paul calls this "having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:5)
  • Pharisaism: Take fasting too seriously and focus on the minutiae of the rules
    • I am reading all of the ingredients on every box
    • I am researching the factory that produces this food and what else they produce in that factory to make sure there's no cross contamination with something "fitary"
  • Unrealistic Expectations: Trying to do what is beyond your spiritual level or abilities
    • "In this fast, I want to read the whole Bible"
    • "In this fast, I will abstain until 6pm every day"
    • "In this fast, I will pray all of the hours of the Agpeya every day"
    • When your expectations for yourself are unrealistic, or past your own spiritual level/ability, you will fail and stop halfway through
• Start with Food
• Deny Yourself
• Talk Less
• Cultivate Silence
• Exorcise Your Mind
• Be Purposeful

Application

Contemplation

Resources

2023-02-24: Consecrate a Fast

Objective

• How to make our fasting useful and beneficial

Key Verse

• "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly" (Joel 1:14)

Body

What is Fasting

• Enrichment to the soul by means of denouncing the desires of the body
• Without spiritual growth, then it is not fasting; it is just a diet

Why don't we like Fasting?

• We are doing it wrong
  
• Most of the time, when we are not enjoying something spiritual it is because we are not doing it right!
  • Someone who comes to the Liturgy but is on their phone the whole time, will say liturgy is boring
  • Someone who goes to school but doesn't pay attention to the lectures, will say school is not beneficial
    

Pitfalls in Fasting

• Extremes
  • Nominalism: Get through a fast with the minimum effort possible.
    • We don't want the fasting lifestyle to disrupt our regular lifestyle too much. We simply want to "pay our dues" and do the minimum possible to take communion and be a "part of this community"
    • Jonah fell into this when he didn't want to preach to Nineveh and he finally goes, he walks one day into the city - even though the city is a three day walk across
    • St Paul calls this "having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:5)
      
      
  • Pharisaism: Take fasting too seriously and focus on the minutiae of the rules
    • I am reading all of the ingredients on every box
    • I am researching the factory that produces this food and what else they produce in that factory to make sure there's no cross contamination with something "fitary"
      
      
  • Unrealistic Expectations: Trying to do what is beyond your spiritual level or abilities
    • "In this fast, I want to read the whole Bible"
    • "In this fast, I will abstain until 6pm every day"
    • "In this fast, I will pray all of the hours of the Agpeya every day"
    • When your expectations for yourself are unrealistic, or past your own spiritual level/ability, you will fail and stop halfway through
      
      
• Food Only
  • Fasting without prayer, repentance, spiritual readings, quiet time, participation with the Church, etc. is just a diet
  • If when I fast, the only thing I change is my diet, then I have not fasted

How to Fast

• Avoid Extremes
  • Be moderate in your approach to fasting and avoid the aforementioned extremes
    
    
• Start with Food
  • Change your eating and change your life
  • We revolve so much of our life around food - what we will eat, when we will eat, when we will prepare, when we will shop, how much we will spend, etc. In addition, what we eat, how much we eat, and when we eat affects how we feel, how we think, how we act and how we interact. 
  • Change what you eat for the sake of following Christ, and our life in Christ will change
  • Food is something that we do every day; it keeps us alive; it makes us feel better
  • Since food is so integral to our body and our life, we can use fasting as a way of bridging our faith and our life
  • Fasting should SIMPLIFY our shopping, our meal planning, our cooking, etc. not complicate it
  • Some tips:
    • Eat less
    • Eat less often
    • Eat simply
    • Don't eat out if you can avoid it
    • Be bored by your menu from time to time
    • Think about food less often
    • Feel, and endure feeling, hunger at some point in your day
    • Spend less on groceries and use what you save for God's glory
    • It's not an effort, it's a fast
      
      
• Deny Yourself
  • Self-denial is voluntarily choosing not to do things you want to do; saying no to our whims, impulses and preferences; refusing our instant self-gratification
  • The Fast is a good opportunity to deny yourself the things that you want to do, for a time:
    • Video Games
    • TV/Movies
    • Social Media
    • TikToks/Shorts/Reels
      
      
• Talk Less
  • One of the topics most discussed in the Desert Fathers is Silence
    • "I have often repented for having spoken, but never for having kept silent" - St Arsenius
  • We use our words to impress, to dominate, to manipulate, to curse, to prove we are right, to get our way, etc.
  • We can take advantage of the fasting time to speak less
    
  • Speaking less = listening more (to God, to your neighbor")
  • Tame the tongue (quality and quantity)
    
    
• Cultivate Silence
  • Talking less is related to our exterior silence, but there is also the silence of our environment
  • "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone" - Blaise Paschal
  • We don't like silence! We are surrounded by the noise and loudness of social media, of background music, of devices, etc.
  • It is good to take some time to cultivate silence and to fill our silence with "positive content" 
    • Prayer
    • Reading
    • Walking
    • Sitting quietly
      
• Choose your Weapons
  • Fasting is a form of spiritual warfare. Satan does not want you to fast, and he will fight it with temptations, with relaxation, etc.
  • Choose your weapons for this war - decide what they will be and arm yourself with them
    • Prayer Canon - What will your prayers look like during the fast?
    • Scriptural Canon - What will you read from Scripture during the fast?
    • Spiritual Reading - What else will you read during the fast?
    • Church Activities - What additional church activities will you commit to?
      • Liturgy on Tuesday
      • Bible Study
      • HSB Activities

Application

• Let us have a plan for the Holy and Great Fast

Resources

• https://service.strebekahorlando.org/books/hsb-jr-sunday-school/page/2023-02-24-spirituality-of-fasting - Notes from the St George/St Rueiss Curriculum
• When You Fast: The Why and How of Christian Self-Discipline by L Joseph Letendre

2023-06-16: Ethics and AI

Objective

• Introduce Artificial Intelligence
• What the Scripture and Tradition says about Knowledge
• Talk about the dangers of AI
• Talk about the appropriate and inappropriate uses of AI

Key Verse

"He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known.“ (Proverbs 10:9)

Visual Aid

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zb7om5xwkp5yx8p/Artificial%20Intelligence.pptx?dl=0 

What is Artificial Intelligence

Neural Networks

• Artificial Intelligence is a branch of Computer Science that attempts to simulate human intelligence processes by machines.
• One of the most common sciences in AI is the idea of a Neural Network. And it's based on the science behind how the brain works. The brain has something called neurons that use electrical and chemical signals to send information between different areas of the brain, the spinal cord, and the entire nervous system. In 1943 a Neuroscientist and a Logician (McCulloch and Pitts) published a paper where they created a computational neural model based on mathematics and algorithms. That was the foundation of what is now called the Neural Network.
  
  • Neural networks work by having an input, a bunch of hidden things and an output. And it looks/sounds basic, but obviously the hard part is in the hidden things. And the hard part is in training the neural network to have the right hidden things.
  • 
    The example MarI/O helped me to better understand this concept.
    • In this video, the input is the position of Mario, the location of enemies and moving objects, and the location of static obstacles
    • The output is what button to press
    • Basically, he wrote a program that would develop this neural network and he ran it for 24 hours, and then the neural network figured out how to beat that specific level of Mario
    • So at first, it does random movements and it sees how far it gets in the level. And it gets a score for how far it got. Obviously, pushing "right" would get it a higher score. Then after it tries a bunch of things, the things with the highest scores get combined together and a little bit more randomness is introduced... and then it tries again. And it keeps trying and trying until it finally gets it.
    • The algorithm that he mentions - NEAT - was developed by a professor here at UCF. I first heard about it when I took an AI class at UCF during my undergraduate studies.

Knowledge-Based AI

• In my Master's Degree, I took a class called "Knowledge-Based AI" and the assignments and projects were all about writing an AI agent that could solve a human IQ Test

• 
  

  

• These are called Raven's Matrices IQ Tests
• We basically just had to figure it out... and so my algorithm basically did an analysis of each of the squares given to us, and each of the choices and then it did a comparison of A-B-C and D-E-F and then G-H-Option 1, G-H-Option 2, etc. to try and make a best guess about which one was right.
• For some basic ones, it was very successful. But when you get to harder ones, it's hard enough for a human to spot the pattern, let alone a computer.
• Note that the computer is not understanding the pattern and trying to find what fits it... it is looking for patterns in different ways - by pixels. By trying to understand shapes. This one has many black pixels on the left, and this one has many black pixels on the right.
• During that class, our professor came out in the last week and said he had some news... one of our TAs this whole semester... was an AI! And we had to guess who it was. Half of the people guessed it wrong. And this was all over the news about this AI TA that no one noticed was an AI the whole semester.
• But that AI was programmed to understand a few types of questions and answer them - usually common questions like "when is xyz assignment due" - "can I use xyz on my assignment" - "how do I contact the TAs" - etc. This is knowledge based AI

Probability

• Another class that I took in my Master's was called "AI for Robotics" and it was all about programming a basic self-driving car
• It was basically a probability class
• We had one module about figuring out the probability of lane detection and how to stay in your lane for steering
• We had one module about navigational systems 
• We had one module about using sensor data to predict what was a car and what wasn't
• But the main take-away from the class, for me, was that it is all probability and probability distributions

Machine Learning

• Back in 2012, Google did something crazy... they said that their computers could now tell if a picture contains a cat or not.
• https://blog.google/technology/ai/using-large-scale-brain-simulations-for/ 

Uses of AI

• Natural Language Processing
  • Google Translate
  • Grammarly
• Computer Vision
  • Self-Driving Cars
  • Image Categorization
  • Surveillance Cameras
  • Facial Identification
  • Agriculture
  • Healthcare
    • Scanning MRIs/X-Rays to find tumors
    • Scanning MRIs to find commonalities between large numbers of patients that have the same diagnosis - that may not be visible to the human eye
• Personalization
  • Targeted Advertising
  • Personalized Shopping
  • Personalized Learning
• Gaming
  • Playing strategic games like chess
  • Giving a unique gaming experience every time
• Travel
  • Suggesting hotels, rentals, etc.

Is AI Good or Bad

What is Intelligence?

• Kinds of Knowledge
  • Sensuous (comes through sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing)
    • This is the most basic of knowledge - the sky is blue, the grass is green, the pizza is hot, feseekh smells bad, medicine tastes bad, airplanes are loud, etc.
  • Sourced (books, newspapers, films, mass media)
    • This is the stuff you learn in school or from reading books or from watching movies/documentaries
      
  • Scientific (through hypothesis, experimentation, observation - knowledge of the physical world)
    • This is something you would learn through the scientific method, setting up an experiment, observing its results and drawing conclusions
  • Social (through experiences and relationships)
    • This is emotional knowledge - understanding how people feel, relating to them
    • HH Pope Shenouda did not mention this one in this book
  • Sophia/Wisdom (through the fear of God and by knowing His Scripture and His Commandment)
    • Wisdom in Greek is Sophia
    • This is the knowledge of discernment and being able to discern what is right or wrong
    • This is the knowledge of the Scriptures and Commandments of God
  • Spiritual (God reveals to His holy people what He wants them to know
    • There is knowledge revealed by God to those who are holy
    • Like when people would approach HH Pope Kyrillos and he would know what they were going to ask
    • Or like when God spoke through His Prophets
    • Or like when God showed St John the Revelation, or St Peter the vision
    • Or when the Lord guided St Paul to go to Macedonia
  • Ten Concepts Chapter 10 - The Concept of Knowledge ~ HH Pope Shenouda III
    • Note that HH Pope Shenouda talks about all of those, but does not present them in that order, nor does he use the same language there but rather I tried to find a "S" word for all of them
• There is useful knowledge and there is harmful knowledge
  • "There is harmful knowledge like that in which our father Adam and our mother Eve fell. It led them to lose their innocence and simplicity and live in the dualism of good and evil, truth and falsity, lawful and unlawful." (Page 134)
  • Many people wept and regretted knowledge which they came upon
    • e.g. someone will say "I just want to know how alcohol tastes" - but that knowledge brought him to alcoholism
    • e.g. someone will say "I just want to try this drug once... to see how it feels" - but that knowledge brought him nothing more than addiction
    • e.g. someone will say "I just want to watch porn to see what sex is like" - but that knowledge was false and brought him addiction, depression and destroyed his relationships with others and gave him a false idea of what sex is like
    • e.g. someone will say "I just want to see the video of someone being killed" - but that knowledge haunted them and gave them nightmares and to an extent, desensitized or numbed them from the act
• The fact is that all knowledge that comes to your mind will affect your sense and feelings and relationships with others; it will affect and influence your subconscious in the form of suspicions, thoughts, dreams, memories. It will extend within you and outside to a great extent and you may not be able to stop it. - HH Pope Shenouda (Ten Concepts)
  
• Which types of knowledge would you expect an AI like ChatGPT to have?
  • Mostly Sourced Knowledge; some sensuous knowledge (e.g. computer vision or audio processing). But that's it.
  • ChatGPT cannot know what is right or wrong, cannot make wise decisions, does not and cannot know God, cannot relate to people or understand their emotions
  • Can you compare Human Intelligence to Artificial Intelligence? It is incomparable

What is Artificial?

• AI is never certain
  • AI is either Probability or Trial and Error, or a combination of both
  • In MarI/O, it's Trial and Error... and mostly error
  • In the Raven IQ Tests, it was sometimes wrong and never completely sure
  • In Self-driving cars, although we could see clearly that those were cars, it was only 60% sure
• AI can be manipulated by input
  • Adversarial Machine Learning is a whole field of study on how to fool AI Agents
  • By introducing noise to an image, the classification of it can be completely changed
  • By introducing perturbations to a physical stop sign, the AI Agent is completely fooled
• AI can be manipulated by its owners
  • This was recently all over the news when SnapChat AI came out
  • The AI was heavily influenced by liberal ideas and would respond differently to conservative or Christian ideas
    

AI is a Tool

• A tool can be very useful in the right hands, and very dangerous in the wrong hands
• A saw is very good at cutting wood to make furniture... but in the wrong hands it can be used to murder
  
• The internet is very good at connecting people who are geographically far away... but in the wrong hands it can be used to exploit people from very far away
• AI, in the right hands with the appropriate uses, can be very helpful. But in the wrong hands, or for the wrong uses, can be very harmful.

Dangers of AI

AI Can (and Will) Lie to You

• The SnapChat AI was famously in the news for lying about knowing your location or not
• A Lawyer was disbarred because he used ChatGPT to find relevant case citations and they all ended up being fake - made up by ChatGPT. He did not verify the information he got from it. When he presented them in court, the court could not find anything he was referencing.
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/nyregion/lawyer-chatgpt-sanctions.html  

AI Can Manipulate You

• AI Virtual Assistants simulate human interaction (mimic human voice, facial expressions, body language) and can create the illusion of a personal relationship.
• Deepfake videos, images and audio are highly realistic simulations of people saying or doing things they never did
• AI is used to limit what information each person can see (e.g. on social media) and can ensure that only information that reinforces certain beliefs is prevalent, creating an echo chamber
  

AI Has a Fingerprint

• College students used ChatGPT to write their essays in a Philosophy class. The professor said "it was really well-written wrong" and that was a red flag. So he simply asked ChatGPT if it thought these essays were written by AI. ChatGPT said "I am 99% sure these were written by ChatGPT."
• The students failed the class
• https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-essays-college-cheating-professors-caught-students-ai-plagiarism-2023-1 
• AI Generated results are easy to spot (especially by another AI)

How to use AI

Inappropriate Uses for Artificial Intelligence

• Plagiarism:
  • Asking ChatGPT to write you an essay - even if you're planning to "edit it"
  • Asking an AI to solve math problems for your homework
  • Why is it unethical?
    • You would not be putting in the work, and getting a grade you didn't work for (i.e. stealing)
    • You would finish a paper or assignment and learn nothing (i.e. wasting resources)
    • You are misrepresenting something as your own work (i.e. lying)
    • Like the lawyer
  • Imagine that you used ChatGPT to write a poem for your loved one
    • What would they think if/when they found out it was not from you?
    • How would they feel if they had built some feelings around a false idea of you?
• Cheating: Requesting answers or solutions to exam questions from ChatGPT
• Cyberbullying: Using AI to harass, intimidate or bully others online
• Fabricating Data or Sources: Requesting fake data or sources or references to support your paper or project

Appropriate Uses for Artificial Intelligence

• Educational Support: Using ChatGPT to clarify concepts, ask questions or seek explanations on topics you’re studying. 
  
• Writing Assistance: Grammarly or even ChatGPT can fix your grammar or give you some writing advice on an essay you have written yourself
  
• Learning New Subjects: Ask questions about various topics
  
• Finding Sources: Asking ChatGPT for relevant sources to a certain topic, and then exploring, reading, and analyzing those sources on your own
  
• Language Practice: If you’re studying a foreign language, you can engage with ChatGPT to practice having conversations, ask for translations, improve your proficiency

Contemplation

Resources

• HH Pope Shenouda
  • Words of Spiritual Benefit Volume I
  • Ten Concepts
• All other sources related to AI are linked above

2023-09-29: The Cross in Our Lives

Objective

1. Learn the history of the Holy Cross
2. Learn the importance of the Cross in our lives

Key Verse

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Body

What is the Cross to you?

• Some might say the Cross is a symbol (of Christianity, or salvation, of my identity)
• Some might say the Cross is a weapon or protection (i.e. it plays an active role in my life)
• Before the Crucifixion of the Lord, the Cross was a torture and execution device that was used to execute criminals in a way that was very painful, public, and degrading.
• The Lord took that which was bad - and used it for good.

The Power of the Cross: Good Friday

• The day that the Lord gave the Cross its power
• Imagine if a man is sitting at a table, and a dog comes by to eat food off the table, so the man takes his rod and strikes the dog with it and the dog backs away. Now, when the dog wants to come back, if the man puts his rod in view of the dog - what will the dog do? The dog will not want to approach and try to eat food off the table. The man gave power to the rod. The same with the Lord and Satan. 
• When we do the sign of the Cross, the devil remembers how he was defeated on Good Friday at Golgotha, and fears it. 
• Through the Cross, the Lord gave us authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy.

The Cross is our Weapon of Victory

• The Cross is a Weapon of Victory over our enemies
  • In the 4th Century, in the time of Emperor Constantine, Emperor Constantine saw the symbol of the Cross in a vision before him and was told to put it on his military gear and by this sign he would conquer
  • What he saw is called the Chi-Ro ☧
    
  • Indeed, he put it on all of their shields and weapons and they conquered. Emperor Constantine went on to legalize Christianity throughout the Roman Empire
• The Cross is a Weapon of Victory over death
  • After Good Friday, the Jews wanted to bury the Cross so it wouldn't be found. So they started to pile dirt and all their garbage all over it
  • Constantine's mother, Queen Helen, wanted to find the original Cross of the Lord... so she started to ask around and listen to clues and stories from the local traditions until she found out where it was buried in Jerusalem under much garbage. So she had it excavated and they found three crosses. She did not have a way to know which one was the Cross of Christ (versus the crosses of the thieves). They also found the nails that pierced the Lord.
  • The Lord arranged that a funeral procession was passing by - so they took the dead man and placed him on each of the three crosses, and on on the Cross of Christ, the man rose from the dead.
  • She took the Cross and placed it on the mountain of Golgotha and built the Church of the Resurrection that is there until today, from where the Holy Light appears every year on Easter.
• We celebrate these events on the 10th of Paremhotep (the finding of the Cross by Queen Helen) and the 17th-19th of Thout (the vision of the Cross to Emperor Constantine and the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection by St Athanasius and the other patriarchs)

The Cross as a Declaration of Faith

• When we wear a cross, we declare to others that our faith is in Christ and we allow our good works and holiness to point to Christ
• When we do the sign of the cross, we express our faith and the doctrines of our faith
  • E.g. the doctrine of the Holy Trinity
  • The doctrine of the Incarnation
  • The doctrine of Salvation
• The Cross is humility
  • Because He who was crucified on the Cross is humble
  • To the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness

The Cross in the Church

• The Cross is seen in the building of a church (sometimes in the shape of the church)
• The Cross is held by Abouna
• The Cross is placed on the altar
• The Cross is seen in the iconography and woodwork of the Church
• The Cross is used for blessing
• The Cross is used for absolution
• Every sacrament, liturgical service and action involves the Cross

The Cross was not Random

• The Lord foreshadowed the Cross throughout the Old Testament
• What are some of the Old Testament symbols of the Cross?
  • Tree of Life
  • The Slaughter of Isaac
  • Jacob Blessing Joseph's Sons
  • Passover
  • Aaron's Rod
  • Moses stretching his arms
  • Bronze Serpent
    • St Athanasius discusses this in his Tractates on John 12.11 - we'll read that passage together in the lesson

Conclusion

The Cross is special. It is foreshadowed and typologized and pointed to from the beginning of time, it is an integral part of the economy of Salvation, and the life of the Church, and my personal life as a Christian. I can use the Cross practically in my life by holding it in my hand, by invoking its name, by signing myself, others, food, places, etc. with it.

Application

Contemplation

Resources

2023-10-13: The Eternal Existence of God

Objective

1. What is God like
2. The eternal existence of God
3. Heresies regarding Gods eternal existence and how to refute them
4. How does Gods eternal existence affect my life

Key Verse

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Body

Introduction: The Name of God

• Conclusion of the Anaphora:
  • "That as in this, so also in all things, Your great and holy name may be glorified, blessed, and exalted in everything honored and blessed, with Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit." (Liturgy of St Basil, St Cyril)
  • "That as in this, so also in all things, Your great and holy name may be glorified, blessed, and exalted in everything honored and blessed, with Your good Father and the Holy Spirit." (Liturgy of St Gregory)
• The Daily Psalis are all psalis on the NAME of the LORD
  • Monday: "Everyone who says, 'my Lord Jesus', is likened to a sword, casting down the enemy" (2nd verse; other verses explicitly say 'His holy name' or 'Your holy name')
  • Tuesday: "Come unto us today, O Christ our Master, shine upon us, with Your exalted divinity. Send unto us, this great grace, of Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter. So that I may speak, with great honor, about Your Holy, and blessed name." (1st-3rd)
  • Wednesday: "Let them rejoice and be happy, those who seek the Lord, who are constantly, calling upon His holy name" (1st)
  • Thursday: "Let us incessantly, bless the name of Salvation, that is for our Lord Jesus Christ, proclaiming and saying..." (2nd)
  • Friday: "For truly I came eagerly, to a great leader, which is the name of Salvation, of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1st)
  • Saturday: "Remembering Your holy name, brings joy to our souls, O my Lord Jesus Christ, my good Savior." (1st)
• Why the focus on God's name?
  • There is great power in a name. Names create an identity and it's how we are known by those around us. The first thing you inquire about someone is their name. The way you call out to someone. The way you refer to someone.
    • Nowadays, even our personalities are sometimes summarized by our names
      • Someone might be very sarcastic and his friend tells him "You pulled a Morcous!"
      • Someone might say a hymn very well and his friend tells him "Okay Ibrahim Ayad"
      • People are even called Karen if they complain at a restaurant or a store!
    • We have some responsibility to glorify, exalt and bless the name of God, to meditate on His name, to keep His name as a memorial, and to not take His name in vain.
      
      • After God told Moses His name, He said "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'" (Exodus 3:15)
      • "O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:1)
      • "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3)
      • "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. 'They shall be mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.'" (Malachi 3:16-17)
        
    • God reveals His character and who He is through His names. So when God reveals Himself through a specific name, we get to know something very special about Him. How can we glorify God or His attributes if we don't know Him?
• All of this begs the question... What is His name?

What are the names of God?

• The names of God gives us comfort, reassurance and hope. The names of God declare His glory.
• There are many names used for God in the Old Testament (names that God revealed to us through the Scripture, and  revealed to the authors of Scripture through some other revelation)
  • Most High God (El Elyon)
  • The Almighty (El Shaddai)
  • The Eternal (El Olam)
  • The Lord (Adonai)
  • God, Judge, Creator (Elohim)
  • The Lord is There (Jehovah Shammah)
  • The Lord My Banner (Jehovah Nessi)
  • The Lord our Righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu)
  • The Lord Who Sanctifies You (Jehovah Mekoddishkem)
  • The Lord My Shepherd (Jehovah Raah)
  • The Lord that Heals (Jehovah Rapha)
  • The Lord Is Peace (Jehovah Shalom)
  • The Lord of Hosts (Jehovah Sabaoth)
  • The Lord Will Provide (Jehovah Jireh)
• All of these are names used for God, and we see many of them start with the word "Jehovah" which we can say is THE NAME of God. Let us study how God revealed this name to us over time.

What is God's Name?

• The Revelation of God's Name Over Time
  • We read in the beginning of Genesis that Abraham "called on the name of the Lord" (Genesis 13:4)... but what is the name of the Lord? What is God's name?
  • In the beginning, the Lord did not reveal his name. When Jacob wrestled with the Lord, he asked Him and the Lord did not reveal it to him.
    • "Then Jacob asked, saying, 'Tell me Your name, I pray.' And He said, 'Why is it that you ask about My name?' And He blessed him there." (Genesis 32)
  • In the time of Moses, Moses also asked the Lord His name but this time the Lord answered him...
    • "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14)
    • "And God spoke to Moses and said to him: 'I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.'" (Exodus 6:2-3)
  • In the time of the Judges, Manoah (father of Samson) asked the Lord His name:
    • "Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, 'What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?' And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?'" (Judges 13:17-18)
  • Isaiah writes that same name, "wonderful" and adds to it:
    • "And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6)
    • "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
  • When we come to the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew, he quotes Isaiah and specifies that Immanuel means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23)
  • And we know that God is Trinity: Father, Son (Jesus Christ), Holy Spirit; One God.
• YHWH: The Tettragrammon
  • The principal name in the Old Testament by which God reveals himself is YHWH יהוה which we can pronounce "Yahweh"
  • The oldest Greek manuscripts of the Septuagint actually keep this Hebrew name of God in the midst of Greek
  • In later Greek, it starts to get replaced by ΙΑΩ (pronounced iawe)
  • This is considered by Jews to be "unpronounceable" and in general, they are not permitted to say out loud the name of God. So they replace it sometimes with other words like Adonai which means Lord. Later Greek manuscripts picked up on this word and started to translate it to κύριος which means "Lord"
  • Whenever you see (in the NKJV) the word "Lord" in small caps, you can check the footnote and see what it is being translated from and usually it is YHWH in the Hebrew
  • In the Coptic Bible, Exodus 3:14:
    • ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲡⲉϫⲉ ⲫϯ ̀ⲙⲙⲱ̀ⲩⲥⲏⲥ ϫⲉ ̀ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ϫⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲏϯ ⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲉⲕ̀ⲉϫⲟⲥ ̀ⲛⲛⲉⲛϣⲏⲣⲓ ̀ⲙⲡⲓⲥ̅ⲗ ϫⲉ ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲁϥⲧⲁⲟⲩⲟⲓ ϩⲁⲣⲱⲧⲉⲛ
    • So the Lord is revealing his name to Moses as ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ and then tells him "Tell them ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ sent you"
    • Then when ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ is translated to English it usually comes back as "The BEING"

ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ

• Liturgy of St Basil
  • ⲁⲝⲓⲟⲛ ⲕⲉ ⲇⲓⲕⲉⲟⲛ...
  • ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ̀ⲛⲧⲉ ϯⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ - "O You, WHO IS, Master, Lord, God of Truth"
  • ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ϧⲁϫⲱⲟⲩ ̀ⲛⲛⲓ́ⲉⲛⲉϩ: ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲉⲧⲟⲓ ̀ⲛⲟⲩⲣⲟ ϣⲁ ̀ⲉⲛⲉϩ - "WHO IS before the ages and reigning for ever"
  • ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ϧⲉⲛ ⲛⲏⲉⲧϭⲟⲥⲓ: ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲉⲧϫⲟⲩϣⲧ ̀ⲉϫⲉⲛ ⲛⲏⲉⲧⲑⲉⲃⲓⲏⲟⲩⲧ - "WHO IS in the highest, and looks upon the lowly"
• Liturgy of St Gregory
  • ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲏⲉⲛⲁϥϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲏⲉⲑⲙⲏⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϣⲁ ⲉⲛⲉϩ: ⲡⲓⲁⲓⲇⲓⲟⲥ...
  • O You, WHO IS, who was and who abides for ever, the Eternal, co-essential, co-enthroned, co-creator with the Father, who for the sake of goodness only brought man into existence out of nonexistence, and put him in the Paradise of joy.
• Liturgy of St Cyril
  • ⲁⲝⲓⲟⲛ ⲕⲉ ⲇⲓⲕⲉⲟⲛ... ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲫⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲓⲡⲁⲛⲧⲟⲕⲣⲁⲧⲱⲣ...
  • For truly it is fitting and right, and holy and becoming, and profitable to our souls, bodies, and spirits - O You, WHO IS, Master, Lord, God, the Father, the Pantocrator - at all times and in all places of Your dominion, to praise You, hymn You, bless You, serve You, worship You, thank You, and glorify You, and confess to You night and day, with incessant lips, with a heart that keeps not silent, and with unceasing doxologies."
• The Advent Hymn ϥⲉⲙⲡϣⲁ ⲅⲁⲣ
  • ϥⲉⲙⲡϣⲁ ⲅⲁⲣ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ: ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲟⲩⲇⲓⲕⲉⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ: ⲉⲑⲣⲉⲛϩⲱⲥ ̀ⲉⲫϯ ̀ⲛⲧⲁ̀ⲫⲙⲏⲓ: ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ϧⲉⲛ ̀ⲧⲫⲉ
    • It is truly worthy: and just that we sing: to the True God: the Lord WHO IS in heaven.
  • Ⲡⲉϥⲣⲁⲛ ϩⲟⲗϫ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ̀ϥ̀ⲥⲙⲁⲣⲱⲟⲩⲧ: ϧⲉⲛ ⲣⲱⲟⲩ ̀ⲛⲛⲏⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ: ̀ⲉⲧⲉ ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲫϯ ⲫⲓⲱⲧ: ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ
    • His name is sweet and blessed: on the mouths of the saints: this is God the Father: the Son and the Holy Spirit
  • The second verse clarifies that we are talking about HIS NAME which is ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ WHO IS. We are confessing that the Lord WHO IS, is the Father Son and Holy Spirit

The Eternal Existence of God

• What does all of this mean?
  • I AM, WHO IS, and THE BEING all mean the same thing. Let's see if we can figure out what they mean...
  • AM and IS are the verb BE which is conjugated to "am" - "are" - "is" (I am, we are, you are, he is, she is, they are)
  • And what does it mean "to be?" - to exist!
  • The Name of God YHWH, I AM, ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ means "He Who Exists"
  • All of us exist... so what's the difference?
    • God is self-existent whereas we exist as a result of Him bringing us into existence (i.e. He is the SOURCE of existence)
    • God is eternally existent whereas our existence has a starting point
      
• The name of God, revealed to us by God, tells us ABOUT God. One of God's unique attributes: His Eternal Existence.
• What is Eternal
  • No beginning and no end
    

Verses about the Eternality of God

• "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)
  • The Scripture does not try to prove God's existence or His eternality but simply states that at the beginning of recorded time, God was already in existence.
• "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God" (John 1:1)
• "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15)
• "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Lats; besides Me there is no God.'" (Isaiah 44:6)
• "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'" (Revelation 1:8)
• "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." (Psalm 90:2)
• "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)
• "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17)

What can we know about God?

• It is not possible to fully comprehend the eternal existence of God. He is incomprehensible because we live and exist and measure everything in the realm of time.
• God has always existed; there was never a time when He came into existence; there will never be a time when He goes out of existence. Because He created time, He is not limited to it.
• St Augustine (on Genesis 1:1): “But even if we believe that God made heaven and earth at the beginning of time, we should certainly realize that there was no time before the beginning of time. For God also made time, and thus there was no time before he made time. Hence, we cannot say that there was a time when God had not yet made anything. For how could there be a time that God had not made since he is the maker of all time? And if time began to be with heaven and earth, there cannot be found a time when God had not yet made heaven and earth. When they say, “Why did He suddenly decide?” they speak as if some time passed during which God produced nothing. But a time could not pass that God had not already made, because he cannot be the producer of time unless he is before time.”
  
  • The word "before" and "after" are related to time, so we cannot logically ask the question of "what happened before God made time?" or make any statement like "before God created time..." - St Augustine adds to that, that God created heaven and earth at the beginning of time. This means that we cannot even say the statement "before God created heaven and earth..." since that is equivalent to saying "before God created time..."
• St Augustine: "It is not in time that you precede all times, O Lord. You precede all past times in the sublimity of an ever-present reality. You have made all times and are before all times." (Confessions)
• There's a story that St Augustine was walking on the seashore meditating on the Holy Trinity (he was writing "On the Holy Trinity"). He saw a child digging a hole in the sand and running to the ocean, filling a bucket with water and dumping it into the little hole he dug. So he asked the child what he was doing and the child said "I'm trying to empty the ocean into this hole" and St Augustine said "that's impossible!" The child said "Indeed! But I will sooner fill this hole with all the water of the ocean than you will succeed in penetrating the mystery of the Trinity."
• St. Cyril of Alexandria: “If one wishes to inquire into these things, there is no doubt that he will be completely lacking in mental ability, in contrast to that [the mind] which God is perceived to have. That our faculties are insignificant or as absolutely nothing in comparison with God, he himself clearly states: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways’, says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Isaiah 55:8-9) Let it be allowed, then, that extraordinariness and incomprehensibility are the touchstone concerning these things. For God creates as he himself knows how and as only he is able.” – Glaphyra on the Pentateuch Part 1
  
• St John Chrysostom: "I, too, know many things but I do not know how to explain them. I know that God is everywhere and I know that he is everywhere in his whole being. But I do not know how he is everywhere. I know that he is eternal and has no beginning. But I do not know how. My reason fails to grasp how it is possible for an essence to exist when that essence has received its existence neither from itself nor from another. I know that he begot a Son. But I do not know how. I know that the Spirit is from him. But I do not know how the Spirit is from him." - On the Incomprehensible Nature of God 1.19

How does God's eternal existence affect my life?

• It is important to learn Theology so that we can know what is true and what is false, the Truth will set you free
• The doctrine of the eternality of God provides comfort to the believers. Since God will never cease to exist, neither will those who have put their trust in Him.
• When I understand the Divine Liturgy, I can better practice and participate in it and enjoy it

Application

Do you sometimes worry about what might happen in the future? Contemplate on how knowing that God is eternal can help us to not worry about these things and on how we should act toward God to show that we understand that He is everlasting.

2025 HSG Winter Convention (SALT): Intro Topic

Objective

• The goal of this convention is to explore the struggles of fear, worry, stress, and anxiety that many girls experience during their adolescent years
• Through open discussion, spiritual guidance, and practical steps, the convention aims to help participants confront these feelings with faith, peace, and confidence rooted in Christ

Introductory Topic

The opening session will establish the foundation for the entire convention, preparing the hearts and minds of attendees for the discussions to come by covering these points:

• Definition of fear, worry and anxiety
• Healthy vs. Unhealthy Worry
• Root causes of worry and anxiety
• Effects of excessive worry and anxiety
• Biblical perspective on anxiety
• How to overcome anxiety

Overview of the Stations

In addition to the introductory station, the convention will include three stations, each addressing a specific root of anxiety and offering a biblical approach and practical steps to overcoming it

• “When life feels out of control”
  • Worry and anxiety about the future, uncertainty, and lack of control
• ”When I don’t feel enough”
  • Anxiety rooted in comparison, insecurity, and perfectionism
• ”When my heart is overwhelmed”
  • Emotional stress, heartbreak, loneliness, and the weight of relationships or responsibilities

Resources

• https://www.suscopts.org/resources/literature/counseling/anxiety/anxiety-part-one
• https://www.suscopts.org/resources/literature/counseling/anxiety/anxiety-part-two
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Fu8NU7A6g "Overcoming Fear"
  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjslLcbuO8M "Stress and Worry"
  • Functional and Dysfunctional Worry
    • If tomorrow I have an exam, and I have absolutely no worry - then what will motivate me to study?
    • As long as the worry is functional (not dysfunctional) and it motivates me to do things, then I am within the boundaries
    • If I am not worried about eternal life, then I will not repent
      • 'When I realize my many wicked deeds, and the thought of that awesome judgment comes to my heart, a tremble takes hold of me, and I take refuge in You, O God, the Lover of Mankind.," (Midnight Hour - Third Watch #3)
  • Love and Fear
    • "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)
    • We are afraid of God because we don't know Him; we have a distorted image of Him; we don't trust His mercy. But if we know Him very well, then we know He is our LAWYER on the Last Days and will intercede on our behalf.
    • There are some who will be terrified of Him - those who rejected Him and closed the door in His face. But the reason isn't because God won't have mercy on them but because they rejected the mercy of God.
  • Most significant cause of fear, stress, worry in youth:
    • Future, relationships, peer pressure, fitting in, death - summarized as: Lack of Faith
    • Everyone should be worried about his relationships, career, etc. as long as that worry is functional and not impairing the person from attending to his activities, it is healthy.
    • When it becomes dysfunctional, then it is lack of faith
      • There is a psychological illness (imbalance of hormones, etc.) - we are NOT talking about that
    • St Peter faith to walk on water
      • He dropped his eyes from God and looked at the sea, and that's when he was afraid and lost his faith
    • St Stephen was being stoned but his eye was on God
      • If he was looking at the stones, maybe his faith would have been challenged
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGgftslCV3U "Rational vs Irrational Fear"
• https://www.youtube.com/live/pp_kY0Ddhts "Biblical Guide to Overcoming Anxiety"

Topic

Introduction

• Anxiety, Fear, Worry
  • These are complex emotions that are physical, behavioral, spiritual, and psychological
  • They are HIGHLY related to our perception of reality - which is sometimes right and sometimes not
    
  • Anxiety is one of the most common struggles of our generation.
  • Anxiety does not mean you are weak. Anxiety does not mean you are faithless. Anxiety means your heart and your body are trying to protect you - sometimes, in the wrong way.
• We can distinguish between Fear, Worry and Anxiety - although sometimes the terms can be used interchangeably
• Fear: Related to something in the present (something in front of me)
  • Afraid of the dark
  • Afraid of a spider or a wild animal
• Worry & Anxiety: Related to the Future
  • Worry: A healthy response to an impending challenge; healthy because it is what pushes us to tackle the challenge with wisdom. E.g. I am worried I won’t have time to finish my studying because of my work schedule and my service schedule. So I work to make a schedule and a plan for time management so that I can complete all of my responsibilities.
    
  • Anxiety: An unhealthy response to an impending challenge; unhealthy because I am focused more on my Anxiety than on tackling the challenge.
  • Both are based on my perceived skill level and my perception of the challenge level. Both are based on a low perception of skill level. But the difference between worry and anxiety is the perceived challenge level - anxiety very high, worry is not so high.
  • So anxiety is like the unhealthy form of worry. The problem is not when I care - the problem is when I am PARALYZED.
  • I can distinguish between worry and anxiety based on my response to them.
    • If my response is productive, then it’s a healthy worry. If my response is unproductive, then it’s an unhealthy anxiety.
    • If tomorrow I have an exam, and I have absolutely no worry - then what will motivate me to study?
    • As long as the worry is functional (not dysfunctional) and it motivates me to do things, then I am within the boundaries
    • If I am not worried about eternal life, then I will not repent
      • 'When I realize my many wicked deeds, and the thought of that awesome judgment comes to my heart, a tremble takes hold of me, and I take refuge in You, O God, the Lover of Mankind.," (Midnight Hour - Third Watch #3)
    • Activity (Healthy or Unhealthy)
      1. “You have an exam next week, and you make a study plan.”
      2. “You have an exam next week, and you keep thinking ‘I’m going to fail’ even though you’re studying.”
      3. “You post something online and check it once.”
      4. “You post something online and keep checking it every few minutes.”
      5. “You’re worried you hurt a friend, so you talk to them.”
      6. “You’re worried you hurt a friend, but you avoid them because you’re scared.”

       

Effects of Anxiety

• As we said, Anxiety and Worry are psychosomatic and spiritual - so they are related to our mind, our body and our spirit.
• Physical Effects
  • Headaches, Rashes, Bachaches, Upset stomach, shortness of breath, sleeping problems, fatigue, loss of appetite, etc.
  • Sometimes you see someone who is very tired because they are always worried.
• Behavioral Effects
  • Some people attempt to overcome anxiety by sleeping more, eating more, or even as far as drugs or alcohol. 
  • Some may throw tantrums or let their temper explode or blame others
• Spiritual Effects
  • Robs of Joy
    • Because you are concerned over tomorrow, you are not able to enjoy the present moment. This moment may be full of God’s peace and goodness and blessings, but because I am just focused on tomorrow, I miss out on it all.
    • Overthinking texts or conversations LONG after they happened
  • Wastes Time
    • Anxiety over tomorrow consumes valuable time. If the time was invested in positive thinking, taking proactive measures, it would be more profitable.
    • Difference between anxiety and caution
      • Anxiety is preoccupying and preempting failure
      • Caution is careful planning, wise choices
  • Inhibits Sound Thinking
    • Preoccupied with tomorrow’s unseen and unrevealed incidents blurs our judgment
  • Weakens Faith
    • Pushes faith to the background
  • Paradoxical
    • The reason I am anxious is because I am concerned about my comfort or having a better or more comfortable life… but this anxiety causes discomfort and can even shorten life span

Cause of Worry & Anxiety

• Social Media
  • I posted something and I only got 3 likes… my anxiety might even convince me to remove the post.
  • Everyone on my feed looks happier, prettier, more confidence than me.
    • I’m comparing myself to FILTERED or EDITED or AI’d images
  • What if people are talking to me in the group chat?
  • All of these are PERCEIVED CHALLENGES and they are affecting my perception of my worth. This is an existential anxiety - I feel that my social existence will perish.
• Friendship Anxiety
  • Why wasn’t I invited to xyz? Outing, hangout, etc.
  • They’re acting different - did I do something wrong?
  • What if I lose my friends over xyz?
• Body Image or Appearance
  • What if I don’t look good enough?
  • What if I’m judged for how I dress?
  • I hate how I look in pictures
    • SELFIE THING
  • This is a form of performance anxiety
• Academic Anxiety
  • If I fail this class, my future is ruined
  • Everyone expects me to be perfect
  • If I don’t get into the right college, I’m a failure
    
  • This is also a form of performance anxiety.
• Spiritual Anxiety 
  • What if God is disappointed in me?
  • What if I keep falling into the same sin?
  • What if I never change?
• Paradoxical Anxiety
  • Anxiety about being anxious… being anxious about how to get rid of my anxiety.
• Social Anxiety
  • Wanting to please EVERYBODY (it’s impossible)
  • Unrealistic anticipation of rejection
    • I think I am going to be rejected
    • So the negative anticipation makes me act weird
    • Then I am rejected
    • This reinforces my anxiety and I remain a victim of an unending cycle that has no root in reality
• Anxiety shows us where we are lacking in faith

Overcoming Anxiety

• Matthew 6 - Reasons I should not worry
  • 25: Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
    • Because our life extends to eternal life. 
    • Without food, we would lose our life.
    • Without clothing, our body would freeze.
    • So why is He saying this? To show that our life and our body are more than just physical life. Don't be anxious about your soul and your body because those who might take away your food and your clothes and even cause your death, cannot take your real life of the resurrected body
      
    • Our life extends to eternal life. God will clothe us with the glorified body in eternal life.
      
  • 26:  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
    • You are more valuable than the birds; and these birds are taken care of by God
    • Premise 1: God is so completely in control of the natural universe, that He is in control of feeding the birds of the earth - a berry from here, an insect from there, a worm from the ground, etc. it is God who provides that berry or that insect or that worm
    • Premise 2: You are of more value to God than the birds. God values you and is committed to you. He purchased you with His Blood.

    • "casting all your care [worry] upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

  • 27: Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
    • Anxiety does no good; it accomplishes nothing; it doesn't help you.
    • If you start to get anxious, remind yourself that the anxiety does not benefit you
  • 28-30: “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
    • Similar to point #2 but different
    • Here, the focus is that these lilies that God takes care of them, they last for only one day. But you are eternal! If God cares about the grass and lilies that lasts one day and clothes them more beautifully than King Solomon, then God definitely will care about you because you are eternal. God is active in the life of the grass and flower.
    • Anxiety is a trust issue; a faith issue.
  • 31-32: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek."
    • Anxiety is understood for non-believers; they don't believe in God who takes care of them. They don't have history of 7,000 years of God taking care of His people - even those who were persecuted, martyred, etc.
    • But we, believers, we should not! Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things
  • 32: For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
    • Your heavenly Father knows
      • God is a Father and one of the responsibilities of a father is to take care of his children
      • He is Heavenly - so He has control over the earth
      • He knows - since He knows your needs, He will provide for your needs
  • 33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
    • God wants you to be righteous; so He will supply everything you need to do His will and His righteousness
    • Parents tell their kids "don't worry about anything, just focus on your studies... don't worry about working, don't worry about meals, don't worry about anything I don't want you to be distracted. Just focus on one goal."
    • Same with God - I want you to focus on one goal - your eternal life.
    • I cannot stand in the last day and say "Sorry I was distracted by the worries of the world - He will say no! I promised you that I would take care of those."
    • Three Holy Youth in the fire
    • St Peter sleeping a deep sleep in prison
    • Paul and Silas chanting in prison
  • 34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
    • God, in His economy, does not overload one day with troubles more than can be endured
    • Sometimes when we worry about tomorrow, we overburden ourselves
    • Each day has its appointed amount - this is God's plan for us
    • Don't bring tomorrow's worries to today
• Keep your eye on the Lord
  • St Peter faith to walk on water
    • He dropped his eyes from God and looked at the sea, and that's when he was afraid and lost his faith
  • St Stephen was being stoned but his eye was on God
    • If he was looking at the stones, maybe his faith would have been challenged
• Seek Guidance
  • FATHER OF CONFESSION
  • TAKE HIS ADVICE
  • Anxiety grows in isolation - but when it’s shared, it weakens. 
• Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving
  • Philippians 4:6-7 - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
    
    • Kinds of Prayers
      • Supplications - Make a request
      • Prayer - Communication
      • Thanksgiving - Thank God for something
      • Praise - Praise God for who He is
      • Intercession - Pray for someone else
    • St Paul chose three of those very purposefully: Supplication, Prayer, Thanksgiving
      • Even in the way we deal with each other - if I have a request from you, I will start by communicating with you "hi, how are you" and end with my request
    • The peace of God is totally different from the peace of the world
      • Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
      • The peace of God doesn’t mean that the problem disappears - it means that I am able to endure the problem and my heart is guarded as I endure it.
  • Turn your list of worries into a list of prayers
    • ACTIVITY? If time permits

2026 Spring Break Spiritual Day - Introduction (IOTA)

"There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 12:4)

Introduction

Sunday Theotokia: "You are called truly, • O blessed one • among women, • the Second Tabernacle •
which is called • the Holy • of Holies, • wherein are the tablets •
of the covenant • and the Ten Commandments • which are written • by the finger of God. •
They have directed us • to the IOTA - • the name of salvation - • Jesus Christ."

The Ten Commandments, given by God and written by His finger on two tablets, have directed us to the IOTA. And the IOTA is the name of Salvation: Jesus Christ.

We have a category of hymn in the Church called "Psalis" which are said before the Theotokia. And these Psalis typically all focus on one topic: the name of the Lord. Saying the name of the Lord.  There is great power in the name of the Lord.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)

The name of the Lord means:

1. Enlightenment
   • Monday Psali: "Let the name of the Lord • abide within us • so that He may shine • upon our inner being"
   • Tuesday Psali: "When they uttered it • their minds were enlightened • and their hearts ascended • to the heights."
2. Ability to Give Others
   • Wednesday Psali: "If we are needy • for the money of this world, • and we have nothing • to offer as alms; •
     yet truly we have • the precious pearl of great price • which is the sweet name full of glory • of our Lord Jesus Christ. •
     When we continue to keep Him • in our inner being • He will make us rich • that we can give to others. •
     We do not ask for • the wealth of this world • but for the salvation of our souls • by calling upon His holy name."
   • Peter and John: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
3. Nourishment
   • Tuesday Psali: "For them it was • a Living food • which filled their souls • and their bodies too. •
     For them it was • a fountain of living water • sweeter than honey • in their mouths. •
     When they called upon it • their hearts rejoiced • and their bodies • blossomed."
4. Sweetness and Joy

   • Friday Psali: "Our hearts are happy • and our tongues rejoice • whenever we sing to the name • of our Lord Jesus Christ."

   • Saturday Psali: "The remembrance of your holy name • gives joy to our hearts • O my Lord Jesus Christ • my good Savior."

5. Power to Purify
   • Monday Psali: "Everyone who says: • 'my Lord Jesus' • is likened to a sword • casting down the enemy."
   • Thursday Psali: "Once more my beloved • let us keep away • the evil inclinations of our heart • that lead us to sin. •
     Let us incessantly • bless the name of Salvation • that is for our Lord Jesus Christ • proclaiming and saying: •
     O my Lord Jesus Christ • who is born of the Father • before all ages • have mercy on us according to Your great mercy; •
     O my Lord Jesus Christ...

I want to focus on #5 - Power to Purify

Purity is not only "behavior"

• It is a war over the mind and heart.
• It starts in the mind
• When I fall into sin, it is rarely because "I chose evil" - but because I could not resist a temptation
  • "I stayed too long with a thought"
  • "Everyone is doing it"
  • "I saw something in a YouTube Short that triggered me"
  • "I just wanted to experiment"
  • "I was bored and didn't have anything to do"
• Lust and Impurity are Goliath
  • Loud, Repeated, Intimidating
  • They try to make you feel weak
  • "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." (1 Samuel 17:45)
  • It's not me against the temptation - it's my Lord against the temptation - and my Lord is bigger.
  • But I must call upon His name
• "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Joel 2:32)

What is my first response to a sinful thought? To a temptation? To an image I wasn't expecting to see? I come to you in the name of the Lord.

"If you celebrate a feast and are joyful, say: Jesus;
if you worry and suffering: Jesus;
if the sons and daughters laugh: Jesus;
those who touch water: Jesus;
those who must flee from barbarians: Jesus;
those who see wild beasts or other frightening things: Jesus;
those who have pain or illness: Jesus;
those who have been taken captive: Jesus;
those who were unjustly judged and suffer injustice: Jesus.
The name of Jesus alone is on their lips and is their salvation and their life: He and His Father."
(St Shenouda - A Catechesis against Apocryphal Texts)

Three Stations:

1. Recognize: How does temptation work in the mind?
2. Respond: Immediately with the name of the Lord Jesus, not negotiation
3. Rule: Build a rule of life so purity becomes sustainable and becomes my way of life

2026-07-14: “I Send You to the World” (HSB Summer Convention)

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21)

Background

The order matters!

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The Lord commanded the disciples to wait until they received power from the Holy Spirit, and then go witness for Him in Jerusalem, then branch out to Judea and Samaria, and then to the end of the earth. And if you read the Book of Acts, you will find that exact structure in the Book of Acts.

• Ch. 1-7 serving in Jerusalem
  
• Ch.  8-12 in Judea and Samaria
  
• Ch. 13-28 in the ends of the earth

And this is the reality of serving. I need to let the Lord prepare me, and then start in my inner circle in my family, then branch into serving my church and community, and then the rest of the world.

Many people get very excited about going on a Mission Trip and evangelizing in a foreign country and going to do many services away from their city and their church… but unless I have a foundation of serving my family and serving my community and my church, I will not be successful.

Nation of Israel

I want to start by talking about the Nation of Israel and the Old Testament.

• When King Solomon built the Temple of God and was dedicating it, he prayed a long prayer in 1 Kings 8. See this part…

  • “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.” (1 Kings 8:41-43)
    
  • He understood the mission of Israel. He knew that people from far countries would hear about the true God, come to Him and know Him and worship Him. He understood God’s plan. God did not choose Israel instead of the nations, but He chose Israel for the sake of the nations, to bring about their repentance. 
    
• That has always been God's plan...
  • To Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)
    
  • To Moses: “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)
    
  • To Isaiah: “I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
    
  • In every Law the Lord gave, He elevated the behavior of the Israelites over that of the people of other nations.
  • In every Commandment, He guided the people to holiness
• But unfortunately, at every turn, instead of Israel influencing the nations, the nations influenced Israel
  
  • Instead of remaining holy, they worshipped idols
  • Instead of showing the nations who God is, they became just like them
    
  • They took their wives.
  • They adopted their idols.
    
  • They learned from their sexual immorality.
  • They didn’t want to be different – “Appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5)
    
  • They wanted to fit in

I Send You into the World

Fast forward a few thousand years… the Lord Jesus gathers His disciples in the Upper Room. He washes their feet. He eats with them the Passover. He gives them His Body and Blood and institutes for them the Eucharist. He teaches them about the Holy Spirit. And then He prays to the Father these words:

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world… I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:15-18, 20-21)

"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

• He will not just take us out of the temptation and corruption and sin of the world, but He sends us and He will protect us from the evil one.

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."

• We are not from here, but our citizenship is in heaven. We are just sojourners, traveling here, dwelling in tents (our bodies) until such time that we are received in glory to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven with the many mansions!
• Being a Christian was never about fitting in

“As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

• So even though the world is full of sin and corruption and temptation, the Lord is still sending us into the world.
  

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

• This is our mission. This is WHY we are sent into the world
• St John Chrysostom - "There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not try to save others."
• People must see Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your mouth. The greatest obstacle in evangelism is NOT a lack of arguments... it's Christians who look like everyone else.

What is the World?

So what is the world we are being sent into? What does it mean "I send you into the world?" This isn't some abstract sentence... but the "world" is where you're going when you leave this convention.

• School
• Part-time job
• Entertainment
• Digital World (Social Media, Group Chats)
• Friendships
• Everyday Life (Store, Restaurant, Driving, Gast Station, etc.)
  

This is the world we are being sent into. And for all of these different settings of the world, there is a Danger of Conformity.

• “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” (Romans 12:2)
  

But also in all of them, there is an opportunity (and a commandment) to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

• “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
  
• They'll see YOUR good works and glorify WHO? Your Father in heaven

We'll take the settings one by one, and try to identify the dangers of conformity, and the opportunities to witness in each one. As we go through them, examine yourself. Ask yourself if you are conforming or if you are witnessing. Ask yourself if you are taking seriously the mission that the Lord has sent you on.

1. School

Conforming

• Cheating because "everyone does it"
  • Kids from Egypt who were surprised they can't just pay the guy at the testing center
• Cutting corners
• Laziness
• Doing the minimum
  • One guy took "easy-A" classes and then struggled to pass his MCAT
  • One guy who used AI for all of his assignments and then couldn't get through a technical interview. Never got a job and had to switch to a different field.
• Seeking popularity
• Being ashamed of being Christian
• Hypocrisy
  • Being one way at church, and one way at school/work
• Conforming my appearance - hairstyle, manner of dress, etc.

Witnessing

• Refusing to cheat (or help someone cheat)
• Being honest, even if it costs you
  • Example: You forgot to do an assignment... tell the truth. Instead of making up lies "Wi-Fi was down" or "Canvas wasn't working" or old school "My dog ate my homework"
  • You aren't prepared for an exam... take the lower grade and the lesson learned. Instead of cheating for the higher grade.
  • Here's a controversial one... You're playing basketball or soccer and the ball touches you and goes out... be honest! Even if the referee didn't see it! People enjoy playing with honest players and good sportsmanship.
• Including the lonely student
• Respecting your teachers and speaking respectfully
• Being joyful instead of constantly complaining
• Being dependable
• Being generous
• Pray before you take an exam
• Pray before you eat your meal
• Let your speech be holy "Thank God" - "God willing" - "Pray for me"

2. Friendships

Conforming

• Foul Language
  • Arabic or English
  • When someone comes in confession and tells me they're struggling with cursing - I usually ask "well do you curse at church?" - no. "Do you curse at home?" - no. "Did you ever curse in front of me?" - no. Not to minimize the sin, but to show him that he KNOWS how to turn it off. He turns it off on a DAILY basis. A lot of the time it's like "it just slipped out" - but I know how to turn it off, I know how to make sure it doesn't slip out. So it's just a matter of doing that everywhere. 
• Choosing friends based on popularity
• Giving in to peer pressure
• Drinking/vaping/smoking because friends do
• Mocking others to fit in
• Dating when it is not the right time
• Outside Friends vs. Church Friends
  • Many times youth ask "what's the difference between having church friends or friends outside the church?" and it might even be "well my church friends do the same things as my friends outside the church do." - They curse, they vape, they smoke, etc.
  • There is a huge difference
  • The church friends are doing those things, and after doing it, they regret. And they are maybe trying to stop. They are struggling. They are following up with a Father of Confession and trying to improve. Trying to do better.
  • Maybe the outside friend vapes and thinks "there's nothing wrong with this" - or curses and it never crosses his mind that maybe I shouldn't talk like that

Witnessing

• Being loyal
  • Not only when I "need something" or when I "stand to benefit"
  • Not only until "something better comes along"
  • Not only until I am needed, or until it becomes hard
  • I met a guy in one of the churches, it was his first time coming to a Coptic Church. He told me that he was baptized  and married Ethiopian Orthodox. But he never went to church. Hasn't attended a liturgy in 30 years. Was never interested. He was a very very high functioning orthopedic surgeon - one of the best in the country and he would travel around the country teaching other orthopedic surgeons. And he had many friends. He told me he hosted many parties at his house - wine and cheese parties. Lots of money, lots of influence. Then he had a stroke. And his brain gave out, and he couldn't move, and he couldn't speak. And for many many months - no parties, no influence, no speech, etc. As he started to get better, he reached out to all his friends, only four people showed up for him. One of those was a Coptic Guy and that's what led him to come and see the Coptic Church and start attending in it. Being a loyal friend is witnessing to the Lord Jesus Christ!
• Encouraging friends toward Christ
• Keeping in mind the Church Schedule
  • When I plan to hang out with my friends... it should NEVER be on Saturday night or Sunday morning! I know that I have Vespers and Midnight Praises on Saturday night, so let me not schedule hangouts or restaurants or birthdays or celebrations on Saturday night or Sunday morning!
• Forgiving Quickly
• Being Trustworthy
• Helping friends when they are struggling
• Love
  • Without compromising truth
  • Love means seeking the salvation of your friend

3. Entertainment

Conforming

• Normalized media that uses language not suitable for my ears
• Normalized media that has nudity or sexual content?
  • IMDB has the most watched TV Show of all time: Game of Thrones
  • TV Shows now - even if they don't plan on being very sexually explicit, usually sneak in a nude scene in the first episode or two in order to HOOK YOUNG MALES onto the show.
• Normalized music that is sexual in nature?
  • One time I went to pray on the car of a HS Boy and we prayed and we sprayed water and everyone was very happy. Then he said "Abouna can you drive my car" - it's a little tradition we have that after we pray on a car, we take it for a spin. So I agreed, and I sat in the car... we turned the car on and it immediately starts BLASTING music by a guy who I honestly would not even be comfortable saying his NAME or the TITLE of the song.
• Normalizing sin like LGBT, Infidelity, etc.
  • Hollywood is currently glorifying infidelity in movies - they say it is "soulmate" and it is "romantic" etc.
  • Hollywood is currently pushing LGBT in as many movies and shows as they can in the name of "representation" and "equality" and even "love"
  • Those shows and movies are not for me. If I am watching them, then I am conforming myself to the entertainment of the world
• What is worse than all of those now is when I also RECOMMEND something for someone to watch

Witnessing

• Choosing entertainment wisely
  • Fill your mind with good things
  • Garbage in, garbage out
  • Holiness in, holiness out
• Having self-control
  
• Being willing to say no.
  
• Using my time wisely
  

4. Everyday Life

Conforming

• Speeding/Road Rage/Pride on the Road
  • Refusing to let someone merge
  • Honking in anger
    • The honk is to make someone aware of something, not to punish or embarrass them
  • When I drive, let me always remember that I am representing Christ... when someone sees me drive and they see the cross hanging from my mirror, what will they say?
• Rude to service workers
  • Cashiers, Waitresses, Flight Attendants, etc.
  • When I go to my flight on Frontier and all I paid for is a Personal Item, and my Personal Item doesn't fit in the Personal Item bin... whose fault is that? Maybe I got away with it before... maybe on a different flight they didn't check... maybe I bought something on my trip and it made my bag bigger. So what should I do? Fight the flight attendant? Get angry at them? But it's my fault!
• Stealing
  • Getting a water cup at McDonalds and filling it up with soda... that's stealing
  • Abusing a Self-Checkout at a grocery store... stealing
  • What if I go to a restaurant, I get my check and I see that the cashier forgot an item on my bill - and it saves me a lot of money. Don't you know that if you don't tell her, that's stealing?
• Vacation

Witnessing

• Thanking Employees
• Being patient
• Smiling
• Good Driver
  • I let people merge
  • I don't speed or weave through traffic
  • I don't honk for no reason
• Returning extra money and paying honestly
• Helping a stranger
  • Someone needs help loading something in their car at Home Depot
  • Someone needs help carrying out groceries at the store (elderly man/woman who needs to get the water bottles from his cart to his trunk)
  • Someone needs help getting something off the top shelf or carrying something heavy
• Holy Speech
  • Throughout the day "Thank God" - "God willing" - etc.
  • When someone asks you "How is your day going?" - "It's going good, thank God!"
  • When someone asks you "What are your plans for the weekend?" - "God willing I am going to..."
    

5. Digital World

But there’s one more world that didn’t exist when the New Testament was written, and it’s a world that ALL OF YOU are Sent into TODAY. Probably even BEFORE you leave this convention…

The Digital World!

20 years ago if you wanted to escape from the world, you could go home… but now the world comes with you, in your pocket and in every screen around you. Constant notifications and buzzing and trying to get your attention.

And it actually encompasses all of the above..

• Everything we said about how I talk with my friends, also applies to how I text them
  
• When we talked about cheating in school… yes, even in an online class.

So let’s identify some of the dangers of conformity in the digital world, and opportunities to witness.

Conformity

• Pornography
  
• Doomscrolling
  
• Wasting hours
  
• Seeking likes/followers
  
• Group Chats
  
• Hiding behind anonymity
  
• AI Misuse
  

Witnessing

• Sharing holy things, encouraging content
  
• Speaking kindly
  
• Moderation in Social Media and AI use
  

Conclusion

All of these examples boil down to about five virtues:

1. Integrity - doing the right thing when no one is watching
2. Purity - guarding your senses, your heart and your mind
3. Love - treating everyone as made in God's image and concerned for their salvation
4. Courage - willing to stand apart from the crowd
5. Hope - when someone leaves a conversation with me, they are more hopeful and they feel they have seen Christ

Notice that we didn't say anything about preparing a sermon. We didn't say anything about giving a speech. We didn't say anything about learning apologetics. Don't think that "I Send You into the World" means I am sending you to give a sermon, no but let your life be a sermon.

People must see Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your mouth.

MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat

2021 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat

Goals:

• Answer and address hidden concerns, doubts and questions
• To lay a foundation for defending our faith
• To instill the idea that for any question, there IS an answer
• To give comfort that they can come to any of their servants with any of their questions judgment-free

Outline

• Sunday night Introductory Topic
  • What is Apologetics?
  • Can we know anything for certain?
  • How is faith involved?
  • What will we learn in this convention?
    
    
• Day 1: Does God Exist?
  • Station 1: Creation
    • How does the Creation account match with what we know?
  • Station 2: Science
    • How can we refute the false ideas presented as fact by science?
  • Station 3: Philosophical
    • What is our purpose in life? How does this convey the existence of God?
  • Station 4: Historical
    • What extra-biblical evidence is there for Christianity?
      
      
• Day 2: Which God? Proofs for Christianity
  • Station 1: Prophecy
    • How does the Old Testament point to the New?
  • Station 2: Logic
    • It is illogical that Christianity would have survived this long... unless it is true
  • Station 3: Resurrection
    • The Resurrection is the fundamental basis of Christianity... is there any proof for it?
  • Station 4: Miracles
    • Are there any signs in the modern day and time of the truth of Christianity?

Resources

• Timeless Truth in Truthless Times (George Bassilios)
• Evidence for Christianity (Josh McDowell)
• The Historical Jesus (Gary Habermas)
• The Resurrection of the Shroud (Mark Antonacci)
• Intelligent Design 101 (H. Wayne House)
• Case for Christ (Lee Strobel)

Below are some ideas for the above outline... they are just potentials and nothing is set in stone. It is impossible to cover all of the below, but we should cover at least one or two items in every station.

The important thing will be interactive delivery, activities, etc.

---

Introductory Topic:

• "Pretest": I think it would be good to give them a handout or something that has some of the below questions phrased as yes or no questions. We know that they will say the right answer for all of them. But then after they are done, tell them "Now go through each question you just answered and prove it."
  • "Does God exist?"
  • "Did God create the world?"
  • "Did God create man or did man evolve from animals?"
  • "Did Jesus rise from the dead?"
  • "True or False: Jesus is God"
  • "True or False: The Holy Spirit is God"
• What is Apologetics? When do we use apologetics? What are the categories or levels of apologetics?
  • Christ used apologetics!
  • The disciples taught us to be ready to give an answer (e.g. 1 Peter 3:15)
  • We see examples of defending the faith in Scripture (St Stephen's speech, Elijah)
• Can we know for certain?
• How is faith involved?
• Is probability involved? Difference between possible and probable

Day 1: Does God exist

Goal: At the end of the day, we have arrived at the conclusion, from four different and independent perspectives, that God exists.

Station 1: Creation (Bible)

• In this station, we will read the Creation account in Genesis 1-2
• Activity: Everyone goes outside and examines nature from the smallest to the biggest of things, from the different seasons, different materials, patterns, colors. Then sit down and write what order the world was created in based on your observations.
• We can compare the Creation account and especially the order of creation with what science has told us (i.e. light and then water, plants and then animals)
• Also the importance of time - science tells us that millions of years were needed for the world to get to what it is now... does the Bible Support that? Or is it seven 24 hour days
• This Genesis account that was written thousands of years before the first telescopes and microscopes were invented... what are the odds that it got it all right?

Station 2: Science

• What is science? What is the scientific method? What does science look like? Can science form a conclusion about something that's outside the physical realm?
• Activity: Do some experiment that collects data of some sort... and then let everyone form a conclusion from that data. Compare conclusions... see how the data is linked to the conclusion?
• How do we argue against science?
  • Challenge the Integrity of the Data
  • Identify a gap between the data and the conclusion
  • Offer an alternate conclusion based on the Data
• Origin of Life:
  • What is Evolution? What does science KNOW? What does science THEORIZE?
  • Challenge the data, identify the gap, offer an alternate conclusion
• Origin of Matter:
  • What is the Big Bang? What does science KNOW? What does science THEORIZE?
  • Challenge the data, identify the gap, offer an alternate conclusion

Station 3: Philosophical (Patristic)

• If God exists, why did He create man?
• What is my purpose in life?
• How does the existence of God give me purpose in life?
• What is free will? How do I know I have free will?
• Why does God allow people to suffer?
• George Bassilious covers this area very well in Timeless Truths
• We don't have to cover all of these points (since time is limited)

Station 4: Historical

• Extrabiblical sources of Christ
• Archaeology, Historical Documents, etc.
• Maybe the Shroud of Turin and Sudarium of Oviedo?
• Biblical Manuscripts (as compared with manuscripts of any other writing in the history of the world)
• https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/youth-writings/the-case-for-jesus-from-a-well-prepared-15-year-old/

Day 2: Which God?

Goal: At the end of the day, we know how to defend our Christian faith against some of the common attacks

Station 1: Prophecies

• As part of Engagement/Activity, we can liken this to fingerprint evidence... maybe some sort of game where they are detectives and they have to find all the fingerprints
• How does the Old Testament point to Christ?
  • Typology
  • Shadows
  • Prophecies
• What are the odds

Station 2: Logical

• There are three ways to spread a message for it to be successful:
  • With Deceit (i.e. in secret) - Mormonism
  • With Power and Compulsion (i.e. forcefully) - Islam
  • Openly, with conviction, tolerating the consequences - Christianity
• It is illogical that Christianity would have survived or flourished:
  • The message was difficult to accept
  • You cannot join the group unless you believe the message
  • The message was spread at a time of no "freedom of speech" or "political correctness"
  • Christianity had many powerful opponents
    • Religious opponents in the Jews
    • Philosophical/Intellectual opponents in the Greeks
    • Political opponents in the Romans
  • Punishment is severe torture, imprisonment or death
  • Started with very few people (just 120 or so)
  • All of the leaders were martyred and killed publicly
    • If it was a lie, why would they die for it?
    • If it's a mass lie... really, no one gave in and said the truth? What did they gain?
  • To join you had to forsake your riches and forsake worldly pleasures

Station 3: The Resurrection

• What are the proofs of the Resurrection?
• What are the arguments against the Resurrection and how do we answer them? (e.g. Mass Hallucination... Jewish argument, etc.)
• “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely" - Charles Colson

Station 4: Modern-Day Miracles and Saints

• St Mary Zeitoun happened in the late 60s, went on for two years, there are photographs from before the days of Photoshop (some of them taken by Muslims), many people came from around the world to witness it
• Pope Kyrillos and the multitudes that witnessed to his miracles

2022 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat

Key Verse

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

Goals

• Give them an opportunity to discuss, vent, and ask questions related to the modern day push of homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, etc.
• Day 1
  • Provide a structure of defense against the issue of homosexuality in society
  • Provide some answers about where homosexuality comes from, the history and negative social effects
  • Address Current Events (e.g. House Bill 1557 "Don't say Gay Bill", Disney Supporting it, Schools Protesting it, etc.)
• Day 2
  • Clearly detail the role of men and women and their equality in God's eyes and in the Church
  • Provide a structure of defense against the issue of abortion in society 
  • Address Current Events (e.g. Roe v Wade overturning)

Day 1 - Homosexuality

Resources

• 2022 SMF College book
• HG Bishop Youssef on Truth
  • Truth - HG Bishop Youssef
  • Very systematic lecture about the Truth, how the Truth is defined, how to deal with someone sick with homosexuality, etc.
• HG Bishop Youssef on Homosexuality
  • Homosexuality - HG Bishop Youssef
• Fr Antony Paul on Homosexuality
  • https://stbasil.net/the-st-basil-podcast/2015/10/30/homosexuality-and-the-orthodox-church
  • This lecture has a discussion on the role of "Nature" vs "Nurture" in homosexuality (among many other things)
• Dr Julie Harren Hamilton
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C54CIxm-w44
  • This lecture discusses the psychological aspects of why someone may develop homosexual tendencies. How does genetics play a role (i.e. only in the sense that your genetics may make you more sensitive). How does early childhood development play a role? Etc.
• Voddie Baucham
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkL3lT95vOU
  • Dr Voddie Baucham is a Protestant Pastor who has been outspoken about the harm of Homosexuality, the fact that it is sin, and spoken against Christians who accept it
  • This lecture is about the political side of the argument, and why Christians should not support them, and more importantly HOW TO ANSWER the common arguments that come from that side
• Voddie Baucham
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJG9CtaBXeM
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2nPRV8dmOk 
  • These two videos are about how homosexuality harms society, children/families, persons practicing it, etc.
• Serving the Lost Sheep (STLS) 2019 Convention Material
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHD5sSnvcwQ 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oySpetaj6c 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMuFjGPZg18 
  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6s88x23hazmtip/Understanding%20Same-Sex%20Attraction-STLS.pdf?dl=0 
  • Fr Makary Ibrahim (may the Lord repose his pure soul) presented these slides at the convention

Outline

• Introductory Topic: Truth
  • Responsible Servants: Morcous 
  • What is Truth? What is Absolute Truth? Where do we get Truth?
  • What about "that's just your opinion"?
  • The goal is not to convince you that homosexuality is a sin - most of you are already convinced of that. The goal is to equip you with the tools and information needed to support your stance and to give a defense for your faith.
  • Outline of the Day
    
    
• Station 1: Where does Homosexuality Come From?
  • Responsible Servants: Lisa, Maria, Andrew
  • Nature vs Nurture
  • How does genetics play a role?
  • How does the role of parents play a role?
  • How does society and the media play a role?
  • Is there a spectrum of sexuality?
  • Don't forget to include Bisexuality and Transgenderism in this discussion
    
    
• Station 2: Biblical View of Homosexuality
  • Responsible Servants: Morcous, Christy, Mark 
  • What is Sin?
  • Homosexuality in the Old Testament
    • A common argument is that Christians "pick and choose" from the Old Testament. HG Bishop Youssef addresses this in the "Truth" Q&A and Voddie Baucham in his lecture
      
  • How is it addressed in the New Testament?
    • A common argument is that the New Testament Greek words for homosexuality are a bad translation and should be "pedagogy" or "paedophilia"
      
      
• Station 3: Social Effects of Homosexuality
  • Responsible Servants: Mina, Reham
  • Many people use the argument now of "it's not hurting you"
    •  
      • Homosexuality DOES hurt everyone; it hurts the person practicing it, it hurts the children and families (homosexuals and heterosexuals), and it hurts the whole society. 
    • Homosexuality harms the person practicing it (check SMF college book)
      • Spiritual harms
      • Social harms 
      • Physical harms 
    • Homosexuality harms children and families
      • Distorting the meaning of a family 
      • Many homosexuals end up alone or without a family due to their lifestyle 
      • Preventing children from having the benefit of Father and Mother
      • Imparts homosexuality in the minds of their children 
    • Homosexuality harms society
      
      • Oversexualizing society and pushing their agenda 
      • When the idea of a family is distorted, moral values are also distorted 
      • Advocating and enticing many to sin under the idea of "finding their identity" 
  • Now that we know the harms of homosexuality .... what should we do?
  • How do I hate the sin and love the sinner?
    • How about supporting the sin? (Romans 1)
      
    • By not being dragged into the claims that victimizes homosexuals 
    • There are some ways that we support the sin without knowing (e.g. by putting pronouns on our profiles)
    • Marching for causes we do not understand (i.e. school marching against Do not say Gay bill)
    • Supporting celebrities/movies/shows with homosexual agenda
  • Station 4: The Holiness of Marriage
    
• • Responsible Servants: Jimmy, Mirolla, Ehab
  • Definition of Marriage
  • Biblical Marriage (Genesis + the Lord quoting Genesis)
  • Church Rituals about Marriage
    
    
• Closing Topic: Final Debate and the Apologetics of Homosexuality
  • Responsible Servants: Susan + All Servants Participation
  • Common arguments and fallacies and how to answer them
    • Starting at 40:36 in the Voddie Baucham Video
  • We should prepare certain questions to ask them and await their response
  • If they are unable to answer, then we will give them the answers and the way to respond to them
  • How to deal with the ad hominem fallacy

Day 2 - Feminism

Resources

• Feminism and Tradition - Fr Lawrence Farley
• St Mary & St Phoebe Consecrated Sisters
  • https://sisters.suscopts.org/2016/04/06/a-response-to-feminism-2/# 
• St Mark ATL Lectures
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bFj9Nn88kc - The Role of Men and Women
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRF593rNNtM - St Paul's Attitude Towards Women
  • https://youtu.be/4FS5GBExt7U  
  • Third video to come 5/29
  • This is a very good series from St Mark Atlanta titled "The Church has a Woman Problem??"
  • It is very basic about the equality of honor and dignity, and the difference in roles
• Stephanie Gray
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGPudL_GQ3Y
  • Abortion Apologist
  • Most Anti-Abortion arguments center around the fact that the Embryo is a living human being and terminating him/her is murder. Unfortunately, now many pro-abortion people are saying "yes the Embryo is a living person, but the right for bodily autonomy is more important" - how do we answer that? - Stephanie Gray  addresses that here
  • Orthodox talks
  • https://youtu.be/fwCNj7elM-A

Outline

• Introductory Topic: Introduction to Feminism
  • Responsible Servants: Morcous 
  • Relate Homosexuality to Feminism via Transgenderism - many feminists are supporting Transgenderism even to the point of not being able to "define woman"
  • What is Feminism
    • Feminism is defined as "Advocacy for women's rights" and yet it has devolved to oppressing women...
    • They want men who call themselves women to use girls bathrooms, to play in girls' and women's sports, etc.
    • They want abortion and argue that it is a fundamental right and they can't function without it
  • Importance of studying the topic of Feminism for Boys and for Girls
  • Outline of the day
    
    
• Station 1: Does it fight for women's rights?
  • Responsible Servants: Lisa, Mark, Mina
  • God made man and woman
  • The role and equality of man and woman designed by God in the church
  • Priesthood only for men?! Deaconship only for men?!?!?
    • The apostles would go to St. Mary for prayers and blessings, but St. Mary would go to them for Eucharist. I feel that if the servants and the youth have this concept clear in their minds, it's a good door for the rest of the topic
    • And this is the equality God has for us. And equality doesn't delete the fact that women has a role as well as men. No person on earth was/is greater than St. Mary, but she was never a priest, never administered any sacraments. The apostles also know and appreciate St. Mary so much that they would go for her opinion/blessings/prayers. St. John never left Jerusalem until her body's assumption.
    • God picked men to be the apostles, but also the women to anointed his body.
      But He also picked EVERYONE to be His disciple (you mentioned this part)
  • Similarities and differences in men and women
    
    
• Station 2: Does it fulfill God's will?
  • Responsible Servants: Morcous, Mirolla, Andrew
  • Feminism is the advocacy of women, and God's will is for the equality of men and women... so is feminism fulfilling God's will?
  • This station should focus on the topic of Abortion
  • Some believe that abortion is fundamental to the functioning of a woman... (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZYQpge1W5s 12:00 "I think abortion rights are fundamental to women being able to function as full humans in society") and they call this feminism
  • Some people ask why do we let a person live without a father? abortion is a solution for this. Why would someone that got raped live with a baby that she didn't want? abortion is a solution
    The real answer for these is that God has a plan (even if it seems unclear)
    
    
• Station 3: Is it fair to everyone?
  • Responsible Servants: Rafeek, Maivel, Maria
  • Historically, Christianity was the first institution in the world to be openly for women and liberating to women...
    • Jesus accepted women to be His disciples, they had a very specific ministry (i.e. Luke 8) in providing financial support, meals, etc. He appeared to them first after His Resurrection
    • Christianity was open about accepting women and this attracted many women to join the faith in the Early Church
    • "There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28)
  • The feminist movement disregards all of this and calls the Church unfair to women and oppressive to women
  • The feminist movement is unfair in its judgmental attitude towards the church
    
    
• Station 4: Does it help build society?
  • Responsible Servants: Jimmy, Christy, Ehab
  • Promotion of independence and individuality
    
    
• Closing Topic: Final Debate
  • Responsible Servants: Susan + All Servants Participation
  •  

MSB Sunday School

2022-03-03 Parents Meeting

Topic: The Role of the MS Parent

Introduction

• We are here today because we all love our Middle Schoolers and all of the children and youth of our church, and we want to work together and support each other in their upbringing
• Purpose of Parents Meetings
  • To see how we can work together - servants and parents - in the lives of these children
  • To shed some light on some of the things that we, the servants, are seeing in the church that maybe you are not seeing at home
  • Many parents are regularly communicating with us one by one about their children - this is a great thing. In those conversations, sometimes we noticed common themes among all of the children so we wanted to address them here
• One of the common themes is regarding the role of the parent
  • Please don't take this the wrong way!
  • All of you are wonderful parents who have raised amazing children - these kids are extremely smart (sometimes too smart), and very kind - they love one another, they help each other, they make friends... God bless you and may they grow to be successful in every aspect of their life.
  • But the reason that we chose this topic is because sometimes there is a HESITANCY in the role of the parent
    • One might say "Well America is different from Egypt"
    • Another might say "Well the times are different from when I was young and my parents raised me"
    • And some might confuse or mix the role of the parent with the role of the Church
  • So we want to clarify today some of the most important roles of the parent in the upbringing of their children
• We all want to see our children successful and growing in every aspect of their life
  • to grow healthy, to grow mentally, to grow emotionally and socially, to grow spiritually
  • "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2:52)
• We have to keep in mind what St Paul described for the Corinthians:
  "So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." (1 Cor 3:7)
  • So whatever we discuss today, it will be practical applications and exercises and examples, but in the back of all of it, we have our God who loves us and who is always working and bringing the increase, and we must depend on Him for the fruits. We can plant and water, but He will bring the fruit.
  • But we still need to plant and water and do our part - both as parents and as servants

The Parent: The Spiritual Enabler

• Exercises
  • Read the Bible with your child
  • Stand in prayer with your child
  • Follow-up with their spiritual education - what are they learning in Sunday School? What are they learning in Bible Study?
  • Ask about their hymns class, and learn the hymn with them
  • Bring your child EARLY for the Liturgical Services and stay until the end (i.e. of the Praises)
  • Bring your child on the day of Confession and remind them with the sacrament of repentance and confession
  • Make vegan food at home during the fasts of the church including Wednesday and Friday
  • Give them an allowance to use for alms and tithing
• This is the very basic necessity in the job of the parent
  • The Middle Schooler cannot drive... that's on the parent
  • The Middle Schooler cannot cook... that's on the parent
  • The Middle Schooler cannot bring in income... that's on the parent!
• The Middle Schooler needs encouragement to read the Bible and to stand in prayer... at this point in their life, they may not yet be finding benefit in prayer and in Scripture, but this is the point in their life to build good habits
• Enable them in their good habits instead of in their bad habits
  • If the kid is addicted to his phone, and the parents are getting the latest upgrades and newer phones for him
  • If the kid is struggling to wake up for the liturgy, and the parents say "well I can't wake him up" - so what? Will we leave him to perish? Are you expecting someone else to come and wake him up? This is the time to build good habits!
  • If the kid doesn't want to fast... make vegan food! And make GOOD vegan food! A middle schooler will not survive on salt and water during Lent, they are not an ascetic! Build the habit of fasting and when they get older, they will find the ascetic part of it
  • If the kid has some friends that are negatively influencing him... why do you let them hang out with those friends? And we do sleepovers for them and go to the park or whatever and they miss liturgy or Vespers with their friend... why enable the bad habits?
• One of the major roles - and the easiest role - of the parent is to Enable Good Habits and Spiritual Habits

The Parent: The Spiritual Model

• But to enable and to do it with them is not enough - the parent must also be a spiritual MODEL
  • "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
• If you tell your son/daughter to pray, or to read the Bible, they won't listen. But if they see you doing it, then it's a different story... if you're telling them to pray but you are not praying, then it is not authentic. If you, yourself, don't believe in the power of prayer, then how will you convince your child to believe in it?
  • This is exactly what happened in Luke 11
  • "Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.' So He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name..." (Luke 11:1-4)
  • The disciples saw Him praying first... and then they asked: "Lord, teach us to pray"
• Exercises:
  • Let them see you pray
  • Let them see you read the Scripture
  • Let them see you sit down for confession
  • Let them see you attending the liturgy from the beginning - not dropping them off and going home
  • Let them see you fasting! It's not enough to make vegan food for them, and you are eating something else... actually this will have the opposite effect
• On the other hand, our children sometimes see and hear things from their parents that they shouldn't 
  • They hear you on the phone with your friend or your sister or your mom - are you gossiping? Criticizing?
  • They hear the kind of music you listen to in your car and in the house
  • They see the kind of TV Shows and Movies you are watching
  • One of the things we are seeing in the Middle School boys and girls now is they are "shipping" each other - "shipping" comes from "relationship" - "Oh flan and flanna look good with each other" - and they start to develop inappropriate relationships with each other... and when we tried to address it with them they said "no no our moms agree! My mom was telling the other moms" - Excuse me?
• Our children - especially in the Middle School age - are following the MODEL that is being set for them
• We expect that when we give a lesson in the class, the parent will model it in the home
  • We give the lesson about Repentance and Confession, but it's not enough - we need Abouna to make time to accept their confession, we need the parent to bring them for their confession date, and we need the parent to be a model for them
  • We give a lesson about alcohol or about dancing in parties... but then if the parent takes their child to a wedding reception and exposes them to all of those things, and more than that the parent is doing those things - then the lesson was useless... actually the lesson had the opposite effect now.

The Parent: A Guard and Protector

• Monitor their phone and their social media
  • This is very important
  • Read their messages between their friends - what kind of language are they using, and what kind of language are their friends using?
  • See what is coming up on their social media and their Instagram - what kind of pictures and videos are they being exposed to?
  • See what apps are on their phone, and what apps they are using the most
• Learn
  • Learn how to use these apps
  • Learn how to use these phones
  • Learn the language that your kids are speaking
  • If there's something you don't understand - ask them!
  • Following them on these apps is not enough! 
• Get to know their friends
  • Invite their friends to your house
  • Listen to the kinds of conversations they are having
  • What kind of language are they using?
  • When you bring them to your house and under your watch, you are controlling the environment
• Know what is going on at school and at church
  • Who are their teachers?
  • What values do their teachers have?
  • What is being taught at school?
  • What agenda does the school or the teachers have?
  • What kind of friends and classmates do they have?
  • They know more than think
    • Don't think you are exposing them to worldly things
    • Don't be surprised with what they know
    • Let them come to you with their questions 
      • Don't tell them they're too young, etc or else they will go elsewhere with their questions that is not a parent or servant.
• Protect them from evil at night
  • The devil's domain is in darkness - when the rest of the house is sleeping, and one is awake in the house, the devil would love to attack
  • Encourage an early bed time
  • No phones in the bedroom
• Teach your child to stand up for themselves and to stand up for the TRUTH
• Teach your child about boundaries
  • What boundaries need to be between boys and girls, and what boundaries between their friends of the same gender
    • Boys will want to play rough with each other - and that's okay
    • Girls will want to hug each other and walk arm in arm - and that's okay
    • It's NOT okay for a boy to play rough with a girl
    • It's NOT okay for a boy to lay his hands on a girl - either in a violent way or in an endearing way
    • It's NOT okay for a girl to walk arm in arm with a boy
    • It's NOT okay for a boy to take a picture of another boy - especially a compromising picture - and show it his friends or to the girls
    • There are some conversations between boys and girls that are NOT appropriate
  • We are starting to see some of these boundaries being crossed between our boys and girls - and it is happening on Wednesday nights after the Bible Study when the parents are late to take their children. This is why we are stressing the pickup times - we do not have servants to be with the kids at that time, because we have other services that day. We have a time for playing and hanging out in the church which is Friday for almost 1.5hr. So we need the parent to do their part in guarding and protecting their children from these things, as well as teaching them about boundaries.
• Don't be afraid of "losing the trust" or "losing the friendship" with your child
  • If they like you, but they perish, then what have you gained?
  • It is good for them to trust you, for them to feel comfortable talking to you, for them to enjoy spending time with you - but not at the expense of protecting them from evil

The Parent: In Correction and Reproof

• Make sure they understand how the punishment fits the crime
  • If they are using their phone inappropriately - take their phone for a set time
  • If they are using bad language on XBOX - take the XBOX for a set time
  • If they get a bad grade at school - what's the reason? Find the reason first before going to the discipline part, or else the punishment may not fit the crime
• Discipline in a way that is befitting of you (as a Christian) and of them (as your beloved son/daughter)
  • Sometimes we forget that we are Christians when it comes time to discipline
  • Sometimes we forget that we love our son and daughter when it comes time to discipline
• Correction by encouragement as much as possible
  • "the carrot not the stick"
  • "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21)
• What is the result of your disciplinary action?
  • Anger, Fighting, Tears?
  • Joy, Peace, Growth, Connection, Understanding?
• It is more important for your child to know that what they did is wrong, or the path they are walking leads to death, or that they have made a mistake - than to fear what happens if they make another mistake
• Set an example in the way that you correct and reproof and discipline

The Role of the Church

• What is the role of the Sunday School Servant?
• Spiritual Teaching
  • To give the clear teaching of the Church to our children
  • We are teaching them the Sound Doctrine, the Interpretation of Scripture, the Church History, the Saints, the Rituals, the Hymns.
  • We are teaching them about what to be careful of and how to deal with certain situations at school
  • We are teaching them how to identify with themselves and understand their identity
  • We are teaching them how to grow in virtue and how to reject vice
  • We are teaching them to obey their parents after they obey the commandment of the Lord
  • As we read in Deuteronomy 6, spiritual teaching is really the role of the parent, but by God's grace, we are helping
• Koinonia (Fellowship)
  
  • To pray as a group
  • To deal with each other in a group setting
  • To deal with spiritual brothers and sisters
  • To play together in a Christian Environment
  • To help resolve disputes among our children
• Supporting the Parents
  • We have a symbiotic relationship - we have to work together
  • It is very nice when we see parents who are so concerned for their children and they are meeting with the servants and following up with them and taking advice and asking about their child, etc. but more importantly than that - taking ACTIONS after those conversations
  • We are here to support you in the upbringing of your children

Conclusion

• We all gathered today because we all share a common interest - your children. Abouna loves your children, we love your children, and of course, you love your children.
• Our children are living in a world that is moving in the wrong direction, and that has many problems, and we want them to grow mentally, physically, spiritually and socially
• We want them to find success in every aspect of their life
• We want them to be a light of the world that shines before all men
• We are working together - the parents, the servants, Abouna - remembering that "neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." (1 Cor 3:7)
• Let us depend on the Lord for the upbringing of our children, all the while doing our part and supporting each other in our roles

Technology Tutorial

• We will talk a little bit about how to check and monitor some of these apps
• As a parent, you are responsible for knowing how to use these apps and for monitoring what your child is looking at, who they are talking to, what they are talking about

Not Recommended	Needs Monitoring
TikTok Snapchat Reddit Discord	Instagram iMessage WhatsApp Signal

• What to look for
  • What are the group names?
  • Who is in the group?
  • What kind of pictures are shared in this group?
  • What kind of language is being used in this group?
  • One on One Conversations - especially between opposite genders
  • Who are they following on Instagram?
• How to Monitor
  • Instagram following
  • Instagram DMs
  • iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal
  • Photos
  • Hidden Photos
  • "Recently Deleted"
  • Web Browser History

 

 

 

Responsibility as a Deacon

Introduction

• Deaconship is a RESPONSIBILITY
  • We typically take being a deacon for granted
  • We might treat it like a costume that we wear on Sunday morning, or a privilege to do certain things (e.g. enter the Sanctuary, say certain responses, stand in a chorus, etc.)
  • We might think it's "a blessing on Sunday"
  • It is certainly a privilege and a blessing... but more than that, it is a RESPONSIBILITY
• The idea of a deacon is present in the Scripture in the New Testament, but it is also in the Old Testament with the concept of the Levites. The Levites played the role that we would now call "Deacon"
• The word Deacon means "Servant" in Greek
• We will examine the Responsibilities of the Deacon from three angles
  • The Responsibilities and Duties defined in Scripture
  • The Responsibilities and Duties assigned to you at your ordination
  • The Responsibilities and Duties in the history of the Church as recorded in the Canons

Activity

• Split into three groups
• One will examine the Scripture, one will examine the rites of ordination, the third will examine the Canons
• Each group needs to arrive at a list of responsibilities that are entrusted to us as deacons
• Share with the rest of the group
• Each individual can rate himself 1-10 on his responsibility as a deacon

Scripture

• Sources (Coptic Reader/Bible)
  • Acts 6:1-7
  • 1 Timothy 3:8-13
  • Nehemiah 8:5-8
• Responsibilities of the Deacon
  • To maintain a good reputation (Acts 6:3)
  • To be filled with the Holy Spirit and Wisdom (Acts 6:3)
  • To be reverent and watch our tongue (1 Timothy 3:8)
  • To refrain from alcohol and money and the lusts of the world (1 Timothy 3:8)
  • To keep the faith with a pure conscience (1 Timothy 3:9)
  • Be found blameless (1 Timothy 3:10)
  • Reading in a way that "gives the sense" and "helps the people to understand the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8)

Rites of Ordination

• Sources (Coptic Reader)
  • Special --> Consecrations --> Ordinations --> Chanter --> Litanies
  • Special --> Consecrations --> Ordinations --> Reader --> Litanies
• Responsibilities of the Deacon
  • To sing the hymns, chants and spiritual songs
  • To chant from the heart
  • To chant with understanding
  • To refrain from pride and boasting
  • To read and meditate on the Scripture
  • To proclaim the words of the Old and New Testament
  • To expound to the people the right precepts
  • To learn each one of the readings of the Scriptures

Church Canons

• Sources (To be printed)
  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1i66ewg6fozmyb/Canons%20of%20Diaconate.pdf?dl=0 
• Responsibilities of the Deacon
  • To care for the spiritual life
  • To receive the Eucharist in the Liturgy
  • To guard oneself from sins but especially public sins that are stumbling blocks
  • To accept the repentant sinner
  • To avoid sinful places
  • To speak good of the Clergy
  • To speak good of those who have disabilities (e.g. don't make fun of "autism")
  • To fast the Great Fast and Wednesdays and Fridays
  • To chant with intelligence and constancy (faithfulness)

Responsibility in Boundaries

Introduction

• Everyone has boundaries
  • There are certain things you would not be okay with someone doing to you (e.g. hitting you) or saying to you
  • There are certain things you are not willing to do with someone
  • These are boundaries
• We have to know how to:
  • Set Boundaries
  • Maintain Boundaries
  • Enforce Boundaries

Activity: Circle of Trust

• Describe the concept of concentric circles
• Fill out the Circles of Trust
  
  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/jwdbb1al529o08o/Circles%20of%20Trust.pdf?dl=0 
• We have to be able to differentiate between these groups and where every single person fits
• Then we have to know which Boundaries to set
• This decision is influenced by:
  • The Scripture (e.g. the Books of Wisdom, Proverbs, and Sirach)
  • Our Orthodox Faith
  • Lived experience
  • Guidance from parents, servants, priest
• Within each of these circles of trust, there are even subcategories and different boundaries with different people
  • I cannot have the same boundaries with my male friends as with my female friends
  • I cannot have the same boundaries with my brother as with my sister

Boundaries with Friends

• There is a difference between how I act, talk, etc. with my male friends than with my female friends
  
  
• Boundaries in Touch
  • It is okay to play rough with your male friends
  • It is not okay to play rough with a female friend
  • It is okay to greet your male friend when you see him with a "pound hug" (dap + embrace)
  • A playful touch with a male friend is okay... with a female friend is not okay
  • It is not okay to greet your female friend with a hug
  • Your anatomy is different from her anatomy
  • There are parts of your body that are only available to the center circle - to yourself
  • The same goes for your friends' bodies
    
    
• Boundaries in Speech and Messaging
  • It is not okay to talk about puberty or sex with a female friend
  • It is not okay to comment on a girl's looks or her body - positively or negatively
  • It is not okay to comment on a girl's clothing or makeup - positively or negatively
  • It is not okay to use sexual language or discuss sexual acts with anyone - male or female
  • It's not okay to "ship" people
    
    
• Boundaries in Time
  • It is not okay to be one-on-one with a girl at any time
  • It is okay to go out with a group of your male and female friends (with parental approval)
  • It's not okay to text a girl one-on-one for long periods of time, or after certain times of day (e.g. 9pm)
  • It's not okay to have group chats without a specific purpose that contain both males and females

Setting, Maintaining, Enforcing Boundaries

• Boundaries define us. They define what is me and what is not me. A boundary shows me where I end and someone else begins, leading me to a sense of ownership. Boundaries help us keep the good in and the bad out. Setting boundaries inevitably involves taking responsibility for your choices.
  
  
• Remove yourself from situations that cross the line
  
  
• Address Conflicts head-on with kindness
• • If someone tries to get you to cross a boundary, address it
  • Just say no
• Reporting to an adult

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2026-08-05: History of the Liturgy (2026 Summer MS Boys Convention)

“Keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.” 
(1 Corinthians 11:2)

Introduction

We live in the most advanced society that has ever existed. Technology, Medicine, Communication, Information, etc. has NEVER been at a higher level.

And if you go to any Protestant Church, you will 

What is Liturgy?

Liturgy is Holy

It used to take 45 days to get from Florida to Washington state. Then cars were invented and it could take only 45 hours. Then planes were invented and it takes 4.5 hours! But God forbid the plane is an hour late... and if it's 3 hours late, I'm demanding a refund! This is the world we live in... we got so used to having everything fast and easy.

If I want food from a specific restaurant, I can push a button on my phone and it's here. If I want access to any information in the whole world, I can push a button on my phone with AI and I have it. We have Reels and Shorts and Doomscrolling. This is the fast-paced world that we live in.

Liturgy transcends all of that. Liturgy does something different. Liturgy is slow-paced. Liturgy brings us back to reality... because reality is not fast-paced. If I want to grow in virtue like being thankful, I cannot push a button on my phone and now I'm a thankful person. If I want to overcome a sin like lustful thoughts... I cannot push a button on my phone and overcome. I can't just read a book and it's done. These things take time. Liturgy brings us back to the pace of reality.

And this is what it means that Liturgy is Holy. Holy means Set Apart from the World. Set Apart for God.

When we enter the Liturgy, we enter into God's time.

For example, when Abouna prays: "Therefore, as we also commemorate His holy Passion, His Resurrection from the dead, His ascension into the heavens, and His sitting at Your right hand O Father" - we are commemorating events that happened in the past. We are remembering them and keeping them as a memorial... but then Abouna continues "and His Second Coming which shall be from the heavens awesome and full of glory." - this is an event that hasn't happened yet! So how can we commemorate it?

It is because in that moment, we are not in the world's time. If you check your watch or look at a clock or look at your phone, yes you will see that time is progressing. But in the Liturgical Ritual we are seeing past, present and future converge to one point.

God, is timeless and eternal, He is not bound by time as we are, He is the creator of time itself, and He is inviting us to be present with Him. If I understand my role in the liturgy, then I will find myself in His presence, and His presence is outside of time.

Liturgy is Given by God 

Liturgy is how God wants to be worshipped.

The concepts of liturgy, sacrifice and ritual were not invented by man, but have been the expression of worship that is acceptable to God since the beginning.

• Cain and Abel
  • God distinguishes between what is acceptable worship, and what is unacceptable worship.
• Noah
  • God distinguishes between clean and unclean animals, take 7 each of clean animals and 2 each of unclean animals, and the purpose was because only clean animals were to be used for worship and sacrifice.
• Exodus
  • God laid out how the tabernacle should be constructed - what materials, how much of each material, how they were arranged, who would build it, etc.
• Leviticus
  • God ordained specific instructions for each of the burnt offerings, gave them feasts, detailed the rituals for the day of atonement, gave them a daily raising of incense morning and evening, the showbread and the lighting of the candles, the vestments of the priests.
• Anointing
  • God told Moses how to anoint Aaron for the priesthood, and Samuel how to anoint Saul and David for the kingship.
• Christ
  • God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the New Covenant and the Liturgy with the twelve disciples and told them "do this in remembrance of Me."
  • It was the Lord Jesus who then taught the apostles HOW to do it during the 40 days after the Resurrection.
  • In turn, those disciples and their disciples would be the ones who authored the Liturgies that we still use today.

What we have in our hands with Liturgy is something that is given to us by God. It is not for us to change to adapt to our desires.

Liturgy is the Work of the People...

In the Old Testament, everything related to the work of the priest, the sacrifices, the tabernacle or the temple, etc. is called in Greek "λειτουργία" which is the word "Liturgy."

This word means "work of the people."

• λαός means "people"
• ἔργο means "work" (e.g. ergonomics).

Some people treat the Liturgy as a show that they watch... they come to the Liturgy, stand in their place and become silent observers. If we treat the Liturgy like a show, not only will we miss out on the actual experience, but we're more likely to just get completely distracted. The Liturgy is not a very entertaining show to watch! So if it starts to get boring, I start to divert my attention elsewhere and get distracted with my social media, or a game on my phone, or reading the news, or trying to "multi-task" during the Liturgy.

But we are not meant to be watchers or observers of liturgy, but rather active participants. When you go to a show, the entertainer is facing you and he's trying to make you laugh or invoke an emotional response - but when you come to the liturgy, the priest is not facing you, but he's facing east WITH you, because he, LIKE you, is a participant. He, like you, needs repentance. He, like you, needs to eat of the Eucharist. He, like you, needs salvation. So I, like him, need to participate in the Liturgy. 

This is why the word "Liturgy" is used - because it means "work of the people." And actually we can expand the definition to be "work of the people FOR the people"

What is History?

1. Finding Sources
   • The Holy Scripture
   • Patristic Writings
   • Church Canons
   • Architecture & Iconography
   • Liturgical Manuscripts
2. Analyzing Sources
   • Is this source reliable?
   • How old is this source? 
     • Do you think an older source is better or a newer source?
     • Both are valuable! They tell us about different time periods and can show us how things developed or changed over time!
       
   • Does this source show me something that is in line with what I already know from the history?
3. Extrapolating Facts
   • What facts does this source give me?
4. Making Conclusions
   • Based on what I already know, and what I have already gathered, and the facts this source has given me, what do I think happened? What is the history?
   • Review

Early Liturgy

The Last Supper

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

• This is what the Lord did on the Last Supper.
  • And St Paul received this.
    • And St Paul delivered it to the Corinthians.
      • And we still do it today!
• We take bread, give thanks, break it, say "Take eat, this is My body"
• We take the cup, give thanks, and drink it saying "Take drink, this is My blood"
• Then we proclaim the Lord's death! (Amen Amen Amen, Your death, O Lord, we proclaim)

Liturgy in the Apostles

“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)

• First Day of the Week (Sunday)
• Disciples came together (Assembly)
• Break Bread (Celebrate the Eucharist)
• Paul (Officiant Priest)
• Spoke to Them (Sermon & Teaching)

Liturgy in the Early Church

St. Justin the Martyr in his work called the "First Apology," writes:

On Sunday, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.

The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered, admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves...and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandment, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and for a considerable time, he gives thanks (Eucharist) and we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded these prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying, “Amen.”

When he who presides has given thanks and people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine, and water and take them to those who are absent.

Here, we see:

• Assembly in a Church
• Reading passages from the New Testament and the Old Testament
• A Presider (i.e. priest)
• A Sermon
• Litanies, Supplications, Diptych
• Holy Kiss
• Offertory
• Glorifying the Trinity, giving thanks, and "Amen."
• Distribution

How did Liturgy Change?

Codifying the words of the Liturgy

• Original liturgy, as is seen in St Justin Martyr, the words used to offer praise and glory to the Holy Trinity, and to give thanks, were up to the officiating priest. He could pray whatever words he wanted within the structure of giving thanks, and glorifying God.
• In the 4th and 5th Centuries, the time of heresy - some of the heretics were priests or bishops, and they would use the words of their heresy in the liturgy
• So the Fathers wrote the true faith into the Divine Liturgy and standardized the words that were prayed... in the Coptic Church we have three liturgies: St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Cyril

Liturgy of St Basil	Liturgy of St Gregory	Liturgy of St Cyril
St. Basil	St. Gregory	St. Mark - translated and updated by St. Cyril
Addressed to God the Father	Addressed to God the Son	Addressed to God the Father
Cappadocian Style	Cappadocian Style	Alexandrian Style
All prayers AFTER Epiclesis	All prayers AFTER Epiclesis	All prayers BEFORE Epiclesis
Any Time	Any Time, Usually Feasts	Any Time, Usually Fasts

The Order of Prayers

Old

• Liturgy of the Word
• Creed
• Reconciliation Prayer
• Offertory
• Liturgy of the Faithful
• Distribution

Current

• Offertory
• Liturgy of the Word
• Creed
• Reconciliation Prayer
• Liturgy of the Faithful
• Distribution

The Day of Liturgy

• Sunday is the day of the Lord
  • It is the day of the Resurrection
  • It is the most important day of the week
  • Liturgy on Sunday is required for an Orthodox Christian
    
• The people, out of piety, wanted to celebrate liturgy on Saturday as well because Saturday was honored by the Lord (although it has less status than Sunday)
  • The Church allowed them to pray on Saturdays
    
    
• The people, out of piety, wanted to celebrate liturgy on the feasts of the saints which would often come on a weekday
  • The Church gave them a lectionary to pray on weekdays as well

Does Liturgy Still Develop?

1. By the consensus of the Holy Synod
   • The Holy Synod consists of every Coptic Orthodox bishop in the world and is the final say on any ritual or liturgical changes
   • Changes take many years or decades to be studied, approved, and implemented
     
   • No priest or deacon can just decide to change things however he wants
     
     
2. To meet the pastoral needs of the people
   • Adding "air" to the Litany of the Travelers
   • Adding "success to the students, jobs to the needy" to the Supplications
   • Litany of the Seasons - Nile River!
     
     
3. For practicality
   • Throwing water vs. touching the head of each person
     

What Doesn't Change?

1. The Doctrine of the Church
2. The Role of the Bishop, Priest, Deacon
3. The Key Components of Liturgy
   • Thanksgiving
   • Reconciliation
   • Institution
   • Anamnesis
   • Epiclesis
   • Distribution

Newsletter

12/2025 - Kiahk Article

Kiahk Sunday Midnight Praises

Praise is the work of angels - they stand before the Throne of Grace praising God without tire or boredom; it is their utmost pleasure, fullness and joy to praise their Creator! Praise in the church is the HIGHEST level of prayers and talking to God. It is participation with those angels and heavenly hosts.

During the blessed Coptic month of Kiahk, the Church comes together in PRAISE to prepare for the Nativity Feast and for the Advent of Christ, the Logos and only-begotten Son of God.

7 Theotokia & 4 Canticles

Sometimes, you will hear of Kiahk Praises being called “7 & 4.” This is an old name that references the praises of the Sunday Kiahk Vigil: 7 Theotokia and 4 Canticles (or Hos). Along with each of the Theotokia and Canticles, the Church arranges several associated Psalis, Lobsh, Melodies and Expositions.

Theotokia: Greek word that means glorification to the Theotokos (Mother of God).

Hos: Coptic word meaning “praise.” The English word “Ode” is sometimes used.

Canticle: English word that means a hymn whose words are taken from the Bible.

Psali: Greek word that means “chant.” These hymns are typically acrostic or alphabetic poems composed in Greek or Coptic.

Lobsh: Greek word that means “explanation.”

Melodies: These hymns are typically poems composed in English or Arabic.

Exposition: These are explanations that are chanted and then read.

During Kiahk, vigil is kept for the whole night in prayer, chanting, reading Scripture, and praising! Our flesh is weak; alone, who of us can do this without boredom, tire or sleepiness? But when we come together as a Church, through the Holy Spirit, we receive strength and encouragement and energy!

The Order of Praises

Examine the order of the Sunday Kiahk Vigil below - for each of the 4 Canticles and 7 Theotokia, it refers to all of the associated praises in order: first the Psali, then that Canticle or Theotokia, then the Lobsh, then the Melodies, and finally the Expositions.

1. Introduction to the Midnight Praise
   • ⲧⲉⲛⲑⲏⲛⲟⲩ (Arise O Children of the Light)
   • Great Kiahk Ode
   • Midnight Alleluia
   • “Amen Alleluia” Melody
2. 1st Canticle (Exodus 15)
3. Monday & Tuesday Theotokia
4. 2nd Canticle (Psalm 135)
5. Wednesday & Thursday Theotokia
   
6. 3rd Canticle (Daniel 3)
7. Friday & Saturday Theotokia
8. Conclusion of the Watos Theotokia
9. 4th Canticle (Psalm 148, 149, 150)
10. Sunday Theotokia
11. Conclusion of the Kiahk Sunday Vigil
    1. Exposition of the Laborers
    2. Antiphonary
    3. Conclusion of the Adam Theotokia
    4. Concluding Litany
       
    5. Conclusion of the Midnight Praise

Major Themes of the Praises

Praise is due to the Holy Trinity

“Worship befits the Holy Trinity • the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit • we worship, we praise, and glorify • One God, Creator of all souls. •
To Him is due all glory and praise. • Worthy of all honor and heaven. • Without beginning, existing before the ages. • Eternal, Omnipotent and Immortal.
Kiahk Praise on the Holy Trinity (see Article on this hymn!)

The Incarnation of the Son of God

“The Incorporeal was incarnate • resembling us in the flesh • for the Word became flesh • and dwelt within us. •
For the ever-existent Being • has appeared in the last days • and the One outside of time • came and was subject to time. •
The Incomprehensible was touched • and the Unseen has been seen • the invisible Son of God • became a perfect Man.”
Second Lobsh on the Wednesday Theotokia

The fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies

”Isaiah prophesied • about the birth • of Immanuel•the Almighty King • Ezekiel saw a door • through which the Lord entered • He sealed the door and claimed it • highly exalted. •
Highly exalted are you • and your Son Jesus • when He was born of you • the earth was adorned • and also Daniel • prophesied and said • I saw the high throne • highly exalted.”
O M A R Y - Melody on the 8th Part of the Sunday Theotokia

The fulfillment of Old Testament types and symbols

”The burning bush seen by Moses, • the prophet, in the wilderness; • the fire inside it was aflame • but never consumed or injured it. • The same with the Theotokos, Mary, • who carried the fire of divinity; • nine months in her holy body • without blemishing her virginity.”
Melody on the Thursday Theotokia

Glorification of the Virgin Mary

”Come all today • O orthodox people • that we may glorify • Mary the Virgin.
Everyone honors • the pure one • Who is full of glory • Mary the Virgin.”
Psali on the Monday Theotokia

St Mary’s Acceptance of God’s Will and Her Given Role in Salvation

”Virgin Mary, the wise Theotokos, saved Adam through her beloved Son” … “You are the rational hook that catches Christians and raises them up to heaven.”
Exposition on the Friday Theotokia

Melismatic Hymns of Kiahk

Melismatic refers to hymns that have many melisma (hazzat) - when a word or syllable or sound is musically extended for several seconds (or minutes). During the month of Kiahk, several melismatic hymns are offered to the Lord in praise, in addition to those of the standard Midnight Praise, enriching the Sunday Vigil.

Great Kiahk Ode

The Great Kiahk Ode is a collection of excerpts from the Psalms arranged in order about: Praising the Lord, St. Mary, the Heavenly Orders, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Saints, the Patriarch and Bishops, Praising the Lord. The first verse is chanted in a melismatic tune of about 20 minutes.

Midnight Alleluia

The hymn of Midnight Alleluia is two words: “Alleluia. Alleluia.” These two words are extended to almost 30 minutes of melisma arranged as a medley of the entire body of Coptic Hymns and Praises. It is a small taste of heaven and the work of angels who “praise Him and exalt Him above all, forever.” (Daniel 3)

Third Canticle Hymns

The hymns ⲥ̀ⲙⲟⲩ ⲉ̀ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ (Bless the Lord…), ϩⲱⲥ ⲉ̀ⲣⲟϥ (Praise Him) and ⲁ̀ⲣⲓϩⲟⲩⲟ ϭⲁⲥϥ (and exalt Him above all, forever), similarly, allow us to experience a glimpse of the heavenly praise to the Lord that “endures forever!” (Psalm 111)

ⲧⲉⲛⲉⲛ

The hymn of ⲧⲉⲛⲉⲛ is the Praise of the Three Saintly Youth - the hymn continues the theme of offering a perpetual sacrifice of praise of the Lord: “They praise and glorify God at all times.”

The Exposition of the Laborers

The Exposition of the Laborers is read, detailing the laborers of Matthew 20:8 (“Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first, a denarius for each.”).

Who are the laborers? The patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, the cross-bearers, the virgins; the archbishops and bishops; the hegumens and priests; the archdeacons, deacons, subdeacons and readers; the archons and the sinners who repented; and finally, “the brothers who labored with us in this psalmody” — all of those who labored in offering the sacrifice of praise in the vigil.

The conclusion is chanted melismatically: ”O Christ our Savior • grant them their rewards • for their labors • in the heavenly kingdom.”