Tag Archive for: Apostle Andrew

Weekly Sunday Bulletin – Apostle Andrew

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Apostle AndrewNovember 30, 2014

Let us praise the namesake of bravery, the divinely eloquent and first to be called of the Disciples of Christ, the kinsman of Peter. As he called out to him in days of old, so now he calls to us, “Come, we have found Him for whom we yearned.”

Kontakion of Apostle Andrew the 1st Called in the Second Tone

Parish Council on duty:

John Ioannou, Jr., John Argiropoulos, Andreas Ioannou, Marion Koliniatis, Anna Merkel, Demetri Rapanos, Kathy Ziegler

Matthew 14:1-14

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The Gospel of Matthew

Session 40 – 11/30/2014

Fr. John Codis

18:1-14

The Essence of Christian Discipleship

 

Seven qualities can mark the personal relationship of the Christian. They are: humility, responsibility, self-renunciation, individual care, discipline, fellowship, and spirit of forgiveness.

Unless you turn

Christ warns the disciples that they are going in the completely wrong way by asking “who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” This indicates that the disciples had no idea what the Kingdom of Heaven was. Christ said, “Unless you turn.” Focus yourself on forgetting selfish ambitions and a life of service not power.

Become as little children

There are many characteristics in a child which mark the man of the kingdom: the power to wonder, the power to forgive, the innocence, and only to do.

There are three great qualities which make a child the symbol of those who are citizens in the Kingdom.

  1. Humility
  2. Dependence
  3. Trust

“A child’s humility is the pattern of the Christian’s behavior to his fellow man, and the child dependence and trust are the pattern of the Christians attitude towards God, the Father.”

A terrible responsibility

There is nothing more terrible than to destroy someone’s innocence. If we are called to be “as little children,” to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and we destroy others innocence a great weight is laid upon us. It is better to have a large millstone hung around our necks and be drowned in the open sea.

This responsibility is given to us not to teach another to sin!

Yes there is sin within the world. “It is inevitable to avoid temptations in a world which sin has entered; but that does not lessen the responsibility of the man who is the cause of a stumbling-block being placed in the way of a younger person or of a beginner in the faith.”

It is therefore our responsibility to remove the stumbling-blocks never to place them in another’s way.

“In every child there are infinite possibilities for good or ill. It is the supreme responsibility of the parent, of the teacher, of the Christian Church, to see that his dynamic possibilities for good are realized. To stifle them, to leave them untapped, to twist them into evil powers, is sin.”

God’s Love

  1. Individual
  2. Patient
  3. Seeking
  4. Rejoicing
  5. Protecting

Christ will always go after us no matter how far we stray from the path. His love is forever and will always find us.