1Κορ 3:9-17

   Ἀδελφοί, Θεοῦ ἐσμεν συνεργοί· Θεοῦ γεώργιον, Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή ἐστε. Κατὰ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον ἔθηκα, ἄλλος δὲ ἐποικοδομεῖ· ἕκαστος δὲ βλεπέτω πῶς ἐποικοδομεῖ· θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Εἰ δέ τις ἐποικοδομεῖ ἐπὶ τὸν θεμέλιον τοῦτον, χρυσόν, ἄργυρον, λίθους τιμίους, ξύλα, χόρτον, καλάμην, ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον φανερὸν γενήσεται· ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα δηλώσει· ὅτι ἐν πυρὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται· καὶ ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον ὁποῖόν ἐστιν τὸ πῦρ δοκιμάσει. Εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον μενεῖ ὃ ἐπῳκοδόμησεν, μισθὸν λήψεται· εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον κατακαήσεται, ζημιωθήσεται, αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται, οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ πυρός. Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς Θεοῦ ἐστε καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν; εἴ τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φθείρει, φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ Θεός· ὁ γὰρ ναὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἅγιός ἐστιν, οἵτινές ἐστε ὑμεῖς.

 Ματ ιδʹ 22 - 34

   Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἠνάγκασεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἐμβῆναι εἰς τὸ πλοῖον καὶ προάγειν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πέραν, ἕως οὗ ἀπολύσῃ τοὺς ὄχλους. καὶ ἀπολύσας τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος κατ' ἰδίαν προσεύξασθαι. ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης μόνος ἦν ἐκεῖ. τὸ δὲ πλοῖον ἤδη μέσον τῆς θαλάσσης ἦν, βασανιζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων· ἦν γὰρ ἐναντίος ὁ ἄνεμος. τετάρτῃ δὲ φυλακῇ τῆς νυκτὸς ἀπῆλθε πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς περιπατῶν ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης. καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν περιπατοῦντα ἐταράχθησαν λέγοντες ὅτι φάντασμά ἐστι, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου ἔκραξαν. εὐθέως δὲ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· Θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμι· μὴ φοβεῖσθε. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπε· Κύριε, εἰ σὺ εἶ, κέλευσόν με πρὸς σὲ ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα· ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Ἐλθέ. καὶ καταβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ πλοίου ὁ Πέτρος περιεπάτησεν ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα ἐλθεῖν πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. βλέπων δὲ τὸν ἄνεμον ἰσχυρὸν ἐφοβήθη, καὶ ἀρξάμενος καταποντίζεσθαι ἔκραξε λέγων· Κύριε, σῶσόν με. εὐθέως δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα ἐπελάβετο αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ὀλιγόπιστε! εἰς τί ἐδίστασας; καὶ ἐμβάντων αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἐκόπασεν ὁ ἄνεμος. οἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἐλθόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ λέγοντες· Ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ υἱὸς εἶ. Καὶ διαπεράσαντες ἦλθον εἰς τὴν γῆν Γεννησαρέτ.

The Church

Beloved in the Lord:

   One of the tragic aberrations of so-called modern religion is the presence of “Churchless Christianity.” The assertion is that it is Christ who saves us, not the Church, so “all you need is Jesus.” Few who claim to be Christians would argue against the statement that it is Christ who saves. For our Lord is the eternal Son of God who has assumed human flesh, and has done so “for us and for our salvation.” Thus Saint Paul writes, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (I Titus 2:5). Seeing that this Mediator established the Church which is His body, we who are joined to Christ are joined to His Church as well. To say we love Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and at the same time reject His body is to deny New Testament teaching.

   The Gospels: The first use of the word “Church” in the New Testament comes in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, when our Lord gives His approval of Saint Peter’s confession of faith and promises, “I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus Christ builds and we cooperate with Him.  

   The Book of Acts: Discloses more of what our Lord meant in Matthew 16. When Saint Peter’s sermon of the Day of Pentecost concludes, those present ask for guidance towards salvation: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Following Saint Peter’s word, they are baptized and join with the other believers, three thousand of them (Acts 2:38,41). Having been joined to Christ and His Church, these baptized believers begin living as the body of Christ. We find them looking after each other, using their personal resources for the care of each other, continuing together in prayer and in the Holy Eucharist (Acts 2:42-47). From this point on “the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47), and throughout Acts, the Church is being built as the Gospel of Christ spreads.

   The Epistles: Saint Paul’s instructions in his letters to the Churches throughout the eastern Mediterranean clearly show what it means to be members of Christ: to be the Church. Nowhere in the New Testament is Saint Paul’s teaching on the Church more fully disclosed than in Ephesians 4. He instructs us that:

1. The Church is one, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). There is one Church, one God, one doctrine and one baptism.
2. The Church is people, men, women and children who are energized by the Holy Spirit. For “to each of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7). We are not all given the same gifts, but together we are equipped to do God’s will.
3. The Head of the Church is Christ, “from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together (Ephesians 4:14,16).
4. The Church is the “new man” (Ephesians 4:24), the new creation, made to be righteous and holy. We are longer alienated from God (Ephesians 4:18) but we are being renewed together (Ephesians 4:23), “members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25).

   The Holy Church, then, is that place established by Christ where we each may become what we are created to be, maturing and being perfected, while the Church receives what it needs from each of us, so that it, too, is being perfected. The Church as the body of Christ carries us beyond our petty and worldly personal concerns, stretching our vision to the eternal and the heavenly as we ascend together to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

With paternal love and blessings in Lord,

Father Panagiotis

August Liturgical Calendar

Sunday, Aug. 22nd - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (9th Sunday of Matthew)

 

Special Event

Sunday, Aug. 22nd - Last day of the Greek Festival. Plenty of food, drink and enjoyment for all.