Advertise on podcast: Saint Hagop Armenian Church

Now if the cross was just a piece of wood, I imagine that would have been that.  We discovered the cross-like Isaac Newton discovered gravity or Columbus discovered America-great job-done! But if the cross is not just a piece of wood we discover, but through it we constantly discover and rediscover our deepest self, well… The post Your Greatest Discovery first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Some people are very comfortable with selling themselves, after all that’s the way of the world, and don’t hide your talents. Others are very uncomfortable with it, after all pride is the queen of sins, and humility is the key to truly knowing God. Jesus, as always shows a third way, the way for Christians… The post The Ultimate Elevator Speech first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Today, on the Feast of the Holy Translators, we remember St. Mesrob Mashdots & St. Sahag Partev. We know who they were right?  Yes they created the Armenian Alphabet and oversaw the translation of Bible and others texts to Armenian. What they did with language translation in their time was amazing and revolutionary. But, truth… The post The Language of Heaven first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

St. Hagop is God’s home and your and my home. We are stewards of it and stewardship is literally what has made this church-it’s a gift literally from floor to ceiling. Stewardship is also what makes a Christian, floor to ceiling-head to toe. This is not metaphor. By Jesus’ example, it is literally true. Jesus’… The post The Gift in Your Hands first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

So you young folks may not know this, but my generation and older had a very different relationship with phones. It sounds crazy, but we used them to talk to each other…and that’s all. That’s all a phone did! It was shaped to fit your ear and over your mouth, people conversed with each other,… The post Phoney first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Today’s feast of the cross is perhaps God’s greatest reminders, a reminder so big, that it goes from now through mid-November, this entire season of the church is the season of the cross.  It puts in front of us three holidays of the cross, it changes the hymns and variables, the color of the season.… The post The String Around Your Neck first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Don’t underestimate the importance of the homeroom class.  We spend so much time making sure our kids get the best in math & science education and we outsource that to institutions-schools; fine.  But never forget that the most important things in life, character, values, right & wrong, gratitude, what I believe about my life, these… The post Homeroom Teacher first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Here now is how the Christian is to respond to pain and suffering, by turning not to the god of mammon, but the true, living God.  When we do, our pain is not only acknowledged, but we find a partner in pain, a God who suffers through and with us. A God who redeems old… The post Pain & Suffering first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

What is different for Christians, though, is that we not only strive to finish our own masterworks, we allow God to finish his masterwork, which is you, and me, and every soul in the world and all of his creation! In this way, everyone has a masterpiece which is their own life, and you are… The post When You Paint Your Masterpiece first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Paul says, don’t trust your eyes, don’t trust your vision-100%-because your hard-wired glasses, the invisible glasses by which all humans see life, is blurry and flawed. Only in looking for God can we truly see, truly find full understanding and completion.  Yes this full understanding and completion will take place beyond this life, but it… The post Faith, Hope & Love- Easter Eggs of the Soul first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Our age is in danger of becoming-through and through-a human engineered life. Engineering is a great tool, building great science and machines. But men are not machines, to be engineered and optimized. Yet we are sold that message daily. Are your eyes baggy, your lips thin, get surgery and injections-engineer, optimize!  Is your constant striving… The post Sabbath in the Age of Optimization first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

That’s why Paul’s deep wisdom about the glory of the body is so important, and why each and every week when we come to worship in this church, we actual reverse the disembodiment of modern society. Every Sunday we are called back into our bodies, back into this community, back into the here and now.… The post Everywhere & Nowhere: Reclaiming Embodied Life first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Well perhaps it is no surprise, that thousands of years ago, Jesus asked such questions, he was the master of such questions which-in a few words-invite us to consider our lives and what we value most.  And one of the more famous of such questions -happens to be in today’s Gospel. ‘What do you think?’… The post What’s Worth Saving? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

We hear a lot of talk about freedom, and truly America-relative to other countries-is a place of relative freedom.  You can criticize the government, you can worship as you please, you can say what you need to say and decide how you will earn money and live your life. But there is also a misconception… The post Freedom’s Master first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

That’s the story of Etchmiadzin, which is the story of St. Hagop and all Armenian churches and people.  There really is no hero in these stories, one person or even group of people who built the church.  The hero is Christ alone, the rest of us are along for the ride, which reminds me of… The post Built by Light, Not by Might first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.