As we consider our New Year Resolutions, it is important to remember that God has done everything that He asks of us. In commemorating the Circumcision of Christ, a physical reality of Christ, the Church reminds us that God has complete the Law where we were and are lacking.

It isn’t always easy to be merry at Christmas. For many families Christmas this year is a time of pain and suffering. The Birth of Christ, our Savior, is worthy of celebration. This is why the traditional greeting for Christmas is ‘Christ is Born; Glorify Him!’ It perfectly captures the truth that we glorify God no matter how merry we feel. We glorify Him because He has come to save us with His perfect timing.

On the Sunday before Christmas every year the Church hears a long list of names of the generations of Christ. From Abraham until Joseph the Church reminds us of the righteous ancestors of Christ described in the Old Testament. When you combine them with the saints of the New Testament we get a complete picture of the family of Christ, our family. Our ancestors in the Lord have two important things in common. None of them were perfect but all of them were committed to God. That is the story of the Church. We may not always get it right, but we are always committed to God.

It can be difficult in today’s world to find time to focus on God. It has become too easy for us to skip our prayers or to be late for Church. During our Nativity Fast, the Church has offered to us the blessing to pay attention to God. When we allow the life of the Church, we have opportunities to focus on God, not just following the rules.

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, our minds are on the idea of giving. We will feast and have plenty of leftovers. We may even give others our leftovers so they also can eat. We fool ourselves if we think that giving after we have had everything we need is generous. Giving from our leftovers isn’t being generous. It doesn’t matter even if our giving is huge amounts. If we only give after thinking of ourselves, we are no better than the Rich Fool in Luke 12.16-21.

We tend to go through life focusing on what we want and when we want it. Even in sickness we tend to demand from God that He heal on our terms. Experience teaches us that not everyone is healed. The difference between what we want and what we need is God’s to tell. Accepting the difference is humility. We need humility in our healing.

As Christians we are faced everyday with responding to God. We see God healing others. We watch God bless others. Too often we respond with jealousy rather than joy. Every day we are forced to choose God or to choose ourselves. In the story of the healing of the man with legion demons, the crowd rejected God because following Him meant losing their herd of pigs. They chose their pigs instead of God. We must stop pushing God away like the crowd.

A Bible Study on St Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, inspired by the Homilies of St John Chrysostom. This session was originally live stream Tuesday, October 11, 2022, in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

As God revealed in the miracle at Nain as described in Luke 7.11-16, God has chosen to come and visit His people with His own body. With His physical touch, Christ brought the son of the widow back to life. We are the temple of the Living God because God has visited His people. Through our Baptism and Holy Communion, we live in communion with God. We may have forgotten, but we can reconnect to Christ today and He can restore us from within.

When we stop asking, “What’s in it for us,” and allow God to use us for His Church and His Gospel, we experience miracles. We have been given gifts and talents from God not for our use, but for God to use to preach to others. We receive the grace of God when we are His voice and His hands and feet to reach others. Invite someone to Church! Then watch God’s grace overflow the Church.