As we consider our annual New Year Resolutions this year remember the message of the Gospel. “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” The first message of the Gospel according to Saint Mark is the message of repentance. This year, change the way you think about life. Make everything about your salvation.

For generations the Jews waited for their savior. We wait for Christmas each year with great anticipation. The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of our savior. He has come so that our pain and suffering is only temporary. Let’s celebrate the great joy and gift He has given us. No more waiting.

When God invites you, He wants you to attend by choice. He won’t force us to attend Church. His desire is that we want to be with Him in Church and in Heaven. Attending Church is not about checking off a box of obligation. We can ‘find time’ for anything we desire. God invites us to want to be with Him. The day will come at the Judgement when we won’t have a choice. Let’s desire it now, so we can be ready for Heaven. Ask God to give you the desire, and you will find yourself wanting to be with God.

You don’t have to be blind to be blind. Instead of looking at the sins of others, we need to start looking in the mirror. Unfortunately, we are blind to our sins, but insist on watching others. In the Gospel of Luke 18.35-43, we see a blind man who could see God. The crowd that was walking with Christ was blind to God’s love. The time has come for us to blind to the sins of others and look in the mirror to see our sins and commit to be better.

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, November 21, 2023, in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

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, November 14, 2023, in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

When we die, we will find ourselves in one of two situations. We will be in the presence of God in either situation. We will either experience His presence as comfort or torment. We will experience God’s presence either has heaven or hell. The choice will be ours, but the choice must be made now, before we die. Once we die, there is not changing our fate. The time to change our hearts is now, today.

When we are surrounded and tormented by demons in our life, God has the power to the send them away. In the world there are many tempting alternatives to in which we place our trust in these times, such as the “Evil Eye”. Real power is Christ, no blue glass eye. Don’t waste your energy on anything else.

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 10, 2023, in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

We all ask God for things, but God does not always give us what we want. Having wants is not necessarily a bad thing. When what we want is not what we need, we need to trust God more than we know. God may not give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need. We need to learn to pray for God’s will. Begin and end every prayer with the words, “If it is Your will.” Then trust that God knows what we need.