As I was preparing for this sermon I looked up ‘exaltation’ in Google’s Oxford Dictionary and stumbled on the ‘N-gram’ for this word. Have you ever heard of an N-gram?  It is a graph showing the frequency of a word’s use over time. The N-gram for ‘exalt’ shows that for 400 years, this word was…

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So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. -Jn 3:14-15 Exaltation, exaltation, exaltation. Exaltation, exaltation, exaltation.  Don’t worry, I am ok, I am just repeating the name of today’s feast so that we can recover its rightful place in history and our lives.  You see,…

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Godly grief. That’s a phrase to memorize, post on Instagram or tattoo on your leg! These two words of St. Paul brilliantly captures the spiritual growing pains that all Christians feel as they mature into the love of God.  What are the occasions for this grief? For Paul it was division in his church family.…

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Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret. 2 Cor 7:9-10 Godly grief. That’s a phrase to memorize,…

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There is a cardinal rule about writing, which says, write what you know. Don’t try to write like someone else or about things you don’t know, write from your experience. Sermon writing takes it even further. Write what you know, but also preach from who you are. Perhaps this is a spiritual lesson for everyone.…

The post Sermon: Sermon About Sermons first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ –Mk 4:40 Today’s sermon is about sermons. It was born from feedback I got about last week’s sermon.  ‘I liked your sermon, but you aren’t very strict are you?’ she said.  Hmm, maybe you are right, I thought to myself, I’m not very strict.  Maybe…

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All the great artists know this in their own way.  If you want to be a good actor, you don’t ponder your character from time to time, you take the character into you, you inhabit that role. If you want to be a great writer, you don’t write when you can and read good books…

The post Sermon: Eat Your Words first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.’-Je 15:16 On our trip to Armenia this past month, we gave and received many gifts from family and friends, however none were better given and received than books.  We got a couple of…

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Indeed all that glitters is not gold, and where did this gold medal come from anyway? Well it was not from the original Greek Olympics, whose first place prize which was not a gold medal but a laurel wreath.  These crowns of flowers are splendidly beautiful today, but they are gone tomorrow—a wise reminder that…

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The Assumption of Mary & Blessing of Grapes The Olympic games came to a close this past Sunday evening and-with the exception of sports like run walking and duet artistic swimming-the kids and I found them fun to watch.  As always the Olympics aren’t just about sports, they reflect our common culture and values, as…

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