A Sermon for the Burial Service of Our Lord 04/02/21 Jesus was born a king and died a king, but like none the world has seen. At his birth the angles sang forth in the Bethlehem night sky, Փառք ի բառձուս Աստուծոյ “Glory to God in the highest,” and Magi came to pay tribute to…

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A Sermon for the Service of Washing of Feet 2021 Last year we had to cancel Votnlva because of Covid. This year we are holding the service, but have kept participation intimate; with just a few on the altar. I look forward to the time, coming soon I hope when we will have full in…

The post Dirty Hands, Clean Hearts first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey. -Mt 21:5 Today is Palm Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem; where he was greeted with joyful shouts of Hosanna, and palms and clothes were laid before him like a red carpet.  This joyful greeting would not last long,…

The post Lessons From A Donkey first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Today’s feast of the Presentation of the Lord commemorates the day when Mary and Joseph, following tradition, took their 40-day old son Jesus to the temple and offered him back to God.  For, as written in Mosaic law; “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice…

The post Re-Gifted first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. -Is 64:8 This week the leadership team of our church finished up our annual report, sent it yesterday via email and today has made copies available in the narthex for those without…

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Very truly, I tell you…the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jn 6:33 Our family is considering another attempt to travel to Armenia this Summer, and the one thing we are dreading is the 24 hours of planes and layovers. Daddy my shoe fell off. Momma,…

The post Are We There Yet? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ –Jn 6:20 There is a parable from the ancient East about a deadly disease that meets up with a large family travelling by caravan to Baghdad. ‘Why are you travelling to Baghdad?’ asked the family elder. ‘To take five thousand lives,’ said the disease. On the way back, they…

The post Fear Killed the Rest first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

Timing is important. What’s the most important part of telling a good joke……timing.  Timing is important in jokes, and it’s important in sermons.  Until I figured out the 2.45 second delay between the live stream video and audio, my sermons looked like old Bruce Lee movies. Timing is important in conversations.  Zoom meetings have unexpectedly…

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“This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) Gabriel Garcia Marques, in his classic 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, writes about a village in Central America. A virus strikes this community and the virus causes amnesia. It becomes necessary to hire people from the outside world to…

The post A Reminder to Remember first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

The Message translation of today’s Bible reading from the Prophet Isaiah is titled ‘God Is Leading You Out of Here,’ and goes on to exhort God’s people to wake up, throw off their chains and remember who they are.  ‘God Is Leading You Out of Here.’ What a great sermon theme for our worship, as…

The post Welcome to Holland! first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.