Imagine this.  You have a wealthy grandfather who dies and bequeaths you thirty million dollars.  But then you have an even wealthier uncle-brother of your grandfather-who hears about this and is furious. Your uncle hasn’t spoken to his brother for years. He so despises your grandfather, that even after his passing, he says to you,…

The post The Profitable Life first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused.’ (Is 30:15) Convicted by today’s reading from Isaiah, today’s sermon will be something of a personal confession to you all that Advent, Christmas and New Year…

The post Quiet Riot first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.’- Isa.38  The holiday season is the season of second chances and transformations.  Maybe you don’t feel that way, because you’re exhausted from end of year work overload, or depressed at home from Covid-19 isolation, or numbed…

The post Second Chance Church first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ -Lk 14:12-24 Invitations are very important and very powerful.  We can see the power and importance of good invitations by first looking at a few bad ones.  We all have received lukewarm invitations; invites given a few days before an event that was planned…

The post The Power of Invitation first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

It’s hard to let God be God. We long to explain things only God can know, seeking cause and effect for every good and every evil in this world. Yet terrible things sometimes happen to decent people, and bad behavior sometimes goes unpunished. In the war in Artsakh and Armenia, for example, many good and…

The post Blame and Grace first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Lk 20:25) Taxes have always been controversial. Some people hate taxes, and thus love Mark Twain’s joke about them; “What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.” Other people, however, actually like taxes, and…

The post Whose is it? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

The art of losing’s not too hard to master…though it may look like disaster. (Elizabeth Bishop) ‘For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.’ Lk 9:48 From our earliest days, we learn to value and desire winning, beating out others to be the best. In my house we have…

The post The Art of Losing first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ –Luke 8:52 There is a deeply stirring video going around which I have known about for several weeks, but could not bear to watch until recently.  It was made by Holy Etchmiadzin’s media outlet, Shoghakat TV, and captures the baptism of about a dozen young soldiers,…

The post Not Dead But Sleeping first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing…”-Ep.1:3 On Friday, by the initiative of Bishop Daniel, I participated in our day of fasting and prayer for peace and justice in Artsakh.  I was intending to share brief prayers with you all via…

The post Christ is in the Crisis first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.

‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ 1 Cor 1:18 Moved by the plight of our soldiers defending Artsakh and Armenia, and inspired by today’s feast of the discovery of the cross, I want to speak…

The post The War Within the War first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church.