In this Bible/adult study, Anthony Ally teaches on “Your Spiritual Family: The Saints and Godparents.” This is a catechism study for people who feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure if they even belong in Church. We look at the real lives of the saints and see that many of them were strugglers who kept getting up after they fell.

We talk about how to choose a patron saint who understands your specific battles, how a godparent walks with you in your journey, and what the Orthodox Church teaches about suffering, intercession, and hope. You are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who are praying for you. You are not alone in your fight.

In this homily, we reflect on the Gospel of Matthew 25 and the simple but uncomfortable truth that Christ identifies Himself with the hungry, the sick, and the forgotten. When we serve others, we serve Him. When we ignore them, we ignore Him.

As Great Lent approaches, this is not just about fasting from food. It is about training our hearts to respond immediately to love. The question we must ask is simple. When Christ was present before us in someone in need, what did we do?

In this homily, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on the Parable of the Prodigal Son as the Church prepares for Lent. Rather than focusing on sin alone, the homily centers on the Father and what repentance truly means in the Orthodox Christian life. Repentance is not fear or shame, but a return to God who is already waiting.

The prodigal’s journey shows us that many of us only come to our senses after we have exhausted ourselves chasing life apart from God. Yet when we return, we are not met with punishment or embarrassment, but with mercy, restoration, and joy. God does not hold our failures over our heads. He brings us back to life.

This message reminds us that repentance is resurrection. It is the doorway back into communion with God. As Lent approaches, the invitation is simple and hopeful. Return, and discover that God has never stopped running toward you.

In this homily, Fr. Stephen Osburn speaks directly about why abortion is not merely a political issue, but a profound spiritual crisis. Life is sacred because it comes from God, and to destroy life is to reject the image of the Creator Himself. This is why the Church cannot remain silent.

The sermon challenges common excuses and calls Christians to move beyond comfort and convenience. Defending life requires sacrifice, prayer, and real action rooted in love. It also calls us to pray for healing and repentance for everyone involved.

True Christian witness does not stop at words. It is lived through love, generosity, and faithfulness to the Gospel, even when it is difficult.

In this Bible/adult study, we explore one of the most important and misunderstood principles of Orthodox life: oikonomia. The Church calls us to holiness, yet she also understands human weakness. Rather than crushing the struggler with rigid rules, she applies wisdom, mercy, and pastoral care so that discipline becomes healing rather than a burden.

We discuss the danger of legalism, especially in modern online Orthodoxy, where strict rules are often promoted without love or responsibility. Drawing from Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the lives of the saints, we see that true Orthodoxy is not about looking perfect outwardly but about being transformed inwardly through repentance and grace.

This lesson reminds us that the Church is a hospital, not a courtroom. When discipline serves love and salvation, it reflects the heart of Christ Himself.

On January 18, 2026, His Grace Bishop Gerasim visited St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church and preached on the healing of the blind man near Jericho. He connected this Gospel to the witness of Saint Athanasius, who defended the truth that Jesus Christ is one Person, fully God and fully man. The way we read the Gospels depends on who we believe Christ is, and the Church’s faith keeps us from reducing Jesus to a mere teacher or miracle worker.

The blind man’s cry, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” shows bold faith. Even when the crowd tried to silence him, he kept praying until Christ stopped. And when Jesus asked what he wanted, the man asked for sight. Bishop Gerasim reminded us that Christ heals more than discomfort. He restores dignity, heals the whole person, and invites us into discipleship.

The healed man immediately followed Jesus and glorified God. That is the pattern for us too. Keep calling out to the Lord, do not be ashamed, and be ready to offer your whole life back to Him when He heals you.

In this adult study, Anthony Ally explores how logismoi quietly damage the soul and how Orthodox worship brings healing grace. Drawing from Scripture and Holy Tradition, he shows that worship was never meant to be invented by human preference but revealed by God as medicine for the heart.

Using examples from Exodus, Isaiah, Acts, and Hebrews, this teaching explains how the Orthodox Church mirrors the heavenly pattern shown to Moses. The Divine Liturgy is not about pleasing people or growing numbers, but about restoring humanity and placing us back into communion with God.

Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of why Orthodox worship looks the way it does and how daily practices like the sign of the cross help guard the mind and heal the soul.

Christ did not come simply to make us better people. He came to bring us back into communion with God. When He calls us to repent, He is not calling us into fear or shame but into healing and restoration. Repentance means turning around and changing direction, setting aside the noise of the world so we can focus on the Kingdom that is already at hand.

The world constantly tells us what is good, but those standards shift and change. Christ enters that confusion as the Light and calls us to live by what God teaches, not by what culture celebrates. Prayer, fasting, forgiveness, and service are not rules meant to burden us. They are tools that draw our hearts back toward God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not distant. It is right here, waiting to be received. Christ asks us to lay aside our earthly cares so we can receive the King of all. Repentance is the doorway. Communion is the goal.

The Feast of Theophany often raises a simple but profound question. Why does Jesus, who is sinless, receive baptism? The answer is that Christ does not enter the waters to be cleansed, but to cleanse. He comes not to improve humanity with advice, but to heal it by entering fully into our broken condition.

Water is the source of life, and by stepping into the Jordan, Christ sanctifies creation itself. The blessing of water on Theophany reminds us that God uses the ordinary things of this world to bring healing and renewal. Holy water is not a symbol to be ignored, but a gift meant to be used in our daily struggles.

Theophany teaches us that salvation is not distant or abstract. Christ steps into the waters for us, and He continues to meet us where we are, offering mercy, healing, and new life again and again.

In this adult study, Anthony Ally explores why the Holy Eucharist is not just important, but essential to Orthodox Christian life. Drawing from Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the prayers of the Divine Liturgy, this teaching shows how the Eucharist fulfills God’s plan to gather all creation into Christ and bring healing to the human soul.

The Eucharist is the medicine of immortality, not a symbol or reminder. When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ with humility, we truly participate in His life here and now. This study also explains why the Eucharist belongs to the Church as a whole, safeguarded through apostolic succession and the ministry of the Orthodox bishop.

To approach the Chalice is to approach Christ Himself. It is the source of Christian hope, unity, and transformation, and the center around which the entire life of the Church revolves.