Saint Hagop Armenian Church

St. Hagop is God’s home and your and my home. We are stewards of it and stewardship is literally what has made this church-it’s a gift literally from floor to ceiling. Stewardship is also what makes a Christian, floor to ceiling-head to toe. This is not metaphor. By Jesus’ example, it is literally true. Jesus’… The post The Gift in Your Hands first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

So you young folks may not know this, but my generation and older had a very different relationship with phones. It sounds crazy, but we used them to talk to each other…and that’s all. That’s all a phone did! It was shaped to fit your ear and over your mouth, people conversed with each other,… The post Phoney first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today’s feast of the cross is perhaps God’s greatest reminders, a reminder so big, that it goes from now through mid-November, this entire season of the church is the season of the cross.  It puts in front of us three holidays of the cross, it changes the hymns and variables, the color of the season.… The post The String Around Your Neck first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Don’t underestimate the importance of the homeroom class.  We spend so much time making sure our kids get the best in math & science education and we outsource that to institutions-schools; fine.  But never forget that the most important things in life, character, values, right & wrong, gratitude, what I believe about my life, these… The post Homeroom Teacher first appeared...

Here now is how the Christian is to respond to pain and suffering, by turning not to the god of mammon, but the true, living God.  When we do, our pain is not only acknowledged, but we find a partner in pain, a God who suffers through and with us. A God who redeems old… The post Pain & Suffering first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

What is different for Christians, though, is that we not only strive to finish our own masterworks, we allow God to finish his masterwork, which is you, and me, and every soul in the world and all of his creation! In this way, everyone has a masterpiece which is their own life, and you are… The post When You Paint Your Masterpiece first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Paul says, don’t trust your eyes, don’t trust your vision-100%-because your hard-wired glasses, the invisible glasses by which all humans see life, is blurry and flawed. Only in looking for God can we truly see, truly find full understanding and completion.  Yes this full understanding and completion will take place beyond this life, but it… The post Faith, Hope & Love- Easter Eggs of t...

Our age is in danger of becoming-through and through-a human engineered life. Engineering is a great tool, building great science and machines. But men are not machines, to be engineered and optimized. Yet we are sold that message daily. Are your eyes baggy, your lips thin, get surgery and injections-engineer, optimize!  Is your constant striving… The post Sabbath in the Age of Optimization...

That’s why Paul’s deep wisdom about the glory of the body is so important, and why each and every week when we come to worship in this church, we actual reverse the disembodiment of modern society. Every Sunday we are called back into our bodies, back into this community, back into the here and now.… The post Everywhere & Nowhere: Reclaiming Embodied Life first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian...

Well perhaps it is no surprise, that thousands of years ago, Jesus asked such questions, he was the master of such questions which-in a few words-invite us to consider our lives and what we value most.  And one of the more famous of such questions -happens to be in today’s Gospel. ‘What do you think?’… The post What’s Worth Saving? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

We hear a lot of talk about freedom, and truly America-relative to other countries-is a place of relative freedom.  You can criticize the government, you can worship as you please, you can say what you need to say and decide how you will earn money and live your life. But there is also a misconception… The post Freedom’s Master first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

That’s the story of Etchmiadzin, which is the story of St. Hagop and all Armenian churches and people.  There really is no hero in these stories, one person or even group of people who built the church.  The hero is Christ alone, the rest of us are along for the ride, which reminds me of… The post Built by Light, Not by Might first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

What’s the first date you put on the calendar for the year? Perhaps your birthday or that of a loved one.  Maybe your wedding anniversary or your vacation.  Well, the first Saint on the Armenian Church calendar after the 50 days of Easter, is the Prophet Elijah who we remember today.  Elijah holds a place… The post Last Man Standing, First Among Saints first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Ch...

That’s the only birthday gift we need, and unlike any other gift, the more you give this one away the more there is…you never run out.  That’s why there is fire and flames during Pentecost and maybe why we use candles on a birthday cake. Fire on a candle gives light by itself, right?  But… The post 2 Billion Birthday Candles first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today, St. John gives us one of the boldest promises in all of Scripture that: ‘If we ask anything (in prayer) according to His will, He hears us and we know we’ve obtained what we’ve asked for.’ That seems like we’ve won the lottery, and we have, but only if we submit ourselves to how God, prayer… The post Stay Small, Pray Big first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Every mother since then has echoed that yes, in her own way. Not always with words. Sometimes with tears. Sometimes with whispered prayers. Sometimes with fierce protection. Sometimes with a little guilt. But always with love. And that love—like all real love—like Christ’s love-comes with a cost. A mother’s love is the first love that… The post Motherhood Calling first appeared on St. Hagop...

A monk was once threatened with death by a bandit. The monk said to the bandit, “If you are going to kill me, be good enough to fulfill my dying wish. Cut off the branch of that tree.” One slash of the sword, and it was done! “What now?” asked the bandit. “Put it back… The post Put Back Again first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today’s reading from Acts gives us an even older and simpler description of this body that we partake of here at St. Hagop Armenian Apostolic Orthodox church.  Even before followers of Jesus were known as “Christians,” before dioceses, councils or even churches as we know them, the followers of Jesus were known simply as ‘People… The post Church on the Way first appeared on St. Hagop Armenia...

One cold January afternoon in 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 out of LaGuardia Airport in New York heading to Charlotte landed instead in the waters of the Hudson River after losing power from a bird strike. Most of you remember that event. If you don’t, there is a movie ‘Sully’ starring Tom Hanks who plays… The post Plane Down-Man Lifted first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today God has the message, God is the message. Don’t grasp at it, but rather allow yourself to be grasped by it. Yes today is and continues to be the greatest day in history. But much like the Sun, don’t look straight at it, it will blind you.   Instead realize that everything you see is… The post Sing a New Song first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

What is it exactly that the children are able to see that the adults cannot? In a word, love. Yes, Shakespeare wrote beautifully about love.  Troubadours like Sayat Nova and Charles Aznavour gave song to love.  Moses and Mohammed gave laws about love. But Jesus, like no one before him or since, embodied love-lived it… The post Kids vs. Parents first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

6 Week Lenten Sermon Series (February 15th-March 22nd) Worship in the Armenian Church is a life-giving encounter with God, but only as much as we’ve learned it’s language, movements and meaning.  After our shorter Lenten Badarak, and in place of a sermon, Fr. Hovnan will lead an interactive study to help us find our voice… The post Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session...

6 Week Lenten Sermon Series (February 15th-March 22nd) Worship in the Armenian Church is a life-giving encounter with God, but only as much as we’ve learned it’s language, movements and meaning.  After our shorter Lenten Badarak, and in place of a sermon, Fr. Hovnan will lead an interactive study to help us find our voice… The post Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session...

6 Week Lenten Sermon Series (February 15th-March 22nd) Worship in the Armenian Church is a life-giving encounter with God, but only as much as we’ve learned it’s language, movements and meaning.  After our shorter Lenten Badarak, and in place of a sermon, Fr. Hovnan will lead an interactive study to help us find our voice… The post Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session...