Saint 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...

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...

A woman is walking on the beach with her little grandson. Suddenly a huge wave sweeps the boy out to sea. Desperate, the woman looks up to heaven and says, “God, please rescue my grandson, my only grandson, the light of my life!” Miraculously, the next big wave deposits the little boy at her feet,… The post The Need Beneath the Want first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

As I often say, where a lot of other churches modern churches just say and understand things, old churches like ours actually recall, represent these holy people and places in icons, worship and architecture-as living realities that are still with us. We shape our church, then our church shapes us. The post We Shape Our Church-Our Church Shapes Us first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Life is full of turning points and so are our Holy Scriptures.  There are always points in life where you might have gone one way or the other, and in choosing, things were never the same again.  Or, as is often the case, we don’t choose events–sometimes events chose us.  The post The Turning Point of Grace first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

The Armenian Church reminds us today that this birth is neither sentimental nor symbolic. Trees, gifts nativities, these are just trifles, things. Christmas is the turning point of history-Asdvadzahaytnutyun-theophany, when God pours himself into his broken creation, filling and fulfilling what was lost. Before Bethlehem, humanity waited. After Bethlehem, humanity is invited. The post Love Poured...

Our altar servers, who are lovers of mixed martial arts and all things Armenian, tell me that Armenian UFC fighter Arman Tsarukyan will be wrestling Lance Palmer in Sunrise FL next Saturday night January 10th. I know very little about MMA or wrestling, but I am a big fan of one of the greatest wrestling match… The post The Fight of Your Life first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

The story is indeed about us, not about the investments we make, but the investments we are.  Each of us is, first and foremost, an investment by God. Our lives, our talents, our families, churches, ethnic background, health, etc. are all given to us by God.  This is his investment in each of us.  We… The post Faithful With What You Have first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

In our culture, waiting has come to feel like missing out like weakness.  And yet today’s reading for Advent and Christmas we are reminded of the opposite-that waiting is strength. ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,’ says the Prophet Isaiah, ‘they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall… The post Where Patience Meets Power first appeared on St. Hagop A...

A wise man said, ‘Wisdom is founded on memory; happiness on forgetfulness.’ We tend to think of remembering and forgetting as opposites, and remembering as the better, but really we need them both and they are complimentary.  Today’s scriptures and our church tradition seems to double down on the importance of both remembering and forgetting,… The post Wisdom Needs to Remember-Happiness Need...

The difference between good and bad pride is in its object, what it points to.  Pride is so dangerous and so often bad because-irresistibly the object of pride is ourselves, our ego.  It’s like the story of the young school boy who was so meek and modest, that he was awarded the ‘most humble badge.’… The post Superbia first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .