THE CHURCH
"To Thee is due all glory, honor, and worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."
"Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." + Romans 15:7
+ THE CHURCH +
An Ancient Expression of the Christian Worship
Worship is reverent, humble adoration of God as practiced in the earliest churches. The church is the people of God, the body of Christ who gather together for worship to enjoy God's presence and action in their midst.
While worship is a deeply personal experience, it also involves the entire Church. For Christians, worship is not a religious chore, but a privilege that is transformative, humbling, faith-building, and instructive in the ways of holiness. It is imperative then that Christians approach the Almighty in worship by casting off all personal, 21st Century assumptions of worship so that the Word of God and the ancient Biblically-based church practices may prevail in our hearts as we seek Him in Spirit and in truth. True worship in Christ's invincible church is Spirit-filled, Christ-centered, reverential adoration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; worship that will not contradict or collide with Sacred Scripture or the blessed traditions handed down to us by the apostles and counsels.
While worship is a deeply personal experience, it also involves the entire Church. For Christians, worship is not a religious chore, but a privilege that is transformative, humbling, faith-building, and instructive in the ways of holiness. It is imperative then that Christians approach the Almighty in worship by casting off all personal, 21st Century assumptions of worship so that the Word of God and the ancient Biblically-based church practices may prevail in our hearts as we seek Him in Spirit and in truth. True worship in Christ's invincible church is Spirit-filled, Christ-centered, reverential adoration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; worship that will not contradict or collide with Sacred Scripture or the blessed traditions handed down to us by the apostles and counsels.
“Oh marvelous gifts of Christ! On high the angelic choirs sing glory to the Lord; on earth, after their example, men sing in church the same canticle in choirs. In heaven the seraphim sing aloud their Thrice Holy; on earth the same canticle resounds from the mouth of the assembled congregation. Thus heaven and earth unite in a festive celebration; it is a hymnal celebration of Thanksgiving, of praise; it is a choir of common joy, which the unspeakable goodness of the Lord, in His great condescension to us, organized...”
+ St. John Chrysostom +
+ St. John Chrysostom +
Worship in the Administration of the Sacraments
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two central sacraments mentioned in Scripture, given to the churches by the Lord Jesus. Sacraments are not "bare signs and empty symbols" as Swiss Reformer Huldrych Zwingli asserted, and they are much more than mere material reminders or memorials of Christ's death. Sacraments are sacred signs and seals of God's covenant of grace in the church for our blessing with a view of the Kingdom of God to come.
Sacraments are important. The living experience of the Christian sacramental and liturgical life is the outworking of Biblical Christian truth. The Word of God is at the center of the Church’s life and the Divine Liturgy (acts of worship) and the Holy Eucharist (the sanctified bread of thanksgiving and the fruit of the vine) are grace-giving, living, didactic portraits of Christ in His Gospel. The Christian Eucharist is a ceremonial meal that emerged from the Passover Meal of the Old Testament. Jesus, in bringing forth the New Covenant age, transformed the Passover repast into a sacred meal in remembrance of Him and of the deliverance He provides us from the wages of sin and death. While sharing Holy Eucharist, the church calls to remembrance Christ's perfect, finished work for our redemption: His sinless life, immense sufferings, atoning death, and glorious resurrection. In this respect, the Sacrament serves as a symbolic "reminder." Much more than that though, in this sacrament we celebrate God the Son; the unseen Son of God ("Thine own of Thine Own") as our New Covenant Passover Lamb. Second century theologian, Ignatius of Antioch, referred to the Eucharist as "the medicine of immortality" because he recognized the grace of God imparted through it.
According to the Scriptures, at the Last Supper before His crucifixion, Christ took the bread and the wine and He shared them with His disciples, telling them to eat and drink it as His own Body and Blood. Since that supper, this sacrament became the center of the Christian life as the experience of the real presence of the life-giving, risen Christ in the midst of his People (see Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 6 and 13; Acts 2:41–47; 1 Cor 10–11). By eating the consecrated bread and drinking from the consecrated cup, we enjoy genuine communion with God through Christ who is Himself “. . . the bread of life” (John 6:26-51). The Eucharist then is the central means of theosis, since it is the sacrament through which people become the body of Christ, actualizing their union with the Head of the church.
Worship in the Administration of the Sacraments
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two central sacraments mentioned in Scripture, given to the churches by the Lord Jesus. Sacraments are not "bare signs and empty symbols" as Swiss Reformer Huldrych Zwingli asserted, and they are much more than mere material reminders or memorials of Christ's death. Sacraments are sacred signs and seals of God's covenant of grace in the church for our blessing with a view of the Kingdom of God to come.
Sacraments are important. The living experience of the Christian sacramental and liturgical life is the outworking of Biblical Christian truth. The Word of God is at the center of the Church’s life and the Divine Liturgy (acts of worship) and the Holy Eucharist (the sanctified bread of thanksgiving and the fruit of the vine) are grace-giving, living, didactic portraits of Christ in His Gospel. The Christian Eucharist is a ceremonial meal that emerged from the Passover Meal of the Old Testament. Jesus, in bringing forth the New Covenant age, transformed the Passover repast into a sacred meal in remembrance of Him and of the deliverance He provides us from the wages of sin and death. While sharing Holy Eucharist, the church calls to remembrance Christ's perfect, finished work for our redemption: His sinless life, immense sufferings, atoning death, and glorious resurrection. In this respect, the Sacrament serves as a symbolic "reminder." Much more than that though, in this sacrament we celebrate God the Son; the unseen Son of God ("Thine own of Thine Own") as our New Covenant Passover Lamb. Second century theologian, Ignatius of Antioch, referred to the Eucharist as "the medicine of immortality" because he recognized the grace of God imparted through it.
According to the Scriptures, at the Last Supper before His crucifixion, Christ took the bread and the wine and He shared them with His disciples, telling them to eat and drink it as His own Body and Blood. Since that supper, this sacrament became the center of the Christian life as the experience of the real presence of the life-giving, risen Christ in the midst of his People (see Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 6 and 13; Acts 2:41–47; 1 Cor 10–11). By eating the consecrated bread and drinking from the consecrated cup, we enjoy genuine communion with God through Christ who is Himself “. . . the bread of life” (John 6:26-51). The Eucharist then is the central means of theosis, since it is the sacrament through which people become the body of Christ, actualizing their union with the Head of the church.
Worship in the Teaching of the Faith
THE CHURCH proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of the church. An important part of Worship is the teaching of the Faith from the Sacred Writings with particular emphasis on the New Testament. A close relationship exists between right teaching (orthodoxy) and sacred worship (orthopraxis) in the Church (1 Timothy 4:1-11). The Divinely inspired texts of Scripture teach us about God so that we may rightly worship Him "in Spirit and truth" (John 16:12-14; 1 John 4:5-6). The Scriptures also instruct us to hold fast to the faith and traditions taught to us by oral tradition and the Apostles' written letters (2 Thess. 2:15, 3:6). Living Faith is expressed in humble worship, and worship serves to strengthen and communicate living faith to God. For this reason, the prayers, Psalms, church doctrines, and liturgical practices and ordinances are all didactic as they serve and edify us in the path of holiness to the glory of God.
Acts 2:40-43 "And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."
Acts 2:40-43 "And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."
The Bible speaks of fellowship among God's people and the recurring word we find in the Biblical text is the Greek word "κοινωνία" (koinonia). Koinonia, often translated "fellowship" in many versions of the New Testament, speaks of close relations between church friends where sincere, gracious dialogue and mutual concern are active and felt. Christian fellowship, or koinonia, is rooted in our union with Christ (1 John 1:6-7). At THE CHURCH, we are our brother's keepers and we strive to live as St. Paul instructed the church of Rome in Romans chapter 12.
The Bible speaks of fellowship among God's people and the recurring word we find in the Biblical text is the Greek word "κοινωνία" (koinonia). Koinonia, often translated "fellowship" in many versions of the New Testament, speaks of close relations between church friends where sincere, gracious dialogue and mutual concern are active and felt. Christian fellowship, or koinonia, is rooted in our union with Christ (1 John 1:6-7). At THE CHURCH, we are our brother's keepers and we strive to live as St. Paul instructed the church of Rome in Romans chapter 12.
- "Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any κοινωνία (fellowship) of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." (NKJV) Phil. 2:1
The Church is
|
|
+ "To Thee is due all glory, honor, and worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen." +
DIVINE LITURGY
Sunday at 11:00 AM
THE CHURCH
34 East Main Street
Port Jervis, New York, 12771
