Why does our Church View Marriage as a Great Sacrament? To answer this I have adapted and summarised a sermon on Marriage by a very holy man, Archimandrite Aimilianos, at the time Abbot of the Monastery of Simonopetra of Mount Athos. Many marry without knowledge, without a sense of responsibility, or simply because they think they must in order to be good members of society. A worldly marriage can only have one characteristic — the murder of a person's spiritual life. In order to have a successful marriage, one must have the appropriate upbringing from an early age. The child [...]

There is no need for God to judge us. We will judge ourselves. We choose whether or not we want to be saved. Our loving God created us to be saved and for no other reason. He wants nothing other than for us to share eternity with Him in His Kingdom. Why would He push anyone away? Think of the story of the prodigal son. He chooses to leave his father’s loving home. He leaves, isn’t able to resist sin, but then he comes back, because “he came to himself” (Lk 15:17). Now all is forgiven. He is given his [...]

Why do we follow Christ? A common answer is “to be saved”. But what does this mean? Is it simply Jesus plucking us out of hell and putting us in heaven?   Protestant groups called Evangelicals believe that a person is saved when they accept Christ as their personal saviour. They may describe the event of this acceptance as being “born again”. They base their teachings on passages such as Galatians 2:16, which says, “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ”. The Orthodox Church sees it somewhat differently. Without minimising [...]

In the Bible we read that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit. What is speaking in tongues? Does it still happen today? In the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel, the early ancestors lose the spirit of God through their pride. The confusion of languages leads to the division and isolation of the one person from the other and from God (Genesis 11:1-9). Christ’s incarnation provides the ‘repair work’ for the Holy Spirit to return to God’s people. At Pentecost, tongues of fire sit on each of the Apostles, and what they say can [...]

Questions and Answers What does it mean to be a Christian? Some people think to be a Christian, it is enough if you do no seriously bad things. Other people think that being a Christian means going to Church once a week. Unfortunately, too many of us are lazy Christians. The real meaning of Christian life is to be one with God. It means to be thinking of Him all the time, to be wondering what more you could do to please Him, to learn more of His secrets, to be at peace knowing that He is finding rest and [...]