Displaying episodes 31 - 60 of 169 in total

Lighting A Lamp

In today’s episode we began by discussing the apparent discrepancy between Jesus telling us in today’s passage to let our lamp shine, but elsewhere indicating our good...

The Unjust Steward

We discuss the "Parable of the Unjust Steward." This parable often confuses readers because of the poor English translations. Fr Aaron noted the better translation of ...

The Temptation of External Rituals

In today’s episode we discussed how St. Paul urges the Colossians to avoid the temptations of external rituals that lead to self-righteousness, whether they be pagan o...

"Woe to you, hypocrites!"

Today’s episode began with a discussion about Jesus’ statement in Luke 12 relating to the Final Judgement. These verses follow Luke 11 in which Jesus’ conversation wit...

Becoming A Cheerful Giver

Today we discussed how we can become a “cheerful giver.” We first highlighted the need to re-orient ourselves around the biblical teaching of appreciating God’s gifts ...

The Ethiopian Eunuch

In today’s episode, we began by examining the significance of the Ethiopian eunuch and his conversion to Christianity, which highlights the inclusiveness of the Gospel...

Judge Not Lest You Be Judged

We discussed how the teaching of ‘judging not lest you be judged’ is not only Scriptural, but also deeply ingrained in our Orthodox tradition. This teaching of Jesus i...

John's Epistles: Love

In today’s episode, we briefly discussed the background of the three epistles of John and then focused on the reading appointed for his feast day. John’s epistles may ...

The Trinity as Community

Today we discussed Jesus' baptism and the presence of the Trinity. Fr Aaron explained how an important aspect of the Trinity for us to highlight in the community withi...

The Gospel of John

Today’s episode focused primarily on how John’s Gospel differs from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke). We stressed that the key difference is that John move...

Honor and Responsibility in Scripture

Today we focused on the urgency of accepting and living the Gospel message as emphasized in the epistle to the Hebrews. Further, we highlighted how in the Bible, one i...

Why Does Jesus Teach in Parables?

This is our final week of re-posting some prior episodes before returning to new content. Today we examined the role of parables in Scripture. We began by stressing th...

The Meaning of Fasting

For the next two weeks we will be re-posting some prior episodes before returning to new content. Today, we discuss the tradition of fasting, dating back to pre-Christ...

Talk Is Cheap

For the next three weeks we will be re-posting some prior episodes before returning to new content. Today, we are re-posting Episode 45, in which we discussed the sign...

Become Like Children

To highlight the significance of Jesus telling His disciples to become like little children, we discussed the role of children in the Roman Empire of Jesus’ time. Chil...

Let Him Who Thinks He Stands Take Heed Lest He Fall

In discussing Paul's admonition "Let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall," Fr Aaron pointed out the subtle, yet important, use of the Greek word "stasis" in...

Judging Others & The Roman Household

Today’s episode began with an explanation of how Paul sets up various metaphors to help make his point by using Jewish biblical teaching and well-known Roman concepts ...

Overturning of Roe v. Wade

For today's episode, we are sharing Fr Aaron's sermon from June 26, 2022, the Sunday following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Fr Aaron encourages Christians to unders...

Spiritual Gifts Being Used With Love

We began today by addressing the division among members of the church in Corinth. We then moved to where Paul speaks about spiritual gifts and emphasized that these gi...

Do Not Be Anxious - Dealing with Anxiety & Anxiety Disorders

Today’s reading led us into a discussion about anxiety in general, as well as anxiety disorders. Fr Aaron shared with us his own story of dealing with an anxiety disor...

Give Expecting No Return & Love Your Enemies

Today we discussed some practical implications of Jesus’ teaching to give and lend without expecting anything in return. We began by discussing the meaning of financia...

Paul at the Areopagus

Today we discussed Paul's defense of his faith at the Areopagus. We highlighted the radical nature of Paul's teaching, one that was at first both foreign and "foolish"...

Acts 15 and the Old Testament

Today, in discussing the decisions made at the "Council of Jerusalem" in Acts 15, we highlighted the importance of the Old Testament to the early Christian community. ...

The Reception of Communion & Biblical Teaching

Today we discuss Jesus talking about being "the bread of life" and instructing His disciples to "eat [His] flesh." We tried to discern what Jesus means by looking back...

The Funeral Gospel and the Judgment

Today’s discussion revolved around the passage from John 5 that is read at every Orthodox Christian funeral service, which distinguishes between those "who have done g...

Paul's Warning to the Corinthians

During Lent we will be re-running some of our most popular episodes. This week is a re-run of Week 53, in which we discussed the context of the Epistles to the Corinth...

Justification Is Just the Beginning

During Lent we will be re-running some of our most popular episodes. This week is a re-run of Week 51, in which we discuss what it means to be “justified.” Fr Aaron ex...

Homily on Ukraine & Russia

This week we are sharing Fr Aaron's homily on the current war in Ukraine. Fr Aaron focuses on how we can often overlook or demonize those we see as enemies and invites...

In The Beginning Was The Word

During Lent we will be re-running some of our most popular episodes. This week is a re-run of Week 28, in which we discuss why John 1 is read at Pascha rather than an ...

Why Does Jesus Teach In Parables?

During Lent we will be re-running some of our most popular episodes. This week is a re-run of Week 49, in which we examined the role of parables in Scripture. We began...

Copyright © 2020 The Ephesus School