Great place, great money, great fuss. And also peace, millions of unbelievers and many sorrows. How can Christians preserve their faith in a metropolis? How can one become deprived of faith and faithfulness to Christ in the current minds of men?
Let us ask today's Christian women, residents of great places, what evidence they have. We provided food for active Orthodox Christian women, such as theological catechist courses, weekly school participants, and their children and friends. And we isolated extraordinary species. To preserve the faith, it is necessary to protect it, avoid timidity, be regularly in church, be the mother of Christian friends, serve in the church and community, be kind, and preserve purity. And also be careful with TV, social media and music.
Well, let’s listen to their lines.
Take the faith and pass it on to others
Anna, a young Christian: “I see in the great place only great opportunities for learning and preserving the faith.”
“For me, preserving faith means supporting it, not lacking it, developing it,” respects N. “Faith is guilty of being tsikava, we cannot allow tediousness in this concept. It is necessary to constantly live up to new knowledge and conversations on the topic of faith.”
Knowing you can be involved in your spiritual life: “I started, for the first time, I seriously and knowingly took communion,” like Lyudmila, “of the priest’s regular lectures for the young.”
Lyubov, a trained lawyer who works at the Military Academy, which oversees the Orthodox Scouts of Ukraine, shared: “I take care of children and toddlers. The stink of our future. I try my best to pass on the fundamentals of the Christian faith to children and young people. This is how faith is transmitted from the Great Place to other souls.”
The faith of the great place is called missionary active, it is necessary, if possible, to convey to others those who know about the faith.
“A friend of mine, perhaps Marianna, is non-Orthodox, lives in Los Angeles, she said that she begins to believe in God after I tell her the lectures of the priests.”
What does the term mean?
The term "Christian" comes from the word " Christ"
", which means "
anointed one
."
This is the Greek version of the Hebrew "mashiach" - " Messiah
".
This is how the coming King was called in ancient Israel
.
And from one day the One appeared who declared himself as such in its entirety. It was Jesus of Nazareth.
After His execution and miraculous resurrection
followers began to be called Christians.
Christian believes in Jesus Christ
as
Lord
and
Savior
.
This is a student living according to the commandments of his Teacher
.
How to put stress on a word correctly
In the word "Christian" the stress is on the last syllable.
The meaning of the word "Orthodoxy"
“Orthodoxy” means “to think correctly” (in Greek “orthodoxy”). This concept arose in the 4th century and denotes a creed in which there are four important provisions:
- the nature of God
is
Trinity
; - in Christ the fullness of divinity and human nature is revealed at the same time;
- Jesus rose from the dead and everyone who believes in Him will rise to eternal life;
- Christ founded the Church
- a community of believers, and in order to be saved, you must be part of it.
Most Orthodox Christians are baptized
in infancy, they participate in church
sacraments
, attend
divine services
and celebrate
holidays
according to
the church calendar
.
The first Christians
Followers of Jesus came up with this name for themselves back in the 1st century. This happened in the city of Antioch.
“For a whole year they gathered in church and taught a considerable number of people, and the disciples in Antioch for the first time began to be called Christians” (Acts 11:26).
“Agrippa said to Paul: You are not convincing me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28).
Christian communities were formed from the apostles and those who were inspired by their fearless preaching. Believers gathered in secret from the authorities, because in the Roman Empire of that time following Christ was punishable by death.
Interesting fact
Most of
the martyrs
and
confessors
of the Church appeared in the first centuries.
Temple and spiritual friendship
There are a lot of temples in the area, and there are often monasteries. Therefore, it is possible to choose to your heart’s content. Today is the time to serve the Liturgy. At churches there are people of different ages, here there is an opportunity to meet spiritual friends, brothers and sisters.
Larisa respects: “I drink yakomog more often than when I’m in church. I will always run to our church as to the ritual island of our life.”
Lyudmila confesses: “When I left the house, I spent the whole hour wondering about what was going on, and all the love and joy. When I realized that I had found these treasures at the temple, I began to pray: “Lord, whether I want or not, save me and don’t let me go.”
It also helps to preserve the faith of one-minded people. Nutrition according to Scripture, spiritual life can be discussed with brothers and sisters. The Lord Himself will change the composition, we only need to want it. “I decided to get tired of sleeping with people who were different in spirit,” like Irina, “and like-minded, like-minded people began to come into my life.”
Olga, a believer, shared that it is important for one in the homeland to preserve the faith: ridicule and criticism from unbelieving relatives can extinguish the faith. Needful friends according to faith. “If you know that you are not alone, faith is important, if you have the trust of someone who supports you, with whom you can talk about heaven, share thoughts and know that they will not criticize you for it and call you “old.”
Another Christian woman writes: “It’s important to mother the people you know and have friends at the church! Last year I was even more comfortable with it. I really wanted to talk to him about the Church, about God, about faith. It greedily tormented and soaked up all the juices. Whose family gave me wonderful, believing people? I think I went to the youth program, to our courses (I wanted to join the river), to the church choir. And those who have been in this community this past day even help to preserve faith in our gallant Odessa.”
You must be respectful to others - and then you will find conflicting souls.
What is prayer for Christians and which is the main one?
Prayerful communication with God is a sincere, not for show, conversation with the Lord.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites
who love to stop and pray in synagogues and on street corners in order to appear before people. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:5-6).
The main Christian prayer
can be considered the one that the Son of God Himself taught:
“Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
"(Matt. 6:9-13).
Spilling with a priest
Through marvelous paths God bestows faith. Lyudmila, already an adult, came to church: “Sorrow and illness help save the faith. When a person falls ill, my life slows down. The greatness of the hopelessness faded away for me. I went to the temple. Nazustrich is a chergovy priest. So you see that he was checking for me. We are in love with such joy and turbochargedness. We sat down on the bench. I felt so warm and light at heart... I realized that I was not in trouble. I already clearly sensed the presence of God, His love and His love for me.”
Fasts and holidays
The life of an Orthodox believer is ordered in accordance with the church calendar - an annual cycle of fasting
and holidays.
Fasting is a period of time in which believers abstain from pleasures, humble themselves with simple food and abstinence from entertainment, in order to cleanse their souls.
and
body
to adequately meet the joyful event.
The Orthodox calendar has 4 posts:
- Great
- precedes the radiant
Easter
; - Petro
in -
asceticism
, anticipating the memory of the supreme apostles Peter and Paul; - Assumption
- ends the summer and church year before the Feast of
the Virgin Mary
; - Rozhdestvensky
- abstinence preceding the solemn birth
of the Son of God
.
In addition, there are retreats
during the week (Wednesday and Friday), as well as the custom of observing asceticism before communion.
All church holidays have a liturgical
meaning and represent the remembrance of a certain event in sacred history at a worship service.
Interesting fact
Easter is considered the greatest and most solemn holiday in the Orthodox Church.
Doubts and true faith
The modern faith is popularized as a spiritual bond with God, and it is a treasure that no one can bear. People need to try. A Christian woman of the 21st century explained the importance of doubt in the faith and the faith itself: “Realize that on the sea a great ship and a lot of passengers have never bothered the captain. It seems like: “there’s no captain at all.” And others continue: “We can’t sail the ship by ourselves, the captain is to blame.” Everything is not sung. Only the passenger who has especially gotten to know the captain and talked with him knows everything for sure and has no doubts.”
How many Christians are there in the world, in Russia, and how many of them are Orthodox?
Christianity is the largest world religion - about 34% of the world's population.
Christianity is not homogeneous, it consists of large denominations
and small religious groups. The three main branches of Christianity are the most powerful:
- Catholics
- more than 1 billion followers; - Protestants - ok. 800 million people;
- Orthodox – almost 300 million believers.
What is the status of Orthodox Christians in Russia?
Official (canonical) Orthodoxy in Russia is represented by the Russian Orthodox Church
. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the Russian Orthodox Church has state registration and operates in accordance with the legislation of the country.
How to know the faith
On how to know the faith, a student of catechism courses said: “Actually unbelieving people say: “I want to believe in God, but I don’t know how.” Saint Silouan of Athos often prays to such people with these words: “Lord, because You are, reveal yourself to me, and I will serve You in all my lives.” And for such a humble prayer, God will surely give you faith.”
The guardian of the faith is the Holy Church. She prepared this wealth for us, and we cried out to draw faith from her treasures. Having experienced the Orthodox women of our time, you begin to understand to what extent God swears about every one of us. Yak is worried. How I lead souls.
There is a need to become more involved with people who believe, to work harder for the glory of God, and to recognize the honor of the Church. Regardless of what you do, prayer, practice, participation in the Sacraments - all that will help you preserve your faith.
Priest Andrey Gavrilenko
The main book for Christians and what is their relationship to the Old Testament
Christians consider the Bible
to be Holy Scripture
.
It consists of the books of the Old
and
New Testaments
.
The New Testament tells the Gospel story of Christmas
before
the Ascension
and describes the birth of the Church.
The Old Testament is an account of the human fall
and the preparation for the coming of the Savior into this world among the chosen Jewish people.
Ancient books are filled with vivid prophecies
about Christ, which Jesus himself quoted.
One of the most famous books of the Old Testament is the Psalter
, consisting of prayers and hymns that represent an example of high religious poetry.
The psalms
are read in whole or in fragments during Orthodox services.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. Let the man of God be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
If in the time of the apostles Paul meant the books of the Old Testament, today his words about the divine origin of Scripture refer to the Bible in its entirety.
What should a follower of Christ be like?
Reverend
Anastasius Sinait notes that a true follower of Christ believes correctly and acts correctly:
“A true Christian is a reasonable house of Christ, consisting of good
deeds and correct teachings” (“On Definitions,” XI).
Symbol of faith
, which is sung by the Orthodox during every Divine Liturgy, fully reflects the entire essence of Christian
doctrine
.
As for practice, Christians live in accordance with the commandments that were voiced by the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount, developed in the apostolic epistles and the writings of the holy fathers
.
Sayings of the Holy Fathers about the purpose of Christian life
Discussing the transience of earthly life, the holy fathers often drew the attention of Christians to the correct setting of a goal, which must be achieved during all the days allotted to a person on earth.
Venerable Anthony the Great said:
“The purpose of life is man’s ascent to godlikeness
«.
The spiritual ideal of a Christian is the Son of God, the Divine Word incarnate on earth. Becoming like Christ takes a long, life-long journey.
Saint
Isaac the Syrian outlined three stages of the believer’s transformation in the earthly vale:
- the path begins with repentance;
- continues with cleansing of passions;
- admires the acquisition
of perfect love for God and man.
It is impossible to perfect a person without grace
help from above:
“When He, the Spirit
of truth
, comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
St. Seraphim of Sarov revealed the essence of all religious practice in this way:
“The true goal of Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. Fasting, prayer, almsgiving and every good thing done for the sake of Christ are means for achieving holiness, for acquiring the Holy Spirit of God.”
Notes[ | ]
- A new linguistic and exegetical key to the Greek text of the New Testament / Cleon L. Rogers, Jr., Cleon L. Rogers III. - St. Petersburg: Bible for everyone, 2001. - P. 425. - 1008 p. — 3000 copies. — ISBN 5-7454-0545-7.
- Jesus of history, Christ of faith
by Thomas Zanzig 2000 ISBN 0-88489-530-0 page 314 - Etymology Online: "messiah" (undefined)
. etymonline.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010. Archived February 3, 2012. - The Greek New Testament / Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini and Bruce M. Metzger. - Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1998. - P. 451. - 918 p. — ISBN 3-438-05110-9.
- First_conciliar_epistle_of_the_apostle_Peter s: First_conciliar_epistle of the_holy_apostle_Peter #4:16
- Tacitus, Annals 15:44
- Latin text 15:44
- Catholic Catechism
- St. Gregory of Nyssa. To Armonius. What does the name and title “Christian” mean?
- Orthodox Catechism
- Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov
- Deacon Andrey Kuraev
- B. Dr. Luther's Catechism (undefined)
(unavailable link). Date accessed: February 12, 2013. Archived September 16, 2021. - Dr. Luther's Shorter Catechism (undefined)
(unavailable link). Access date: February 12, 2013. Archived May 15, 2013. - Religion of the SDA Church
- Christian Church (undefined)
(inaccessible link). Date accessed: February 12, 2013. Archived November 14, 2021. - Pentecostal Church
- ECB Church
- How do we understand Jesus' words in Luke 14:26? (undefined)
.
Bible Discussion Club
. - Khaled Ahmed, Pakistan Daily Times.
- Sociologists have calculated the number of believers: a third of the world's population are Christians, a quarter are Muslims (Russian). "Mirror of the week. Ukraine" (December 23, 2012). Retrieved April 27, 2013. Archived April 30, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 Todd M. Johnson.
[https://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/Connections_Apr_2006SevenSignposts.pdf Seven Signposts of Hope and Challenge in Global Christianity] (inaccessible link). Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (April 2006). Access date: August 29, 2013. Archived September 7, 2015.
Why are icons sacred?
Images of the Trinity, Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints and angels
are revered by Christians as images of the transcendental and unearthly reality into which the human soul strives (in Greek, “
icon
” means “image”).
The icon is a window to the Heavenly Kingdom
. Prayer before an image implies an appeal to the prototype, the spiritual nature of which is expressed by the image.
Veneration of an icon means an attitude of respect and love towards those to whom we address ourselves in prayer:
“For the more often they are visible through the image on icons, the more those who look at them are encouraged to remember the prototypes themselves and to love them and to honor them with kisses and reverent worship, not that true service according to our faith
nature
alone , but by veneration according to the same model as it is given to the image of the honest and life-giving
Cross
and the Holy Gospel and other shrines,
with incense
and the lighting of candles, as was done according to pious custom and by the ancients.
For the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype, and he who worships the icon worships the hypostasis of the person depicted on it” (from the definition of the VII Ecumenical Council
).
