preacher Archives · Preachers Institute

6 Must-Have Qualities You Should Find in Any Good Preacher

by Ben Mandrell

You probably have noticed that preachers come in all shapes and sizes. There are big, gregarious, sweaty-foreheaded preachers. There are short, slim, soft-spoken preachers. There are creative preachers who always have a slick gadget or a clever object of illustration. There are King James preachers who love “thees” and “thous” of Thy Holy Word.

So what makes a faithful preacher? Because God has called preachers to be faithful rather than successful, how can we be sure we are staying true to the call? Here are a few biblical criteria to keep us on track:

1. The preacher should give people a bigger picture of God.

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:5).

Ultimately, people need to be told repeatedly that the God of Scripture is bigger than all of our earthly problems. While preachers are wise to speak about complex issues of the culture, the need for people on Sunday morning is actually quite simple: Their minds need to be re-programmed to the idea that God is in control, that He loves them immensely and that nothing is impossible for Him. How quickly we forget these truths!

With the constant barrage of media messages, the average person struggles to maintain a biblical perspective about life. Our world drifts off kilter fast, but the preacher has a powerful role in bringing the listener back to the center while proclaiming the unchanging gospel.

2. The preacher should train people to turn to the Bible when problems arise.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The question I must answer as a pastor every Monday morning is,

“Are people being pointed to the Word when work dries up, the child is diagnosed, or when in-laws sabotage a vacation?”

The Bible is able to meet all of their needs; a pastor is not. As the preacher brings forth the Word week after week, people increasingly should be convinced that “all Scripture is God-breathed” and that His Word is able to equip them for every good work.

3. The preacher should show people how to read, study and handle the Bible for themselves.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

The Bible is a very difficult book to read. Let’s face it, we find it easier to read a New York Times’ bestseller than Leviticus or Amos. A keen understanding of Scripture requires a certain level of skill and a special illumination of the Spirit. In corporate worship, the preacher should challenge people to cry out to God for the wisdom that flows from Isaiah, Deuteronomy and Revelation.

In addition, the preacher should demonstrate how God has penetrated his own heart with the truths he presents. His interpretation not only has been defended in the sermon, but it has been digested. The congregation sees this Word after it has been made flesh, and this heightens their interest, as well as his credibility. He handles the Word with precision.

4. The preacher should teach all parts of the Bible and show how unique and wonderful each section truly is.

“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:20, 27).

Personally, I could camp out in James for a decade. I love that book. It is short, fast-paced and practical for everyday life. However, the Book of Malachi was inspired by God, too, and was placed in the Bible because it contains essential truth for spiritual growth.

The preacher should deliver a well-rounded meal throughout the calendar year and proclaim all parts of the Bible, not just his or her particular bread-and-butter passages. The best preachers make themselves servants of the Word and handle it all with reverence.

5. The preacher should challenge people to own the truth by responding to the message.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22-27).

What good is knowledge if it does not lead to life change? Every person who went to school can recall a particular math or science lecture that left students wondering, “What good will that do me?” Unlike that moment, church attendees should leave on Sunday knowing the message they just heard demands a real and practical response.

That reaction will vary from person to person and might include an inward decision to trust God with this week’s electric bill; it might be an act of humility demonstrated through a heartfelt apology; or it might be an act of generosity as one writes a check to a specific ministry. There must be some reaction when the Word is preached. Faithful preachers do not hesitate to bring the challenge.

6. The preacher should prove that the Bible is ancient yet it speaks to us today.

“Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day. …They are not just idle words for you—they are your life” (Deut. 32:46-47).

Flip through the Bible for five minutes, and you will find this book contains all kinds of bizarre history. There are golden cows, weird temple furnishings, and visions of wheels in the sky. The preacher must do more than prove he or she has studied all week. The preacher must show how this study of history impacts the present and the future.

It was Harry Emerson Fosdick who declared,

“Only the preacher proceeds still upon the idea that folks come to church desperately anxious to discover what happened to the Jebusites.”

That is so true! Pastors must work hard at the task of application and contextualization. What does this passage have to do with his or her life on Monday? Effective preachers answer that question carefully. The bottom line is that just because you appear on television or have your face pasted on a billboard does not mean you are an effective, faithful preacher of the Word. Pastor, be true to your call and be sure you are fulfilling your God-given role as proclaimer of the Word.

Source

4 Types of Preachers: Which Style Are You?

by Lawrence Wilson

Saw this on the blog Lawrence W. Wilson – Suburban Pastor and thought it very worthy of republishing. Thanks to Pastor Wilson for giving me permission to share it with you.

Preaching has been the central element in most Protestant worship services for over 500 years. It’s the main thing pastors do, in terms of time consumption. Yet remarkably few pastors have a strong sense of identity as a preacher.

Not every pastor approaches the task of preaching in the same way. There are at least four distinct approaches to the pulpit.

Though there are many sermon forms, most preachers fall into one of these four categories, each with a different answer to the question

“What are you trying to accomplish in the pulpit?”

The Homiletician

Generally, liturgical churches reserve less time in their worship and a less exalted place for the sermon (that belongs to the Eucharist). The pastor is never referred to as “the preacher” but is called a “priest.” Preachers in these traditions sometimes spend less time and energy on their sermons because they do not see it as the main thing they do. They are more like meditations or devotionals on the text, usually the Gospel text. A homiletician asks you to feel.

The Sermonic Essayist

Preachers in mainline denominations often take an intellectual approach to the sermon. Their sermons are really well-crafted essays based on the biblical text. The preacher usually reads the sermon without any attempt to cover up what he or she is doing, just like an academic reading at a university. While some Bible teachers and exhorters post their sermons online in audio or video form, essayists usually post their messages in manuscript form, complete with footnotes. An essayist asks you to think.

The Bible Teacher

Fundamentalist churches—I’m using that term as broadly as possible here—view the sermon as a Bible lesson. The pastor considers himself to be an “expositor” of the Bible or a “teacher.” Generally, the sermon is an exegetical essay, running commentary on the text with some insights for application. Chuck Swindoll may be today’s best known Bible teacher-preacher. A teacher wants you to understand.

The Exhorter

This is the type of preaching I was raised on. It’s popular in Pentecostal churches, holiness churches, and some others. The pastor is generally called “the preacher” and the sermon is the centerpiece of the worship service. In fact, we used to have two services in one. The first part of the service was called “the song service,” and the second part was called “the preaching service.” This type of preaching is a highly animated discourse based on the Scriptures that urges people to make some life change. An exhortation is typically followed by an altar call or some other response mechanism. Exhorting preachers always “preach for a decision.” An exhorter wants you to act.

Homileticians and Bible teachers are more likely to stick closely to the text, basing their sermon, even deriving their outline, from the structure of that single passage or even verse of the Bible. Essayists and exhorters are more likely to be free in their use of the Bible, drawing form “the whole story” to make their case.

Homileticians and Essayists are more likely to be found in liturgical or mainline churches (and preach shorter sermons), while Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Holiness preachers are usually either Bible teachers or exhorters (and preach longer sermons).

Bible teachers seem to thrive on the radio, exhorters make great televangelists, and essayists often post their sermon manuscripts on line or publish them in book form.

Preaching has changed over the years, and these categories are harder to define than they once were. For example, Rob Bell is a new version of the sermonic essayist, delivering well-crafted messages packed with thought.

Andy Stanley is the new version of a Bible teacher (whereas his father, Charles Stanley, is a straight-up Bible teacher). He sits at a table and “just talks,” but he’s teaching the Bible. Pete Wilson might be called the new version of exhorter. Underneath the cool clothes and the video introduction is a call for change—with a direct invitation to do it.

My own preaching has been shaped by three factors:

(1) my upbringing under some of the best old-school exhortative preaching ever from my Dad, Norman G. Wilson,

(2) my indoctrination into expository preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and

(3) my own temperament and personality, which leans heavily toward the sermonic essay.

The result? Other may judge more accurately, but I’d call myself a new-style exhorter or “exhortation light.”

What about you? What type of preaching do you prefer?

What kind of preacher are you?

Source

The Person Of The Preacher

by Humbert of Romans

Chapter Two

XI. The Person of the Preacher

The qualities requisite for a preacher in regard to his person are first of all, that he be of the male sex, for St. Paul

“does not want women to be permitted to speak” (I Tim. 2:12).

He gives four reasons for this: Firstly, a lack of intelligence, for in this woman is thought to be inferior to man; secondly, her natural state of dependency (the preacher should not occupy an inferior place); thirdly, the concupiscence which her very presence may arouse; fourthly, the remembrance of her first error, which led Bernard to say,

“She spoke but once and threw the world into disorder.”

Next the preacher must not have an exterior deformity which is offensive to the sight, for as the Lord, in the old law, rejected as ministers those who were deformed, so, too, the Church excludes them from solemn functions because of the derision they might engender and which would scandalize the people.

The preacher must also have sufficient strength for long hours of study, for the expenditure of voice necessary in preaching, for the fatigues of travel, and to put up with the lack of even the necessities of life. For so the Apostles inured themselves to suffering that they might announce the holy word.

They must also be of a suitable age.

The Redeemer, says St. Gregory, although in heaven He had the omnipotence of the Creator, and was the teacher of the Angels, yet He did not begin His mission of teaching until He was thirty years old. This He did in order to inspire the over eager with a healthy caution, showing them how He Who was sinless did not preaching the perfect life until He had reached the perfection of maturity.

The preacher must also be superior to others in his state of life, in literature, in religion, and in other things, unless he only preaches occasionally and that before the learned, in order to exercise his art. From this it follows that the layman, occupying the last place, has not the quality for preaching.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and that preacheth peace” (Isaiah 52:7).

That is to say that the preacher ought to have a certain pre-eminence. And finally, he must not be an object of men’s scorn, lest this scorn fall on his preaching.

“He,” St. Gregory says, “whose life merits blame, must expect scorn for his word.”

Of The Merit Of The Preacher

White_Dove_Miracle — A white dove perches on an Orthodox priest during a visit of the Patriarch of Constantinople

Chapter Two

X. Of the Merit of the Preacher

Let us observe here that besides the merit attached to every good work, the preacher acquires a considerable increase of merit by acquitting himself worthily in his ministry; for it is written in St. Matthew:

“Whoever carries them (the commandments) out and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19).

But this merit may be lessened or even destroyed by diverse ways: firstly, when a person, for example, preaches without having received a mission for it.

“And how are men to preach,” St. Paul asks, “unless they be sent?” (Rom. 10:15.)

Secondly, when the preacher is a notorious sinner.

“To the sinner God hath said,” and especially to the public sinner, “why dost thou declare my justices and take my covenant in thy mouth?” (Ps 49:16.)

Thirdly, if for any motive whatsoever the preacher swerves from the truth in his speech like those whom Ezekiel censured:

“And they violated me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread to kill souls which should not die and to same sols alive which should not live, telling lies to my people who believe lies” (Ezek. 13:19).

“It is worth far more,” St. Augustine says, “to be less understandable, less pleasing, less moving, than to say what is not true and what is not just.”

Fourthly, when the preacher does not practice what he preaches, and his works are not in accord with his words; for he who exhorts others to lead a good life is obliged to set the example, as the gloss observes of these words from the Book of Proverbs:

“Let not mercy and truth leave. Put them around they neck” (Prov. 3:3).

St. Paul speaks likewise in his Epistle to the Romans:

“Thou therefore who teachest another, dost thou not teach thyself? Thou who preachest that men should not steal, dost thou steal?” (Rom 2:21.)

Fifthly, when the preacher prefers his own material gain rather than the spiritual profit of his hearers, contrary to the practice of the Apostle who did not seek presents or material goods for himself, but desired only as the fruit of his labor, the souls of those whom he preached to.

“Virtuous preachers do not preach,” St. Gregory says, “In order to gain a living, but it is because they preach that they have a right to a livelihood; and when they receive the necessities of life from their hearers, they rejoice in the reward assured to the giver rather than in any personal benefit they themselves receive.”

Sixthly, when the preacher seeks his own interests and not God’s, preaching not Jesus Christ but himself, contrary to the teaching of St. Paul. To preach thus, St. Gregory says, for the sake of short-lived praise is to exchange the most precious of treasures for a bauble.

Seventhly, when the preacher intends to humiliate his audience rather than show them the good that he wishes them.

“Some indeed,” St. Paul says, “preach Christ even out of envy and contentiousness, but some also out of good will” (Phil. 1:15).

Or when by the harshness of his words, he gives scandal; for

“a placable tongue is a tree of life,” heavy with good fruit, “but that which is immoderate shall crush the spirit” of those who hear it (Prov. 15:4).

Eighthly, when, through lack of discernment, the preacher is so opposed to one disorder that he occasions the contrary disorder. He must preach, St. Gregory says, humility to the proud without awaking in the timid a pusillanimous fear; the desirability of goods to the lazy without arousing undue desires in the dissipated; calm to those who are overly active without condoning the torpor of the inactive; patience to the hotheaded without encouraging the carelessness of men already thoughtless and lax; zeal to those who are gently and patient without provoking the violent to anger; generosity to the avaricious without loosening the reins of the spendthrifts; reason in the lavishness of the extravagant without inspiring in the thrifty an excessive attachment to the goods of the earth; the esteem of their conjugal duty to the married without having the married disregard the object of marriage. In a word, he must preach good works, without seeming to sanction the contrary vices; praise the perfect without discouraging the less perfect, and encourage the latter to advance in virtue and not to be satisfied with their present imperfect state.

Ninthly, when the preacher does not prepare himself by works of penance. Is it not shameful and ignominious, says St. Jerome, to preach Jesus, model of the poor and hungry, with a body stuffed with food? To teach the law of fast with an exquisite manner of living, and a mouth gorged with food? If we are successors of the Apostles, let us not content ourselves with imitating their discourse, but let us also imitate their life and their abstinence.

Tenthly, when the preacher is not inspired with charity:

“In vain,” St. Paul says, “do I speak with the tongues of men and angels, if I do not have charity” (I Cor. 13:1).

In fact, such a preacher, even if he were useful to others, would be fatal to himself.

To sum up, in order that preaching be of profit to the preacher as well as to his listeners, it is necessary that he does not preach unless he has a mission for preaching; that he be not in a state of open sin, or depart from the truth, or contradict his words with his deeds, or seek temporal rather than spiritual goods, or work for his own interests and not for the glory of God; or discourage or scandalize his listener, or provoke him to sin; or neglect works of penance, or not have charity as his motive for preaching.

This is an excerpt from the Preachers Institute publication:

On the Formation of Preachers

You can purchase the Ebook HERE, the Kindle version HERE

The Agreeableness of Preaching in the Eyes of God

by Humbert of Romans

CHAPTER ONE

III. Its Agreeableness in the Eyes of God

To understand how much the office of preachers is pleasing to God, it is necessary to note that their discourses are like hymns. Nehemiah reports that

“the singers entered upon the possession of their cities” (II Esdras 7:73)

on their return from the Babylonian captivity, and the gloss explains that these singers where those who preached with harmonious and persuasive voices the sweetness of the celestial home. This singing is as pleasing to God as is the playing of musicians to the ears of princes who summon them to their palaces to entertain. And it is to His subject and spouse, the Church, that the Sacred Spouse addresses this invitation:

“Let thy voice sound in my ears, for thy voice is sweet” (Song. 11:14),

or in other words as the gloss says: “I wish to hear you preach, for that is very pleasing to me.”

Again, it can be said of preachers that they are the hunters whom Jeremiah had in mind when he said:

“I shall send them many hunters and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of rocks” (Jer. 16:16).

And rightly do the commentators interpret the words of the sacred text; for preachers, like keen huntsmen, seek sinners of all kinds, souls yet untamed which they wish to offer as a banquet to the Lord. He is as pleased to see this prize on His table as the noblemen of the earth are with a tasty venison. Do we not read in Genesis that Isaac ate with pleasure the kill of Esau? (Gen 25:28.)

The pleasure that God takes in this hunt for souls is such that He prompts preachers to devote themselves to it, speaking to them as Isaac spoke to his son:

“Take thy weapons, thy quiver and bow, and go abroad; and when thou has taken something by hunting, make me savory meat thereof, that I man eat: and my soul may bless they before God” (Gen 27:3-4).

Notice again that it is precisely from zeal for souls that preaching comes; that is why St. Paul, that great preacher, declared to the Corinthians that for the welfare of their souls he felt himself

“urged with a divine emulation” (II Cor. 11:3-4),

that is, with a vehement zeal. St. Augustine teaches that no sacrifice is accepted by God as much as zeal for the salvation of souls. If, then, the sacrifice of animals was so pleasing to Him in ancient times, as is written of Noah’s sacrifice:

“He breathed its odor as that of the sweetest of perfumes” (Gen. 8:21),

how much more pleasing should be the offering of souls presented to Him by preachers!

Preachers are also called soldiers of Christ, as St. Paul wrote to Timothy:

“Conduct thyself in work as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 2:3),

and the gloss adds “by preaching.” For them, to preach is to fight, for they make war on the errors against faith and morals, which are opposed to the rule of their Sovereign. In this “they are prefigured,” says the gloss, by Dositheus and Sosipater who with Maccabaeus were leaders of the army of God’s people (II Maccabees 7:19). In fact, their zeal, like that of the Maccabees, transformed them into valiant soldiers, capable of doing battle with the agents of error, and worth of having applied to them the words of the Psalms:

“The Lord is strong and powerful in battle” (Ps. 23:8).

By them is extended the domain of the divine King to whom they subject the people, even those who rebel against His yoke.

“The Arabs being overcome besought Judas for peace” (II Macc. 12:11),

which means, according to the gloss, that the infidel nations which were vanquished by the truth and the steadfastness of the holy preachers, consented to forswear their errors and embrace the Catholic faith, joining those who confess Christ. It is at the command of Christ that preachers, like faithful warriors, come and go according as they are commanded; and these words of Zachary can justly be applied to them:

“I will encompass my house with them that serve me in war, going and returning” (Zach. 9:8),

that is, as the gloss says, with those who according to my precept, traverse the world in every direction. It is this, indeed, that preachers do, men truly worth of being loved and who surely will be loved by their King. Faithful soldiers, they fight His enemies, subject the nations to Him and obey Him generously in all things! If an earthly monarch highly valued such a soldier as David, of whom it is written, that he made a good impression on Achis because he fought successfully in his army (I Kings 29), how much more will the King of heaven esteem the preachers who struggle so valiantly and so fruitfully for His glory?

Those who would please the might offer them, on certain anniversary days, whatever they know they like, such as first fruits of their orchard, delicate fish, and such. But the Lord of all things loves souls above all:

“O Lord who lovest souls” (Wisdom. 11:27).

This is the unique present which preachers offer to Him, and He receives with delight. That is why it is said in the psalms:

“After her shall virgins be brought to the king”;

these young girls represent the souls made innocent by repentance. After this the Psalmist adds:

“Her neighbors shall be brought to thee.”

This is, says the gloss, what preachers do, who, preaching in season and out of season, bring back souls to God

“with gladness and rejoicing” (Ps. 44:15-16);

for it is with the greatest joy in the Church and in heaven that this offering of souls is received.

Furthermore, according to St. Paul, the preacher is a legate sent by God to attend to sacred matters.

“For Him I am an ambassador” (Eph. 6:20), says St. Paul.

And as an ambassador who has faithfully acquitted himself of his commission earns the favor of his prince, so also the preacher who fills honorably his mission gives pleasure to God. And like a cold rain which comes at harvest time relieving the oppressive heat and refreshing the tired workers, so the faithful legate assures repose to the Prince who sent him.

Preachers are also compared to carpenters, stonecutters, masons and other workers of this kind, for they are charged with constructing in the hearts of men a house exceedingly pleasing to God Who said Himself:

“My delights were to be with the children of men” (Prov. 8:31).

Workers capable of erecting beautiful palaces are so much desired by princes that they are sought in the most distant countries. Thus in the legend about St. Thomas the Apostle it is recounted that for a similar reason the king of the Indies had him summoned from a very distant place to be his prime minister. Who can doubt that God Himself, seeing preachers eagerly preparing a pleasing abode for Him, takes great pleasure in viewing their activity?

Listen to the text of Job which the gloss applies to preachers.

“The children of merchants,” says he, “have not trodden this unexplored land” (Job 28:8).

Preachers are happier and more fearless than these merchants; they carry on their spiritual trade throughout the land, exchanging their wisdom for precious acts of faith and numerous good works. In this manner they win souls for God according to the example of St. Paul who, as he says himself, worked unceasingly

“to win a greater number of them” (I Cor. 9:21)

“by preaching,” adds the gloss. The Lord in His turn exhorts preachers when He says:

“Trade till I come” (Luke 19:15).

If material gain, of which the parable speaks, was worth of this high praise of the master to his servant:

“Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many; enter into the joy of thy master” (Matt. 25:21),

how much dearer to God ought to be that business in which He wins spiritual treasures which are souls?

Finally, preachers are the best ministers of God. This is why the Apostles wanted to reserve preaching to themselves. They said,

“We will devote ourselves to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).

For, of all the offices whose object is the service of God, none requires so elevated a spirit as that of preaching; preachers ought

“to announce His works” (Ps. 63:10)

and consequently must have a knowledge of them. To do any job well there is nothing more necessary than intelligence.

“A wise servant,” says Proverbs, “Is acceptable to the king” (Prov. 14:35),

and from this we can conclude how pleasing the office of preaching is to God.

By summing up the preceding we shall understand the pleasure that God takes from holy preaching, which is a most beautiful song, a fruitful hunt, a very agreeable sacrifice, a courageous militia in the service of the prince, an offering which pleases the taste of the great, the faithful execution of a command confided to an ambassador, the construction of a royal palace, a business which increases a householder’s goods, and the wise service of a minister in behalf of his master. And this pleasure is enjoyed not only by the Divine Master, but also by all inhabitants of the heavenly court who, in union with Him, address to the preachers the invitation of the Canticle:

“Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken; make me hear thy voice” (Song 8:13).

These friends are, according to the gloss, the angels and the just who reign in heaven with God.

This is an excerpt from the Preachers Institute publication:

On the Formation of Preachers

You can purchase the Ebook HERE, the Kindle version HERE

and the Paperback by clicking the image above.

On The Lord’s Ascension II

by St. Leo the Great

Our father among the saints, Leo the Great was the bishop of Rome during difficult times. He was an eminent scholar of Scripture and rhetoric. During an invasion by Attila the Hun, St. Leo met him outside the gates of Rome. After some short words, to everyone’s surprise, Attila turned and left.

Three years later, during an invasion by Genseric the Vandal, St. Leo’s intercession again saved the Eternal City from destruction.

The Ascension Completes Our Faith in Him, Who Was God As Well as Man.

The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily birth to the end of His Passion.

Continue reading On The Lord’s Ascension II

On The Lord’s Ascension I

by St. Leo the Great

Three years later, during an invasion by Genseric the Vandal, St. Leo’s intercession again saved the Eternal City from destruction.

I. The Events Recorded as Happening After the Resurrection Were Intended to Convince Its Truth.

Since the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Divine power in three days raised the true Temple of God, which the wickedness of the Jews had overthrown, the sacred forty days, dearly-beloved are to-day ended, which by most holy appointment were devoted to our most profitable instruction, so that, during the period that the Lord thus protracted the lingering of His bodily presence, our faith in the Resurrection might be fortified by needful proofs.

Continue reading On The Lord’s Ascension I

Sermon On Thomas Sunday

by St. John of Kronstadt

Our righteous father John of Kronstadt was an archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church. Born in 1829, from 1855, he served as a priest in St. Andrew’s cathedral in Kronstadt. Here, he greatly committed himself to charity, especially for those who were remote from the church, and traveled extensively throughout the Russian empire. He was already greatly venerated at the time he died. His feast days are commemorated on December 20 and October 19.

Christ is Risen!

Beloved brothers, so Bright Week has passed and taken with it our deeds to the throne of the Heavenly Master and Judge: there, brothers, there are our deeds now. I say this in order to frighten with the fear of the heavenly judgment those who unworthily, not Christian-like, spent the feast of the bright Resurrection of Christ and to comfort those who spent it with temperance and spiritual joy. Continue reading Sermon On Thomas Sunday