Fr. John shares from Revelation 2:18-29.

Fr. John Whiteford uses the passage from Luke 7 to remind us that God arranges everything according to His providence.

Fr. John Whiteford exhorts his listeners to keep strong in their faith in God, during every battle with the devil.

Fr. John Whiteford uses the polyeleos as an example of how Christians should worship.

Fr. John Whiteford uses the challenges of the past year to remind his congregation to focus on blessing the Lord through our words and actions.

In preparation for the coming Lenten period, Fr. John Whiteford encourages us to keep our spiritual fires burning strong.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses Passover and the importance of marking the doorposts of our hearts.

Fr. John Whiteford encourages his parishioners (and listeners) to prioritize the services of Holy Week, leading up to Pascha.

Fr. John Whiteford uses Acts, Chapter 2 to remind us of the reality of Pentacost.

Fr. John presents the first of a brief series of homilies on Psalm 67.

Fr. John Whiteford encourages us with the words of Psalm 26:1-6.

Fr. John Whiteford preaches about the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Fr. John Whiteford preaches from Isaiah 6:1-4.

Fr. John Whiteford preaches from John 18:38.

Fr. John Whiteford preaches from Luke 23:32-43.

Fr. John reflects on the beheading of St. John the Baptist in light of current events.

Fr. John Whiteford preaches from the story of Hosea in which God calls his unfaithful people to repentance. (Hosea 14)

Fr. John Whiteford shares about the healing power of Christ through the story of the woman who had an issue of blood. (Luke 8:41-56)

Fr. John Whiteford calls us to a lifestyle of thanksgiving to God. (Psalm 94)

Fr. John Whiteford helps us understand how to discern God's will for our life.

Fr. John Whiteford reminds us of the importance of forgiveness for our life in Christ. (Colossians 3:1-17)

Fr. John Whiteford preaches on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Archpriest Geoffrey Korz explains the historical practice of paganism and its resurgence today. (John 9:1-38)

St. John Whiteford shares the story of St. Paisius Velichkovsy.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses Israel through the lens of Romans 11:1-5,16-29.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from March 10, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from May 26, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from September 15, 2024.

From the outside, the practice of Orthodoxy seems rigid, complicated and intimidating. In this episode, Angela explores how Orthodoxy cannot be fully understood until it is fully experienced. Like a spiritual Tardis, it’s bigger on the inside.

In this episode of The Wilderness Journal Angela continues her conversation with Summer Kinard, Jamey Bennett and Geoff Thompson about things we wish we had known about Orthodoxy before entering into the faith, including talk of Spiritual Fathers and people made of cheese.

It’s often intimidating to walk into a new space filled with strangers. It’s hard to be the stranger but it’s also sometimes intimidating to be the one charged with welcoming the stranger. How does “coffee hour” or “fellowship” after Liturgy remind us, as William Butler Yeats wrote, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”

We hear it all the time - God loves you - but our modern world has so lost the depth and beauty of God's love, we are in danger of emptying this profound truth of its powerful meaning. Today we look at a familiar passage of scripture with new eyes, with God's eyes, and what we discover is life changing!

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus confronts us today about a real change in the way we think. Only the courageous will comply!

What a very familiar passage is this passage about a sower planting seed! We've heard this message forever, but I wonder, do we know how to cultivate "god soil" in our lives so that the seed of the Word of God will grow within us?

So, why, on the Sunday before Christmas, does the Church call us to read this lineage of Jesus? Because there's an irreplaceable power to community memory. And more so for we moderns who have sacrificed our attention span for entertainment!

Jesus promised His disciples that He would transform them from fishermen to "Fishers of men." How does that apply to us today as Orthodox Christians? In fact, why are you Orthodox?

The word "impossible" is thrown around a lot, but the technological advances in our lifetimes would look like magic to previous generations. I wonder what will be commonplace tomorrow that we call "impossible" today? Both our Epistle Lesson and our Gospel lesson use words like "possible" and "impossible" on this Sunday of St. John Climacus. And the whole point is to drive home the truth that it IS NOT impossible for you to become like Christ, especially when you have His Grace and Power assisting you up the "ladder of Divine Ascent!"

On the second Sunday of Great Lent the Church focuses our thoughts on the paralyzed man whose four friends tore a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was and let their friend down before the Lord so that he could be healed. Everyone, including the paralyzed man, was surprised when Jesus said his sins were forgiven when they expected the Lord to heal his physical paralysis. It turns out the Lord wanted to heal both his spiritual AND physical illnesses. And the Lord wants to do the same for us, if we have the faith!

On this Forgiveness Sunday, the Church draws our attention to a passage in Matthew's Gospel that offers us a Warning, some Wisdom, and the Way! Entering Great Lent without these insights will hamper your ability to truly celebrate the Resurrection. Suffice it to say it has everything to do with being forgiven and extending forgiveness!

Every year before Great Lent we hear the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. But each year we should. All because it is so easy to allow the Power, Purpose, and Perspective of Great Lent to be lost in either a mere religious habit or, worse yet, total disregard. And that's because we humans are so very vulnerable to hiding from the truth that we need God and His transformative Presence to continually make us like Him.

The Apostle Paul reveals the central purpose of our Christian life together as Church when he tells the Ephesians that all the ministries of the Faith are meant to "attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

The celebration of the Enfleshing of God at Christmas is nothing less than a Divine Invasion of Creation by the Creator for the purpose of rescuing all of Humanity.