Mission of Church awaits

 It is my prayer that we become the Mission of the Church - Each of us as Individuals ,Families and Communities in where the Lord has brought us to remain.  Sharing an extract from 'Building Up the Body of Christ -The Treasure of the Armenian Church for Our People Today ' by Bishop Daniel Findikyan to the Armenian Eastern Diocese.(Pages 13,14)

Building Up the Body of Christ: The Treasure of the Armenian Church for Our People Today

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"..Only in the last thirty years did the diocese frame an official mission statement to guide the ministry of the Eastern Diocese: The mission of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church is to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to proclaim its message of salvation. This mission is realized through worship, education, witness, service, and the common life in Christ as expressed in the distinctive faith-experience of the Armenian people. All members of the Armenian Church—both clergy and lay—are called to participate fully in its mission.." 

A much more theologically refined formula is attributed to St. Gregory our Illuminator in his extraordinary catechism, known as 'The Teaching of St. Gregory'

To bring light to all people who come into this world [John 1:9, 3:19, 9:5]; 

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

To offer repentance of salvation to all [John 3:17]; 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

To wash all people and deliver them from the chains of darkness by means of baptism.  [Ephesians 5:26, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 3:21]; 

"..Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. " 

But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,  He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit

In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

To seal all nations as Christ’s inner circle [2 Corinthians 1:22] 

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,  set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

To make the Spirit of God dwell in people’s hearts [Romans 5:5, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Galatians 4:6]

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,  set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

To unite and join them to the love of the Son of God [Ephesians 4:16], so that the heart of all might shout out as one, and to unite all the world in saying: “Abba, Father,” so that the name of enslavement might be taken away, and the name of adoption be placed on them by the grace of Christ; [Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6-7] 

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.

Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

To enable them to eat the Body of the Son of God and drink the life-giving Blood, [John 6:54] so that thereby they escort the entire world into the inheritance of Christ , to become “heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ.” [Romans 8:17]

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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August 6, 2022

Feast of Transfiguration