WEBVTT 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:03.089 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.089 --> 00:00:06.629 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.009 --> 00:00:12.330 Glory to God. I pray God that he grant each of 00:00:12.330 --> 00:00:16.230 us a feast day worthy of what we're celebrating. 00:00:20.230 --> 00:00:25.589 Let me review here just a word from what you 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:37.460 just heard. Jesus was at the Feast of Tabernacles, 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:45.780 and he lifted up his voice and said, if anyone 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:48.960 would come after me, not pick up your cross, 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:51.840 that was earlier, but anyone that believes in 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.420 me, basically, to believe in Jesus is to come 00:00:54.420 --> 00:00:57.200 after him. It's not just, as I said last week, 00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:02.149 to think about him. It's to follow him. to live 00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:05.790 according to his gospel. And he promises that 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:10.370 the one who does that is going to have not just 00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:18.069 good times, smooth ride through life, everything 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:23.790 working out. That person will have welling up 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:29.129 within him or her. Could be a child, too. The 00:01:29.129 --> 00:01:33.370 Holy Spirit. like a spring of fresh water, a 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:38.609 fresh life. This is why I said, I hope the feast 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:42.969 day for each of you is according to what we're 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:48.370 celebrating. Yes, it was important that the Jews 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:50.709 gathered, and they gathered in huge numbers, 00:01:50.769 --> 00:01:53.530 as Orthodox Christians should do on this feast 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:57.250 day, because this is no less than Pascha. In 00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:01.109 fact, it's the affirmation. It's the vindication 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:05.689 of Christ. The gospel said that Jesus spoke of 00:02:05.689 --> 00:02:07.670 the Holy Spirit, but it wasn't given yet. Why? 00:02:08.729 --> 00:02:11.750 Because he had not yet been glorified. What was 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:15.770 his glorification? The cross, the resurrection, 00:02:16.110 --> 00:02:23.229 and the ascension. He says, if I go away, I will 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:26.370 send the Holy Spirit from the Father. And he 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:30.319 will teach you. all things, and bring all things 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:34.180 to your understanding. He will be your comforter. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:37.500 He will be your guide. He will be your friend. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.840 He will be your illumination. Jesus was glorified. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:48.259 And so we are too celebrating this feast day, 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.939 and we should celebrate it with as much enthusiasm 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:57.979 and joy as those first Christians. In Jerusalem, 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:03.840 to read about and you heard about Acts chapter 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:10.780 2. My message today is very short. It's just 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:18.840 this. Out of the abundance of the heart come 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:23.400 our words. Out of the abundance of our heart 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:27.810 come our words. It's a misquote of what Jesus 00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:32.509 said. Can't remember it exactly. When St. Peter 00:03:32.509 --> 00:03:39.590 preached on that day of Pentecost, they were 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:43.229 cut to the heart, the thousands of people, it 00:03:43.229 --> 00:03:48.969 says here in Acts chapter 2. Men and brethren, 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:51.590 he says, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch 00:03:51.590 --> 00:03:54.740 David. that he is both dead and buried, and his 00:03:54.740 --> 00:03:56.620 tomb is with us to this day, therefore being 00:03:56.620 --> 00:03:59.340 a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:02.180 an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:05.240 according to the flesh, he would raise up the 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.719 Christ to sit on the throne. He, foreseeing this, 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.520 spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:14.860 that his soul was not left in Hades, in other 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:18.040 words, in the grave, nor did his flesh seek corruption. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.629 This Jesus God has raised up. of which we are 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:27.509 all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the 00:04:27.509 --> 00:04:30.250 right hand of God, and having received from the 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:33.490 Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured 00:04:33.490 --> 00:04:38.529 out this which you now see and hear. The people 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:40.889 thought the apostles were drunk. They were speaking 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:45.350 in other languages. Their lives were completely 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:51.769 changed from fear to glory. and joy, and understanding. 00:04:52.209 --> 00:04:55.449 And the people said, when they heard this, they 00:04:55.449 --> 00:04:58.870 were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:01.110 rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what 00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:06.269 shall we do? Peter said to them, repent. Let's 00:05:06.269 --> 00:05:09.509 change your life. Let's change your life, change 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:12.649 your direction, and keep changing your direction 00:05:12.649 --> 00:05:16.230 every day. The direction is towards the light, 00:05:16.350 --> 00:05:19.939 towards Christ. Not towards the darkness. Brothers 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:24.300 and sisters, we consume, I would bet, between 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:29.220 you and me, we consume vast amount of information 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:37.740 that is dark, that is devious, that is foolish, 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:42.860 that is simply worldly or frivolous, and some 00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:45.180 of it demonic. And we don't know. We consume 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:49.360 such great amounts of this. And this fills our 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:53.019 heart. Out of the abundance of our heart, we 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:58.620 speak. Our repentance is to turn to Christ, to 00:05:58.620 --> 00:06:05.120 always look, meditate upon, rejoice in, and found 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.939 our lives on Christ's light. He said, if you 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:13.339 believe in me, waters, that is the Holy Spirit, 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:19.500 will not just come into you, pouring out of you. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.519 This is why the people said, what shall we do? 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.339 They were cut to the heart. Repent. Let every 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:29.839 one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.759 for the remission of sins and you shall receive 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.899 the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is to 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:43.079 you and your children. I'll end with this quote 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.629 from Elder Thaddeus. In that wonderful book, 00:06:46.730 --> 00:06:50.370 Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, we can keep 00:06:50.370 --> 00:06:53.009 guard over the whole world by keeping guard over 00:06:53.009 --> 00:06:58.610 the atmosphere of heaven within us. For if we 00:06:58.610 --> 00:07:01.550 lose the kingdom of heaven, we will save neither 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:06.029 ourselves nor others. He who has the kingdom 00:07:06.029 --> 00:07:09.730 of God in himself will perceptibly pass it on 00:07:09.730 --> 00:07:12.160 to others. like the apostles did, like Peter 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.800 did when he preached there. People will be attracted 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.519 by the peace and warmth within us, and some will 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.399 be opposed. Count on it. You heard the gospel. 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.600 They will want to be near us, and in the atmosphere 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.839 of heaven, it will gradually pass on to them. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.579 It is not even necessary to speak to people about 00:07:31.579 --> 00:07:34.860 this. The atmosphere of heaven will radiate from 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:38.759 us because of the Holy Spirit. even when we keep 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:43.720 silence or talk about ordinary things. Let's 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:49.000 change our, forget the word change, repent, turn 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:56.240 to Christ. Let your mind dwell upon things that 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:00.600 are high and heavenly and holy. I'm not saying 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:03.879 ignore the world around you, not at all, but 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.699 you will have nothing to give to this world. 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:10.779 You will have nothing to witness to about Jesus 00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:15.079 Christ in your life, the experience of him, if 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:18.100 it's all about this world. We come here to be 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:23.420 changed, to be nourished, to be unified into 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.699 one body by the power and the grace of the Holy 00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:29.160 Spirit. This is what you're going to hear in 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:35.139 a moment. The love of God, the gift of the Holy 00:08:35.139 --> 00:08:40.080 Spirit. And the blessing of the Son be upon all 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.220 of you. Amen.