Glory To God

In this podcast Fr. Stephen looks at the implications involved in living the "Fullness" of the Faith, as taught by the Orthodox Church.

Fr. Stephen explores the importance of holy places both in the temple and in the heart.

Fr. Stephen observes that the real truth of our lives before God is best found in our weaknesses rather than in our strengths.

Fr. Stephen looks at Orthodoxy and our lives as a matter of the "Whole" truth, rather than a "one-sidedness." He urges us to press forward into the whole truth of Christ.

Fr. Stephen looks at the words "relationship" and "fellowship" and notes that they are very "weak" translations of the Greek word koinonia in Scripture. He suggests how we should understand this word in its true, Orthodox sense.

Father Stephen comments on some of the thoughts found in a recent work by Archimandrite Zacharias of England. He looks at the "inverted pyramid," the humility of Christ in which authority is to be found not at the top but at the bottom of things, in Christ's bearing the sins of the whole of humanity.

Fr. Stephen looks at the quiet role played by grace-filled persons in our world. In many ways, God preserves us through the presence of such saints.

Fr. Stephen continues his thoughts on the Church as the proper interpretation of Scripture. In this talk he looks at how we "read" the Church.

Fr. Stephen sets for a case for an "Orthodox Interpretation of Scripture" in which the Church itself is seen as the proper way to interpret the Sacred Writings.

Fr. Stephen speaks about the doctrine of the Church (ecclesiology) and how it is best understood by looking at the cross of Christ.

Fr. Stephen discusses the Orthodox understanding of the difference of heaven and hell and some of its implications for how we speak about them.

Fr. Stephen speaks of the difficulties and trials of those coming to faith in God and the challenges facing our children.

In this podcast Fr. Stephen looks at the importance of "learning to sin," meaning the importance of learning what it is as a Christian that keeps us from the Kingdom of God.

In this podcast Fr. Stephen speaks of the God who is "everywhere present and fills all things," and the importance of our being open to Him everywhere, always, in all things.

The Triumph of Orthodoxy is also a triumph of the wholeness of God.

Fr. Stephen talks about one aspect of the Orthodox understanding of salvation by grace, and notes that a very large part of it consists in "just showing up," learning to be present to God and to accept faithfully the means of grace given to us.

In this podcast, Fr. Stephen speaks about giving thanks to God and its foundation in the belief that God is good. He focuses on four aspects of that goodness.

In this podcast Fr. Stephen speaks about the experience of standing at the "edge" of Tradition as people look at the Tradition of the Church and discuss it, seek to appropriate parts of it, but remain outside of that Tradition. He emphasizes that the Tradition of the faith is nothing other than our union with the True and Living God and His union with us.

Fr. Stephen talks about eight different ways that the divided, "two-storey" universe, a world divided between sacred and secular, affect us as Christians, and offers reflections on how we should see and cope with each of them. This is the largest summary of his work to date.

In this podcast, Fr. Stephen speaks about the Orthodox use of the word "fullness," both as a description of the Church but also, and especially, as a description of what we long for in the Christian life.