Fraction to the Father for the Feasts of the Virgin & Angels | Fr. Gregory Bekhit

Liturgy Sermon @ St. Macarius Coptic Orthodox Church ~ Tampa, FL @ August 30, 2025

Finding Strength During Trials

When the heat rises, God does not always pull us out. He often meets us in the fire and burns away the chains. In Part 2 of the Witness series, Fr. Elijah explores how faithful endurance turns suffering into freedom, formation, and testimony.
What you will hear:
• Daniel 3 revisited. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego enter the furnace bound and walk out unbound. The fire has no power over them, and the Fourth is with them.
• Why God does not always remove hardship. The goal is not comfort but salvation and deeper union.
• From pain science to spiritual life. Rumination magnifies pain, while gratitude and outward love rewire the heart toward healing.
• Living martyrdom today. Schools, jobs, and family life become places of daily witness.
• Practical responses in trials. Ask “Lord, where are You in this and what are You forming in me” and practice thanksgiving in all things.
• An eternal lens. This life is a dot compared to forever. Christ joins us in every furnace.
Scripture touchpoints: Daniel 3, Job 1 and 13, Hebrews 12, 1 Peter 4, Psalm 23, 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
If you are walking through the fire, take heart. The chains are the only things meant to burn, and Christ is with you in the midst.

Witness - Part 2: The Chains are Burned in the Fire

He Who Endures … Will Be Saved. In this sermon, Fr. Daniel reminds us that endurance in Christ is more than surviving life’s struggles—it is remaining faithful and steadfast in Him. When the world is filled with trials, deception, and growing coldness, Christ’s promise is sure: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” Through His abiding presence, we find the strength to persevere and the hope of eternal life. 

He Who Endures … Will Be Saved.

In this powerful sermon, Fr. Elijah reflects on the life and witness of St. John the Baptist, the voice crying out in the wilderness, whose countercultural life still convicts the world today. He challenges us with a piercing question: Would others know that I am a Christian, not by my words or posts, but by the life that I live?
Drawing on the teaching of the Church Fathers, Fr. Elijah reminds us that repentance is not for tomorrow but for today, that each Christian has a responsibility to live as a saint, and that the testimony of a holy life speaks louder than a thousand sermons. Our sins affect not only ourselves but the entire Body of Christ, while our holiness strengthens and inspires others.
Whether you feel far from God, burdened by sin, or tempted to believe that your life doesn’t matter, this message reminds you: you are not too far gone, you belong here, and Christ calls you to become holy by His Spirit.
May we, like St. John the Baptist, live as bold witnesses in a world that desperately needs light, truth, and love.

One Saint Can Change a City

Listen To Full Sermon: "Diffusing Christ's Fragrance In Ministry" @ St. Reweis Coptic Orthodox Church - Wesley Chapel, FL ~ September 21, 2025 
https://on.soundcloud.com/Ncx2B8SISK39uMZBHU


Reflection ~ Sweet Aroma of Forgiveness

Acts Response (Sts Monica and Augustine)

Sunday Sermon @ St. Simon The Tanner Coptic Orthodox Church - Sarasota, FL ~ October 26, 2025 | Paope 16, 1742

Tools & Weapons To Fight the Devil

Listen To Full Sermon: "The Spirit of Martyrdom" @ St. George Coptic Orthodox Church - Tallahassee, FL ~ September 10, 2025
https://on.soundcloud.com/E6h1D4uIlp43bO7IUA 

Reflection ~ Spiritual Martyrdom

Gospel of the Hidden Treasure - Mina Awad

Moses returns from the burning bush to face Pharaoh, and we discover that this is our story too. Drawing on St. Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses, we follow the soul’s ascent to God, the inner Pharaoh that resists freedom, and the purifying path that leads from bondage to the Promised Land. The plagues are not random punishments. They reveal the passions that enslave us and the grace that heals us when we turn to Christ.
We walk through Moses’ five excuses at the bush, God’s patient answers, and the gift of an “Aaron” in our lives for support and discernment. Then we look at each plague as a mirror for the heart. Water to blood shows truth distorted. Frogs expose impulses that leap out of an unguarded heart. Flies, boils, hail, and locusts uncover thoughts, guilt, rage, and greed. Darkness reveals how a heart can live in light yet only see night. The death of Egypt’s firstborn teaches us to kill the first stirrings of sin before they grow.
The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. God does not force grace. He invites. When the soul yields, Egypt gives way to Exodus, darkness to light, and the tyrant loses his grip. Christ’s cross is the cure that turns fire into light and pain into healing.

Life Of Moses - Part 2: When the Soul Meets its Pharaoh

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Reflection ~ Sweet Aroma of Forgiveness

HE Metropolitan Youssef ~ عظات نيافة الانبا يوسف

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