|
Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church 5640 Jay Road Boulder, CO 80301 Church Phone 303-581-1434 Orthros Sunday, 9:00 am Divine Liturgy Sunday, 10:00 am Great Vespers Saturday, 5:00 pm Paraklesis Wednesday, 6:00pm (See the calendar for weekday service times or for exceptions to this schedule)
Are You Saved?
A Visual Journey of the Orthodox
Church
|
The mission of Sts. Peter and Paul is to be a
beacon of Orthodox Christian spirituality in the greater Boulder
area. Our diverse church family encompasses many converts to
the Faith, as well as Greek, Arab, Romanian, Serbian and Russian
Orthodox members. We strive together to live our Orthodox
Christian Faith by having a devoted prayer life, through fasting and
almsgiving, and by participating regularly in the services and
Sacraments of the Holy Orthodox Church.
We welcome everyone to visit our parish to experience the ancient forms of worship that existed in the early centuries of the Christian Church - which we continue to practice unchanged today. Please take a moment to look through this website to learn more about our parish and our Faith, and if you have any questions, feel free to call Fr. George at 303-581-1434, or come and join us at one of our services or events which are listed on the calendar to the left. Sts.
Peter & Paul Greek
Orthodox Church, 5640 Jay Road, Boulder, CO 80301 ~
303-581-1434
 “God is Wondrous in His Saints”
~ Psalm 67:36 ~ One of the greatest Prophets that ever lived was the Prophet Elias (or Elijah as most English Bibles have it). This “Man of God,” as he is often called, performed many wondrous miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwelled in him. To mention just a few, he withheld rain from the earth for three and a half years, and then caused it to rain again by his prayers (hence, we call on this Prophet with special prayers in times of drought). When challenged by the false prophets of the god Baal, Elias called down fire from heaven to show everyone that the Lord of Israel was the One true God, while the “prophets of shame” were futile in their empty prayers. When encountering a widow in the city of Zarephath, he multiplied corn and oil in her house and even raised her son from the dead. He was fed by an angel. He spoke with God. He parted the Jordan River by striking it with his cloak. And finally, he was caught up as if into heaven by a fiery chariot and fiery horses in a whirlwind. He then appeared with the Lord Jesus on Mount Tabor when the Lord was transfigured. And at the End of Days, when the Antichrist will be on the earth, the great Prophet Elias – together with the Prophet Enoch – will return to earth in order to preach repentance and turn people to the Lord, exposing the Antichrist for the wicked charlatan he really is. For this, the Prophet Elias will be martyred by the beast and have his body lie exposed and disgraced in the streets of Jerusalem, as Revelation tells us, only to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven (Revelation 11).  It seems like everywhere this divine man goes, miracles follow, so great is God’s power in him. We often forget, brothers and sisters, that God has always performed miracles – either directly, or indirectly through His Saints. It is plainly obvious that when the Lord walked among us down here, He wrought many wonders: from healings, to walking on water, to rising from the dead, and everything in between. We call God “wondrous among His Saints” because by His grace they too worked – and continue to work – great wonders in His Name. However, we often fall into doubt and disbelief, either trying to “explain away” the miraculous through some rational explanation, or by turning the miracle “that really didn’t happen” into some metaphor, or by simply denying the miraculous outright and rejecting the very Scriptures which communicate these realities to us. But this line of thinking is very dangerous when it comes to the spiritual life for a number of reasons. First, it casts doubt on the power of God, Who is the Author and Master of Creation (Who can at any time, by the way, suspend the “laws” of physics and do as He pleases). Second, it is a sign of weak faith, and without faith, we cannot be saved. Third, we ourselves need the miraculous power of God in our lives; so if we doubt His power, grace, and love, to whom will we turn? We need to believe. And if at times our faith is weak, we cry out like that father of the possessed child: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Commenting on the importance of faith, St. Nikolai Velimirovic writes the following in his compendium of the Lives of the Saints called the Prologue, and we would do well to heed his words: “Writing about the life of his sister Macrina, St Gregory of Nyssa refrained from enumerating her miracles, saying: ‘That I may not bring weak men to the sin of unbelief.’ He calls those weak who do not believe. And, indeed, there is none weaker than the man without faith. A man without faith believes in the power of dead things, but does not believe in the power of God or of the men of God. That is spiritual obtuseness, and that obtuseness is equivalent to spiritual death. Thus souls that believe are alive and those that do not are dead. Living souls believe in the mighty miracles of the Prophet Elias; these miracles delight and encourage them, for they know that they are revelations of the power of God. If God can reveal His power through dead things and elements, can He not reveal it through living and holy men? That which gives the greatest joy to the believer is that the Prophet Elias appeared alive on Mount Tabor at the time of the Lord’s Transfiguration. During his earthly life, this great prophet gave proofs of the existence of the One, living God, and, after his death – several hundred years after it – his appearing on Tabor gave to men a living proof of life after death.” With love in our Wondrous God, +Fr. George. |