Written Sermons, Meditations, Essays, other public speeches, etc - Montreal Hungarian United Church

2009 New Bread

2009-08-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Bread of Tomorrow
This feast is normally just like the great Holiday of Thanksgiving, because we should say thanks to God for the bread of the actual year, and actually after the period of harvesting the wheat, milling it, and making the first new baked loaves.
Thus in everyday life`s meaning this celebration is there for the God given fertile fields, for the gifts by which God blesses us, and nourishes us.
Nevertheless just whatever Our Lord Jesus Christ did, it was always parabolic and prophetical using mostly an everyday story or weekday acting to teach us something deeper.
Something beyond the literal or even the material meaning, as it is written, that not the invisible was created from the visible, but the visible was created from the invisible.
So the disciples asked him to teach them to pray as John the Baptist taught his students to pray.
Thus Jesus revealed them the Prayer of Prayers. In his prayer he is mentioning the daily bread.
However the original Greek text could be translated also on that way that we should mean that our Father, give us today the bread of tomorrow.
A bread which is not yet provided, only hoped.
Apostle Paul insisted that the faith is nothing else but the reality of the hoped things regarding the very promises of God. So the bread of tomorrow in this way is the bread of the faith.
That is why it is so meaningful what our Lord says: I am the Bread of the Life descended from Heaven.
A harvest is a harvest, worthy enough in itself to give thanks to God.
But focusing on the bread, this celebration should aim also at the deeper meaning of the Word.
Because the time is here again to recall and remember the spirituality, which is integrated in the symbol of the bread, as it is written in the Book of the Preacher:
there is preordered, predestinated time of every event occuring on the surface of the Earth under the sky.
Thus this Holiday is the ordered time to recall, remember and celebrate the Bread of Tomorrow together with the daily Bread which became beyond its nutrition factor, a symbol of the Heavenly Bread, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, whose body is being broken for You.
Take it and eat it with thanskgiving hearts, as it is written: eat your bread with Thanksgiving, today, tomorrow, and for ever. Amen.
Attila L. Gyorgy

2009 PENTECOST

2009-06-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

"I think also that I have the Spirit of God." (1 Cor. 7:40)
It is gratifying to know that we are the earthly body of Christ. The knowledge, however, that the life giving spirit in this body is the Christ himself should make us much happier. As the Apostle Paul reminds us:"Know you not that you are God's temple, and that God's spirit dwells in you?" (l Cor. 3:16) What is this spirit which dwells in us like? In the third gospel Luke tells us that Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem with his disciples, sent messengers ahead to find a place to stay but the people of the Samaritan village would not receive them. "When his disciples John and James saw it, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' But he rebuked them, and said,'You know not what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has noty come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them.'And they went to another village." (Luke 9:54-56)
Indeed, we should strive to recognize the Spirit of Christ which resides in us so that we don't confuse our wrongful impulses with Christ's ways. Our most important Christian duty is to follow Christ, To follow him knowingly, supported by faith and spirit. We have to combine our faith with good deeds.
We see much evil in the world around us. More and more bad news about the economy keeps coming at us from every direction. The more bad news we hear, the more threatened we are by fearfulness and anxiety. Nevertheless as Christians we must live in trust and obedience to the God who never has and never will fail us.
What then are the requirements of being a Christian? We have to be generous, to be truth tellers and truth seekers, to strive for peace and relief from all kinds of oppression, to proclaim Life in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of our sins.
These requirements are neither east nor simple but not impossible. Everything is possible for those who believe because the Holy Spirit of God acts in us and by us to make us witnesses of him. As Paul wrote about the indwelling Christ-Spirit,"But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Cor. 1:23-24)
Christ gave us two major teachings for this earthly life. First that every man is equal, that Christ died for Caesars and slaves. And second that we have to share our daily bread as in a family.
Christ gave us two profound teachings for the heavenly life. First that we should repent, be sorry for our sins. And second that we should turn to God.
When we follow these teachings, our sins will be forgiven and we will gain everlasting life in Him. May the Spirit of Christ give us strength, endurance and courage for faith that moves mountains. Amen.
Attila L. Gyorgy
adjusted by Mary W. Feher

2009 Easter

2009-04-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

We need resurrection.
As the night is followed by the day, and the winter by the spring, so the sorrow must be followed by joy, the grief by comfort, war by peace, horrible death by renewing life. Similarly the victory in Christ will make an end to our repeating defeats versus the Evil One.
If we need our daily bread, so we need resurrection, because the earthly bread nurtures our earthly body for the death only, but by resurrection we'll gain the eternal life, which could not be perished by a hurricane, or buried by an avalanche, or fallen down like an airplane, or blown up by a grenade.
The earthly life is short, as it is witnessed by all the former generations, however sometimes we just don't realize, that time will come surely, when there will be our turn is to go home, and when the main question will be not anymore the daily bread but peace and forgiveness.
Most of us are just so busy with the fight for the daily bread, or deeply involved in cold or real armed wars, or in battles for extra butter and honey, for the bigger size beef-steak or for overconsuming anything which is just consumable. The mind of the elite is mainly set on the wrestling for the global power fought brutally and without any inhibition. As we put so many effort on devastating futilities, so we should have desperately to fight for the resurrection in the war against the devil.
In the reality of this combat we have only one enemy: the myself, our Ego, as it is written in the letter of Apostle James:
" But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. "
We can use the metaphors of Apostle Paul to say that for Christians there is no need for shadowboxing, or get depressed from an emptied liturgy, but we have to follow Jesus, as closely as we could, and as it is possible to do without any reluctance and delay.
The way of the resurrection is escaping of sin, liberation from selfish desires, the way of self-denying.
It is impossible for man, but only after the rebirth by the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered, died and resurrected for us, thus he is our hope and certainty on the last day, when we must show up before the face of God. May all blessings and praises be on his name now and always, may the peace and faith come into the hearts of all people believing that the Good God brings salvation for all at the very end ! AMEN

Attila L. Gyorgy

2008 Christmas

2009-02-18T20:46:00.001-08:00

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2008 REFORMATION

2009-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

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2008 NEW BREAD

2009-02-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

"Jesus said to them, ' I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never
be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)
What could Jesus have meant when he said that he is the bread of life? He meant
that we need him, that his teachings nourish us and give meaning to our lives,
that he helps us do the will of God.
To live with Jesus means more than merely saying the Lord's Prayer or reciting
the Apostles' Creed or singing the Psalms.
As Jesus himself explained, "Not everyone who says to me ' Lord, Lord' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in
heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
Thus Jesus taught that on this earth it is not enough to proclaim the gospel; we
have to practise mercy and care for our fellow human beings.
When the hungry crowds approached him he did not send them away saying that
they should be satisfied with spiritual nourishment and go find food for the body
as best they can.
Instead he fed the crowds by sharing out the two loaves of bread and the five fishes.
The bread and the fish were shared and they multiplied and no one went hungry.
When you share true Christian charity it multiplies, grows and penetrates your
surroundings and enhances fellowship.
What we do to others, we do to Jesus.
As he said," for I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and
you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me." (Matthew 25:35)
This is what true Christian charity is; it is how Christians should act or do things.
May God lead us and keep us on the path set forth by Jesus so that we may never
be hungry or thirsty.
This is the acting way of Christians. God lead and keep us on it !
György Attila László
adjusted by Mary White Feher

2008 PENTECOST

2009-02-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

2008 Pentecost
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
spi ri t and truth." John
4:24
Very likely there were always some people who knew
that God is spirit and not a mute graven image. However, the
evolution of mankind's understanding of God as spirit
and the source of all life has a long history. If we want to
approach God, we must become spiritual-minded. God told
Moses,"...you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me
and live." (Exodus 33:20) In the same vein Jesus told
Nicodemus, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the
kingdom of God without being born from above." (John 3:3)
Although some people always knew it, the development of this
concept must come to the conclusion that the human being
is not body (i.e.substance) but spirit. Radical materialists assert
that we are only bodies and nothing else, that in death we
loose everything, that the soul does not exist. Ancient Greeks
proclaimed that the human being is both body and soul and
these must be kept in harmony with each other.
We Christians maintain that human beings use their God-
given bodies temporarily but we are not bodies, but spiritfilled
souls.
The body is the earthly clothing of the soul only. This clothing
eventually wears out and eventually returns to the earth
from which it was taken.
"...God said,'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. ...So
God created humankind in his image..." (Genesis 1:26-27)
Thus because God is spirit human beings must be spiritual
beings according to God's likeness.
The human being is not the external body but the internal
person, the soul. Geza Gardonyi, an eminent
Hungarian author wrote of this internal person in his novel "The
Invisible Man" and as his epitaph had inscribed on his
tombstone the words:
"Only His Body".
The child gets to know his body.
As he grows his body changes not only in shape and size but
also in its constituent materials of its cells and molecules again
and again throughout his life.
The soul of the child, however, remains the same throughout
his life. Thus the soul must learn the law of God, how
punishment is related to sin, how to live in justice and true
love, and how to achieve salvation and avoid eternal
damnation. The inner man in our temporary
body guards the unbreakability and immortality of the inner
image of God. To be reborn by the spirit means that we have to
die to the sin.
The ego must be emptied of selfishness before it can be filled
by the Holy Spirit, so the soul unites with the inner image of
God.
This is the rebirth of which John speaks as he tells us,:
"But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he
gave power to become the children of God, who were born,
not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but
of God." (John 1:12-13)
Thus, the final goal of our life is not wealth or power but spiritual
rebirth in the spirit, the union with the divine entity of God.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ help us reach this goal.
AMEN Attila L. Gyorgy
English version was adjusted by
Mary White Feher

2008 EASTER

2009-02-18T20:29:00.001-08:00

The EASTER
WAKE-UP CALL
We proclaim the Christ of Good Friday and Easter, the Jesus who
was crucified and rose from the dead.
Through his sacrifice and the power of his resurrection we are given the
strength by faith to end our sinful lives and be born anew. Good Friday
and Easter Sunday are equal parts of the one central event of salvation history which is redemption.
The Apostle Paul wrote, "for I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:2) and "for as
all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." (1 Cor. 15:22)
It is entirely possible, however, that most people have no concept
of life and death in the context that there is no life without Jesus.
John the Baptist's baptising of people in the Jordan River was the
symbolic act of a prophet.
Immersion in the waters of the Jordan River means the dying
(drowning) of one's former sinful life.
The coming out from the Jordan means that one is resurrected or
reborn for a new godly way of life.
Again, as Paul taught, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you," (Eph.5:14).
Many people who think they are alive are actually spiritually dead in
that life without Christ is like sleeping and death. Paul said,
"Listen, I will tell you a mystery!
We will not all die, but we will all be changed. (1 Cor. 15:51) And also,
as Jesus said,"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to
condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those
who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not
believed in the name of the only Son of God." (John 3:17-19)
So, we too must wake up and rise from the dead in this life in order to
gain access to eternal life where our physical body will be transformed to
a spiritual body, and we will live forever, just like the angels in the
Heaven, as it is taught by the Lord:
„For when they shall rise from the dead, ( ... ) they are as the angels
which are in heaven. ” (Mark 12:25)
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not merely an event in
human history.
It is the cornerstone of our faith in the afterlife and the salvation of
humanity. We have to die with him for our sins and rise from the death
with him for a new life in the Lord, a new life which is joyful, perfect and
eternal.
That’s why we can say with the Lord: Whosoever was reborn in
Christ, „though he were dead, yet shall he live”, and though I lose my
flesh, I shall see God without my body.
This is the great mystery which is simple and true.
We must leave the darkness for the light and heed the wake-up call of
Easter!
Amen.
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
English version was adjusted by
Mary White Feher

2007 Christmas

2009-02-18T20:27:00.001-08:00

The Saviour long expected by Israel
finally arrived! As the prophets had
foretold, He came as a child. Israel had
expected a mighty king whose powerful
armies would drive the invaders from the Holy Land.
It is a paradox of salvation that the
Roman Empire came into being at the
time of the birth of Christ. Caesar
Augustus, its first emperor, claimed to be the son of God and resolved to extend the Pax Romana to the farthest reaches of the empire with his mighty Roman legions.
Near the outer reaches of the empire,
however, a child was born in the small
town of Bethlehem. The real Advent of
the whole humanity was the anticipation
of His coming because the so-called Peace of Rome brought only high taxation, oppression, suffering, wars, bloodshed and slavery. The whole world, as it is written, yearned for the coming of the real Saviour.
"Salvation or redemption, however,
depends not on political freedom but on
freedom from sin. The apostle Matthew
asserted that the Child did not come to
expel the Romans but to set all people free
from sin". Salvation or redemption does
not mean being freed from unavoidable
earthly suffering. Redemption more truly
means taking responsibility for suffering.
This is the revolution of faith. Therefore,
instead of the sword let there be the spade;
instead of hatred let there be true love;
instead of envy let there be kindness;
instead of snobbery let there be
brotherhood; instead of competition let
there be cooperation; instead of wars let
there be peace. Instead of the peace of
Rome let there be the peace of Christ.
Then will every day be sanctified as
Christmas. May it be so. Come,O Lord
Jesus. Amen.
Attila L. Gyorgy
-edited by Mary Feher-

2007 Reformation

2009-02-18T20:18:00.001-08:00

For enlargement click on the picture !

2007 Pentecost

2009-02-18T20:14:00.001-08:00

Pentecost: it is the birthday of the
universal Christian church, as it is
written: when he was with them, he
ordered them „not to leave Jerusalem,
but to wait there for the promise of the
Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have
heard from me; for John baptized with
water, but you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Reformed Tradition in the
Heidelberg Catechism is taught so in
the 54. paragraph: „What do you believe
concerning the "holy catholic church" of
Christ? The answer: That the Son of
God from the beginning to the end of
the world, gathers, defends, and
preserves to himself by his Spirit and
word, out of the whole human race, a
church chosen to everlasting life,
agreeing in true faith; and that I am and
forever shall remain, a living member
thereof.”
According to the catechism though the
Holy Spirit was given to the disciples on
a visible way of flames, the church was
present from the very beginning of the
human existence, moreover it must
have been present from the beginning
quite to the end of the world, because
every man, as we are all sinners, needs
the redemption, and not only the
repenting people of the last two
thousand years. The Church existed,
exists, will exist, not because we gather
together, but because the Lord gathers
us together. There might be a lot of
faiths and beliefs which are possible to
think or even not possible to think.
However there is only one faith of
Pentecost, as it is described by the
Hungarian poet, Jeno Dsida: -I believe
that the Chirst and his Cross are matter
of fact, and all but he is only vanity.–
The real miracle of the Pentecost is
itself the faith in the crucified Jesus
Christ, who died and risen, ascended
into heaven sending down the Spirit of
the Truth to encourage, nurture,
empower and govern us. The Graceful
God make us newborn in the Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. May his name be
blessed by the Holy Spirit for ever.
Amen. Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy

2007 Easter

2009-02-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Easter is one of the most ancient Christian pageant celebrating the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the beginning in the first Christian congregations they remembered it on
every Sunday proclaiming the Good News: Jesus Christ is risen !
They did it, because the fact of the resurrection was and it is the very
central cornerstone of the Christian message as it is written by Apostle
Paul: „ ... if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your
faith is in vain. ” (1Cor.15:14)
„ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who
have fallen asleep.” (1Cor.15:20) By the resurrection of Jesus Christ God
fullfilled all of the promises said by God’s prophets:
The Saviour has come, the lamb of God, who has been sacrificed for the
sins of world. He was crucified on the account of the human sins, he was
buried, and resurrected on the third day from the dead to proclaim the wonderful
gift of God which is mightier than death: the forgiveness.
A profound change must occur in the human heart too. In soul we have to die
with Christ for the sin, and by the power of the resurrection of the Lord, we have
to be born again in faith, hope and love.
The world, stumbling in darkness, needs Jesus Christ to be healed from its
sicknesses, selfishness, enmities, wars and idolatries to renew for the Glory of
God, for the joy of the heavenly angels and for the happiness of humans.
We have to pray and act to become worthy enough for God’s grace.
W e have to pray for strength, providence, guidance of the Soul of
God; we have to act that God’s will, truth, justice, care and providing love
may become obviously present among us.
The Lord may be blessed for ever !
Blessed Easter for Everyone !
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy

2006 Christmas

2009-02-18T19:22:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2006

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

It seems to be, there are two different Christmas. One is the real one, the other one belongs to Hollywood. We have to deem Christmas as a Feast of Christ and not of anybody else. However Hollywood would have liked and would like to teach the people a Christmas without Jesus and they do it on a very common way.

If you would like to create fake things then you should have a pinch of the truth, you should mix it with a lot of fibs, and you will have a believable story.

The atheist manifesto insists that there is no God. This is a clear and wicked lie. It is very simple to identify it. But what, if the lie is a complicated mixture of crumbs of truth, fibs and whoppers. That kind of complex lie is confusing, because that kind of lie is called to ideology, which is always strongly manipulating as it comes out of its own nature.

You can see a general Santa Claus movie in the cinema, and you can meet in the movie an unreal Santa, who is obviously rather a sort of winter-season mysterious wizard in red clothes than a real Christian bishop of the city Myra of the ancient asian Greece from the III-rd century.

You can meet in that kind movies Jack Frost, Mother Nature, Father Time, Easter Bunny ! etc., everyone else but not Jesus, the Christ, who is the only subject of Christmas.

The Christmas is a remembrance day, not for shopping and selling, but it remembers us God’s unthinkable grace, that he gave himself us in a weak human child, whose rule is unendless, whose love is self-sacrificing and allmighty. (link to: Isaiah 9:5.)

We have to be faithful to the real Christmas, we must not ever forget who is who and what is what.

St. Nicholas,the ancient charitable greek bishop is real, the Santa Claus is a fairy tale.

The Christmas must be more than fairy tale, because the Lord is true, his Gospel is the truth, and the Christ child of Christmas is very real.

A Fairy Tale could be nice in itself, but being a mock reality it could confuse whole generations including children, our children.

St. Nicholas, the ancient greek bishop, was a true believer and a true follower of Jesus Christ, as he gave a sample of generousity for others, but after all we have an enormously generous giver, our Loving God, who is the real Father of Christmas, who gave his Son for the world by the Holy Spirit. Amen

Attila L. Gyorgy

2006 Reformation

2009-02-18T19:20:00.001-08:00

THE FEAST OF THE NEW WINE
Matthew 9:17
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
.......................................................
In the above quoted Word our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed the new beginning of the New Testament and the minimum
requirement of the new beginning: the rebirth by the Spirit in itself and with the meaning of regeneration and revival too.
You have to put the new wine into new bottles otherwise the method will lead to disaster for the bottle and even for the wine. We may think that even for the drinkers. If you have old bottles, it is not enough just to clean them or to
put a new name- tag on them, or if they are leaking then to gum them.
We need new bottles for the new wine which is the gospel. We are the bottles of God, and we have to be renewed by the Spirit. However our spiritual renewal may not be just a spiritual reform of our hearts, but we have to die for the sin by the power of Jesus’ cross, and we have to be spiritually reborn in the resurrected Christ as we were given the promise of God at our baptism, as it is written:
„Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ” Romans 6.4
It is really not easy, but that is the way it is. In our everyday reality we are not able to do it alone. The key word here: alone, because we are never alone, God is with us. We have a caring, loving, just and powerful Father, who holds us in
his providence on every days of our lives here and after. The New Wine is the symbol of the self-sacrificing Holy Spirit
which is given to us by the faith in the crucified and risen Lord, to whom may be praise and glory now and always.
Amen
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
Montreal, 2006 September 20.

Pentecost 2006

2009-02-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

PENTECOST 2006

The work of the Holy Spirit can be readily perceived in the ancient patriarchs and prophets as well as in the lives of the apostles before the first Pentecost. The Holy Spirit works in us too. However, the faith before the first Pentecost was a little different from the faith after the Pentecost .
The faith before the first Pentecost contained the first Advent and the anticipation of Christ while the faith after the first Pentecost contains faith in the crucified and risen Christ who sent his disciples to conquer the world for the Gospel.
In the conviction that Jesus is alive the Apostles could gather joyfully and happily after the Lord's ascension and on the day of Pentecost. It was in Pentecostal joy that the church was born in the presence of Jesus Christ. On that day the congregation of believers grew to three thousand members!
Scientists are often sceptical about such biblical miracles as the healings, the resurrections and the walking on water, etc. But it is a miracle in itself that Peter, who had thrice denied Jesus, started to proclaim the Gospel in a very hostile Jerusalem. This is a particular and spectacular miracle: three thousand people heeded Peter's sermon and were baptized on that day.
Until this point the plan of the leaders who had condemned Jesus was successful. They thought that by having Jesus killed they would nip the movement in the bud and it would disappear as it usually happened when religious or political movements lost their leaders.
When the Roman authorities killed Jesus exactly the opposite took place. Even though soldiers were sent to guard the grave, Jesus' body disappeared. Trustworthy persons swore that they had seen the risen Jesus Christ, that they had met him and talked to him, that he was alive; he rose from the dead on the third day; around five hundred saw his ascension into heaven.
The Pentecostal miracle is the birth of the Christian Church and its survival for over two thousand years. This enduring Church is proof that the living Lord works in us to this day through the Holy Spirit.
Let us praise the Lord always.
Amen.

Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy

English version was adjusted by Mary White Feher

2006 EASTER

2009-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

THE PASSION AND
THE RESURRECTION
The Passion story is very clear and simple: the Lord's teaching moved
more and more people to follow him.The religious and social leaders
became very envious of him and deemed him politically dangerous, so
they plotted against him and planned his death.
They found allies in the persons of Pontius Pilate, the Roman govenor,
Herod tetrach, the princeps of Galilee, and Judas Iscariot one
of the disciples of Jesus.
In the events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday regardless of his
sufferings, Jesus is very visible for us: around the Table with his
disciples, even during Judas' betrayal kiss and the interrogation
before several judges; at the time of the crowing of the rooster, and on
the cross .
He is essentially visible to us as both very human and divine.
After his resurrection something spectacular occurred. We do not
know exactly what happened in the grave.
We do not know exactly what happened at the resurrection. We do
know that Mary Magdalene did not recognize him in the graveyard and
that Jesus appeared among them in a closed room.
On the road to Emmaus the disciples did not recognize him until the
evening meal when he broke the bread with them.
On another occasion after fishing all night at Lake Tiberias the disciples
did not recognize him until the Lord repeated the wonderful
catch and they breakfasted together.
This was and still is very strange for we can assume that the disciples
knew him very well.
The explanation is extraordinary: the resurrected body of the Lord began
to change from the temporal into the eternal, from visible to invisible.
The forty days between the crucifixion and the ascension were a
transition period. Jesus was not among them all the time.
He just appeared occasionally. The Apostle Paul tells us that his body
was a subject of change: "Behold, I shew you a mystery:
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment ,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put
on immortality." (I Corinthians 15:51-53)
The Bible does not describe what Jesus did between his appearances
to his followers. Though the situation was changed by the cross, his
disciples must have understood that they are still disciples and apostles
with duties and responsibilities.
After Easter the disciples did not immediately form a church.
They were, for a while, just a group who believed in the miracle of
Easter: the Lord is alive!
However, they had to face up to the sobering reality. The Lord had
explained that he had to go further, that he could not remain on earth,
that he had to ascend from this earth and go to the Father because he
could not remain with them physically and that they would
receive the Holy Spirit in due course, and when they did they would
become a church, that they would have to build a church, to teach all
nations and proclaim the Gospel with thought, word and deed, that he
would be among them only in spirit until he returned.
Today we have the same task that the disciples had.
Working for God's Kingdom, we have to teach at least one nation among
the nations. We have to proclaim the Gospel of God with thought, word
and deed.
We have to pray for the return of the Lord who died on the cross and was
resurrected on the third day for us.
His name be blessed forever !
AMEN
rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
English text was corrected by
Mary White Feher

Christmas 2004

2009-02-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a gift. Christmas is God’s gift, Christmas
is Jesus Christ himself, the allmighty love, the merciful grace,
the divine goodness, which passes all human understanding.
However, in the world around us we can see that any people have
changed Christmas into a business opportunity which has nothing to
do with the celebration of God’s gift, Jesus Christ.
Without Jesus Christ, Christmas is just a winter festival.
The Christmas Feast must be Stairway to Heaven, and a bridge
between God and men, between us on the earth and our predecessors
in heaven.
What is the message of Christmas? The message is distinctly written in
the Holy Scripture: „For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved.
(John. 3.16-17)
The message of Christmas is the love of God.
What is this love like? Some people might say:
„It is powerful.” Yes it is. Another people might
say:„It is neverending”. Yes, it is.
But it is even more. It is a devoted love and even more.
It is a self-sacrificing love. How can be God self-sacrificing?
The Holy Scripture says: „In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made.”
( John. 1.1-3)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
(John. 1.14)
A child was given unto us, and the child grew man.
He was crucified because he gave himself as sacrifice, as „the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ”
We have to learn how to practice this self-sacrificing love of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
He teaches us so: „for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ”
(Matthew 11.29
This is the Christ’s way of Christmas. Let’s walk with him
with peace and joy everyday of our life !
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
If we walk with Jesus, we can have an everlasting Christmas,
not just a two-days-festival of the calendar year.
Our goal will be not to become famous or rich or powerful.
Our goal will be: To put an end to sickness,
starvation, exploitation, poverty and every form of slavery on
the earth. In this way we will be able to
achieve the true Spirit of Christmas:
The true brotherhood of men and the christian peace on earth.
Let us pray for it !

Thoughts of Advent 2004

2009-02-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

In Advent we await the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Advent has three different dimensions.
The first dimension was the time, when the patriarchs, the prophets,
the people of God proclaimed the Good News of the Gospel hundreds
of years before the birth of the Christ Child.
They said that the sign of the arrival of the Saviour will be:
„Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his
name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
The second dimension can be called the annual Advent, that period of
the calendar year which names the first, second, third, fourth Sunday of
Advent. This is a period of joyful waiting, which tells us that we should not
restrict Christmas to one or two days of the year. The whole year
looks toward Christmas.
Indeed, during our whole life we are preparing for the joyful
Christmas which is to come.
The third dimension can be called the Universal Advent, because this
Advent is not just a personal, family, community, or national
Advent, but universal because the whole human race is waiting for the
return of the Saviour Jesus Christ.
This return is the final return, when the glorious Christ will descend
from Heaven attended by glowing Angels.
He will carry a two edged sword. The first edge will destroy the
wicked and arrogant ones, the second edge will glorify those who
are faithful and humble before God.
During our universal Advent we wait for the just Christ, who said:
„Surely I come quickly. ”
(Revelation 22:20)
To Whom we reply with John:
„Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
Advent is not a period of passive waiting. We cannot disregard the
growing power of evil on earth, the humiliation of widows and orphans,
the lack of respect for the elderly and the fathers, the cheating of the
poor and mockery of the laws. We can’t just sit doing nothing,
waiting for the Christ to come and judge the wicked.
Christ will ask us to give account not only for our deeds, our words
and thoughts, but also for our omissions.
Obeying the commandments of Jesus Christ, (at least the effort to
do so), means a never ending struggle against the forces of
darkness, be they in the form of stupidity, ignorance, malevolence,
exploitation, oppression or the desire for power and wealth.
If sometimes it looks as if Satan is winning, we must know that he
ultimately can not win.
Even if the empire of Mammon seems to be allpowerful to some, we
must know that it is mere chaff, which our Lord Jesus Christ will
cast on his eternal fire.
Advent joy which longs for the fulfilment of Christmas can be
found only in Christ, as John says in the book of Revelation:
„I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith
the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”
Revelation. 1:8
„Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into
the city.” Revelation 22:14
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
Translated by
the help of Mary Feher

2004 SEMPER REFORMANDI

2009-02-18T12:18:00.000-08:00

click on the picture for enlargement

The Creator - 2003 March

2009-02-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

THE CREATOR

Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God created the skies, the earth and the waters and all that's on it. And then He saw that all he created is good enough. Then God blessed the sky the earth and the waters and all there is on it and He also blessed and sanctified the human being.
Now, in these times, as we gathering also today together calling his name for help we sadly see that the earth is polluted, the sky is tainted and the water is contaminated and we Humans are ill in our body and soul.
It comes across with full penitence that until today the history of humanity happened to became the story of endless and bloody wars, and the tears of the widows and orphans turned into sees from generations to generation.
The Lord wanted to create Paradise n Earth, he wanted nothing else than a Kanaan of flowing with milk and honey, where the man is not a wolf of its own world but be a shepherd who guards it. Our world is rotten because of the sin deteriorated the Human Being, and sicknesses, old age and death itself became our fate.
Christ teaches us: Verily I say unto you that in that house where contention arise in no way that house can stay stand. This was the way how the Paradise became a hell on Earth, because the Man had chosen the yellow anger with green eye instead of care taking love.
However Jesus Christ teaches also that: if two people are in full accordance, than they something will ask from God, they will have been given.
The men of brains question it: Adam and Eve were in very good accordance to eat the apple against the clean-cut prohibition of God.
There is the answer of it, that on the one hand they gained their will, because they seeded for the Evil, and reaped sin; in turn on the other hand the Man and woman can not be so often in full accordance, because both of them want another thing: man wants woman, and woman wants men. These two antagonistic wills can conciliate just in the family, because both of the wills will be sanctified by the parental love in the increasing life of the children.
In the running loneliness and standing chaos of this world, where the man-wolfs want just the quarry but always against one another, the lonely trusting Christian man could feel himself incapable.
Moreover, if we can see the usually coming terrible wars, we could say, sometimes the world churches could feel themselves incapable.
In turn, the Word of Jesus Christ is a wonderful power, as he said:
I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
There is here the wonderful meaning hided, that also one man could change the surely seeming gain of the Evil, because it could be enough just one man who is in fully accordance with God, and there are already two in fully accordance.
Perfect example is Our Lord Jesus Christ, who became man for us, and the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed for us, saying : Father, thy will be done, and not mine.
We can be in accordance of God's will, if we leave our own will, we seek and recognize God's will, and we do it.
Gods' will is perfect in love, perfect in truth and itself is the endless mercy. If we will be in fully accordance of God's will, the eyes of our Souls will open, and we can see, that the wings of a wonderful angel covers the suffering world, and the angel keep it warm, because our Lord, Jesus Christ died for us, that he will be the hope and the light of our hearts also in the darkest centuries, now and for ever.
AMEN György Attila László