Church guide

Beautiful and powerful Serbian video (with English subtitles) about Holy Week "He who gave humanity life is given death in return. He who is without beginning and whose might is immeasurable is betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. He, in whose image man was made, is slapped in the face. Mankind weaves a crown of thorns around the head of the One who wove the crown of stars around the earth. Mankind attempts to silence the One whose very voice brings life to the world." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLsLyYNAAwQ

It was a great joy to celebrate the Feast of Theophany with St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Myrtle Beach! Here are some of the pictures from the service at St. Nicholas and the Blessing of the Water service at the beach. May God continue to guide us as we come together to serve our city and give thanks for all that God has given us!

Join us for Divine Liturgy at 9:30 on Sunday and the Blessing of the Water at the Beach after coffee hour!

Great insight into the upcoming Feast!

Blessed Feast of St. Nicholas and many years to all the Nicholas' out there! "The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves." - St Nicholas

Our Patronal Feast Day is here!! We will have Great Vespers at 5 Pm on Wednesday (followed by snacks and our Advent Teaching) and we'll have Divine Liturgy on Thursday at 9 am. See you there!

Blessed Feast of St Nektarios! Today we celebrate the feast of this holy saint who endured mockery, slander, and poverty as a Bishop. Through it all he served as a radiant beacon of Christ-like love, witnessing to the mercy, humility, and compassion of the divine Son of God. He was a Bishop willing to clean bathrooms, dig trenches, and fast for his unruly students. His desire to be a servant and serve as his Lord did has transformed the lives of thousands of people. Saint Nektarios has worked hundreds of miracles in the last hundred years. Many refer to him as the patron saint of cancer patients. For more about his life and miracles click here (https://oca.org/saints/lives/2018/11/09/103251-st-nectarius-kephalas-the-metropolitan-of-pentapolis). "The path leading to perfection is long. Pray to God so that he will strengthen you. Patiently accept your falls and, having stood up, immediately run to God, not remaining in that place where you have fallen. Do not despair if you keep falling into your old sins. Many of them are strong because they have received the force of habit. Only with the passage of time and with fervor will they be conquered. Don’t let anything deprive you of hope.” - St Nektarios

Beloved in Christ, we will celebrate the Feast of St. Raphael with Great Vespers tonight at 6:00 and Divine Liturgy tomorrow at 9:00. Words don't suffice to tell of all the effort, determination, and fiery zeal St. Raphael poured out in America so that his flock might worship in unity and truth! In one of his 5 month missionary journeys, St Raphael visited 43 communities, confessed and communed 650 people, baptized 98 people, performed 73 weddings, celebrated 45 Divine liturgies, and delivered 45 sermons. May his zeal inspire us and bring us closer to God who zealously desires to live in us.

May God guide and strengthen all those in the path of the hurricane! "O Master, Lord our God, Who through Thy consubstantial Word, Who is without beginning, and Thy life-giving Spirit, Who is equal in honor, hast brought everything out of nothingness into being; Who hast set sandy barriers to the sea, and hast weighed the mountains and the valleys in a balance; Who hast measured the skies and holds the water in the palm of Thy hand; Who hast given to this visible world of the senses its law and rules, its harmony and order; Who hast appointed changes to the weather and variations in the orbit of the sun; Who, through the mingling of the elements, holds all things together by Thine inexpressible power and keeps them free from harm and intact: Do Thou Thyself, all-good King, extending to us Thine innate and customary love and goodness, visit the work of Thy hands. Do not deprive us of Thy mercies and Thy compassion, and do not destroy Thine inheritance, for Thou hast ineffably created us in Thine own image. Thou hast given Thine only-begotten Son as a ransom for us, and through the mystical communion of Thy Spirit hast made us share in Thine own divinity; forgive, we pray, the multitude of our sins in the far greater multitude, of Thy mercies. Thou didst wash away the sins of humanity through the Cross and the Blood of Thy Son. Restore the world of nature, which has been grievously disturbed into an unnatural state, and restore it to its natural harmony and order. Make the great ocean return to its usual calmness, bring to end the tempest and the disturbance of the elements that threaten us, order the winds to blow once more with gentleness and moderation. Rebuke the raging of the sea and the unnatural violence of the gales; let the storm be stilled and the tempest return to tranquility, through the intercession of the most blessed Lady Theotokos, of all the Angels and Saints, and the good pleasure and love of Thine only-begotten Son, with Whom Thou are blessed, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen."

This weekend our beloved Bishop Nicholas will be visiting our parish! It will be his first visit to St. Nicholas! He is eager to meet everyone and learn all about our beautiful community. Our schedule is below. See you this weekend! Saturday 10:00 - Bishop Nicholas will show us all his vestments and hierarchical items explaining the meaning behind each one. 12:00 - Lunch 3:30 - Ladies Guild Meeting 4:30 - Great Vespers Sunday 8:30 - Matins 9:30 - Divine Liturgy (followed by our annual Church Picnic) http://ww1.antiochian.org/BishopNicholas

Join us tomorrow for the 1st of our weekly Bible Studies on the Epistles to the Thessalonians. Wednesday September 26th Matins 9:00 AM Bible Study 10:00 AM

Blessed Feast of the Dormition!! "We see in the icon of the Theotokos that when she passes on from this life, her life is taken up into the arms of the Lord. This isn’t just some nice picture that we get to look at and ooh and awe at. It is the truth about her life and our life. When we die our lives are taken up into the arms of the Lord. In our hymnography we call our God- "the Life Bearing God", meaning he bears up our life when we pass on. It’s the ultimate reality. When it comes down to it when we die, we encounter God. Our life is taken up into the arms of God. The Theotokos is our great example in all of this. She shows us the reality of all this. She shows us all the effort, work, and struggle- all the crosses we carry and encounter in living life in Christ in the Church are vitally important; the most important because eternity is in the embrace of God- the God we come to live in and know in the Church. It is all for our preparation and participation in the eternal way of life so when we get there it will be like home and we will enter more deeply into the love, humility, and mercy of the Godhead and it will totally consume us as we are embraced in the arms of our Lord. This is the feast we celebrate today. This is our faith. This is our hope. This is our life- in the all-encompassing eternal embrace of our Lord and Savior, the Lover of Mankind!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVnTqe2B7QM

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

The Holy Light (Holy Fire) received today at St. George Orthodox Church in Fuheis, Jordan. Clergy brought it directly from Jerusalem.