January 19 or 20- Theophany or Epiphany ?

http://jmboulos.hubpages.com/hub/Theophany
Theophany or Epiphany?

The term Theophany is synonymous with Epiphany in the Coptic Orthodox Church (as well as all Orthodox churches). Derived from the Greek terms “Theo” for God and “phaneia” for revelation or manifestation, Theophany is the Revelation or Manifestation of God. The term Epiphany is a more general term for revelation, but is not exclusive to God’s revelation of Himself. Thus, Theophany is the more appropriate term, but Epiphany is the more common term due to its usage in the wide spread Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church does not celebrate the same event as their day of Epiphany—On January 6th, the Catholic Church commemorates the visitation of the Magi to the Lord Jesus Christ in the manger. Apparently, the Eastern Orthodox churches, such as Greek Orthodox, celebrate on the same day as the WesternChurch, on January 6th, but rather than celebrating the day of the Magi, they commemorate with the Oriental Orthodox (of which Coptic Orthodox belong) the day of Christ’s baptism by St. John The Baptist.

What is celebrated

On this feast day, the church commemorates the baptism of Christ by St. John the Baptist, but not for the sake of the baptism, but for the revelation made there. There have been many significant events in Christ’s life. This particular one was an event of teaching, for Christ being sinless had no need of repentance. The baptism of St. John was one of repentance, calling Jews to repent their sins and to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Later, after the salvation obtained through the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, this baptism became a washing away of original sin and the beginning of our new lives as children of God. Our Lord did not need this baptism as He was sinless and there was nothing for Him to repent. But this event is significant in the church for it was at this moment that the Holy Trinity was revealed and from here much of the Trinitarian Dogma is derived. On the 11th Day of Toba (commemorated date, probably not actual date) of the year 31 AD, the Son stood in the Jordan River while the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove and the Father Almighty spoke from heaven saying “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”( Matthew 3:16-17). This day is equivalent to the 20th of January and is a fixed feast date (does not change as Easter does).

Rules concerning Paramouni of Holy Theophany

The Paramouni refers to the eve of the feast day of Theophany (or feast day of Christmas/Nativity as well). On this day, the church tradition is for the congregation to fast in the manner of the Holy Lent (vegan style) until dusk. If the Paramouni falls on the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, the Friday before is to be fasted.

The feast day of Theophany is a feast day of the Lord and, even if it falls on a Wednesday or Friday, it is to be celebrated as one of the Holy Fifty days in that no fasting or abstaining is observed on that day. The feast day overrides the usual fasting of a Wednesday/Friday.

Blessing of Water in Coptic Church
Blessing of the water

Lak’an (pronounced “la-ann”) is the Arabic term to indicate the service of blessing water and “anointing” of the congregation. In this service, the priest will anoint the forehead of the congregants with a cloth dipped in the water.
Resources & Links

Chiefs and Endians
Coptic Orthodox Church synexarium resource
Ecumenical Councils of the Early Christian Church (1 of 3: Nicea)
Greek Orthodox Church resource

Coptic icons of feasts- 8 days after Nativity: Presentation in the Temple and Circumcision (submission to the Law)

http://copticchurch.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/coptic-icons-8-days-after-nativity-circumcision-presentation-in-the-temple/

Coptic (Egyptian Christian) feasts in January

In addition to Nativity feast 7 or 8 January,

Jan 15 – Feast of the Circumcision (one of seven 7 Minor feasts of the Lord celebrated with morning liturgy)- Luke 2:21-39
Jan 20 – Feast of the Epiphany (one of seven 7 Major feasts of the Lord celebrated with evening Liturgy night before) – Jn 1:18-34
Jan 22 – Feast of Wedding at Cana (One of Seven Minor feasts of the Lord celebrated with morning liturgy ) – Jn2:1-11

The church celebrates with joyful tunes!!!!!

kiahk 7 Theotokiaa and 4 Hoos

http://copticchurch.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/kiahk-74-song-of-moses-exodus-15-first-hoos/

Kiahk Praises Explained

Check out the Catechism blog.

http://copticchurch.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=347&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2

Advent in the Coptic Orthodox church

http://copticchurch.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/coptic-advent/

Thanksgiving in the Coptic church

http://copticchurch.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/thanksgiving-in-the-coptic-church/

 

Servants song from the book of Isaiah

Isaiah 42:1-17

The Servant of the LORD

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “ I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the LORD, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Praise to the LORD

10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.

Promise of the LORD’s Help

14 “ I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
‘ You are our gods.’

Matthew 12:18-21

15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes[a] followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
18 “ Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
21 And in His name Gentiles will trust

Servants song:
http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/isa42v1.html

Watch Watch Watch- signs from the bible

Thank you Peter Malik for preparing this lesson! We enjoyed your presentation!

What does the parable of 10 virgins teach?
Always be ready to meet Christ. Even those who believe will miss the opportunity if they re both prepared and anxiously waiting for his arrival.

Mark 13:34
Parable of the Good man of the house

34 It is (the son of man) going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to WATCH. 35 WATCH therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— 36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: WATCH!”

Note to self: It might be a good idea to possibly WATCH.

What does the parable of the master of the house teach us?
That God has given his authority to the faithful servants and we are to be eagerly waiting for him.

Mathew 25 14-29
Parable of the Talents

16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

Summarizing:

We are all called to different tasks by God. Some tasks are bigger than others but they re all for the glory of God.
One person recieved 5 talents, another 2, and the other recieved 1
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS is this day when Christ will returns just as the parables tell us. We are to be watching and eagerly awaiting his arrival. In the parable of the Talents you see Christ reviewing what talents he gave to his servants and what they had done with it. In other words It is on this day where his servants will be rewarded for taking what was given and using it to bring more people to salvation.

Notice the person who was given 1 talent. He was given very little but instead of trying to use that 1 talent to get more he did the opposite. Out of FEAR he hid it. THE CLOSET CHRISTIAN with just a little faith but does not share the Good News. By taking the 1 talent and speading it you’ll get more talents or FAITH! By not sharing Christ and hiding it my Faith will never grow.
Maybe Fear of Ridicule, Embarrasment, Persecution etc…

Verse 29 States by NOT spreading the Good News Chist will have a special place for you
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

These parables all have a similar Message:
PREPARE, SOW, THEN WATCH.

COMES AS A THIEF?
With all this watching who is Christ coming as a theif too? Look carefully and remember CONTEXT!

Revelations 3 1-3

To the Church in Sardis
1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. Butif you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Revelations 3

To the Church in Laodicea
14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

This is picked up again in Revelation 16:15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walknaked, and they see his shame.

So Christ will come as a Theif in the night to both the Dead Church and the Luke warm Church. The Church of Laodicea remindes me of the new American Christianity Church. Prosperity Gospel preachers that teach Christians that Christ died on the Cross so you can have a 6 figure income, 3 story house, with a Range Rover in the Garage.

Joel Osteen preaches in a 15,000 seat arena in huston. His Chruch has no crosses, no mention of Sin, or repentance. Its also missing one more major element. The Holy Spirit.

You sure we re supposed to be watching? Im stuck on this THEIF THING!

1 Thessalonians 5 1-3

1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

If the verse ended at 3 then any Christian stating we can t know would be correct. But it is verse 4 that gives us hope.

4But you, brothers, arenot in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Why? Because we know signs that all point to the Return of Christ on YOM TERUAH / FEAST OF TRUMPETS

This feast was based on the Sighting of the New Moon. 2 watchmen would be waiting on the Roof of the Temple looking for the first sliver. Once seen the Jews were told to keep that day as a festival. The problem is found in the Diaspora; dispersion of the Jews. How was a Jew in Babalon Greece, New York….uuh I mean Chicago know they had to keep that day as a Feast? They would have to wait for a signal to know for sure. For this very reason the Feast is Kept for 2 Days. This is the reason why

YOM TERUAH IS KNOWN AS THE FEAST THAT NO MAN KNOWETH THE DAY OR THE HOUR.

On Yom Teruah the Trumpet is blown 100 times

Their are 3 different names of the Tumpet calls:

Tekiah – 1 long straight blast
Shevarim – 3 Short quick Blasts
Teruah – 9 quick blasts

These 3 blasts are blown 3 times. 9 while the entire series is blown 11 times = 99 Blasts Leaving only the 100th blast. The hundreth blast is called The Last Trump

1 Thessalonians 4: 16

16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first

Confirmation that the Second coming will start on this Feast is found in 1 Corinthians 15:51
51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at THE LAST TUMPET. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

The feast of Trumpets/Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah is the start of the Jewish new year. Tishri 1

Tishri 1- The First Day of the seventh month of the Religious Calandar year. Lev 23:24 and Numbers 29:1

On the Feast of Trumpets they would blow the True shofar. The rams horn that was to remind God of the Sacrafice of Abraham and Issac.

Sidenote: The daily use of Silver trumpets was sounded for DAILY SACRAFICE & @ THE START OF EACH NEW MONTH

The Importance of the Testing and Trials for 40 Days
40 Days for Niniva
40 Days for Moses after destroying the Golden Calf. Went up to make Atonement for Israelites
40 Days Christ was in the wilderness

THE MONTH OF ELUL HAS 30 DAYS AND WILL END WITH THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

The FEAST OF TRUMPETS is where the opening of the books and judgeing takes place.
10 days later on YOM KIPPOUR is where the sentences are passed out.
The 10 day period between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippour is when the Jews would real serious about their sin. If you didnt get forgiven you re in trouble.

Off Topic But Important:
Some people both believer or not have a hard time understand what happened to all the souls BEFORE Christ. It is the daily sacrafice at the temple where sin goes in daily and on Yom Kippour atonement is made and all sin on the alter goes up to God.
Thats why GOD tore the veil from TOP to BOTTOM!
What other biblical father tore his garment from top to bottom? Gen. 37- Jacob torehis garment when finding out Joseph was killed.

YOM TERUAH to YOM KIPPOUR FEAST OF TRUMPETS TO ATONEMENT

From Yom Teruah to Yom Kippour is 10 Days (DAYS OF AWE)
If we add the 30 days from Elul to the 10 Days between Yom Teruah & Yom Kippour we end with a 40 day period called the DAY OF TESTING OR THE DAY OF TRIAL

What is so significant about this 40 day period? These are the same days Christ was in the wilderness!
Yeah right! How do we know?

When Christ first came out of the wilderness he went to the Synagogue and open the Scroll to Isaiah 61:1

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
Luke 4:18 King James Version (KJV)

18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised

According to Lev 25 the only time this verse was read was on YOM KIPPOUR and in a JUBILEE YEAR!

FACTS ABOUT CHRIST
Lets Meet Our GOD!
We know he had to have been Baptized on the first of ELUL
We know he was in in the wilderness being Tested during the period known as the Days of trial.
We know he started his preaching on Yom Kippour
We know the year he began preaching was a JUBILEE YEAR (7×7=49 The 50th would be a Jubilee Year)

Judgement connetion Between Old Testament New Testament and Revelation

New Testament:

2 Corinthians 5:10
New International Version (NIV)
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad

1Corinthians 3:13-15
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Old Testament:
Daniel 7:10

9 I kept looking until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.
10 A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, and the books were opened.
11 “Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.

Revelation: Ch 5 All Yom Teruah
Revelation 20 1-12 THE BOOKS OF LIFE ARE OPENED!

3 DIFFERENT IDENTICAL VISIONS

Prayers

Prayers
(given last week events in Egypt, we all prayed may be a little more than before)
• Prayer in Arabic language “Salah” which means connection while in English the word pray means make petition, supplication,..
In old testament scriptures
1. Abraham prayed – Genesis 19:27 “Abraham up early ..”, 18:20-33- Asking for Sodom..
2. Jacob wrestles w God – Genesis 32:22-31 “26.I will not let go until you bless me”,
3. Moses prayed – Numbers 12:8- Moses & God, Numbers 14 – God Speak w Moses
4. Elijah prayed– James 5:17, 18 “16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much”
5. Hannah prayed – 1 Samuel 1:15 ‘I poured out my soul before the Lord..
6. David prayed– Ps 71:12 “O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!, Psalm 62:8 ‘Pour out your heart before Him, God is a refuge for us..
7. Solomon prayed – 1 Kings 8:34
Posture in Prayer
(Like Christ on the Cross..Spread arms and lift up- See Mark 11:25, Luke 22:41,Acts 9:40, 20:36
Public & Private prayers
• why Jesus said close your door when you pray ?

In new testament scriptures
A. Model prayer – Our Father..
B. Jesus prayed in public before raising Lazarus
C. Jesus wanted disciples to stay up with Him before the crucifixion