St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church Bible Study

In this Bible study we looked at the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. Christ gives us a picture of two very different hearts standing in the same holy place. One man only saw himself and told God how good he was. The other man saw the truth about his life, bowed his head, and begged for mercy. Only one of them went home healed. This is the path the Church calls us to walk. Humility is not weakness. It is seeing reality wit...

In this adult study with Anthony Ally, we take a clear and simple look at the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every Christian. The Fathers teach that the Spirit is the One who brings the grace of God into our hearts and makes the Christian life real. He is the bridge between heaven and earth. He heals our wounds, gives us strength, and guides us toward truth. Without the Spirit, there is no real change. With Him, we begin to...

Today we look at how Christ challenges the people of His time when they cared more about rules than the God who gave the rules. The leaders became angry that He healed on the Sabbath because they forgot why the Sabbath existed. Christ reminds them that the law is a tool that leads us to God, not something we worship in place of Him. His healing shows that mercy and love always come first.

As we enter the Nativity Fast, we face the s...

The rich man in the parable builds bigger barns, makes careful plans, and dreams of a life of comfort, but God says to him, “This night your soul is required of you.” That is not just his story. It is our story too, especially in the middle of the Nativity Fast. We pour our energy into plans, food, gifts, and schedules, and we forget that our soul is eternal and that the kingdom of God is the only thing that lasts.

The Church gives ...

In this study we look at one of the most comforting truths of the Orthodox faith. Christ did not stay far away from us. He entered every part of our human life and made it holy from the inside. He took on our growth, our work, our friendships, our suffering, and even our death. Nothing in your story is outside His reach. He has walked your path before you, and He walks with you now.

We also turn to the Four Pillars of the Divine Med...

In this study, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 and how Christ uses this parable to show the heart of the Father. The younger son falls into sin because he believes freedom is found far from God. Yet the real change comes when he faces the truth and chooses to return. The Father runs to him with mercy before he can speak a single explanation. This is how God meets every repentant heart.

The story also warns...

In this study, Anthony Ally invites us into a deeper look at the Incarnation as God’s healing gift to humanity. Instead of rushing toward Christmas worn out by the world, we learn how the Church gives us a sacred forty day journey that restores the heart. Christ entered every part of human life, from conception to death, so that He could heal every part of our story. This truth, known as Anakephalaiosis, is the foundation of how Go...

On Sunday, November 16th, 2025, Fr. Stephen preached about the Good Samaritan and a hard truth. Other groups are often out-serving us in charity, even when they do not have the fullness of the faith. The Lord does not just tell us to believe the right things, He tells us to see our neighbor, to stop, to give, to sacrifice, and to love in action.

If we want people to come to the true Church, they need to see the true love of Christ i...

In this study we looked at the Parable of the Talents and how Christ uses this story to reveal something essential about the Christian life. God gives every person real gifts, and these gifts are meant to be offered back to Him for His glory. The servants who received five and two talents acted with trust. They put their gifts to work. The servant with one talent hid his gift out of fear and mistrust. Christ shows us that spiritual...

This class explores the heart of Orthodox hierarchy and how it mirrors heaven’s order here on earth. Fr. Stephen walked through the ranks of clergy, the meaning of ordination, and why every Divine Liturgy assumes the bishop is mystically present. He also unpacked the complex history of overlapping jurisdictions in America and the ongoing vision of one unified Orthodox Church. His message was both hopeful and practical: unity will n...

In this homily, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on Luke 8:41–56, where two lives intersect through desperation. Jairus pleads for his dying daughter, and a woman suffering for years reaches for the hem of Christ’s garment. Both find healing, not because they were strong, but because they were desperate for Him.

Fr. Stephen reminds us that church is not about comfort but transformation. It is where we face our sins, our pride, and our we...

In this Bible study, Fr. Stephen Osburn explores The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21) and the call to live with holy urgency. Comfort is the enemy of mission, and complacency is the quiet death of the soul.

Drawing from the life of Fr. Anthony Karbo of blessed memory, Fr. Stephen reminds listeners that the Christian life does not retire. The Church must never say, “We have done enough.” Our barns may be full, but our souls a...

In this homily, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on the healing of the Gadarene demoniac from Luke 8:26-39. The man freed from a legion of demons stands as a sign of Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness—yet the townspeople, rather than rejoicing, beg Jesus to leave. Why? Because His miracle cost them their comfort. They cared more about their pigs than about the salvation in front of them. Fr. Stephen challenges us to see how of...

In this Bible study, Fr. Stephen reflects on the Good Samaritan as a living icon of Christ. We are the wounded traveler, and the Lord is the One who comes near, binds our wounds, and carries us to the inn of His Church. The oil and wine point to grace and healing, and the inn becomes the place where the Physician entrusts souls to our care.

The study turns from theory to practice. Real evangelism begins with mercy, not argument. Peo...

In this homily, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on Christ’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. He reminds us that we live in a time of abundance, so much so that comfort has become our greatest temptation. When comfort becomes normal, awareness of God fades. We stop seeing the Lazarus at our gate, and we stop realizing how much we depend on Christ.

Fr. Stephen calls us back to the life of the Church: prayer, worship, stewardship, and ...

In this study, Dn. Vassily Kocher walks catechumens through the Orthodox theology of icons. He explains why the Church venerates but never worships icons, how Scripture itself shows God commanding sacred images in the tabernacle and temple, and how Christ points to the bronze serpent as a sign fulfilled in the Cross. We look at the victory of Nicaea II and the Sunday of Orthodoxy, then learn to “read” an icon by its language of lig...

In this study, Anthony Ally explores what it means to be created in the Image and Likeness of God. The discussion centers on how that divine imprint gives every person unshakable dignity and meaning, even in a fallen and fractured world. The Fall is not only the breaking of a commandment but the breaking of communion itself, something Christ came to heal by taking on our humanity and restoring the image within us.

Participants were ...

In this sermon, Fr. Stephen Osburn reflects on St. Paul’s pastoral wisdom to a restless city like Corinth and shows why the apostle’s personal testimony is not self focus but a doorway to Christ. Paul names the real battles of the heart and then turns the Church toward the Lord, teaching that the problem with pride is not only that it is bad, but that it replaces God with the self. The cure begins when every part of life is reorien...