August 16, 2020

Suffering Like Fools
Sunday Sermon

- Fr. Gregory Edwards Ph.D - Dean -


In today’s Epistle is taken from I Corinthians 4:9-16, Saint Paul is speaking about a problem of disunity, fighting and scandal within the church. In much the same manner as today, certain self-appointed leaders had begun to preach a prosperity Gospel, where you can live your best life now. Father Gregory shares with us how Saint Paul answers this very problem. Saint Paul, a true apostle contrasts himself with those apostles who preach a false Gospel. He writes that The Apostles are last of all men, sentenced to death and a spectacle to the world. The Fathers of the Church tell us that those who love Christ are fools as far as the world is concerned. Saint Paul outlines his sufferings for Christ including being hungry and thirsty, ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and working with his own hands. When reviled they bless; when persecuted they endure; when slandered they try to conciliate and they have become the refuse of the world. The main point is not that the apostles suffer, because all people in this world will suffer, but a Christian suffers uniquely with joy and without despair or anger. Saint Paul concludes by urging the church to be imitators of him not claiming dignity for himself, but that we too should suffer as he did with joy, letting God fill our suffering with Himself.



The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree

307 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 | Fr. Gregory Edwards, Dean | 205.716.3080

Photography Credits: Beth Hontzas - Music: Presbytera Katerina Makiej





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The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at Brown University. After completing a Master's Degree in the New Testament and early Christianity at Florida State University, he conducted doctoral studies in Greece at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating summa cum laude in 2012. Ordained in 2007, he served parishes in Thessaloniki and Volos for 9 years. He and his wife Presvytera Pelagia lived in Greece from 2006-2016, where their four children were born. He has served as Assistant Professor of Missiology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York since 2014. Before coming to Birmingham in March 2019, Fr. Gregory served St. George Greek Orthodox Church in New Port Richey, FL from 2016-2019.