Issue 71 November 2026

Parish life

Orban making lesson for Year 1

Our children enjoyed a wonderful Saturday together last week, filled with faith, fellowship and the joy of giving to others.

The day saw the children making orban, learning about this special part of our Church tradition and taking part in the preparation of the bread used in the Divine Liturgy.

For some of our children, it was also a particularly special milestone, with a number volunteering to have their very first confession with Fr Luke.

With Christmas approaching, the children also spent time preparing Christmas cards for residents of a local nursing home, sharing a little love and joy with members of our wider community.

The afternoon continued with Christmas carols, plenty of singing and, of course, pizza!

It was a beautiful opportunity for our children to grow in their faith, build friendships and learn that serving others is one of the simplest and most meaningful ways we can share God's love.

As Scripture reminds us in Galatians 5:13 (NKJV):

A heartfelt thank you to the servants who organised such a wonderful day, as well as all the parent volunteers who generously gave their time and support, and for modelling service to our children.

We are so blessed at St John's to have you all.

May God bless everyone who helped make the day so special!

From the pulpit

Finding favour in God's eyes

Fr Luke · Sermon on the Annunciation, 29th of the Coptic month · Luke 1 · 17 min read

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Today is the 29th of the Coptic month. On the 29th of every Coptic month, we celebrate the feasts of the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus to St Mary, the birth of Christ and His Resurrection. It is as if the Church reminds us every month that these are the events that achieved our salvation. That is why you will notice that the children in the Church are particularly joyful today.

Today's reading is taken from the Gospel of St Luke and recounts the Annunciation of the birth of Christ to St Mary. If we read the Gospel today, we notice that twice the Archangel Gabriel tells St Mary that she has found favour in the eyes of God.

I thought we could contemplate together on this concept: how can we find favour in God's eyes? How can God look down upon us and find favour towards us?

The favour of men

The world sells us a slightly different commodity. In the world, we are often taught to seek the favour of man. We are always taught to consider what we can do so that others speak highly of us and so that we can be found in favour in the eyes of other people.

I think this is more prevalent today than ever before. It has now actually been monetised. If you think about it, the number of followers you might have on social media is a reflection of your popularity, and that popularity is something that can be sold.

A soccer player 50 years ago used to be measured by the number of goals and trophies he achieved. But now, we look at many other things, including popularity. The most followed person across social media is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has about a billion followers across all social media platforms. It is estimated that he makes $3 million from a single Instagram post.

The world almost trains and equips us to seek and desire favour with men. The more people speak highly of us, the better we must be doing.

Unfortunately, this can become consuming for us. When people speak highly of me and hold me in high regard, I feel good about myself. I feel confident and feel that I am doing well in life. By the same token, the more people speak badly about us, the more it can make us feel depressed and sad.

The problem with following the favour of men is that it is dangerous in so many ways.

A lot of the time, when we seek the favour of men, it can make us do the wrong thing. It can make me do something that, deep down, I know is wrong, but I do it anyway because I am seeking the favour of men.

One of the best examples of this in the Bible is Pontius Pilate. He examines Christ, finds no fault in Him and wants to release Him. But then he allows Him to be crucified because he is seeking the favour of men. The crowds wanted him to do it, so he sought their favour and made his decision accordingly.

Many times, we do the same. We do something that deep down we are not comfortable with, something that we feel goes against our core beliefs, but we do it because we are seeking the favour of men.

Sometimes, because we seek the favour of men, we delay our return to God. I might have a sin or a circumstance that I am embarrassed about, so I hide it. I make sure that no one sees it because I would rather not have anyone find out and help me. I would rather keep it a secret so that I am not embarrassed in front of others.

We can sometimes do this with our confession fathers. We only expose the sins that do not make us look too bad. But the sins that are really difficult and embarrassing are the ones we decide not to expose.

Yesterday, we had an incursion for the Year 1 class, and I was hearing the children's confessions. I was sitting with one of the children and asking, "Have you had confession before?"

She said, "Yes, about a year ago I had confession with Father Mark."

I asked, "Okay, is there anything on your mind?"

She said, "No, I think I've been doing well in the last year."

Then she added, "But I can tell you what I told him, if you just want some content for the confession."

I replied, "No, that's alright. If you've confessed it, it's all good."

But she insisted, "No, no, no, let me tell you anyway."

She then explained, "You know, I went to my friend's house and I found a toy that was really nice, so I stole it. I took it home."

She was not embarrassed to expose her sins because she felt comfortable enough to say it openly. It did not matter who was sitting with her.

Another problem with seeking the favour of men is that men are fickle. Today, the same people who praise me and make me feel really good might tomorrow look down on me or speak badly about me. People are not consistent.

When I seek the favour of men, it is like banking on something that is not very reliable. Today they might praise me, and tomorrow they might not.

The Gospel today provides us with an alternative, a much better solution: forget about the opinion of men, forget about seeking the favour of men, and focus on the favour of God.

Forget about the opinion of men, and focus on the favour of God.

God's favour is so much more important than man's for many reasons.

1. God is the one whose opinion truly matters

The first reason is that God is the one whose opinion actually matters.

Do you know that when you are in a negotiation or when a company is trying to strike a deal, it is important to identify who the decision-maker is? Who is the person who ultimately makes the decision? That person's opinion is the most important opinion in the room.

The opinion of the whole room does not matter compared to the person who actually makes the decision. If you think of a courtroom, the jury and the judge are the people whose opinions actually matter. Everyone else's opinion does not really matter.

It is the same with God. God is not just the decision-maker in the small things, but also the big things in my life. He determines where I am going to be for eternity. His opinion matters much more than the opinion of everyone else.

It is exactly like being in a company and having to choose between the favour of your colleagues and the favour of your boss. Who would you pick? You would most likely pick your boss.

What if, in the same room, you had your boss or your boss's boss? Whose favour is more important? Your boss's boss.

What if it was your boss's boss or the CEO of the entire company? Whose favour and opinion are more important? The CEO of the company.

What about when we are talking about the CEO of the whole world, of all eternity? How come we do not take His opinion of us into account? How come we do not desire to have His favour more than anyone else's favour in the world?

It is important that we understand that God is the true decision-maker in our lives. At the end of the day, the favour of God is so much more important than the favour of anyone else in this whole world.

In the Book of Lamentations, it is written:

Nothing that is allowed to happen in this world happens without the Lord's approval. Ultimately, He is the final decision-maker in everything.

So let us always seek His approval.

2. God is the one who thinks about you the most

The second reason why we should always seek God's favour is that He is the one who is actually thinking about you the most.

A lot of the time, in our world, we think that everyone is looking at us, judging us and thinking about us. But that is simply not real. We overestimate how much time people spend thinking about us.

God, on the other hand, is someone who always thinks about us. He never stops thinking about each and every one of us individually. He looks at us individually, considers our needs and tries to help us. He cares about us more than anyone else in this whole world.

So it makes sense, then, to seek His favour.

In the Gospel of Matthew, it is written:

Does it make sense, then, that we seek the opinion and favour of someone who might spend one minute thinking about me, compared to God, who thinks about me all day and every hour?

3. God's favour lasts forever

Another reason that we should always seek God's favour more than man's favour is that God's favour lasts forever.

As we have said, man's favour can come for a moment and for a season, but then his opinion and favour can change. People might clap for me today, but they might rebuke me tomorrow.

God's favour, however, is for eternity. When we have and achieve God's favour, that blessing lasts for generations and into eternity.

When you look at St Mary, she was given two choices: the favour of man or the favour of God. When she chose the favour of God, she was venerated for generations and became the Queen of Heaven because she understood that God's favour lasts for eternity.

How do we find favour in God's eyes?

So the question for us today is: how do we find favour in God's eyes?

If we agree that seeking God's favour is important, how do we achieve it?

Throughout the Bible, we see examples of people who have achieved God's favour.

Putting God first: Cain and Abel

We look at Cain and Abel. They both came to offer something to the Lord. Cain's offering was rejected, while Abel's offering was accepted.

Why was that?

Cain came and gave God his leftovers, while Abel gave God his first fruits, the firstborn of his flock. It was never about the size of the sacrifice or the size of the offering, but about the heart.

Abel had in his heart that God was a priority, that God was at the forefront of his life. For Cain, God was an afterthought.

We seek and acquire favour from God when we put Him at the forefront of our minds and lives. We always seek His approval more than anyone else's. God never becomes an afterthought for me or for my family and children. He is always at the forefront of everything that I do.

Remaining steadfast: Daniel and his friends

We see that Daniel and his friends found favour in the eyes of God.

Daniel was in Babylon, in a sinful environment where everything around him was wrong. He had every excuse to simply follow the ways of the world. But Daniel and his friends purposed in their hearts not to defile themselves. They purposed in their hearts to remain steadfast to God.

This is a way that we can achieve God's favour. We desire to remain steadfast in a world where everyone around us might be doing things that are wrong, but we say, "I am going to do the right thing."

When I decide to do what is right in God's eyes, I seek and acquire God's favour. No matter how much the world around me is doing something different, I choose to do the right thing. By doing so, I seek and achieve the favour of God.

A heart of mercy and compassion

One group who did not find the favour of God, and whom we might have expected to find it, were the high priests and the Pharisees in the time of Christ.

The Pharisees thought that they had God's favour. They were so good at following the law to the letter. They were always in the temple praying, and they knew the Scriptures by heart.

But they did not find favour in the eyes of God. Despite their good outward appearance, the inside of their hearts was not good.

Christ tells them:

This is a warning for all of us, myself first. Just because we are in the Church, attend liturgies and gatherings, and know a lot about God, it does not mean that we have found favour in God's eyes.

If I am here but do not know how to show mercy and compassion to the person sitting next to me, then perhaps I have not found favour in God's eyes.

We can attend liturgy after liturgy and know every hymn, but if we still fail to show compassion, kindness and love to the people around us, then perhaps we have not found favour in God's eyes.

Christ wants us to have a heart like His. He wants us to be in the Church and to be sensitive to the people around us.

Eyes that only see the good in other people. Eyes that make excuses for other people. That is the heart that finds favour in God's eyes.

So a question for all of us today is: Mary found favour in God's eyes. How about me?

If I think about my own life and how God looks at me, do I think that He looks at me with favour? When God looks at my life, is He smiling?

Or do I sometimes feel that there is something in my life that disappoints God?

If I pause and reflect on my life for a moment, do I think that I am venerated in the presence of the angels? Is He pleased with my actions? Is He pleased with the way I run my family and look after my children?

Or is He disappointed because I seek the praise of man more than God?

Is He disappointed because He is an afterthought in my life and is not at the centre of it?

Is He disappointed because I follow the ways of the world, simply going along with what is popular without being interested in what is right?

Or is He displeased and disappointed because I look good on the outside and do all the right things outwardly, but in my heart I do not have love for others? I do not have mercy or compassion for other people, and my heart is not close to Him.

Practical steps to finding favour in God's eyes

Let us all desire God's favour and introduce some practical steps so that we can achieve it.

1. Reflect on your day and ask God for His favour

I think the first thing we should do is ask Him every morning and every night about this question.

If I have not been measuring this key indicator of whether God looks upon me with favour, let me start today.

Before I sleep every night, let me reflect on the 24 hours that have passed and ask myself: Was this day pleasing in God's eyes? Did I do things that would grant me favour in God's eyes, or not?

When I start the day in the morning, I wake up and say, "Lord, let this next day be pleasing in Your eyes. Let me find favour in Your eyes in the day ahead."

Let it be something that I monitor and check every day, because then it will become important. It will become something that I care about, desire and look after.

2. Be conscious of your actions and repent quickly

At home, for our children, we have a star chart. When the children do something good, they get a star on the chart. When they do something that is not good, a star is removed.

For my children, it is front and centre. Every day they wake up and look at the star chart. They know how many stars they have, how many they have lost and how many they want to achieve that day. It becomes a goal for them every single day.

Let us have this sort of relationship with God, where every day we desire for God to look upon us and add something to our account in Heaven.

Let me do something in the day ahead that stores up riches for me in Heaven.

As Christ teaches us:

By the same token, let me not do something that disappoints God and simply say, "Oh no, that's okay. It's not a big deal."

Instead, let me run to the star chart, make sure that I have not lost a star, and repent quickly when I have done something wrong.

3. Consider God's opinion before every decision

Before every decision, let me ask: If God were the audience of this decision, what decision would I make?

Let us start reducing how much we take into account what people say about us and increase how much we care about what God thinks of us and what He thinks of our decisions. That is much more important than thinking about what man thinks of our decisions.

4. Draw peace and strength from God's favour

Finally, let me draw peace, confidence, joy and strength from knowing that God looks down upon me with favour.

In life, we sometimes go through challenges and difficulties, and sometimes we might suffer for doing the right things.

But if I draw strength, joy and peace from knowing that, in God's eyes, I made the right decision and did the right thing, then this more than compensates for what man might be saying about me.

If you imagine St Mary, I am sure there were people around her who looked at her and said that she had a baby out of wedlock. They did not believe that she was carrying the Son of God.

I am sure she was criticised and rebuked, and that she was out of favour with men. But I am sure she would sit in her room at night, in the presence of God, and draw comfort, peace and strength from knowing that she was doing what God had asked her to do.

It is the same with us. If we are doing what is right and facing difficulties from the world because of it, let it not be something that shakes us. Instead, let it be something from which we can draw strength, peace and comfort from the Lord, knowing that we are living in His favour.

I pray for us all. I pray for our Church and for our families, that we always live in God's favour and that we always put a smile on God's face through the things that we do in this place.

Glory be to Him forevermore. Amen.

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Saints of St John's

St Anthony the Great

Feast day: 22 Tobi · 30 January

Who was he? St Anthony the Great is known as the Father of Monasticism. As a young man in Egypt, he heard the Gospel's call to give up his possessions, took it personally, and gradually withdrew into the desert where his life of prayer and spiritual struggle drew many others to seek God.

What can our family learn from St Anthony the Great?

1. Treat the Gospel as something we can actually do

One day St Anthony heard Christ's words in the Gospel about selling what one has, giving to the poor and following Him. He did not hear them only as an interesting passage for somebody else. He asked what obedience looked like in his own life and acted.

What it means for our family: Families can know many Bible stories without expecting them to change Tuesday afternoon. St Anthony challenges us to move from "That is a beautiful verse" to "What would this look like in our house?" The Gospel becomes alive when it becomes a decision.

Family challenge: At your next family Bible reading, choose one sentence and agree on one small action that would put it into practice.

2. Make space by letting go

Anthony gave away wealth and progressively simplified his life because he wanted fewer things competing for his heart. His goal was not to prove that possessions were bad; it was to become free enough to give his attention fully to God.

What it means for our family: Our homes can become crowded not only with objects but with activities, subscriptions, notifications and commitments. Sometimes spiritual growth needs addition; sometimes it needs subtraction.

Family challenge: As a family, choose one unnecessary distraction to put aside for a time and use some of the recovered time for prayer, conversation or helping someone.

3. Temptation is not the same as failure

The Life of St Anthony describes long periods of intense temptation and spiritual battle. The fact that he was tempted did not mean he was far from God. He learned to keep turning to Christ instead of allowing the battle itself to convince him he had already lost.

What it means for our family: Children and adults often feel ashamed because a bad thought, urge or old habit returns. St Anthony teaches us that being tempted is a moment to fight, pray and ask for help - not a reason to surrender.

Family challenge: Choose a short prayer for moments of temptation, such as "Lord Jesus Christ, help me choose what is good," and practise using it immediately when the struggle begins.