I will start this sermon with a quote from Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near. Dear friends, have you ever experience going to the church and feeling that the church is not a place where the Lord dwells. Unfortunately in my country I experienced that many times. As you know I was born and raised in Orthodox Christian environment. While growing up I was attending the local Orthodox Church. I was seeking the Lord and seeking the Lord. But it seems that many times I could not find him in Orthodox Church. In my country priests in their sermons very often do not preach about Jesus. They rather preach about politics. They preach about Kosovo, in a way that we (Serbian people) need to go in war to free Orthodox churches and monasteries and the entire Kosovo. They preach about brother`s Russia and Ukraine presenting Russia as a victim of war happening in Ukraine. They support Putin`s aggression. And many times they justify things that are against common sense. They also preach about homophobia. They strongly oppose to all people who are LGBTQ+ trying to make their life even harder. The materialism is highly present within the church where many people invest a lot of money which priests use for their own benefit instead of giving charity and doing things according to the Bible. I don’t want to judge them I just feel the need to say that there are many churches like that. Churches seem to not having Christ. Not only Orthodox. Roman Catholic is not far from that. Croatian Catholic priests as well as Serbian Orthodox priests were blessing weapons in the wars between these two countries. They also like preaching about nationalism and homophobia in a positive way rather than talking about Christ. After many disappointments during my seeking for the Lord I kept seeking and seeking. And I am happy that back to 2016 I found Unified Old Catholic Church. In the coming years I found Anglican and Episcopal churches and in Serbia and in Germany where I live now. The church where Jesus is preached. The church where people love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other and respect each other no matter if they are ethnic Albanians, Hungarians, Serbs, Croats and no matter if they are straight, gay or trans no matter if they are while or black. The churches where ALL are welcome, where ALL are respected and loved. The words from Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the Lord while he may be found, could really have their fulfillment if you keep seeking. Maybe you live in a small village and you miss the real congregation. Maybe you live in a big town but there is no church. Thanks God, today we live in era of Internet and we can connect online from the places worldwide. There is a church. There is the Lord. There is Love. Just keep searching. Keep seeking. Maybe you feel uncomfortable in a local community, or you do not understand hate that you may encounter there. Maybe there is a lot of judgment, nationalism, homophobia, hypocrisy. Just keep seeking. This is what the Bible says.

Philippians 1:27 – Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.