You can also download free, full-color adult and teen versions of this discussion guide from the Worship & You website.

Tips for discussion leaders are indented beneath each question.

1. Look at the praise of the Holy Trinity that appears at the end of many Orthodox prayers—what is a part of the Divine Liturgy where all the people make a profession about God?

The Nicene Creed. Look at such statements in the Creed as “the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,” and “the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.”

2. What does proclaiming Jesus as Lord tell us about our relationship with the Holy Trinity?

There are many possible answers for this question, but you can particularly focus on not only the intimacy of the proclamation (since the Holy Spirit empowers us to make it), but also on the need to live a godly life. Here is a helpful quote from St. Basil the Great: “If two yardsticks are compared with each other, their straightness is in agreement. But if a distorted piece of wood is compared with a ruler, the crooked one will be at variance with the straight. Since, therefore, the praise of God is righteous, there is need of a righteous heart, in order that the praise may be fitting and adapted to it. ‘No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit.’ So how can one offer due praise if one does not have the right spirit in one’s heart?”

3. Given the importance of the communion of saints, talk about some of the saints to whom you are particularly close; for example, whose icons do you own?

Give an impromptu quiz: tell the people to—without looking around—name some of the saints depicted in icons in the parish (whether on the iconstasis, the nave’s walls, or in the narthex). Discuss the lives of these saints, and reflect on why the importance of these saints to the parish.

4. What does it mean to engage in “cosmic” worship?

Bring in how, when you gather to worship, you’re entering into the heavenly worship described in Revelation 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:16.

The idea of being taken “out of time” in worship may be confusing, so read this quotation from Fr. Alciviadis C. Calivas to help explain: “(Christ’s Death, Resurrection and Ascension), upon which our salvation is grounded, occurred once and for all. But in the very rhythm and flow of time they are remembered, celebrated and experienced anew. In every liturgical event we encounter Christ, who once was dead and now lives; who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13: 8). In every liturgical event he renders actual both His past saving work and its fulfillment. Amid the flux of time, worship introduces us to the end of time (Matt. 18: 20). He “who is enthroned on high with the Father is also invisibly with us” (prayer of the Divine Liturgy). He, who is to come again to judge the living and the dead, has never left us “and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28: 20).

5. What can we do to participate in the sanctification of the world?

Use the “Carry It Into Daily Life” sidebar to give examples of cooperating with God’s saving, transforming work in the world.