Todays Service for 2021 June 27.
https://www.facebook.com/events/4950971781585365?notif_id=1624804204034550¬if_t=live_video_schedule_broadcaster&ref=notif
Ellwood City Chapel https://www.youtube.com/EllwoodCityChapel/live
The Orthodox Use of Icons
“In the Old Testament it was forbidden to have any kind of portrayal of God. "No one
has seen God, only the Son," says the Scripture. God is Spirit, God is Life, God is
Love . . . and one cannot paint or carve a spirit or an abstraction.
But in the New Testament Church, we have icons. There is a special reason for this.
It is because of the Incarnation, because God became Man. Taking upon Himself
human flesh, in the Person of Jesus Christ, God was now visible, spirit and flesh.
Now He could be seen, felt, and heard physically. So, to preserve and understand
this profound truth, the Church made use of iconography—a truly unique Christian
art form.
Have you ever wondered what the letters and abbreviations found on icons mean? It
is rare to find any icon without such inscriptions. They are, in fact, identification
marks that tell precisely what is conveyed in the image. And it is especially in
abbreviated form for the Name of Christ, the designation Birthgiver of God, along
with the Saints that do we find such letters.
The icon of Christ bears the familiar letters "IC XC” (which is the abbreviation for the
name Jesus Christ). But oftentimes the icon has other letters, contained within the
cross that is itself enclosed within what is called the nimbus (Halo) that encompasses
the head of Christ. These three Greek letters, located on separate branches of the
cross, form the Name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14: "And God said to
Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, thus shall you say to the children of
Israel, I AM has sent me to you."
