Bloom where you are planted (Talk 2).

[Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph]

Once you know the crisis, how are you going to bloom?
Let us take the example of Abraham. He is the man who had an internal clarity with an external action.

Two things in Abraham, that will help us bloom conscience independent will God gave him. (independent will is the ability to respond, rather than to react).
Church is the only organization that exists for it’s non-members.

1. Abraham and Sarah form the ideal couple.
• Abraham comes home one day and tells Sarah to pack her bags. She follows him without knowing where.
• Abraham and Sarah are promised a son. But Sarah laughs.
• The promise is made when Abraham was 75 years old, and he has a son when is 100 years old.
• Sarah didn’t understand what God intended. So she had her husband have a son with her servant maid.
2. Abraham gets a son after 25 years of being promised. But still when he is asked to sacrifice his son, he responds. He didn’t react by asking God questions.
   When you respond, rather than react, you are proactive.
   

Can you envisage a future with God?
Always remember and follow "There is nothing that I and God cannot accomplish together."

Purpose of Growth

[Rev. Johnson Unnithan]

Matthew 13: 31 - 32

Growth is desired. It is good when it is in the proper way. A plant which grows when a farmer plants it, is a good growth. A weed also grows, but is not desired by the farmer.

Today, agriculture/farming uses all kinds of harmones to produce BIG harvests. But these are not healthy. Similarly, we tend to grow. But what nurtures our growth determines if it good or bad.

• Gen 39:21 – The Lord was with Joseph … Joseph doesn’t see the harm done in his life from his own perspective. He seeks the will of God in all the sad events in his life.

The mustard seed is used when size is considered to show the insignificance of size. It blooms and grows into a tree. It doesn’t stop there. The birds come and make the tree their home. This was the purpose of the seed / tree.

In the other gospels, a lot of emphasis is given to the fruits of the tree. Here the emphasis is on the birds which make the tree their home. The mustard tree doesn’t grow huge. It can house only small birds. These birds can’t fly into lofty heights needed to house on larger trees.

This is to exemplify that the mustard seed as the purpose of providing shelter to the smaller of creatures too. The tree has no selfish interests from the birds. But it allows them to use it.

People, who give way for others in their own growth, actually grow better and stronger. People who grow for themselves get stunted at some point.

He alone lives, who lives for others. – Swami Vivekanada