False display

[Rev. Mathew K Muthalaly]

Mark 11:11-18 (and Luke)

Some of the doubts that crop up when you read this passage are

1. Jesus is a loving God, blessing God. Such a God cursed. How was this possible?
2. It wasn’t a season for figs. This being the case, why did God have a problem with this? Isn’t this equivalent to punishing an innocent person?
   

1. v11-14 – The instance of Jesus and the fig tree.
2. v15-18 – Jesus driving traders out of the temple.
3. v20 onwards – You see that the fig tree was dried up. This reminded Peter of Jesus’ curse. Jesus replied, “Have faith in God”.

The first two instances show Jesus’ anger. All 3 instances seem completely disconnected. If we were to try moving a mountain, we do it because we thing Jesus said yes. But there is a doubt in actually it happening. Even a tiny bit of doubt can result in no results.

A fig tree full of leaves is an indication of it having fruit. If it doesn’t have fruit, it won’t have leaves. Mark says, “He was hungry”. This shows the human side of the Lord. He was fully divine and He was fully human. He was just like us, except that He was sinless.
In His hunger, Jesus saw the leaves on the fig tree and came close to eat something. The problem here was not that the fig tree was fruitless. The problem was with the pretention of having fruit.

God’s wish for us is to be fruitful. Everyone might appear good. God expects us to actually be good too. We pretend to be good and God doesn’t approve of this. Not being good is not God’s problem. It’s being bad and pretending to be good, that is, hypocrisy that God has a problem with. He expects total submission, not a false display.

Being useless causes only destruction. We are co-creators of God. You are the salt of the world. You are the light of the world. You are called to be of use to the world. God has called us to be useful to the world. Someone who does no good or no harm, is not the best of the people.

God reacted to the use of His temple as a trading place. So it means you need to react when you should. You shouldn’t keep quiet when you should actually be speaking up.

Example of faith – A mountaineer was lost and separated from his group, on a slow clad mountain. It was nightfall and he was yet to find his way back. In the darkness, he lost his footing and slipped down a gorge. But he hung on because of his harness. Hanging by his harness, he prayed to God asking to be saved. Then out of the darkness, he heard a voice asking him to cut the harness rope. He cursed God for not taking care of him and being so inconsiderate, because He asked him to cut the only reason why he was alive. The rescue team found him in the morning. He was found dead hanging 2 feet from the land surface.

We are born with a reason. It is God’s desire for us to fulfil this reason. Don’t be a useless person and spoil the reason for your birth in this world.

The feast of the kingdom of God

[Rev. Thomas George]

John 6:32-40

v35 – I am the bread that gives life.

Jesus’ teachings were based on things that were known to the people. This made it easy for them to understand His teachings. The people were very well versed with Manna. Hence Jesus equates Himself to this manna.

Manna was given to the Israelites. Anything collected in excess rotted. Jesus calls Himself the manna after He fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. People started coming to Jesus for food. Then Jesus sends the disciples to the other side of the shore. The boat was stuck in the storm, and there walks in Jesus on the water. He calmed the waters and comforts the disciples. These two incidents brought more people to Jesus.

Each church has its own understanding of the Holy Communion. Some churches don’t allow non-members to partake in the Holy Communion. This is the feast of the kingdom of God. The celebrant is the God. The priest is only serving it to us. We eat at a hotel not based on the servers there, but based on the food. So don’t hold the priest against taking the Holy Communion.

This is a blessed experience and we are all invited to partake in it by Jesus. We need to come in prepared for this.

The priest washes his hands to remember that he is a sinner too. God has given us sinners, right to be part of His kingdom’s feast.

1. The people were not satisfied with things Jesus did. So they said, it’s not enough and spoke of the manna their forefathers got in the desert. Jesus called Himself the manna in retaliation to this claim.
v30 – What miracle will you work? We are called the reformed church. But years back this reformation took place. Do we have an experience of this reformation? Has the reformation been a present experience, an ongoing experience?
Jesus was crucified years ago. The Holy Communion is relieving this experience. Don’t take pride in what was there before. Make the past experience into an ongoing one.

v32 – “God gave manna. It was not Moses. My father is the one who gives you the true bread” – this is a present experience.


2. The Holy Communion is a rich experience. Each one of us has to come prepared for this experience. A qualitative improvement is the need of the Holy Communion. The people ask, “God give this bread always”. By this, they mean, it is not our mistake. But it has not been given to us. The communion is an investment to eternal life. Someone who partakes this shall not die, but have eternal life. It prepares us for the feast in the kingdom of God.

Do not worry

Mathew 6:25-34
[Rev. Mathew K Muthalaly]

The idea conveyed is not to bother about tomorrow. There is more to this passage.

A man is carrying a bag of burden. He is stooping because of the weight. An angel appeared to him and asked what it was. He said, “You won’t understand.” On more prompting from the angel, he said, “It contains all my worries and apprehension.” The angel made him open the bag, but found it empty. The angel said, “Yesterday’s worries are long over. The worries of tomorrow are yet to come. Why are you carrying them around today, for no reason?”

Your life is bigger than the food, water or clothes you worry about. God gave us this life. He will also give things needed to live.

v33 – search for the Lord first, and rest will follow.

You were not born with the right to choose your parents. You were gifted as a child to your parents. We are here according to God’s plan. It’s not a matter of co-incidence.

1. God gave us life. If we believe this, then He will provide for us too.
2. To believe the above principle, you have an example – the birds that don’t earn or store or grow grains. God takes care of them. Some people say, “Eat, drink and enjoy today”. This is wrong. The birds don’t sit in their nest and God doesn’t drop food in their laps. But they rise early and work for their food. God doesn’t expect us to laze around. He wants us to work hard. We need to remember that even feeding a small bird falls within His concern. So how much more is His concern for you?
   What is prohibited? It is not work, it is worry. We should work and not worry. Worrying about tomorrow is not needed.
3. You don’t achieve anything by worrying, Children are worried about exams. Parents are worried about the children’s future. Similarly, people are worried about everything. The ultimate gain of worrying is nothing. The rich are worried for their lives. There is no use of all the wealth he has. Philippians 4:6 – Don’t worry about anything. Place your needs to God.
4. God who makes beautiful a flower that lives for a day, doesn’t He care more for you?
5. The root of anxiety is nothing by unbelief. When you believe God can help you, you will not worry.
6. What is the way to remove anxiety?
1. Understanding God’s kingdom – It is no big deal to live in this world for the poor. But we store everything and worry about tomorrow.
   - We have something to lose and so we are worried.
   - We have money, so worry about losing it.
   - We have a house, so we worry about it being destroyed.
   “I want to do things better than my neighbour” – this is the root of all anxiety.
   
   If God’s kingdom is God being king, then you need to understand that God is capable of taking from the rich and give it to the poor.
   
   Once you start thinking of this, you’ll stop worrying because you realise all are equal. Some people are relieved that God’s kingdom is not here, because they are not going to carry anything there.
   
   
2. Give importance to God – If you seek His kingdom, and give Him first priority, all your basic needs will be given unto you. It doesn’t mean you will get all that you dream of. God will give you all your needs, not your wants.

Where does your compassion lie?

Mathew 25:44-45 & 1 John 3:17
[Rev. Thomas George]

Our salvation is not decided on by the amount of donations we make, or the position we are in. It depends on our compassion for the less privileged. Be accountable. We need to present our accounts to the Lord.

1. Are you able to see the Lord, when you leave the church? – Do I want to become what the Lord wants of me, from what I am doing today? Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep and the goats are treated differently by us. Similarly, based on our acts, God will choose to treat us differently.


2. Are you able to see the Lord in others? – Mother Teresa saw the plight of the poor and diseased. She saw them as her own and spent her life for them. Do we give away only things that we have no need of? We should give from our abundance, not with our leftovers. When you are able to set aside your happiness for the joy of others, you will do something beautiful for God.


3. Are you prepared for your final journey? – If you’ve done nothing, then you have been a fool. We are losing a lot of people because of globalisation. We need to extend our hands to these people.

Repent. Be vigilant. Be accountable.

Romans 10:9

Mouth is not the only means of communication, in modern world. But if you say, “Jesus is Lord” from your mouth, you will be saved.

Jesus is the one person who has risen from the dead. Confessing by your mouth is very important. But to confess, you should believe in the resurrection.

When you believe it in your heart, He becomes your priority. You don’t need to prioritize things. God will show you your priorities.

Give to God, and He will give back to you 100 fold (???)

Luke 14:12-14

Common notion is “If you give to God, He will give back 100 fold”.

This is not what the Bible teaches. If we give with this idea in our mind, it is not a spiritual giving.

Jesus gave His life for us. He didn’t expect anything in return. He in turn got the cross instead.

Give without expecting!!!

World Sunday School Day - 05-Nov-2006

Luke 2:41 – 52

Children were required to be taken to Jerusalem when they turned a certain age. Jesus was 12 when he went. He had reached youth hood and He knew well enough to talk to the elders about God.

Parents didn’t realize their son is missing. Does this prove them to be irresponsible? No, they went as a huge group of relatives. So they trusted the group to have taken care of their child.

They went with Jesus, but came back without him. We should remember to make sure that Jesus is with us at all times.

Quotes captured from sermons.

• Ego – Edging God Out
• Distance is the greatest source of distortion.
• Faith is a journey beyond the boundary of visible.
• Splendid insights are born when we cross boundaries.
• Revelation is God understanding man (God understand man and so reveals himself).
• We have to become the change we want to see in others.
• Clarity is next to godliness.
• Christians go to the havens to convert them, but they get perverted in the process. - George Bernard Shaw.
• Whatever you deny, will eventually overtake you.
• Don’t try to change a man over 40. – CS Lewis
• Earlier children thought of parents as a tree that gives shade. Now they consider them as ladders to climb up on.
• Unless a grain of wheat falls down and dies, it remains alone.
• Child is the father of man. – Wordsworth
• We receive the body of Christ to become the body of Christ.
• Life is a laptop but some people are using it as a paper weight.
• Love is the light in which worth is seen.
• The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. – Psalms
• Sometimes when opportunity knocks, we mistake it for noise.
• We grow old only when we forget our sense of mission.
• Church is the only organization which exists for its non-members.
• Evangelism – a compulsion from within and compassion from without.
• “STRESSED” when read backwards becomes “DESSERTS”.
• When wings to enable us soar high is arranged for you, are you just asking Him for a walking stick?
• God can use crooked things to write a straight line.
• Before cutting any string, make sure it's not one that's holding you up.
• Courage is not the absence of fear — it is the mastery of it.
• If you sense your faith is unraveling, go back to where you dropped the thread of obedience.
• The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to lead us.
• Just believing isn't enough. Remember the devil believes in God too!!
  
• When times are hard and you can not see the light, remember what He said. Walk by faith, not by sight.
  
• Christians aren't perfect; we're forgiven.
  
• Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
  
• Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active.
  
• Unthinking faith is a curious offering to be made to the creator of the human mind.
  
• Without faith a man can do nothing; with it all things are possible.
• No matter how steep the mountain - the Lord is going to climb it with you.
• God is the light that shows me the way, for there is nothing that God cannot do.
• "If you Believe, it will Happen."
• Prayer releases the power and wisdom of God into a situation.
  
• The Lord will either calm your storm . . . or allow it to rage while He calms you.
• When God calls you to do something, he enables you to do it.
  
• My job is to take care of the possible and trust God with the impossible.
• No God, No Peace. Know God, Know Peace.
• If the only prayer you ever say in life is "Thank you". . . that is enough.
  
• We are at peace with God and all mankind when we hear the silence and do not feel alone.
• "How do u get to heaven?" "When u turn right, and keep straight."
  
  
  

Glorification of Christ

[Rev. Mathew K Muthalaly]

John 20:11-18

Some points to note that can be seen only in John’s gospel are

1. Mary crying at His tomb.
2. The 2 angels at his hand and feet.

Jesus is a good leader. He calls everyone by name.

Mary doesn’t recognise Jesus and asks for His body. It is not explicitly mentioned as to why she asks for the body. But here is some background. The Jews followed some funeral rites to the body of the dead. But since the day following Jesus’ death was the Sabbath, Mary must’ve come to His tomb to perform these rites following the day of the Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t answer her question, but calls out her name. She recognises His as her teacher. This is just as John 10:14 says, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”

The glorification of Jesus Christ is exemplified by John.

In John 2, at the wedding at Cana, He says, “My time hasn’t come”. The time mentioned here is the time for his glorification. Many people put their faith in Him. It was not a general applauding of His work.

His glorification was in

1. Death
2. Resurrection
3. Ascension

Mary clung to Jesus Christ. This is because of her love for him. Even 3 days after his death, she was crying at His tomb. When Jesus says, “Don’t cling unto me”, He means His glorification is not complete. He is yet to ascend into His father’s home.

1. His ascension ensures His second coming - In John 14, (v1-3) keep your trust in the Lord. I’ll go to my father’s house and prepare the rooms there. I will come back.
2. The place for women in Jesus’ life – Our society is male dominated. We think he had only 12 disciples and all were men. But the bible does mention women among his disciples. There is no restriction to men alone in St. John’s gospel. The first person to see the resurrected God was a woman. Peter saw the empty tomb and went back.
1. Mary was the first person to witness resurrected God.
2. She was the first person to spread the good news of the resurrected God.
3. The grace of resurrection – She continues to weep. She turns around on hearing her name. Once she recognises Jesus, there were no more tears. She finds the Lord and all her sadness and sorrow has left her. When you meet Jesus, you’ll cease to be unhappy. You’ll start finding the joy in your lives. This is the grace of our Lord. He will speak to you in your sorrow. He will give us the hope.
   

John 16:20-22, Jesus says “You’ll cry. The world will rejoice. Your sorrow will cease and you’ll find happiness”. Jesus analogies this feeling to a woman’s labour pains. The labour pain of a woman is huge. But on seeing her baby, she forgets all her pain. Similarly, we will forget all our worries when we experience the joy when we meet Him face to face.

John 14:18-20 says, “I’ll not leave you alone...” There is another life at the end of this life. Because He lives, we will also live. This is the promise given to us. We are not living because of our capabilities. We live because He lived.

John 17 is called the high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ.

Message for Leaders

[Susan chechi]

1. A leader is a person in authority appointed by God – Romans 13:1.
2. A leader has a covenant with the Lord – Nehemiah 10 (speaks of the Sabbath and laws).
3. A leader must’ve a wise and understanding heart – 1 Kings 3.
4. Prayer is a powerful tool in leadership.
5. When you are a leader, you are accountable to God – 1 Peter 5:2-4

Some of the other leaders are Moses, Abraham and Daniel. They stuck with God always.

Hold onto these points while going forward.

1. The foundation is Jesus Christ.
2. Be one. Do not be divided.
3. Glory is the Lord’s alone.
4. We are builders of the wise master.

Church and community

[Rev. John Geevarghese (Bency achen)]

Luke 6:27-36

This talks about what is expected of us. Bible is the answer to all questions. It can be used as the positive or negative answer to all your questions.

What credit is it to you if you behave just like the sinner? If you love someone just because they love you, then you are just like the world. You should be able to love someone who hates you. Can you give the other cheek to someone who strikes you?

Leadership training

[Mr. C D Mathew]

People face a lot of pressures.

1. Organisational pressures
1. Peers, sub-ordinates and superiors
2. Managerial ladder
2. External pressure
1. People, politicians and other influential people.
   

Nehemiah is one of the great leaders mentioned in the bible.

- He was aggrieved when he saw the state of the walls of Jerusalem.
- He consulted with God when he was confronted by the king.
- He prayed to God in each of his plans.
- He prepared to fight against anyone who prevented them from building the wall.
- He was accused of trying to build a kingdom and to threaten their king.
- He stuck with God and completed his mission.
- He was a governor but didn’t expect special treatment because of that.

All these qualities of his were got from his basic commitment to God.

A leader is one who is compassionate – Nehemiah took care of all the complaints that came from widows and poor people about being ill-treated by the Jewish officials.

His absence from Jerusalem caused his people to move away from God. When Nehemiah came back and found out the reason for the problem.

Can you stand the test of time? Do you have the courage to say NO when you are pressurised to compromise? It is not enough you do the right thing. But you need to sustain it.

What gives you the courage to stand for the truth? How do you stand the pressure from within and outside? Go through the character of Nehemiah.

You will be a success with your ideal, but are you ready to stand the test of time?

You may not be liked by all for your standing, but are you ready to sustain?

Nehemiah’s 5 problems and approaches

1. Balancing practical planning with trust in God.
1. What should I ask for to the king?
2. He took letters to people who he expected trouble from.
2. Undesired criticism
1. Can you stand when you are criticised bitterly?
3. Resolving personality conflicts and strained human relationships.
4. Financial crunch.
5. Take care of executive burnout.
   

Nehemiah was a servant leader – Without commitment and devotion, you cannot lead.

Jesus came down to serve us. Only if you make yourself low, you can serve others. The best way to influence others is by serving them, instead of bossing people around. You should be ready to sacrifice everything to the commitment.

Nehemiah was a leader who was a perfect example of how a leader should be.

Leadership training

[Mr. Binod Maliel]

Experience is mistakes you are not going to repeat.

Ephesians 2:8,9

- Good work alone is not taking you anywhere
- Salvation is God’s gift for us.

Parable of the talents teaches us that the reward in heaven is based on the work done on earth. Everything we do is going to be refined by the testing fire of God. Only the good work that lasts this fire is going to be the basis for our rewards in heaven.

There are different types of leaderships

- Visible leaders
- Invisible leaders

God has chosen a path for each of us. No matter what path is decided of you, there are some common set of challenges that you will face as leaders

1. Motivation
2. Handling different situations
3. Thinking ahead
4. Keeping people together
5. People skills
6. Positive attitude
7. Open to ideas

Some of the words that can be used to define a leader are “Initiator and finisher”, “responsibilities” and “achiever”.

Philippians 4:13 – Christ strengthens you to be able to do all things. God uses “FAT” people – Faithful, Available and Talented.
All in all, leadership is an influence. Nothing more and nothing less!!

Leaders should

• Be able to evaluate ideas, not people.
• Influence people and should be ready to be influenced by others.
• Be self motivated.
• Be able to influence results. They should be activity oriented, not result oriented.
  

Level 5 leaders is the name given to the leaders of 11 companies with sustained results of 3 times above average, for 15 years. Two of the qualities of these level 5 leaders are

1. Humility
2. Willing to take tough decisions for positive results.
   

Leaders need to be windows when good things happen and mirrors to failures. Dissatisfaction is good as long as it is managed well. It brings out new ideas.

There are two types of handling people.

1. Directing behavior
2. Supporting behaviour
   

People usually belong to one of the following 4 quadrants. A leader needs to cater to the support and direct a person according to the quadrant they belong to.

The Cross – A suffering?

[Rev. Sajan Varghese]

The chieftain who had no belief in God, said “He was the son of God”, when he saw the events on Friday. If we are able to say the same thing after being part of the service, then there is use of being a part of this service.

Cross – It isn’t seasonal. It is a daily affair. It’s like the food and air for a human being. It is the spiritual necessity for a Christian.

Cross is the key to a Christian life. If you don’t have a key, you can’t enter through a locked door.

What is cross? - It means suffering. This is the common notion. But it is not mentioned anywhere in the bible.

A mentally retarded child might seem to be a suffering for his parents. But for his parents, it is a joyful experience. To see the Cross as a suffering is to see the wrong side of it. Cross is the happiness in life. Not having a child is not suffering. It is the way you look at it. There are no problems in your life if you don’t have a child. You can say having a child is suffering because of the care needed for its upbringing.

For a moment, Jesus saw the Cross as a suffering. That is why he says, “Take this suffering from me.” This is the human concept of the Cross.

But God says, “If my son doesn’t die on the cross, then all the humans made in my image will die”. Jesus realizes His Father’s view when He says, “Not my will, but Yours be done”.

Where is Cross? - It is not in the most holy places.

1. Jesus’ cross was outside the city. It was between two thieves, i.e., among the world, not in the church.
2. People gambled in front of the cross. If you want to see the cross, you can’t turn away from the world.
3. People who passed by Him, shook their head. This means He was crucified next to a road. The road is outside and not in the church.
4. Jesus was betrayed by a kiss of a loved one. He said, “If you come in search of me, leave the others alone”. This is the love of forgetting.
5. If you’ve the vision of the cross, you should be capable to forget and love. Even in the midst of His pain, Jesus said, “Woman, here is your son. John here is your mother”.
   

A person, who is ready to forgive and care for others in His pain, is our God. It is not all about forgetting; it is about forgiving. Only those who can forget can forgive.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing”. Are we capable of saying this?

Cross is the love of forgiveness, the love of forgetting and the love of reconciliation.

What is Good Friday?

[Baby John]

Isaiah 52:9-10

God spoke through the prophets about the savior who is to come and rescue us. After the floods, God promised Noah, there won’t be any more floods or any other disaster that will wipe out the entire world.

Luke 1 – The angel says, “The savior for all people.” Jesus didn’t come down for only a select few. He came for all of us.

Isaiah 53:3-5 – speaks of the suffering Jesus is to endure in His time here.

The rescue in our lives is only through Jesus, There is no other way.

Matthew 16:21 - Jesus knew He is going to be crucified months ahead of it actually happening.

Matthew 20:20-28 – Mother of James and John requested Jesus to let one of her sons sit at His left and right. Jesus replies saying, “Are they ready to bear the pains He went through?” Are we ready to be crucified like Him?

This is the question God has for us. We are today only bothered about being with Him during His second coming. But we don’t realize that this is possible only if we suffer for Him.

“Luke 9:23 – You must take your cross each day and follow me.” Are we ready to follow God every day? Are we ready to bear the cross every day?

2 Timothy 3:12 – Anyone who wants to live with Jesus will have troubles from others.

Matthew 10 – We may feel like going away from God when we face troubles. The one who stays with God even in all his troubles is the one who will meet Him during His second coming.

Galatians 2:19-20 – Death is only to the body. If you are with Christ, you will live eternally with Him.

Matthew 16:26 – What have you gained, if you’ve destroyed yourself?

John 15:13 – The greatest thing is to die for a friend.

John 13:1-6 – Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. He made Himself low. We need to be low if we want to grow.

John 14:28 – Good Friday is not a day of bereavement. It is a day of joy because Jesus is going back to His father.

How do we identify the King?

[Rev. Paul Jacob]

Mathew 21:1-11

Martin Luther King fought for the rights of the blacks in Americas. He spoke about his dream for freedom in the Lincoln Memorial. People were all ears to hear their leader. 2000 years ago, people of Jerusalem got together to receive another King. The spread their clothes on the road, waved the branches to receive the King. This gathering was not put together in a jiffy. It was planned ages ago by our God. It marked the beginning of the last days of Jesus on this earth.

The whole town got together to say “Please save us”. Though they got together to welcome Him, there was a question, “Who is He?” This man was a King in all respects. He is the one who taught every one to love, without any expectations. Kingdom of God is very different from all that we see here.

He fed 5000 people with 5 loves and 2 fishes. After this, the people wanted to make Him King. The basic necessity of life is food. When Jesus satisfied this need, they decided to make Him King. Zechariah 9:9 talks about the King. But Jesus was called King only during his last days.

a. John 19:1-2 – A taunt of King by the soldiers.
b. Mathew 27:11 – Pilate asks him, are you the King of Jews?

The kings of this world are ready to kill for a piece of land. But when the king came to the earth, He didn’t have place to be even born. He didn’t own anything. He had to be buried in another’s tomb. When He forgives the woman people wanted to stone, He was showing her the way. He showed Zachhaeus the way by showing right from wrong. He cured the sick who followed Him. He didn’t make any one in debt for the things He did for them.

God didn’t use a horse because the slowest walk of a horse still can’t be with the pace of the people. Then why not a camel? Because it is too high and he may not hear the people. So the best thing is the donkey, It walks at the pace of even the slowest man. Jesus also walks with all, even the slowest of all of us. He doesn’t desert us.

How do we identify the King and His kingdom? The people who recognized Him are

1. The 3 kings who followed the star, and saw a King in the infant. We may have knowledge but do we have the insight? Insight comes only with the Lord.
2. The children who sang Hosanna when He came to town. Only when you have the innocence of a child, can you recognise Him.
3. The thief who was crucified with Him. He had a deep transformation in the last days of His life.
   

If you have to recognize the kingdom, you need to be learned or have innocence or undergo a complete transformation.

Called by God – called, commissioned and empowered

Who is the person who has called us? Who is a called person?
God has called us; and He has called each one of us.

There was a crowd following Jesus always. This doesn’t necessarily mean they all believed in Him. Some might have come for the stories He said. Some for the food served and some for the healing He did. But Jesus made it clear what it means to follow Him.

Mark 8:34

Jesus called the crowd to Him along with the disciples. He gives them an agenda to follow Him. The world is looking for only the best exterior. But God says any one who is willing can follow Him, provided they have the heart to follow Him. Out of the 12, 1 was a betrayer and the rest were traitors in some way or the other. But God used them to build His kingdom here. They seemed most disqualified, but with Jesus they turned into the most qualified ones.

With God, it is not your ability, but your availability which matters. Any one who has a heart and is willing is CALLED.

Jesus said, if you want to follow me, you should deny yourself. What is denying yourself? Saying no to worldly things; being ready to say yes to be at the end of the queue.

Galatians 2:20

Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Love the Lord your God with all your heart (emotionally), with all your soul (psychologically), with all your strength (physically) and with all your might (completely). God is very clear of what He needs from us. He wants us to love Him. He is desperate for love. If someone writes an “I LOVE YOU” for you in blood, you get all touchy about that person. But we don’t see the blood Jesus has shed for us.

Jesus didn’t say take up my cross. He said take up your own cross. He means we need to be ready to face hardships in His name. Cross is a symbol of pain and suffering. There is no such thing as a secret believer or a secret Christian. If God has empowered you, how can you let it be a secret? The current day Gurus are promising you a lie with all comforts and benefits. Bur our Guru told us the truth of suffering and pain in our lives. Life is not temporal, it is eternal.

A person who has the right priorities in life is the CALLED one. Are we going to be ok with losing a necklace and not losing the velvet cover? NO!! Then why are we not bothered about losing our souls? If any one is ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us.

Nehemiah’s concern

[Rev. Philip]

Nehemiah 2:8

When Nehemiah heard about the state of the temple of Jerusalem, he wept out. He was so concerned about others. This is the reason he asked and enquired about others and cried out when he heard of this state.

If you hide your sins, it will grow and will become visible one day. You should confess your sins.

Nehemiah could’ve shut his eyes and ignored the state of Jerusalem, because he was away from Jerusalem and wouldn’t be able to do it. But he decided to act.

After the sermon on the mount, Jesus didn’t want to send them back empty stomach.. The 5 loaves and 2 fishes were enough to satisfy all their needs.

When wings to enable us soar high is arranged for you, are you just asking Him for a walking stick? This is the truth in our lives. God has kept a lot ready for us and we ask Him for petty things.

Nehemiah believed that God was with him. God is with each of us, but do we realize this? When he had finished inspecting the walls, some people came to threaten him. When you start God’s work, there will be a lot of obstacles. This is true in our lives. Satan is running around like a hungry lion, waiting to eat the hapless.

A kite builds its nest right on top of a big tree. Once the chicks are ready to fly, the mother removes twigs from the nest. When the chicks fall and don’t fly till they reach the ground, the mother takes them back.

A man on top of a 5-storey building wanted some things from the ground floor. He tried calling out to people walking on the street to help him, but they couldn’t hear him. He had 2 coins, so he decided to use them to get attention. He threw the first coin; a man walking below found it and pocketed it without looking up. The same thing happened with the next coin too. Then he learnt a lesson. He threw a stone on the next man; and he looked up. Similarly, hardships in our lives are for us to look up to our God. We don’t tend to see Him when He gives us only blessings.

When you know a person personally, you will read a book written by him with full interest. Similarly, only when we have fellowship with our God, we will read the Bible properly.

A mother goes to the person who saved her son’s life and says “Why didn’t you save his cap too?” This is how we react to God too. He gave His son to rescue us and we ask Him why he didn’t give us the luxury we want.

A fish seller wanted a board saying “Fresh fish sold here”. The painter said,

• Why do you need “Fresh”? Will some one buy stale fish?
• Why do you need “here”? Where else will they buy?
• Why do you need “sold”? Will you give it for free?
• Why do you need “fish”? From one mile away, every one will get to know that fish are sold here.

Similarly, as Christians, we shouldn’t need boards to declare ourselves. Our lives should be living boards for people around us.

Season of Lent

[Rev. Thomas Kurien]

Isaiah 58:5-8

Lent means “Looking into Jesus”. The season of Lent is 50 days long to indicate the 40 days Jesus spent in prayer and the Passion Week. What is fasting in our lives? Is it bound with the Bible or is it just abstinence from food?

What is expected from us during Lent?

1. Time of repentance – Are we able to change the world around us with inner healing? Physically and externally we may seem good to others, but are we healed internally?
2. Time of reconciliation – We enter the Holy Qurbana with the Kiss of Peace. Mathew 5:23-24. You may be at peace with others, but if there is some one who is angry with you, it may be because of something about you. So you need to ensure that all is fine in your relationship with that person. If you love the God and hate your brother, then you are a thief or a cheat. Our prayers for healing are become a show-off of our faith. The Lord who does the healing is getting sidelined.
3. Time of renunciation – You let go of your favorite things and spend that time and energy in our Lord. By fasting, what good is happening? The money you save should go to the needy, instead of just your bank balance.
4. Time of renewal – Die with Christ and live with Christ. The things followed in church are a symbolic representation of things Christ did. If you don’t understand this meaning, everything will appear like a drama to you.

Jesus turns water into wine

John 2:1-11

1. v4 – How does it concern you and me?
2. v4b – My hour has not yet come
3. v5 – Do as he says
4. v7 – Fill water in the wine jars
5. v10b – You’ve kept the best until the last.

1. Jesus had been to the wedding at Cana. It must’ve been a family and disciples wouldn’t have been there. Knowingly or unknowingly, we tend to crush others dreams without realizing their pain, because it doesn’t matter to us.
2. In Mathew 26:18, Jesus says “My time has come!” If he does a miracle there, then it will reveal His greatness to all. It would also be the first step towards the cross. Knowing all this, Jesus willingly takes this first step. Cross is the consequence of obeying the Lord in this godless world.
3. Mother knows her son will not go away from doing good.
4. Jesus was a God of small things. A God who encourages the small things to grow and proclaim His glory. The ordinary is transformed into something extraordinary.
5. If God’s grace touches you, people will see the new special things in you. When God touches you, you will be transformed into a new creation. (Romans 12:1-8).

The three things season of Lent stands on are fasting, prayer and alms giving. The season of Lent is the remembrance of the suffering Jesus went through in His journey to the cross. We don’t have any right to take this suffering lightly. We need to join with our Lord in prayer.

Faith saves all

[Rev. Dr. George Varghese]

Luke 8:49-50

Jesus went around preaching the gospel. He not only preached, but he healed the sick.

Luke 8:26-39 – Jesus listened to the prayer of the demons. He let them go into the pigs as they wanted. When the people saw this, they saw two things.

1. The man is now cured.
2. They’ve lost their animal stock.

Instead of being happy for their fellow being, they asked Jesus to leave them. When the people didn’t want Him, He didn’t push Himself on them. On the contrary to all people asking Him to leave, there was this one man, who wanted Him to come to his house.

On the way to Jesus’ house, there was a block, that of the woman with bleeding problem for 12 years. In the Hebrew society such a woman was not allowed in public places. When Jesus asks who touched Him, she must’ve been scared of being punished. Jesus’ destination was Jairus’ house. The woman was a blockage. Jairus must’ve felt why this woman didn’t come at some other time. Why is she here when He is on His way to my house? Then he must’ve consoled himself saying Jesus will take care. It was in this state that he gets the news of his daughter’s death.

The most important point here is that he was with Jesus when he heard the sad news. If he was with any one else but Jesus, they wouldn’t have been able to help him. If you are with Jesus, He can save you from anything you face. Jairus felt they were late, but Jesus says “Don’t worry. Have faith”.

Faith is to believe when everything is dead. The God who can do everything you feel is impossible.

When Jesus reached Jairus’ house, he saw people crying. In our houses, children are spiritually dead. To bring them back to life, Jesus needs to come in.

Are you with Jesus today? Don’t run to God when you are in trouble. Instead be with Jesus always and God will save you from the dangers.

Are you a born again Christian? Are you under the covering of the covenant? Are you under the control of the Holy Spirit?

Venturing into the unknown

[Rev. VM Mathew]

Is there anything unknown in this world? We are able to get all kinds of information on the Net. So what is it that is unknown?

• We don’t know the person next to us and our neighbors.
• We don’t know the pain that some of our friends go through.
  

Jesus is one person who always went to the unknown, be it the Samaritan or the leper.

1. To go to an unknown area we need to go beyond boundaries. Like Christ who went beyond boundaries. We need to go out of our comfort zone. There are some boundaries that we should not cross. We end up crossing these, rather than the ones we need to cross.
2. We need to travel through the less traveled road. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd went in search of one sheep, though he had 99 of them. This is the less traveled road.
3. We need to take some risk. Jesus took the risk to reach out to the unknown. We don’t take risks in our lives. Jesus’ mission was to venture into the unknown. We tend to remain in the known.

Agrarian Parable

[Rev. Johnson Unnithan]

John 12:24-26

Agrarian parable is one of the many used by Jesus. He used this to connect to the common man. In these parables, there is a lot of emphasis on fruit.

The loss of identity of a grain of wheat is necessary to product more wheat.

Matthew 13:31-32

The kingdom of God compared to the mustard seed. It grows into a tree that grows and provides shelter to birds. Though useful to birds, this is of no use to the person who plants it. This is called the “Economy of the Kingdom”. In all that we do, we expect good results out of it and results that favor us. In God’s Kingdom, the result is in favor of everyone, and not just the person who does the deed. Like, Jesus gave himself to get us our salvation.

What use has it been to Jesus by us being Christians? We tend to pray and love God for our own selfish reasons. We need to give ourselves completely to God. John the Baptist says about Jesus, “I should go down and He should rise”. Are we ready to let go a little in our lives and use that for God’s glory? Things like time, money and words.

Be firm and courageous

[Rev. Samuel M Samuel]

Joshua 1:1-9

The point mentioned by God to Joshua in this passage is “Be firm and courageous”. He says this after Moses dies. Joshua was a man who was in the background. God calls him to lead his people.

Joshua has seen the reactions of the people when Moses led them. He knew this was not an easy feat. Hence God tells him to be strong and brave repeatedly. He says this just before the people entered the Promised Land.

They were going to experience something new. If Moses led them to the Promised Land, Joshua had to lead them during successful times. It is during our prosperity that we lose track of our God. Hence God asks him to be firm and brave. Only if he does this, he can follow the word of God in his life (v7).

We usually challenge our enemies or the people whom we confront. Here God challenges Joshua to walk in His path and to follow His Law and Word. When we decide to walk with God is when we face the most problems. Because that’s when the devil feels threatened.

Are we ready to vow to follow Jesus this New Year? As we grow stronger, we forget that God has got us there (like King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26).

• v7: Don’t turn left or right to be able to take the Promised Land. If a door closes on us, God will open many more for us if we follow Him.

• v8: We need to think about the word of God day and night. We need to be brave and strong for this. Psalms 32 says “Blessed is he whose sins are forgiven”. Psalms 1 says “Blessed is he who reads the word of God day and night”.

The first thing we leave when we are busy is prayer! If there is no time, then we cut down our time for prayer. If can’t spend hours to pray, we should atleast spend half and hours for this

• v9: God will be with you wherever you go. Are you ready to take God with you WHEREVER you go?• v5: I’ll be with you like I was with Moses. No one will defeat you. There can be nothing better than this for a man called to be a leader. We should pray to God for His presence in all that we do.

God confronts you

[Rev. Shibi Varghese]

John 21

Peter walked with Jesus for 3 years. But after the crucifixion of Jesus, he didn’t know what to do. All that he thought he will gain were lost. In this passage, he stands on the shore of Lake Tiberias.

He though was the rock, lost hope. The disciples also followed his actions. Man by default wants to go back. There is a lot of effort needed to go forward, but returning is the easier thing to do. But when Peter went back, he was fishing to live. But earlier, he lived to fish. This is similar to our live. We are doing things to live.

Some of our blessings are causing us to turn away from God. When God gives us a house and children, we turn away from Him saying, “I need to take care of these things given to me”.

When Peter put his nets into the sea, he didn’t get anything. He was fishing since his childhood. He was capable of knowing where to find the fish. But on turning away from God, all his knowledge deserted him.

God will comfort us when we are nothing. There are many times in our lives when we are nothing. We need to respond to His call. When Peter failed in his work, Jesus told him what to do. This time Peter listened to Him. Jesus didn’t ask him to stop fishing. He taught him how to fish. The attitude of a believer should show in what you do.

On doing as Jesus said, he caught much more than he dreamed of. When Jesus confronts us, our lives are reordered. Peter was happy on seeing Jesus. He wasn’t happy because he caught 153 fishes. It was the confrontation with Jesus was what made him happy.

When Peter was so happy, Jesus asked him a small question. “Do you love me?” When He asked Peter this question for the third time, he said “You know everything”. He laid himself bare in front of Jesus. After this there was no looking back in his life. He transformed the lives of 1000s of people.

God doesn’t want to know your past. He wants to know if you are ready to lead your future with Him. We are called to be battle horses in this world, to fight the battle for our Lord.

The decision we take in Christ should be for the betterment of this society. Zaccheaus was ready to return all that he had taken as bribe. He didn’t promise to return just what he got; he instead agreed to return four times. We instead say things about walking with God. But we don’t agree to pay back for our past sins.

We are like the rich man who wanted eternal life. He had a lot. So why not eternal life also? ;-) But he was not ready to leave his things. If you run behind the good things, we can get a lot. Instead we tend to run behind petty things and miss Jesus while doing so.

Christmas

Luke 2:7-10

The God who is Almighty came down as a common man on this day of Christmas.

• v7: There was no room in the inn. This is just a symbolic representation of His life in this world. He came to this world, but people didn’t give Him the respect due to Him. The only place given to Him in this world was the cross.

Story: There was a mentally disabled man who didn’t get a job any where. Finally he was employed by a drama troupe, into a play called “The Christmas”. His role was that of the inn keeper. In the play, Mary and Joseph came to him. The man was told to say, “No room” and keep quiet. But he instead said, “Please wait. We have a room in our house”. He forgot about the play in a moment. He was ready to give his house to the needy.
The play was spoilt but a mentally disabled man turned out to be much better than the mentally abled us? At the time of His birth, there was no room on the inn. How about in our lives today?

• v10: The shepherds were the first to know about Jesus. Shepherds were despised by the society. They were not allowed into any of the celebrations. The wise men went to the palace in search of the King born unto us. But the shepherds, who were unaware of the King’s birth, were the first ones to know about Him.

What is the gospel for this world, for the so called sinners of the society and for the unjust people of this society? We have been able to get this good news into our lives. Only then can we share the good news with others.

Let our prayer this season be
“Lord, let me know the good news of Christmas and let me spread this to others”.

God’s plan

Mathew 1:19

In the autobiography of Kiran Bedi – ‘I dare’, her reaction to being appointed as superintendent of Tihar Jail was, “I am misplaced in this place”. We think on similar lines in our lives. Joseph felt the same way about marrying a pregnant Mary.

But by the end of her stay in Tihar Jail, Kiran Bedi had brought across reformation there and says, “It was God’s plan to put me here”.

At an age when men were considered superior and people saw themselves as God’s messengers, we have a man with a pregnant fiancée. He was a righteous main because he didn’t choose to put Mary to shame. He knew the history of God’s work in the world, but he was scared of the people of the law and hence he decided to leave Mary.

This is when the angel of God appeared to him in his dreams. The dreams of a betrothed person are all rosy. But here is a man who had a different one. It might have been a disturbing one which he could have thrown away as just a dream.

In the eyes of the law, both of them are criminals as they’d think of Mary as an adulteress and Joseph of having committed the sin of marrying an adulteress. But Joseph decided to take it up. He understood the purpose of God through the dream.

Let us be like the star that shone on His birth, to show the way for the shepherds and wise men.

Two women

Luke 1:39-56

v42-45:

1. a young woman who is destined to be an unwed mother
2. an old woman, past the age of child bearing, becoming a mother

This passage is the meeting of these two women.

We should be a support to people. When people visit us, our question is “Is your return ticket booked?” It is a picture of inconvenience. But Elizabeth accommodates and supports Mary and gives her strength. Similarly, if not for Ananias, Saul would not have become the Paul that we know.

Both these women understood the wonders God was gonna bring in their lives. We are great powers to God. If we give ourselves to God, He can create wonders. We may show compassion to others, but we don’t spend time to show them the right way to choose.

v52,53: There is no place of murmuring to the lips giving praise. This can be seen as a doctrine.

1. A social revolution – puts humble people in places of power.
2. An economic revolution – sends rich away with nothing.
3. gives food to the hungry.
   

This reminds us to look back into our lives and see if we will be subjected to these revolutions. Cinema paints the truth in an untrue manner and people are ready to take it. But the Bible makes people see the truth that is going to come. But people fail to see it. Mary praises God even before what God promised comes true. This shows her faith in her God.

Divine Presence

Luke 1:26-38
[Bency achen]

This passage is not given much importance in any of the other gospels. We live in the age were this event is unbelievable. The big problem here is that of an unwed mother. Our point of thought is not how it was made possible.

The appearance of Gabrielle denotes the presence of God. In the Old Testament, the divine presence was seen as the wall of cloud and as the wall of fire. Doopakutti is used to denote this presence. Gabrielle is believed to be the best angel. He was sent with a special purpose.

1. Whenever there is a divine presence in our lives, there is a divine commission. If you’ve accepted Jesus as your savior, then whenever and wherever you talk to God, there is a commission there. Mary had a lot of questions when she heard Gabrielle. E used the example of Elizabeth. We also use examples from others lives while talking to people. Mary’s reply to this is “I am the Lord’s servant”.
2. Divine presence offers a degree. The degree Mary got was “You are truly blessed”. This was even before she could do anything for God. Just because she was eligible to bear the son of God. Mary conceived Jesus Christ first in her heart, even before she conceived Him in her womb. We should conceive Him in our hearts first. Only then can we feel Him in your work. That is why it is said schooling begins at home. So why not start teaching of God at home too? That is cos we don’t have Jesus in our hearts. If you have Him in your heart, you can talk about Him everywhere and in front of any one.
   

We forget that this life is a gift of God. If you throw away a gift you get, then you hurt the person who gave it to you. This is what happens when you throw away your life. How sad is God gonna be?

Unless you have God in your heart, you can’t have the graduation with God. When we buy things, we see the “Made in …” tag. We put similar tags in our hearts. If your tag says “Made in Christ”, God will accept you. If it is a different tag, then you know where you will end up.

Parents are responsible for their kids. Unless you prioritize your life, your child will not prioritize God in his life.

Transformation

Acts 9:1-19
[Rev. VM Mathew]

Transformation is a 2-way process.

1. God’s help
2. Our desire to change or our response.
   

God’s grace is not all. So if we haven’t transformed, it’s because we haven’t responded to God.

This passage talks of the transformation of Saul to Paul.

First a confrontation happens. He was a enthusiast about his beliefs. The transformations that happened.

1. Change in understanding – He realized what he was doing was not for God. Each person has a different understanding of God. But God says, “I am what I am”. This means you can’t understand Him. He is beyond comprehension. But our understanding is very partial about God. We try to limit God in our own wisdom. When we say something about him, it is our understanding of Him, not actually what He is. We make judgments about people that we think God has made. It is left to God to judge.
2. Change in his attitude – He came to Damascus with an attitude of hatred towards Christians. It changed to a feeling of brotherhood towards all. Jesus’ attitude to all was good.
   - He loved His parents and worked with them.
   - He loved His heavenly father and answered His call.
   - His attitude towards women at a time when women were oppressed.
   - He loved even the lepers and other downtrodden people.
   Jesus’ attitude can be summed up in one word – GIVE.
   
3. Change in dependency – He came to Damascus with dependency on his own wisdom and knowledge. A self-dependent person becomes a child. He was led by other people. He was dependent on those people. We should allow God to lead us.
4. Change in direction – He came with a specific purpose and direction. But he took a U-turn. We claim to have transformed, but still continue on the same road.
5. Change in content – He was carrying letters to persecute when he set out to Damascus. He entered Damascus carrying Jesus (v15). We claim to be believers, but we don’t carry Jesus with us.

Attitude determines altitude

[Bency achen]

When we find a stone in our shoe, we have a lot of discomfort. Similarly, when working for God, we can find a small pebble or a thorn in our path, we pull back.

Let’s look at Peter (Matthew 14:24-31) and Judas (Matthew 26:6).

Jesus calls Peter “Satan”. He rebukes him for small things. But incase of Judas, though He knew of what he is going to do, Jesus still didn’t tell him anything.

While Judas hung himself, Peter wept. If Judas had expressed his depression, then he may not have ended up in the way he did. Peter repented and cried. Crying is a feeling that comes of a hurt heart, whereas weeping is just a reaction of pain. Both of these people were leaders in their own right.

Widow’s offering

Luke 21:1-4

In the previous passage, Jesus denounces the scribes and teachers of the Law of Moses. In the next passage, He talks about the destruction of the temple.

It’d be good to understand these three stories. Understanding the widow’s offering in this context throws more light on Jesus’ story.

When taken by itself, He commends the widow and not the disciples. He talks about helping the poor. Charity is to rehabilitate the needy. But the entire religion is about helping the poor. It is not only what we give to the poor, but also how we give out of abundance or out of nothing. Do we give with a willing mind?

When He criticizes the scribes He points that they do good things to receive honor in return. We crave for the best, immaterial of what others get. The widow gave all she had because of her belief. She knew God would provide.

Do we give out of compulsion or compassion? This is one of the questions asked to churches. What is the money collected by churches used for? Does it go for the poor and needy? What is important is our attitude towards giving.

Do we give to get back something in return? How is our reaction towards people who give less? Do we consider them as equals? Who are we like – the widow who gives out of nothing, or like the rich who give with expectance of something?

How did Jesus commend the widow?

1. By giving the two pennies, she gave everything she had. In Jerusalem temples, there were 13 trumpet shaped collection boxes. There are people watching as to how much each person puts. The widow must’ve been aware of all the eyes on her. The reaction of the scribes is something we can all imagine. One of the customs (according to commentators), is that you should give a minimum of two coins.
2. In Jewish society, women were exploited. A widow was doubly exploited. The scribes owned everything the women had. They abused their hospitality. Jesus’ response towards the prostitute was, “Let the sinless among you stone her”. He changed focus from the women to the men. The scribes took charge of the widow’s property in exchange of some money they needed.
   

In this context, by commending the widow, Jesus brings this to light. In a situation, where exploitation is rampant, future is bleak. Destruction is always the end result.

What does God expect out of us? How do we use our resources? How is our attitude towards poor and needy?

Church is not to live in comfort but to generate life for the poor. Nobody is exempted. Everyone is accountable. Message is the primary motive of religion. We have a mission towards helping the poor and needy.

The resources we have is not make life easier for us. Church is not there to identify with the rich. It is there to identify with all. Mission is to generate life to the poor. Our task is to provide life to people who have list their life to the wants and greed of others.

The prodigal son

A. Luke 15:32

This chapter has three parables about the lost one. We haven’t actually faced the situations in the parable. But when we look into it, do we find any character which is similar to us.

1. Prodigal Son (v12-13) – In the Jewish law, a father with two sons gives two parts to elder son and one part to the younger one. A distant country need not be a geographical distance, but a place away from his father’s love. He repents for his mistake. He wholeheartedly seeked forgiveness. This begins a new phase in his life.
2. Elder son – 1John 2  A person who hates his brother lives in darkness. When his younger brother comes home, the elder brother is angry and upset with his dad. This character is pretty similar to our traits. He was not able to forgive his brother. This causes a negation to all his good qualities.
3. The father – The specialty of gospel of Luke is that it is not specific to Jews. It was about sinners and publicans. Father welcomes his younger son when he comes back. Though his son expected the least in his house, the father treats him like a king. He finds no difference between his younger son and his elder son. He loves them both equally. This is how God is. He will accept you if you repent. We want God to accept us when we repent. But we don’t like it when God accepts our neighbors who repent. This is a big drawback. If we are not able to love our neighbors, then it shows the smallness of our faith.
   

B. Luke 15:25

The focus here is the reaction of elder son.

You get to see two different attitudes in this parable. One is that of the father and the other is of the son. When the family is going through happiness, there is one person in the family who is unhappy and is staying outside the house.

1. Problem of communication – The elder son asks a boy what is happening in the house. He chose the wrong person to ask. He should’ve instead asked his father. This could be cos of the communication gap between him and his father. This is a common problem in our families. There is no communication between people living in the same house.
2. Problem of comparison – He compares himself with his younger brother. He tells his father you gave him everything and when he comes back, you give him more. But what did you give me? This is a common ideology in the people today. People expect to receive things.
3. Lack of acceptance – He was not able to accept the joy of others. We may share the sorrow with others, but are we able to share their joy? Instead we try to find out what he did to receive this joy.
4. Lack of identity – He couldn’t understand what he has. His father says, “whatever I have is yours”. He thought he lost everything when the younger son comes.
   

Our problem is

- What am I not?
- When compared to others, what don’t I have?

We should understand the duty of a father/mother/son/daughter. When we understand this, we will be happier.

Hakuna Matata – Don’t worry

Matthew 6:25-34
[Bobby]

Youth is bubbling with energy. If God has touched you in this time, then you will be living examples to people around us.

• v25: When in crisis we worry a lot. For example, Martha and Mary in Luke 10:41. Martha was worried about arranging things for Jesus. But Mary chose to sit with Him. Luke 12:11-12 – It is a revelation. It promises the Spirit of God.
• v26: Worrying about your future hampers your today. Birds never worry about their food. Things like, what if I don’t get a worm? What if the worm is not good? Since they don’t worry, they are happy. Even the number of hair on our head is numbered. So why worry?
• v27: No one can add anything to their lives by worrying. We infact reduce it. “Worry is pulling tomorrow’s clouds on today’s sunshine”. God has a purpose in making you wait. Because when he brings you something, it will be the best.
• v28-30: God doesn’t ignore those who depend on Him. Queen of Sheba was amazed at the splendor of Solomon. But God says the lilies are much more splendorous than Solomon. If you worry, it is cos you are of little faith. When you have faith, you don’t worry. When you confess with your mouth, and repent from your heart, God will help you. Even the disciples showed little faith. When they were caught on a boat in the storm, they panicked (Mark 4:27-40 and 8:26). When you feel panic, cling to Him.
• v33: Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Worry keeps us from challenges that God wants us to face. We become spiritually proud by being part of the activities of the church. But it doesn’t make God our first priority. People spend their time watching television. The prayer time is crunched by the schedule on the TV. Youth of today are obsessed with mobiles. It may not be sinful, but you cross the line, when you exalt them. If you neglect God because of them, then you sin. Only when God is in the driver’s seat does your life run smoothly. Colossian 3:2 says “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things”.We should not seek God’s presents, but His presence.
• v34: Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I AM”. He was thinking only about the present. He didn’t say, “I was” or “I will be”. He gives us grace for today. Like the manna He gave the Israelites.
  

The three Fs we need to focus on are

• v30: Faith
• v32: Father
• v33: First

Laymen, the evangelist

[Rev. Sajan Varghese]

Laymen are the vehicles for evangelism.

Diaspora The disciples were scattered and they ended up in different places. This is the way they became vehicles of evangelism.

The priest speaks to people in the church. But it is the laymen who go to places where the common men are present. Hence it is the duty of these laymen to take forward the evangelism.

Our church seems to be stuck with the past glory. It is said that each Mar Thomite is an evangelist. But other than saying this again and again, we don’t do anything about it.

We have highly educated laymen in the church. But there is no lay leadership. The people responsible for this are “each and every one of us”. Even in the cottage prayers, people are not interested if achen doesn’t lead. This attitude is wrong. We need to get back the lay leadership this church once enjoyed. We need to tread and re-tread the lay leadership path.

1. Jesus taught us through parables. When we preach today, we are not able to connect to the people. We are not able to illustrate from our lives. Instead we try to pick up illustrations from other places of the world. But people are not connected to these things.
   Each parable has a life setting to it. God used salt and mustard seed to link to our faith. Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. The importance of salt can be seen in the preparation of sambar. You use very little salt in the curry. This little amount of salt can either enhance or spoil the taste of the curry.
   In the Indian setting, Christians can enhance the entire country. Instead of just standing for rights, we can help in the healthy growth of the country.
   There are a lot of people in the majority who are down-trodden. We shouldn’t stamp them down by misusing our rights as a minority.
2. Before, we used stony salt. But now we use powdered salt. Once you use salt in a dish, it dissolves. You can’t see it. Are we, the minority, ready to dissolve in the country? Are we ready to lose our identity to enhance our surroundings?

When we are not ready to lose our titles, like Reverend, Doctor, Professor, can we lose our identity?

Angels’ worship

Isaiah 6:1-5

The book of Isaiah is believed to be written by 3 people.

1. 1 – 39 => Before journey (exilic)
2. 40 – 55 => during journey
3. 56 – 66 => after journey
   

This is a picture of Isaiah being called and the vision seen in the temple.

v1: says the time this happened (42BC). We should be able to feel the presence in our daily prayers.

1. To know Jesus more clearly
2. To love Jesus more dearly
3. To follow Jesus more closely.
   

Some years of our lives are important for us, like the year of a child’s birth or some grief or happiness. The year of the death of Uzzaiah is also an important date.

[In John 4, we see that the Samarian woman, who sees Jesus, gets the entire village to Him.]

God touched Isaiah and he came closer to God. God should be in the centre of our worship. The centre of all the glory of worship should be God.

• The angels’ worship was a stimulating worship: Some people don’t find our Sunday worship “stimulating” enough. This is not because of the achen or the person next to you. To make worship stimulating, you need to work on it. You need to take part in it whole heartedly. There are a lot of worship centres in our current world. There are free worship services coming up everywhere. Amidst all this, the feeling of wanting to worship God is important.
• It was a shaking worship (v4): Today people move about without any change to their hearts. People are getting sensitive to religion, but there is no religious life.
• It was a convicting worship (v5): It made a person to realize his sins. Does our worship make us realize this? We all have a secret life. Are we able to talk to God about it and ask for forgiveness? We should be able to tell God our shortcomings and God will help us overcome those. Isaiah told God hi shortcomings (v5) and God help him out (v6).
• It was a cleansing worship (v7)
• It was a commissioning worship (v8-9): People shouldn’t say, “Jesus, save me from your followers”. To make sure this doesn’t happen, we need to be true followers. Not superficial followers of God.
  

Outlook to things is everything. Here is a story to depict it. Two shoe salesmen go to a village. One says, “No one wears shoes there. No hope for our market.” The other says, “No one wears shoes there. Hence we have a huge scope for our market.”

Kingdom of God

Matthew 13: 31-43 (v33, 43)
[Rev. Sajan Varghese]

'Kingdom of God' is compared to the yeast and the light. What is the concept of the kingdom of God? You can’t understand it’s attribute without understanding its meaning.

Definition: The Lord’s Prayer says, “Thy Kingdom come”. It indicates that the kingdom of God is there, where the will of God replaces the will of man. The world should be transformed to obey the will of God, to actually feel the kingdom of God.

• How do you achieve this? God’s will, should become the will of the earth.
• Where does God work? He doesn’t work just among Christians. He works among everyone in the world.
  

The earlier theology was “God -> church -> world”. This is wrong. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the WORLD … “. So the right idea is “God -> world -> church”.

Church has the great responsibility of understanding the work of God. This is no other privileges for the church.

God’s work in this world is like these two things.

1. The yeast: People use the same raw materials for making bread. To make good bread, you need to put in the proper amount of yeast. This is the role of the church. It doesn’t act just like a taste maker. It should reform the entire world.
2. The light: Light is one which removes darkness. This is known to all. When you hit light into a dark room, you see the dust in the way of the light. The dust has always been there, but you see it only when there is light.
   

You can identify the power of darkness in light. Until you identify the enemy, you can’t overcome it. You need to ask God to help you identify the dust in this world.

Once we are able to do these things, you can feel the kingdom of God in this world.

Planning the roadmap to success

[Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph]

A foreigner traveling usually carries a roadmap. He doesn’t ask the local for directions. You need a personal roadmap to reach a destination too.

1. Have a clear sense of purpose and focus – Jonah had a specific roadmap. He was asked to go to Nineveh. He instead changed his path and went to Tarshish. If you want to bloom, you should have a sense of your purpose.
2. Have sufficient changes in your life – Move from your comfort zone and take up challenges. Jonah was asked to move out of his comfort zone and go to Nineveh and preach their destruction.
3. Commitment – Anything you don’t enjoy doing, will not help you.
4. Transcendence – transcend previous performance levels.
5. Control
6. Balance in life – Balance between friends, family, work and interest.
7. Otherness in one’s life – Focus in my life is not only to excel in my life. It also is important that there are others who are benefited out of it. Like a rose that helps insects and also spreads fragrance. At the end of it, it grows by pollination done by the insects it helped. God asked Jonah to bring hope to Nineveh. He instead wanted to bring doom.

The Gift of Fathers

Homily on the Fathers Day on Mark 8:1-10 (Barton Hill, 15th June 2008)

It is Fathers Day yet again. As we pause for a moment amidst the mad rush of life to thank the Lord for the gift of Fathers, some of us still have the privilege to literally go to them, touch them, hug them and say- thank you for who you are. For some of us, fathers are a sweet memory, we will take this time to travel back in memory lane to really take stock and see how much we ought to thank God for who they were. I am particularly cautious of the presence of a few here who have never seen their fathers and for some of us fathers are a haunting thought too. Despite all these realities we celebrate today the gift of fatherhood.

God had entrusted to fathers (perhaps with the guidance of the mothers) the responsibility to build a heritage having a strategic plan for the generation next entrusted to their loving care, guidance and blessed protection.

Mark 8:1-10 is familiar story of the feeding of the four thousand. I would like to draw eight characteristics very important for fathers that we find in Jesus in the text.

• Jesus had compassion - The masses were with him for three days and they were all tired. The disciples would have preferred to send them away. But the Scripture points out that Jesus had compassion on them. The Greek word used here is splagcni,zomai splagchnizomai {splangkh-nid'-zom-ahee} which means to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity) . To release love from the inner core of ones being and reassuring the recipient of this love is a typical paternal trait.

• Jesus had a deep sense of concern and responsibility - He was very categorical in saying that he could not send them away hungry. Their hunger and their need is surely my concern, he asserts and it would be my responsibility to address the same. Jesus says that if they are left alone they would be tired. evklu,w ekluo {ek-loo'-o} is the Greek word used here to mean tired. It could also mean to have one's strength relaxed, to be enfeebled through exhaustion, to grow weak, grow weary, be tired out, to despond, or to become faint hearted . A father cannot allow this to happen. Exhaustion be it physical, spiritual or emotional has to be addressed and a good father knows how.

• Jesus transcended the wilderness limitations in resolving to help a people in need - The question of the disciples was very clear, 'Where could anyone get these people enough bread to eat in a deserted place?' But evidently this was not Jesus’ limitation. Similar wilderness experiences are part of every home. evrhmi,a eremia {er-ay-mee'-ah} literally mean a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste-land. It could be a physical reality or a somber existential reality. Some people easily give up saying this is physically impossible. One great trait of fathers we celebrate in the form of our being today is the fact that they never gave up on us and never gave up because of us. At every wilderness they encountered they had resolve the chart a way through and a way out. We must remember that had they chosen to give up we would have withered in the parching heat of the wilderness then and there.

• Jesus was more concerned about what they had and not what they did not have - His question was how many loaves have you? Mobilizing the available resources and managing it for the entire need is a specific skill indeed. Many a life fails because they fail to plan to make both ends meet with what is in fact available for them. Many do not recognize the vast resources that are possibly available and many fail to manage the available resources. Our fathers were different and perhaps they took a cue out of the life of Jesus as we see here.

• Jesus then engaged in a genuine spiritual Eucharistic experience - He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them to share in community. The word euvcariste,w eucharisteo {yoo-khar-is-teh'-o} gives a sacramental sanctity to this event. There was an experience of thanksgiving in every act of life. And this thanksgiving created a total trust and dependence on God. This helped in having the courage to break what was available so that everyone could be benefited. The lack of moral strength to break the available resources to be shared among all is the basic reason of injustice being able to thrive. We learned lessons of just distribution and the essence of fairness in our homes, did’nt we?

• Jesus did not allow the small fish to miss his attention - He blesses the small fish so that it could be a blessing to all those who were present. The word ivcqu,dion ichthudion {ikh-thoo'-dee-on} has a very special connotation of smallness associated with it. Yet he saw it and he blessed it. Blessing the small was clear trait of the Father we have all experienced. The small never found itself as unworthy but always as worthy of blessing. It was made useful to all who were present.

• Jesus saw to it that everyone ate and that they were satisfied - corta,zw chortazo {khor-tad'-zo} has an element not only of filling but also being of satisfied. Not all our needs and wants can be satisfied, but all the four thousand men who were present were satisfied with what was available. Distribution of resources justly so that all are satisfied is a very important characteristic typical of fathers. The lessons learned from the multi colored coat of Joseph in creating disharmony among the brothers must be read alongside this fair intervention of Jesus.

• Jesus did not allow the leftovers to go waste -The fragments kla,sma klasma {klas'-mah} which is the remnants of food were gathered up. He was careful about wasting, “waste” and waste management. The remnants that were gathered up in seven baskets cannot even be called waste, they could be resources useful and helpful for others. Even when all present were fed is not Jesus being concerned about those absent?

Conclusion

These eight traits could help us in three ways.

Primarily it could help us look back at our fathers, thank the Lord for them and be reminded of our responsibilities towards them

• To all of us who are fathers now, this could help us re-evaluate our fatherhood and help us resolve to be better fathers.
• To all of us who are yet to be fathers this could help us plan to be good fathers and prepare a mission statement of fatherhood. I remember reading somewhere, “Like a CEO without a strategic plan, a dad without a mission-plan is unlikely to succeed”.
• To all mothers this could help refocus our expectations of fatherhood. After all, All men are not fathers and all fathers are not men!!!!! Amen.
  

Rev. Vinod Victor
Presbyter-in-Charge