Reflections

Mission in Christ’s Spirit Matthew 28:16-20    Rev. Binu C Samuel Philadelphia Ascension MTC 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, The historical beginning of the church can be considered as the calling of the twelve to follow Jesus and later sent out as His witnesses. Jesus renewed the sending after His resurrection by giving them a great commission. That universal commission is given in all the Gospels and in Acts in various forms (Mt. 28:16-20, Mk. 16:15-18, Lk. 24:46-49, Jn. 20:21-23, Acts: 1:8).The command to ‘make disciples’ of all nations is the principal imperative verb in the great commission and provides the link between the first disciples and the future disciples. The risen Lord appeared to His disciples in Galilee. Why Galilee?  Galilee was known as “Galilee of the gentiles” Mt. 4:15. Galileans were the only people who received Jesus, who welcomed...

Mission in Christ’s Spirit Gen 1:26-2:3 Jensen Varghese Carmel MTC, Boston MA “ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  Genesis 1:27 To understand what being created in God’s “image” or “likeness” really means, we need to  fully understand God Himself. 1 John Chapter 4 offers a simple, but powerful explanation of God’s character. Verse 12 states “ No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” In verse 16 we read further: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” By contrast, without love, we can not know God - “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (verse 8).If we love one another, we reflect God’s love, and we are able to see that we are all equal - each of us made in God’s image. Jesus did not sit on the sidelines during His ministry - He was out in the community, interacting ...

Mission in Christ's Spirit Leviticus 25:1-17 Dr. Nisha  Paul   St Marks MTC, Tampa, Florida 4  but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord.   In Leviticus God asks Israel to set apart the Sabbath to the Lord. Do we have a Sabbath in our life? A time set apart for Him alone. A time away from all our distractions and hassles of this world. A time to rest and reflect on Him alone. It says a Sabbath to the Lord ! It is to Him. He wants to have that time in our lifetime set apart with Him. He wants to spend time with us. More than we long for Him, He longs for us. More than we miss Him, He misses us, because He loves us more, definitely much more than we love Him. In the old testament time, we see this as a law established by God. But as we live in the period of grace now, we are not under law, but under grace. So whatever we may do, it shouldn't be forced. It should come out of love alone. ...

99th Happy Birthday to our Beloved Rt. Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiya Thirumeni Mission in Christ’s Spirit Galatians 4:1-7 Santhosh Abraham 1. My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; Paul, having spoken of the Law, and of the participation of believing Gentiles in the privileges of the Abraham family(God's promise to Abraham), proceeds to speak of the times before Christ's advent as an infant.  (Vers.1-3.) The Old Testament times represented the experience of all men before the inception of the gospel. The soul was then like a child who was placed under guardians, and was not allowed to take charge but lived by law and rule.  Now, the entire world was in this legal condition which we can call the "infant" stage. However it is better that the soul should adhere to the school of Law than wandering after its own devices. It is better ...

Mission in Christ’s Spirit Acts. 7:54-60 Reji Joseph, New Jersey Diocesan Yuvajana Sakhyam Secretary 60 Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. Stephen was one of the seven people chosen by the apostles to care for the widows in the early church. He was chosen because of his good reputation, fullness of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This empowered the ministry of the church in Jerusalem and the number of disciples multiplied greatly. The meaning of the name Stephen is ‘crown’. Of course he was a crown of the great ministry in the Spirit of God. It is the Holy Spirit that leads one to Christ centered mission. No one was able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. But the rewards of such a ministry were not sweet. 1. Accusation of blasphemy          Stephen was accused of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.  When...

Our prayer to God Psalm 65 Neena Kurien Connecticut Mar Thoma Congregation 1. Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed. Psalm 65 is song of praise to God for His faithfulness. David recounts God’s faithfulness toward His children – an evidence of God’s providence through the generations – both spiritual and physical. As we read the Psalm, we begin to realize how the Psalm guides us on the right way to pray. Verses 1 through 4 tell us why it is befitting to praise and worship Him alone, because God answers every prayer, in His time, and in His wisdom. Our prayers tend to sound like wish-lists for blessings and happiness for ourselves. What we fail to grasp is that God already knows our every need. Prayer is a time of communing with God and submitting to His will. It is an opportunity for us to draw near to Him to understand what He has ordained for us. ‘For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love hi...

Mission in Christ Spirit James 5:1-6 Mathews Thomas CT Mar Thoma Congregation 1.Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. A warning to Rich oppressors and those who depend on their wealth. This epistle was written by the brother of Jesus who became an Apostle once he saw the Resurrected Jesus. The theme is a practical Christianity. The epistle of James was probably the first New Testament book and he tries to correct the wrong practices and behaviors of the Christians. Once we become a Christian we are a new creation and it will produce a new character in us. James is a book about the application of our faith and the importance to learn and grow in Christ. That way, we can grow in faith and maturity so that we can apply our Christian character and conduct in how we behave with others. James clearly states that once we have faith we are given victory over temptation and sin (chapter 1); chapter 2- faith produces imparti...

Believing in ‘Christ the Truth’ John 17:1-5   Rev M P Samuel Atlanta MTC 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. The Gospel according to St. John chapter 17 is known as the high priestly prayer of Jesus, in which He prays for himself, for His disciples and for those who will believe in Him in the future. In the first part of the prayer, vs. 1-5, where He spoke about himself, He affirms the glory of the cross and expresses the essence of the eternal life. The purpose of the life of Jesus Christ was to give the eternal life to all the people who had been given to Him in this world. Through His life and this prayer, He teaches the believers the real meaning of eternal life. Let us focus on two important aspects of the life of those who believe in Christ, the truth. Knowing the Father: Eternal life is an important theme of the Gospel according to John. The Greek term used for eternal...

Believing in ‘Christ the Truth’ Ephesians 4:11-16   Gracious John St. Andrews MTC, NY "When are you going to grow up and mature?" I was asked this question many times as a child. Actually, I am still questioned about this from time to time today. Maturity is a very important aspect of life. Many times we equate this to making wise eating choices, finishing school, finding a job, managing finances, getting married, and so on. We are all very focused on refining all the talents and tasks we do to becoming the best version of us that we can. However, we often forget to remember to refine or put effort into nurturing our spiritual maturity. We forget to choose God as a priority rather than an option, we forget to love one another in Christ, we do not serve to bring out the best in each other. We don't try to put in the effort to be spiritually mature.     It is easy for us to “go along” with the crowd or what everyone is doing. The passage reminds us that th...