Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Inauguration of the Church of North India 

   John 17:17-26
Vs 21: I pray that they may be one. Father May, they are in us just you are in me and I am in you.

The main purpose of our life is to seek God’s will and lead a life that is acceptable and pleasing to God. God has entrusted us a mission before He ascended to heaven that we see in  Mathew 28:20. “ Go then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything  I have commanded you. And I shall be with you always to the end of ages. “. It is our mission as a disciple of  Christ to evangelize the world. Service and witnessing are part of this great process. Churches in India came into existence after St.Thomas one of the twelve apostles of Jesus came to the Kerala coast and established the  Syrian churches in 52 AD. After the independence of India in 1947, the Church of South India was formed in 1948  as a union of several major denominations.
The Church of North India is a part of the one Holy Catholic and apostolic church, the body of Christ, and came into existence on November 29th, 1948. As the CSI churches, CNI is also a conglomeration of different like-minded denominations. They have their mission of proclaiming the good news of salvation and redemption through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross and the triumphant resurrection on the third day defeating the sting of death forever. They have as their mission priorities evangelism and spiritual revival, building communities healing and reconciliation, renewal of the congregation, education, and liberation, and finally protection of life and providing a livelihood for the fullness of life.
In today's portion for devotion, we see the high priestly prayer of Jesus that is made at the conclusion of  Jesus’s upper room discourse where He gives His final teachings to His disciples just prior to His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Jesus, we see praying to the Father for the unity among His disciples as He and His Father are one. He is seen praying for the whole world that believes in Him and the word. True Christians are those that believe and follow what the bible teaches and proclaims. True and perfect unity can only happen when we are united on the foundation of God’s word. Jesus wants us to carry out His mission to bear witness and through our actions and witness bring others to the love of God. The church is the body of believers and its mission must also be to evangelize the world and get the good news of salvation and redemption to all the nook and corner of the world. As per our late Abraham Mar Thoma Thirumeni, we are all evangelists, and let our prayer this morning shall be to enable us to carry out this great mission with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Amen.

 

Prayer
 Lord enable us to be carriers of your love and peace in this broken world.

Thought for the Day
We the church members are the body of Christ. Let our actions and deeds reflect Christ to others.


Dr Thomas k. jose
The Mar Thoma Church Staten island.

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