Reflections

  Shubkono: Service of Reconciliation during Great Lent St. Matthew 18:18-27 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. v. 19 One of the key central themes we see in our faith is “forgiveness”. We learn this early in our childhood and we hear it in almost every sermon. The Lord’s Prayer even asks us to “ forgive our debtors ”. In this passage, the Apostle Peter asks our Lord “ how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? ” v. 21. Our Lord replies “seventy-seven times”. Because of our fallen sinful nature, we are unable to satisfy the requirements that God requires of us. We are unable to pay off our debts and God takes pity on us and cancels that very debt. This is the example we should take towards others even if they hurt us. But do we really think of forgiveness this way? Are we willing to take a financial or social-standing hit if we follow the exa...

  The Great Lent St. Luke 19: 1-10 v. 10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Have you ever felt like God is too far from you?  We live in a time where our farthest relatives can be reached through a video/phone call or a simple text message. Yet, sometimes God seems too far from us. We become too busy and distracted from God, that when we don’t hear from Him during our time of need it causes a disconnect.  In today’s devotional, let us take a look at someone who went against the odds to seek out our Father. In today’s passage, we read about Zaccheus the tax collector who was a “wealthy man.” Tax collectors during that time were not welcome guests or friends. The beauty of this story comes from the grace of our Lord, and the request of mercy from Zaccheus. While everyone wondered why Jesus would dine with a “sinner”, Zaccheus (knew he was a sinner) cried out and asked for a second chance. Rather than ignoring the problem, he faced it head-on and went st...

  The Great Lent St. John 2:1-12 Lent is a season of small deaths for each one of us, who choose to journey on this road to the cross. He knows what is to come, resists performing the miracle at Cana-He tells Mary it is not yet His time. He would often refer to His death as "my hour" as He does here. The Great Lent is the call to become the seventh stone water jars. In the Gospel of John, Jesus changed the water into wine at the wedding at Cana at Galilee. Applying it in real life, the story taught us three things.  First, is to believe that nothing is impossible with God such as when Jesus turned the water into wine.   Second, is that we should follow all the commands of Jesus like what His disciples did when His mother asked the disciples to follow what He will command.  Lastly, 'ask and we will receive'. Ask through prayers, have faith, follow His commands and you will receive abundant blessings, more than enough that you have asked for. Things may look impos...

  The Great Lent 2 Corinthians  5:16-21 v. 17 “…the old is gone, the new has come!” Oftentimes, our relationship with God is a selfish one. We seek to please Him because we believe that is the only way we shall be saved. However, we must understand that this is not the only aspect we should focus on. The Old Covenant, established through Moses, emphasized worshipping God and avoiding sin. While the Israelites accepted this, they were unable to sustain their reconciliation with God. Thus, God chose to give everything, and establish everlasting reconciliation through the sacrifice of His one and Only Son. Furthermore, this New Covenant encourages us to be the light that reconciles others with Christ.  In reference to the old, we remember the Old Covenant and ultimately an incomplete reconciliation with God. God’s laws were not enough to keep us from sin. Therefore, establishing a scapegoat through Christ, created a complete homecoming for humanity. Paul proclaims that this ...

  Suffering in a fallen world - "Earthly groanings leads to us Eternal glory" Romans 8:18-25 In this epistle, apostle Paul is writing to Romans that the suffering in this world is not even worth comparing to the Glory that is in store for us in heavenly dwellings. The present pandemic crisis is revealing to us that all of humanity is suffering due to Covid 19. It has created profound anxiety and uncertainty in human life. Christians are not immune to these sufferings, but Paul is reminding us that these sufferings are temporary and not to compare between the present hard times but to await the coming good times of eternity.  During this Lenten Journey, it's time to remove obstacles and dedicate ourselves to growing more in Christ. Jesus shows us how to face temptation and grow into a deeper relationship with God.  In verses 19 & 20 the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of...

  The Great Lent – All things made new Revelation 21: 1 – 7 Vs.5 – Behold, I make all things new The Book of Revelation places a strong demand on us humans. It is to live a life by refusing to conform to the expectations of the world unless those demands are compatible with Christ’s teaching. Understanding God’s word and letting it manifest in our lives requires us to be completely honest about ourselves. Chapter 21, verses 1 – 7 presents four major thoughts explaining the new world that will be established. Heaven – a tangible place:  As Christians, our greatest hope is to be a part of heaven. Through the vision presented in Revelation, Chapter 21, the Bible presents heaven as a very tangible place. John of Patmos, the author of the book, sees a New Jerusalem descending from heaven on a new earth. This dispels the notion that our eternal home is “up in heaven” and iterates that heaven comes to earth. The God who is in our midst:  Our God who was hidden behind the vault o...

  The Restoration of Israel Ezekiel 36: 24 – 30 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. V:26 This brief passage from the second half of the book looks like God’s loving restoration of Israel. Read in isolation from the rest of the book, the text depicts God’s personal care in returning the exiles and settling them again back in their ancestral territory. God even makes sure that they have a heart for goodness. A New life for Cleansed people (V: 25) "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols" (v. 25). The sprinkling of clean water symbolized cleansing from sin. In the Old Testament sprinkling and washing with water pictured cleansing from ceremonial defilement. God will purify Israel from her sins and God will impart new life. A New heart and Ne...

  Beginning of Great Lent The New Creation Genesis 33: 1-17 Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Waking up to good news is a dream come true for every human being. But imagining it in a decade where we are surrounded by - pandemic, racial and religious hatred, and warmongering; is perhaps next to impossible.  But imagine if we were Jacob and every day we had to wake up fearing death by his own sibling, would have been such a nightmare.  So, envisage that day when Esau embraced Jacob Forgiveness and reconciliation between the brothers who had sworn to kill each other is a historical event. Reconciliation in Greek means ‘change completely’ and perhaps because of reconciliation, Jacob started to see God's reflection in Esau. A conflict that started from the womb of their mother and continued until Jacob's realization of his inequities after years of toil and suffering, ended in reconciliati...

  Fall of Creation 1 Timothy  2:11-15  The book of Genesis, chapter 3, is one of the most important chapters in the Bible.  It gives us an account of the Fall of Creation.  Without this chapter, we cannot even begin to understand the darkness that blankets the earth.  With this information, we can catch a glimpse of the light that shines in the darkness.  In fact, the Fall of Creation resulted in the revelation of God’s character of love and redemption (John 3:16).  From eternity past, God ordained a plan, knowing full well that He would one day become the main victim of that plan, to purchase our redemption and our eternal destiny.   Before the Fall, God’s creation was very good (Genesis 1:31).  God created man and woman in His image (v. 27) and gave them dominion over the physical world (v. 28).   Lesson from the Fall of Creation:  We read in Genesis chapter 3 that man distorts, denies, and defies God’s Word.  The rebell...

  Fall of Creation Mathew  7:13-21 “Enter through the narrow gate…beware of false prophets” vs 13-15 Deception is commonly seen in the animal kingdom as a survival tactic. Camouflage body colors help some animals to blend with the surrounding so that they tend to “disappear” for their predator or prey. Some tend to appear bigger than their actual size so that they can frighten their predators. All these are necessary for them to survive in the wild. Although we call humans much advanced than others in the animal kingdom, we see humans still have the tendency to deceive. In today’s gospel portion we see Jesus warning against the temptation to become deceptive humans and feign discipleship. Instead, Jesus encourages us to choose the difficult path of true discipleship. As a continuation of His sermon on the mount, where Jesus expounds on practical Christianity, that is, living as a Christian in this world. The essence of the read verses can be summed up in two phrases : 1.Choosi...

  Fall of Creation, redemption, and restoration Ephesians  2: 11-18 .   “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ”vs 13. In this passage, Paul speaks of the condition of the Gentiles before Christ came. The Gentiles were without hope and were separated from society. The differences between Jews and Gentiles were vast.  When we look at today’s world there are differences in race, ethnicity, nationality, social standing, political convictions, gender, and age that all create divisions and conflicts. These divisions are one result of the fall of creation when sin entered a perfect world and separated us from God.  Paul goes on to say in this passage, that in Christ all these barriers and divisions are removed. The word “redemption” comes from the Latin word “buy back.” Jesus took on himself the punishment we deserved because of our sin by shedding his blood and dying on the cross (substitutionary atonement)...

  Fall of Creation Romans 7: 14-25 “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Vs 19 As the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom.  11:13 ), Paul preached Christianity across the Roman empire during his three missionary journeys around the Mediterranean. Apostle Paul also formulated the doctrinal foundations of Christianity in his New Testament epistles, with the “Romans” as the magnum opus. Paul wrote Romans from Corinth in AD 56—at the end of his third missionary journey—as he prepared to leave for Jerusalem with an offering for the poor believers (Rom.  15:25 ). Paul had wanted to visit the Roman church—founded by believers from the Day of Pentecost (Acts  2:10 ), where he was personally unknown—for long, but was prevented (Rom.  1:13 ). Paul offers a sweeping presentation of the Gospel—the “good news” proclamation mandated by Jesus to all believers (Matt. 28: 16-20)—of grace in Romans, to believers who had never rec...

  Fall of Creation Gen. 3:1-21 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” vs 7 Satan's plan was to draw Adam and Eve to sin, and even now his plan upon the faithful is to separate us from God.  The devil was from the beginning a cheater and the great mischief-maker. Knowingly or unknowingly, we often fall into the traps of Satan. God created man without a corrupt nature within, to betray him; but given the heavenly wisdom and freedom to distinguish the good and the bad, a full-strength, which is not weakened or impaired. But man turned aside quickly and drew all his posterity into sin and ruin for the entire mankind. Adam and Eve saw the folly of eating the forbidden fruit. They saw the happiness they fell from, the misery they had fallen into, and the curse that was bestowed upon them by God.  They saw a loving God provoked, His grace and favor forfeited. The dishono...

  Fall of Creation Genesis 6:1-7  5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  [Genesis 6:5,6 –ESV]   The account of the fall of creation as given in Genesis 1-3 is well known to all of us.  God created heaven and earth and everything in it at the beginning including humans in His image. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with specific instructions to obey, so that they may enjoy His fellowship.  It was life in paradise – life without pain, sorrow, shame, or sin. They enjoyed God’s most favored status. However, that status turned upside down when they fell to the temptation of the evil one – the serpent.  They disobeyed God’s instructions and fell to be victims of sin – resulting in their separation from God. This was where the fall of creation s...

  Fall of Creation Genesis 6:1-7  5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  [Genesis 6:5,6 –ESV]   The account of the fall of creation as given in Genesis 1-3 is well known to all of us.  God created heaven and earth and everything in it at the beginning including humans in His image. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with specific instructions to obey, so that they may enjoy His fellowship.  It was life in paradise – life without pain, sorrow, shame, or sin. They enjoyed God’s most favored status. However, that status turned upside down when they fell to the temptation of the evil one – the serpent.  They disobeyed God’s instructions and fell to be victims of sin – resulting in their separation from God. This was where the fall of creation s...

  Fall of Creation Hebrews. 6:1-8   We do not know who authored the book of Hebrews; but the author understood the Old Testament principles and also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Savior, very well. It was written to Jews who became Christians, but were wavering in their faith and commitment to Christ due to persecution and doubt. They questioned the necessity of Christ for salvation and looked for other ways for establishing a relationship with God. Some of them were not matured Christians, as their faith was not rooted in Christ. Hebrews  5:11-14 , speaks about the spiritual immaturity and it warns against “falling away”. Their spiritual difficulties were compared to an “infant-like” or “immature walk”. In Hebrews 6:1-2, we could see six basic elementary teachings about Jesus, to become a matured Christian. Just as food and milk are needed for a child’s physical growth, these are the basic principles needed for our spiritual growth.         ...

  GLORIOUS DIVINE CREATION Psalms 104: 1 – 24 V.24: O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Once while I was sieving the water off the cooked rice, I wondered what an amazing creation our eyes are. Despite the steam, our eyes never become foggy; the problem most of us who wear spectacles face while wearing surgical masks or N-95. Medical practitioners can relate to what I say because they know how intricate and amazing each minute part of our body is. Scientists are trying to reach logical explanations to the origins of creation and of each species, but ultimately, they end up with a universal answer – the intricacies evident in creation, in every living and non-living being, or even our DNA can never happen by chance, but there has been an intelligent design involved. Though many of them do not want to attribute this intelligent design to God, the most ardent scientists also believe in a Cosmic consciousness that ...

  GLORIOUS DIVINE CREATION St. Mathew  6: 26  – 34 Verse 31: Therefore, do not worry This passage reminded me of a beautiful song that most of us might have learned during our Sunday School days – Bloom, bloom, bloom where you’re planted. The first stanza of the song says: Look at the flowers, look at them growing:     They never worry, they never work;     Yet look at the way our Father clothes them,     Each with a beauty all of its own. Worry seems to have become an indispensable part of our life. If we ask anyone in our church community – ‘Is there anything that you are worried about?’, most will have some reason to quote. Very young children might be the only ones who do not worry about anything. This passage reminds us of three aspects of worry. Worry is irrational: We worry about building a secure future for ourselves, which makes us toil hard and build huge financial savings, more than enough to even secure our grandchildren sometimes...