Reflections

Being Strong In Weakness 2 Corinthians 12:1-12 Rev. V. M. Mathew Youth Chaplain, North East Region Being Strong In Weakness 2 Corinthians 12:1-12 Rev. V. M. Mathew Youth Chaplain, North East Region 10  Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Apostle Paul, when writing to the Corinthians, makes these radical statements which a common person will find it d...

Church:An Interceding Community 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Akhila John Carmel MTC, Boston, MA 1  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,   2  for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. More frequently than you want to admit, you probably look around and think...c'mon, what’s the point in prayer? There is so much going on in this crazy world and does God really have the time to listen to my requests? Sometimes, with church everything becomes habitual. Every week we set aside time for intercessory prayer. You go down your list - I pray for my family, I pray for my friends, I pray for those who are need- the ones without clothes, shelter, food, safety, comfort. Sometimes, I like to add in a little shout out for those friends who have asked me - “Hey, can you pray for me? I have a really hard exam coming up.” Or the occasio...

Church:An Interceding Community Colossians 4:1-6 Jenny Zachariah Immanuel MTC, Houston, TX 2  Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. I have always heard that prayer is powerful. Later in my life I started believing that prayer is powerful. By God’s grace He opened my eyes to see how important prayer is in a deeper way. Whenever I think of devotion in prayer, I think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was praying not just once, but in a series of times just moments before going to the cross. He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus told them to “sit here while I go over there to pray” (Matthew 26:36)- With prayer it is important to set apart a time of personal prayer where it is just between you and God; a time for you to be ALL there before God. He took along Peter, James, and John further into the garden- his inner circle of disciples, for us maybe our version of P...

The Church:An Interceding Community James 5:13-18 Roshin Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 15  The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. The institution of the Church of Christ was created in the time of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection. With His rising again, a new calling was cut into the hearts of the apostles who would then begin their ministry to call thousands into the Church of Christ (Acts 1:8). The Church was not founded in a building, nor was it established in law, or through the want of man. The Church is founded in Christ. To be founded in Christ is the inherent understanding that the Kingdom of God does not rest in this physical World but rather builds in spiritual maturity and in the knowing of God while...

Church:A Purposefully Interceding Community 1 Peter 4:7-15 Melanie John Long Island MTC, NY 11  Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. Identifying a single purpose to Christian life on this earth isn't an easy task; God calls us to d...

Church:An Interceding Community Jeremiah:29:1-14 Blessy Thomas Long Island, MTC, NY 12  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  13  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, Too often we see church parishes break away due to internal politics that overcome the true mission and basis of the church. The image of the church has also altered through the years, becoming a place that allows for repentance of sins once a week during a two-and-a-half hour service. However, how has God called us to live in our churches and in our communities in the midst of these conflicts? If you look beneath the surface of all different forms of worship and liturgy, you can understand that a church’s purpose still remains as a living and breathing organism through which Christ manifests His life to the world today. The letter to the exiles was written to instruct the Jews to not be deceived into worshiping the go...

Church:An Interceding Community - The Power of Intercession Genesis 18:19-33 Alexander Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 32  Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”  Some of us hear the word “intercession,” and it sounds vaguely familiar. We've heard it in church services, as a part of the liturgy section titled “The Great Intercession,” and we've probably heard an Achen preach about it at some point in our time of listening to sermons. But what does this word really mean, and why is it such a powerful concept and instrumental concept for us as Christians to understand? The aforementioned passage in Genesis shows us what this concept means and how powerful it actually is. Genesis 18: 19-33 is the story of Abraham and his pleading with the Lord to spare Sodom from the impending wrath that God was going to pour down on S...

Hey, Look at Me! Matthew 6:1-9 Rt. Rev. Jaisen Thomas Immanuel MTC, Virginia 4  so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [ a ] In a small college town a pub frequented by students ran the following ad in the campus newspaper before the Parent’s Weekend: “Bring your parents for lunch on Saturday.  We’ll pretend we don’t know you!”  The college chaplain decided to post a revised version on the campus bulletin board which read, “Bring your parents to Church on Sunday.  We’ll pretend we know you!”  Genuineness is a virtue of true Christian living.  This passage is a section of the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ.  It addresses the nature of hypocrisy that permeates the religious realm of worship and witness.  Christ notes that faith expression is related to the purity of intention; in other words, the “why” [are we doing it] and the “who” [are we doing it for] of every spiritual a...

Be a Team Player Romans 6:1-4 Rev. Alex Kolath MTC of Baltimore, MD What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?  2  By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?  3  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  4  Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. When someone joins a team, he inherits the history of that team.  Whether it be professional, college, or amateur sports, the members of that team inherit the team’s tradition and history, even if they weren’t there at the time.  Tony Romo can say he belongs to a team that won 5 Super Bowls, the Dallas Cowboys.  It doesn’t mean he won them, or that he had anything to do with them.  But when he puts on that helmet, he puts on all...