Reflections

  Call and Selection of Disciples   Luke  6:12-19 "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God." One of the most difficult tasks in any organization is hiring the right employee for key positions. When mistakes are made while choosing the right candidate they are extremely difficult and expensive to repair. Sometimes they can deeply hurt the organization for years to come. Luke chapter 6 records that the night before Jesus selected his Twelve Apostles, he went out to a mountainside to pray where he spent all night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles. Through prayer, Jesus could listen to God and rest in God. Jesus began his earthly messianic ministry with prayer and finished with prayer. Jesus prayed all night before choosing the twelve disciples. The term disciple in the New Testament means a learner or a student who were adherent to ...

  WORSHIP - THE CELEBRATION OF FAITH   Revelation 4:1-11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:1-11 depicts a scene of worship in heaven. This was written in days when persecution was raging, between the reign of Nero and Domitian; and therefore, in a context of violent crisis for the Church. It gives us a hope that even when you come to grips with the worst difficulties, remain confident in the Almighty Power of God. He promised to save His people from all evil. This heavenly vision clearly says that God is in control of this world. He rules this world and will bring events to a meaningful conclusion. Let's see the major focus of heavenly worship 1. Worship – an invitation for an entry into the heavenly experience St John looked, and there before him a door standing open in heaven. And the voice heard...

  Worship: Celebration of Faith   Isaiah 6: 1-8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am. Send me!” In Isaiah 6:1-8 we learn about Isaiah’s call to be God’s messenger to the people of Jerusalem. As Isaiah entered into the presence of God he cried out, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord God Almighty.” Isaiah was so overwhelmed and affected by the greatness of God, and his realization of his own human shortcomings. The enormity of God was pressing upon him so that he felt crushed. His sins were exposed and he felt his death was imminent, as he had seen God with his own eyes Isaiah’s encounter with God in all of His holiness was traumatic. He knew he was in trouble if left to his own merit. He was unclean and the people he associated with were unclean. In that moment Isaiah did the most logical and worshipful thing he could do – he openly ackno...

  Worship – The Celebration of Faith   Ezekiel 47: 1-12 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. Worship is a sacred act that allows us to connect with the Almighty God. It is a celebration of our faith, a beautiful expression of love and reverence towards our Creator. In Ezekiel 47:1-12, we find a powerful vision of a river flowing from the temple, representing the life-giving power of worship. Ezekiel witnesses a stream of water flowing from the temple. This stream eventually becomes a deep and mighty river. The temple represents the presence of God, and the river signifies the overflow of worship that emanates from His dwelling place. Worship starts with recognizing God as the source of all...

  Worship -The Celebration of Faith   1 Thess  5:12-22 Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians gives important clues into what made Paul so effective at founding churches. This letter, believed to be one of his earliest letters , provides a firsthand account of Paul’s relationship with a missionary church. In this epistle, St. Paul praises their strength, and continually thanked God for their spiritual progress. It also reveals the gratitude, disappointment and joy of a beloved missionary, who cannot stop thinking about the church he left behind in his missionary journey. Today we are meditating on the theme “Worship – The celebration of faith”. We celebrate many things in our lives. We celebrate our birthdays, our wedding anniversaries, important events in our social, national, and religious events. What is most important in our li...

  God’s Glory Revealed   Psalm 19 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19 is a beautiful hymn by David, who presents it as a praise offering to the Lord. When we look closely, David is writing about how God’s glory is revealed. In the first part (verses 1-6) of the psalm, David extols how God is revealed through creation. One day when I was taking a walk outside, I purposely slowed down to observe nature around me. When I looked up, I was surprised to see the branches of the tall trees as if they were reaching up into the air in praise. I started to notice the fragrant smells of tree bark and flowers that had evaded me before, as a beautiful offering up to the Lord. All of creation was providing witness to how great God is. When we look closely, creation is God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. In the second part (verses 7-10) of the psalm, the David sings about the Torah, the law....

  Faithful Stewards   Luke 12: 24-27 "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them." One of the greatest contributions of science is that it has helped us better understand the world that God created. Until Copernicus and Galileo, humanity believed that Earth was the center of the universe. Until Darwin, people believed that all species were created exactly as they currently exist. Science played a critical role in revealing the mysteries of our world, putting earth as a small part of a vast universe and human beings, as only a part of a complex web of life on this planet. Christians sometimes make the mistake of harboring an anthropocentric worldview, where everything else in creation is created for humans. We have a very human-centered view of the world. In Luke 12:24-27, Jesus debunks this notion, asking us to "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither...