Child Dedication

This Sunday we have some more blessed moments. Manoj Mathew and Reeba, along with Manoj's parents, dedicated their first born to God's hand in the presence of Malayalam Congregation. Pastor Mathew George lead the dedication. Our guest Eby Achan lead the dedication prayer

Both Manoj and Manoj's father gave their testimonies how God cared for them when they went through the tough times. It was amazing.
They christened the baby as Gordon Victor Manoj
Gordon means Fort.
God bless you Gordon and your parents.

Happy Birthday to you..Lidya

This Sunday, Lidya(Liby Benjamin's daughter) celebrated her birthday

God bless you Lidya

The man who paid the price - for some one's deliverance

On the 20th day evening, Eby Achan spoke about a specific person who paid the price for the deliverance of someone.
Mark 2:4-5
When they could not come near to Him because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where He was. And digging through, they let down the cot on which the paralytic was lying.And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, Child, your sins are forgiven to you.

To understand this portion we need to check the background.
- Jesus came to Capernaum from a place called country of the Gergesenes(Mathew8:28).
- This land Gergesenes is given to Ruben,Gad and half tribe of Manasseh(Read Numbers 32). They didn't want any portion in the promised land, instead they themselves choose this land to grow cattle. Later people started growing pigs
- Jesus healed the demon possessed man who came on the shore to welcome him. No one else came there to greet him.In that way Jesus healed that land and the curse on that land.
- But when the people of that land knew that the demons killed their pigs, they became agitated and asked Jesus to leave their place.
- Jesus went back on the same boat and came to Capernaum
- People of Gergesenes rejected Jesus for pigs. They gave importance to their income than God.

Jesus came back to Capernaum. There a man opened his house for Jesus(Mark 2:1-2). Jesus sitting inside the house preaching and healing people. The crowd was so much that there was no room even at the door.

When one place rejected Jesus because they give importance to income, here is one man who opened his own home for Jesus and all the crowd

Then came four people carrying a parlytic person. Since there is no room to come near Jesus, they removed a portion of roof of that house and brought down the cot with that sick man. Jesus healed that man seeing their faith.
- Before removing the roof, the people who carried the sick naturally asked the house owner
- There is every possibility that the house owner himself suggested this way of removing the roof
- He considered the deliverance of a sick man mosre importnat than his material possession, his house
- He very clearly knows that his house will be damaged by doing this
- But here is a man who paid the price for the deliverance of some one else.

These days God is looking for people like this house owner, who is ready to pay the price for the deliverance of this nation, this state, this society, his family and friends.

Will Of God

On the 20th day of fasting prayer,we had Eby Achan(Kokkad,Punalur, Kerala) as a guest speaker.In the morning session, he spoke about Will of God, specifically what is expected out of a person who follows will of God.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus.(Ephesians 1:1)

John 1:35-42
.......And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, He said, You are Simon the son of Jonah; you shall be called Cephas (which translated is, A stone).

Here Jesus is prophecising to Simon Peter, seeing him for the first time.

Luke 5:1-3And it happened that the crowd pressed on Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. And He saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat.

1. Person who do the will of God will not follow blessings, but will follow the One who gives you blessing

-Jesus told simon that you will become Cephas. But he went back to his routine, fishing. Here Jesus is telling simon that one day will come when your identity will be changed
-Eventhough Simon went back to his work, in His time Jesus went to him.
Peter and friends tried the whole night in lake of Gennesaret. Even though they were good in their job, they didn't get anything that night. When they came back totally depressed,Jesus is waiting for them in the shore. Peter didn't have any hesitation in giving his boat to Jesus to preach.
-You will win in same situations where you failed
They tried all night, but they failed. But when they obeyed Jesus, the same lake gave them plenty.
-You need to tell bye-bye to many things, sometimes including blessings
Peter got boat full of fish when he did as Jesus commanded. That was a blessing to him. But when Jesus called him, he didn't look back. He left everything, his net, boat and his latest catch. Nothing hold him back including blessings. When you follow His will, you need to change your priorities
In Old Testament we see Abraham rejected the offers made by King of Sodom(Gen 14:21-23)

2. Person who do the will of God will ask "What shall I do Lord"
Acts 22:8-10
..And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise and go into Damascus. And there it shall be told you all things which are appointed for you to do.


This is experience of Paul(Saul). Lord visited saul. The first question Paul asked was this. He didn't ask nay personal blessings. He wish to know " I am ready Lord. What shall I do?"

Our warfare

Today, 17th day of fasting prayer, Pastor Balraj preached from the Word. He was specifically preaching about 1. Our journey towards the promised Canan 2. How we can fight it out in this World.

Exodus 3:17 , Joshua 3:11
When God promised the land with honey and milk to Israel, God told about 7 enemies they need to face in their journey.They are Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Ephesians 6:12
Similiarly, as new testament Israel, in our journey towards the promised land, we also need to fight out seven different enemies. But these enemies are not flesh and blodd or humans.

What is our armor?
For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4,5)

Ephesians 6:13-18

Seven enemies of every Christian believer

1. Lust of flesh

But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death James 1:14,15

But every person who is on the journey to promised land mus crucify his flesh. As apostle Paul said
But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts Galatians 5:24


2. Life without Love - Personal & Family life
Ephesians 5:22, 5:25, 6:9

If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)

3. Speaking Lies

2 Corinthians 2:11
Psalms 15:1-5
Psalms 119:163
Therefore putting away lying, let each man speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.(Ephe 4:25)

4. Our own ways
Proverbs 25:28
Proverbs 4:11,12

5. Fear
2 Timothi 1:7

6. Pride

7. Our own strength
Psalms 20:7-8
2 Corinthians 10:17,18

Some quotes heard

1. When Peter was in prison, angel of Lord came down to open the gates(Acts 12:7-10). When Paul was in Roman prison(Acts 28), angel did not come, but instead gates of heaven itself opened before him so that he wrote 4 epistles from the prison, which later became the pillars of Church.

2. 14 for 1 - Paul(Saul) started his journey with one letter from the high priest to destroy church, but when he met Jesus he himself wrote 14 letters to strengthen church.

3. If you invest now in fasting , praying, bible study, then you can withdraw later when you start preaching from pulpits.

4. root vs fruit - If you are rooted well, you will bear fruits

5. Love of Jesus is so deep that it can reach to the bottom of hell, so high that it can reach heavens and so wide that it can cover all nations and gentiles.

6.In old testament, Psalmist says "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want."(Psalm 23:1).
In new Testament church of the Laodicea changed that to " I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing" (Rev 3:17). Thats World.

You are called - Be in your position

Continuing our study on Book of Ephesians on the 15th Day of fasting prayer, today Pastor Anoj spoke from the Word.In his inimitable style, he brought out some of the serious topics of this epistle.
He discussed about two aspects, more specifically the second part.

1. What is the purpose of your calling?
Every one who is assured of their calling by Lord, must understand the purpose of their calling.
Thats what Paul clearly tells in Ephesians 1:4
According as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

You are called to be Holy and blameless.

2. How can we keep our position according to His purpose?
Ephesians 3:14-21.
14.For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 of whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
19 and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, forever. Amen.

This is Paul's second prayer in this epistle. The first prayer we can see in Ephesians 1:15- onwards. Here Paul very clearly tells about the various things which every one of us needs to follow to keep our position according to His purpose
a. Bow your knees - Always Pray (3:14)
We need to bow our knees before our God because
- He chosen us
- He adopted us
- He gave us inheritance
Prayer will lead you to spiritual maturity

b. Inner man(inner spirit) is strengthened by His Spirit(3:16)
If the inner man is not strengthened then sinful nature of the flesh will dominate us.If our inner man is strengthened then we can overcome the temptations
- This is what Jesus showed after His fasting for forty days
- This what Stephen showed when he was showered with stones (Acts 7:55-60)

c. Indwelling Christ - Christ must be a permanent resident in you and not as a guest.
2 Corinthians 6:16
... For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

When He dwells in you and walks among us, then He knows our infirmities. He will clear all of them.
When Abraham unknowingly gave a feast to God's angels, they knew that what is lacking in Abraham's family without telling it(Genesis 18:10)

d. Incomprehensible Love - rooted in Christ's Love (3:17)
If we are rooted in the love of Christ, we will bear fruits
Ephesians 2:4 - But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us

e. Grow in the Infinite fullness of God(3:19)
When we grow in the fullness of God
- We will become spiritually mature
- We lack no gifts

We need to follow the above five advices to keep our position in Christ.

3. What will happen if we follow these?
Ephesians 3:20
Our God will do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,"

Happy Anniverssary

Last week many of our families celebrated their wedding anniversaries
1. Mr & Mrs. Roy Philip - January 16
2. Mr & Mrs. Chinnaswamy - January 17
3. Mr & Mrs. Benny - January 17
4. Mr & Mrs. A.G.Thomas - January 18

We wish these families a blessed year ahead pray that God will use them in his vineyard more fruitfully.

Happy Birthday to you

Last week many of our friends celebrated their birthdays
1. Santhosh George - 9th January
2. Lissy Riju - 10th January
3. Lissy Thankachan - 10th January
4. Anugraha Mariam Sunil(Anu)- 11th January

May God bless them all and our wish and prayer is that
"Goodness and mercy shall follow them all through the new year"

Anugraha celebrated her birthday in the church along with her Sunday school friends, by cutting cake.

Partakers of divine nature

Quite unexpectedly, we had a guest speaker on 14th January, 2008 night meeting. Dr.Sini J Mathew, who was the main resource person in Andhra state ICPF camp, gave the message today.

He talked about the topic "Divine nature".

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" 2 Peter 1:4

What dose it mean?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect Mathew 5:48

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows
James 1:17

How we can become partakers of divine nature?

1. Escape from the corruption in the world due to the evil desires

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" 2 Peter 1:4

Every thing in our life that takes more priority than God's supremacy and glory are evil desires. We need to be very careful in setting our priorities.

When the jewish boys were taken as slaves to Babel, God blessed them there. They became rulers of provinces there. But still their heart beats for Jerusalem
Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-

9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

We should not give rest to our feet and sleep to our eyes, till this nation comes to know the saving grace of Christ.

2. Never love world or the things that are in the world
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ... 1 John 2:15-17

3. Fix our eyes for the eternal things and not on the temperory worldly things
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

4. Transformed by renewing of your mind
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will Romans 12:2

5. Never be in friendship with the world
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God
James 4:4

You are the Salt of the Earth

Continuing our fasting prayer on the 10th day, today Br:A.G.Vinayakumar exhorted from the Word, specifically from Mathew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

To understand this particular verse or passage of Jesus, we need to understand the qualities of Salt
Why he compared His children to Salt?
What Lord expects from us when we read this?

Qualities of Salt

1. It is pure. This shows holiness of self.
Every believer needs to be holy always himself/herself

2. It is a cleansing agent. It can make things clean
After we become holy, it is our responsibility to help our neighbors to become holy. God want us to become the cleansing agents of our society.

3. It gives taste when added with food
"Is tasteless food eaten without salt"(Job 6:6)
God want believers also become the taste agents, who can bring taste to the society and other people's lives.

4.It helps plants in their growth. it can be used as a fertilizer
Every believer should help others to grow further in their lives

5.It has preserving power
Believers should act as preserving agents in this society. We should stand in the gap and pray.

6. It has healing power
Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' ".And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. 2 Kings 2:21,22
In this world, we should act as healing agent.

7. It is used in sacrifices
Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.Leviticus 2:13

8.It is used as a covenant which lasts for ever
Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? 2 Chronicles 13:5

The Hope of His Calling

Ephesians 1:15-19
We continue our meditation on Book of Ephesians in our fasting prayer. Today Evg.Saju Pappen lead the session on the topic "His Calling"

Ephesian 1:15-19 is a prayer of Apostle Paul. In his prayer, Paul is pleading that, every one of us should know our calling and the hope of our calling or why we are called. To understand this calling our spiritual eyes must be enlightened
Then he discussed about two persons and their calling and how they responded to their calling

1. Moses- God calling Moses
Exodus 3:4,10
Points to note here
- Moses was 80 years old when this calling happened
- First 40 years he was in Pharaoh's place as a prince and next 40 years he was looking after the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro .
- Now he is desert, close to Mountain of God, Horeb. But he is almost down and out. His passion is dying.
- When Moses saw the bush burning, he moved closer to Horeb to see what it is
- God asked him to remove unholy things first, then come to Mountain of God. This very true now also. God wants us to be holy in every aspect
- Then God introduced himself to Moses as God of Abraham,Jacob and Issac. This is just to remind Moses where he is now and who is he and who is his fore fathers

How Moses responded to God's call?
- Moses raised 4 doubts/questions/excuses to avoid the calling
a. What is my merit/worth in taking up this huge task of delivering Israelites? Ex 3:11
Moses is trying to explain God that I am worthless, good for nothing fellow. But God does not require any qualification to use you. As Ephesians 2:1, we were dead in our sins, but still He loved us and died for us.
b. What is the name of the God who send me? Exodus 3:13
God introduced Himself to Moses initially. But still Moses again ask the question. Then God explains it further
- I AM THAT I AM .
- I am the God of Abraham, Jacob and Issac
- I am the God of your Father's
c. I am slow in speech and has slow tongue Exodus 4:10
Here Moses is trying to make God understand about his infirmities, even though he knows that God is his Creator. many times we also try to teach God and try to make Him understand about our issues.
d. Send somebody else other than me. Exodus 4:13
Even after clearing all his doubts, Moses is still not willing to go. Then God became angry
Jeremiah 13:15,16
But in the end Moses obeyed God's calling. Later he never questioned God. He did exactly what God commanded Exodus 39:32, 39:42, 40:16, 40:25, 40:32..

2. Calling of Elisha 1 Kings 19:19-21
- Elijah put his mantle upon Elisha, when he is working in the field
- Elisha responded immediately and ran after Elijah
- He killed the Oxen which was keeping him in the fields and followed Elijah

And God used Elisha mightily, with double spirit.

Conclusion
1. Are we sure about our calling?
2. Are we responding to the calling? or still telling excuses?
3. If we respond, it will be a blessing to us and our generations

Sunday School Annual Day - Choreo

Sanctify yourself

21 days fasting prayer started on 4th Jan. This years theme was "Be Holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight". For the study we took Book of Ephesians as the central part.

Paul wrote this letter to Saints(Ephe 1:1)
He is stressing the importance of being holy and blameless.

A. Why we should be Holy?
In old testament times, God's presence came down into Tabernacle.Its an unchanging law and command of Lord that the tabernacle, altar, all instruments used inside the temple and all persons/priests must be holy
Exodus 40:9-16

In new testament, God's presence resides in our body, which is His temple. So this temple must be holy. Every organ and part of our body must be holy.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17

B. How we can become holy?
1. By the Holy spirit
Isaiah 6:1-7
Here Isaiah confessed himself his sins/inequities after seeing the Glory of Lord.Even though he was a prophet, that does not prevent him from confessing ", Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah"(Isaiah 6:5)

Then seraph sanctified his lips and tongue.
Our tongues needs a sanctification
Ephe 5:1-4

2. By the Word of God.
Exodus 19:4-6
When we obey Word of God, we will become holy.
Another thing which God wants us to do is Sanctify yourself. Ephe 5:25

Exodus 19. God asked Moses to tell people that let them sanctify themselves for 3 days. Then come near to God, God will come down.

C. What is the benefit of becoming Holy?
God's presence and glory will come down and reside in us.
Exodus 40:9-16
God asked Moses to do sanctify tabernacle, instruments inside, Aron and his family.
Exodus 40:33
Moses did exactly as God commanded.
THEN, cloud covered the tent

So Be HOLY, BLAMELESS and UNREPROVEABLE

Sunday school annual day

It was an exciting day, not only for the Sunday school kids, but also for the parents and audience.
Revival Centre AG church Sunday school celebrated its annual day of 2008 on 4th January,2009.

It was a day full of activities which started with various competitions around 2PM. Add to the excitement, we had fully professional puppet show by Br:Joel and Sis:Rebbecca.

For the last 3 weeks , lot of competitions happened inside Sunday school. The rest was completed today. That includes Solo, Group Song, Story telling and Elocution.
These competitions brought out the hidden talents of our guys and gals. It was amazing to see the confidence of our tiny tots and juniors.
Let us hope and pray that these young one's will take the charge tomorrow with a great zeal for Lord.

After the competitions we had various programmes performed by our kids starting from class 1.This includes action songs, Choreography, skit, group songs.
Later our chief guest Br:Jojo gave an inspiring message addressing the three groups, viz students, parents and teachers.
And lastly the most exciting event, prize distribution. Every student one or more prizes. It was real joy to see the tiny tots running to receive prizes.

Kudos to Pastor, Sis:Feba and all teachers which includes Sis:Mercy, Sis:Rathy Vinayakumar, Br:Kiran, Sis:Sheeba Regy, Sis:Aju, Br:Ejan, Br:Jinse John, Sis:Valsamma Varghese. And special appreciation to Br:Alwyn and RayS.

God bless you all.

Happy Anniversary

1. Br:Reji Varghese and Sheeba Reji celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary on December 31
2. Br:Varghese(Banjara Hills) celebrated his birthday on January 1.

We wish Reji and Sheeba and Varghese a blessed year ahead

Further details will be announce by them. Contact directly.:)

New Year Wish - Be Holy,Unblameable and Unreproveable in His sight

2008 became history. This December 31st our New year service started at 8:30 PM with worship lead by RayS. After the spirit filled worship, all individuals along with family testified about the God's grace and providence in their lives for the whole year. Those testimonies are really exciting, especially of those who come to the Lord this year and attended such a service for the first time.
Later Pastor Mathew George gave the new year message centered around the theme "Be Holy, Unblameable and Unreproveable in His sight(Colossians 1:21-22) ".
God wish every believer to be
1. Holy throughout his Life - 1 Peter 1:14-15
2. Unblameable - Jude 1:24
3. Unproveable Romans 12:1-2

Because His coming is very near.

The worship was concluded with Lord's table by around 1:30 AM