Carols’ Service & Grace Family Lunch

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The theme of the service was

What Are We Waiting For?

Several people were involved in leading the singing and doing the readings, giving me a holiday:

(Led by Roshini)

For hundreds of years the Jews waited for their Messiah. When Black people were abused for generations, they sang of the Saviour who would come one day to deliver them from their bondage and misery. What are we waiting for? Do we even wait, or are we unaware of how time is running out for us?

Congregational singing

O come, O come Emmanuel
The First Noel
Angels we have heard on high

For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is "hurry". And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close. It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries-nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the pre-Christmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal.
—Burton Hills

(Read by Riya)

Scripture Reading (from God’s Word translation)
Ps 27
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation. Who is there to fear? The LORD is my life's fortress. Who is there to be afraid of?...
4 I have asked one thing from the LORD. This I will seek: to remain in the LORD's house all the days of my life in order to gaze at the LORD's beauty and to search for an answer in his temple.
5 He hides me in his shelter when there is trouble. He keeps me hidden in his tent. He sets me high on a rock.
6 Now my head will be raised above my enemies who surround me. I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy in his tent. I will sing and make music to praise the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud. Have pity on me, and answer me.
8 [When you said,] "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "O LORD, I will seek your face."
9 Do not hide your face from me. Do not angrily turn me away. You have been my help. Do not leave me! Do not abandon me, O God, my savior!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will take care of me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD. Lead me on a level path because I have enemies who spy on me.
12 Do not surrender me to the will of my opponents. False witnesses have risen against me. They breathe out violence.
13I believe that I will see the goodness of the LORD in this world of the living.
14 Wait with hope for the LORD. Be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the LORD.

Ps 37
3 Trust the LORD, and do good things. Live in the land, and practice being faithful.
4 Be happy with the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Entrust your ways to the LORD. Trust him, and he will act [on your behalf].
6 He will make your righteousness shine like a light, your just cause like the noonday sun.
7 Surrender yourself to the LORD, and wait patiently for him. Do not be preoccupied with [an evildoer] who succeeds in his way when he carries out his schemes.
8 Let go of anger, and leave rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil.
9 Evildoers will be cut off [from their inheritance], but those who wait with hope for the LORD will inherit the land…
23A person's steps are directed by the LORD, and the LORD delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst because the LORD holds on to his hand.
25 I have been young, and now I am old, but I have never seen a righteous person abandoned or his descendants begging for food.
26 He is always generous and lends freely. His descendants are a blessing.
27 Avoid evil, do good, and live forever.
28 The LORD loves justice, and he will not abandon his godly ones. They will be kept safe forever, but the descendants of wicked people will be cut off.
29 Righteous people will inherit the land and live there permanently…
34 Wait with hope for the LORD, and follow his path, and he will honor you by giving you the land. When wicked people are cut off, you will see it…
39 The victory for righteous people comes from the LORD. He is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from wicked people. He saves them because they have taken refuge in him.

Isa. 40
28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The eternal God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach.
29 He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.
30 Even young people grow tired and become weary, and young men will stumble and fall.
31 Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won't become weary. They will walk and won't grow tired.

(Read by Manji Phillips)

Sometimes it seems as though we spend our lives waiting. Daydreaming about an upcoming vacation, worrying over a medical test, preparing for the birth of a grandchild―our days are filled with anticipation and anxiety over what the future holds. As Christians, we too spend our lives waiting. But we are waiting for something much bigger than a trip, bigger even than retirement or a wedding: We are waiting for the return of Jesus in glory. Advent heightens this sense of waiting, because it marks not only our anticipation of Jesus' final coming, but also our remembrance of his arrival into our world more than 2,000 years ago.
—Anonymous

Pastoral Prayer:

Scripture: Luke 2: 1-15 (Read by Rev J T Raja)

One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without Christianity.
—Billy Graham

Congregational singing (led by Stanley Khan)

Joy to the world There’s a Song in the air

(Read by Martha Khan)

At the heart of the nativity narratives in both Matthew and Luke, is a simple fact: amid the struggle of a people who had longed for 500 years for God to act in the world in new ways, God came to be with them in a way that totally identified himself with us, as human beings. Amid the most unlikely of circumstances, to the most unlikely of people, God became man for the salvation of all people.
—Dennis Bratcher

Scripture: Rev 2:1-7; 3: 14-22 (Read by Prabha Prakash)
Congregational singing: Angels from the realms of glory (led by Martha Khan)

(Read by Martha Khan) How extraordinary to find the common bond of love expressed in a shared poverty. On this basis He could speak to us of shared values, of a vision and a mission we could make our own. From the manger this Child of the virgin Mary could speak to us of our destiny, our dignity, our ability, in His Name, to change not only ourselves but the world. Here we hear of our God-given rights and of our responsibilities as God's adopted children. This Child will come to represent everything that is inspiring in terms of mercy, of compassion, of love, of justice and of peace. Christmas is a time to renew one's spirit in the message and in the challenge of the Christ Child, a time to determine to become more credible witnesses to Him.
—Seán Kearney

Congregational singing led by Martha and Roshini

What Child is this? Thou didst leave Thy throne

(Read by Smita Sarwan)

Prepare Your Heart
"In my Father's house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14: 2
People are already making preparations for Christmas. Stores have Christmas items for sale, and people are purchasing Christmas Gifts. [People have decorated their homes, baked their cakes and got their new clothes].

We need to prepare our hearts for Jesus. First of all, we need to give Him a place to live in our hearts. If you have never accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour, I urge you to open your heart to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and save you.

The greatest gift we can give Jesus on His Birthday is to spend time with Him. We spend countless hours in the kitchen cooking delicious meals. We clean the house thoroughly because our family and friends are coming for Christmas. Yet, sad to say, we don't give Jesus even two hours a day during our preparations for Christmas. Without Jesus, there would be no Christmas!

Have you thought about what you can give Jesus for His Birthday? You can give Him your time, and you can be kinder to your family, loved ones, and friends. You can pick up the phone and call someone who is hurting and alone.

Many people commit suicide during the holidays because they are so lonely, and feel that nobody cares about them. Let's get back to the real purpose of Christmas, spreading the Love of Jesus to a hurting world.
―Joanne Lowe

Congregational singing (led by Roshini)

Love came down
Good Christian folks rejoice

(Read by Shobha Massey) The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.
―Stuart Briscoe

Congregational singing (led by Roshini)

Hark! the herald angels sing

(Read by Malini Revis)

Keeping Christmas
There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day,
And that is, keeping Christmas.

Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people,
And to remember what other people have done for you;

To ignore what the world owes you,
And to think what you owe the world;

To put your rights in the background, And your duties in the middle distance,
And your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;

To see that men and women are just as real as you are,
And try to look behind their faces to their hearts, Hungry for joy;

To own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence
Is not what you are going to get out of life, But what you are going to give to life;

To close your book of complaints against the management of the universe,
And look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness

Are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
To remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
To stop asking how much your friends love you,
And ask yourself whether you love them enough;

To bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
To try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want,
Without waiting for them to tell you;

To trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke,
And to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;

To make a grave for your ugly thoughts,
And a garden for your kindly feelings with the gate open

Are you willing to do these things, even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to believe
That love is the strongest thing in the world
Stronger than hate, stronger than evil, Stronger than death
And that the blessed life Which began in Bethlehem two thousand years ago
Is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas.

And if you can keep it for a day,
Why not always?
But you can never keep it alone.
—Henry Van Dyke

Congregational singing (led by Roshini)

As with gladness men of old

(Read by Tabitha Lugun)

CHRISTMAS CREED
I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.

I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small.

I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ from my life today.

I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.

I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible:

I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother's arms, whose modest home in Nazareth had love for its only wealth, who looked at persons and made them see what God's love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.

I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.

I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.
—Anonymous

Congregational singing: O Little Town of Bethlehem (led by Roshini)

According to custom, we followed the service with our Church Family lunch, and we had a surprise Santa Claus, because I asked Tricia, Riya’s American friend to do the role.

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/kuruvilla.chandy/CarolsServiceChristmasLunch#

Grace Bible Church Sunday School Christmas Play

God sent us Riya to take charge of some special events this year.

I first introduced her as the mystery speaker at the church's anniversary service. Next she was responsible for coordinating the seminar on social action. (By the way, we're still working on getting together an action group to follow through on that).

Since our Sunday School Superintendent Indu Eisenberg was over-burdened with her responsibilities at her workplace, I encouraged Riya to direct the kids in preparing their annual presentation of the message of the Incarnation. Riya converted Barbara Robinson's story The Best Christmas Pageant into a drama script and trained our kids to present the gospel afresh.

Principal Farida Abraham, a friend from my time at St John's Church, Bangalore, offered the auditorium of the La Martiniere Girls' College for our performance. I didn't want to take it because the stage alone is so big thatour entire church could be seated on it and still have the space for the performers to enact the drama. But when our Bible study group heard about it, they said to go for it.

The Sunday School put up their play on Sunday, December 13, 2009. With all the practice that they had put in, the kids were relaxed enough to take charge of ushering people before they went backstage to get ready

Farida allowed us the use of the hall for practices, and got her 140 girls in boarding to attend. Indu got about 30 kids from the boarding of the City International School to come. And then our members and their guests were enough to give the hall a full house look.

Roshini led the congregational singing, accompanied by

Jürgen Eisenberg on the keyboard, Bunny Phillips on the drum pad, and Anisha Calendar on the guitar.

The play revolved around a family of bratty kids who terrorized everyone. One year when they heard that there would be special treats for taking part in the Christmas play, the lot of them turned up and hijacked the play.

As the obnoxious brats got involved, it was obvious that they had been transformed by the story of Jesus’ birth. They brought a sense of personal commitment to Jesus as they played their roles.

Our Sunday School kids included songs and choreography.

At the end, Farida gave away the gifts our Sunday School kids are given for their faithfulness in Sunday School through the year. Afterwards, there was cake and coffee for everyone present for the event.

 

Some of the songs and choreography can be seen here

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Laying Foundation for a Chapel

On Sunday, November 16, 2009, the members of the city church went to the village to lay the foundation for a chapel for the village congregation.

Movies

Grace Times November 2009

from the pastor

Dear People,

Sometimes people take over from God and pronounce judgment on others. One notion that has been around for centuries is that when a person’s line is not carried forward, it’s due to God’s curse. Even our Lord was judged to have been cut off without an heir (Isa.53:8).

Though Jess and Ishaaq (2001) and Elishba and Joe (2002) were married so long ago, we have had no grandkids all these years. One nagging thought was that all opposed to my having started Grace Bible Church, must feel triumphant about it. “In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me” (Ps.120:1).

Jessica’s will have her baby in March 2010, and Elishba in May. The Lord has blessed abundantly. His grace always overflows our capacity. Grace is not measured according to our needs, but His immense glory (Phil.4:19). I’ve found that no matter what I’ve given up for/to God, He always out-gives me.

By the way, 2010 will be the 13th year since Grace Bible Church began. Who says that “bad luck” (or good luck) is in the numbers (or in the stars, or the stones…). We don’t need luck. If God is for, nothing can be against us (Rom. 8:31). God works for our good when we are His (v.s. 28)

In Christ’s love,

Kuru

Benjamin Mall bereaved by his wife’s death.

Manju Ramachandran’s brother-in-law Rev J W Adams passed away.

Cindy and Ethan went back with Ashish Khan to their home at the children’s home in Banbasa.

Manohar Antin had his op for gall stones.

Triza Joseph still under treatment, but has improved.

Pushpa Singh’s husband experiencing a lot of pain, and is undergoing treatment at SGPGI as an outpatient.

Sujeet Sarwan, Smita, Sukriti and Sucehta were all down with fevers and colds one by one.

Jeba and Rev J T Raja recovered from the flu, but Jeba is suffering from cervical spondylitis.

Esther Eisenberg recovering from an upset stomach.

Sukriti attending Confirmation Classes.

Riya Jacob finishing her Church History studies and has an exam coming up. Riya is directing the Sunday School play which will be staged at the La Martiniere Girls’ auditorium.

Suseela has gone to China for a conference and will get to visit Geetu and Gary in their home.

Pastor Kuru preached at the Thanksgiving/Harvest Service of the English congregation meeting in the North India Theological Seminary in Bareilly, and afterwards Roshini and Kuru visited kids at the Warne Baby Fold.

 

I pray you enough

I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear. 
I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. 
I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger. 
I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. 
I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. 
I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye. —Author Unknown

Grace Times October 2009

from the pastor

Dear People,

While leaving earth, our Lord said, “Go into the world and proclaim the gospel...You shall be my witnesses…” and on the next Day of Pentecost after that, the Holy Spirit took hold of His disciples and broke all language barriers.

Grace Bible Church stands in line with what the Lord said and what the Early Church allowed the Holy Spirit to accomplish through it. That is why we are going bilingual. This is going to be an all-new experience for all of us. And it’s going to be hard.

As your pastor I will need help—lots of it, because I’m definitely no linguist. I will need some of you to exercise the gift of translation. We will need folks who can lead us in singing Hindustani songs. All of us will need to be patient and supportive of one another if this venture is to work. It’s an adventure. I promise you it will be scary. That’s what is exciting about it.

Let’s do this together. Let’s learn together.

In Christ’s love,

Kuru

Shwetha had a normal delivery and Supriya now has a baby brother.

Prabha and Shobha’s pregnant niece Poonam has to be careful but is doing well.

Cindy has problems with her wrists and is in a lot of pain. Worst is, that she is not able to hold baby Ethan.

Jess gets tired easily but is otherwise doing well. Her high BP is being treated.

Triza Joseph has improved in health but has to continue with long term treatment.

Pushpa Singh’s husband has been rather unwell and experiencing a lot of pain, and is undergoing treatment at SGPGI as an outpatient.

Bunny has recovered from back pain and flu.

Amrit Modwell was down with viral flu in Delhi.

Pastor Kuru apologizes for not having sent cards and greetings to members because the peon Ram Kishore keeps absenting himself without any warnings. In September he worked only for two hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays.

CONSIDERING THE ALTERNATIVE

A fellow had a very heavy load of worries, cares and duties. The road was rough and seemed to get rougher with each step and the pack got heavier. Finally, he just sat down and said, “I give up. I’m ready to die!” Suddenly the Angel of Death appeared and said, “Did you call me?” The man got up quickly and said, “Oh yes, would you please help me lift this load back up onto my shoulders so I can carry on?” Considering the alternative often helps one’s perspective.

—Author Unknown

GOD’S KIDS

Message preached on Sunday, October 4, 2009

In our world today there is a lot of discussion about children at risk. Actually, they’ve always been at risk. For instance, in Old Testament times some people worshipped Molech, described as a “detestable god” (1 Ki.11:5, 7: 2 Ki. 23:13). The sacrifices offered to this god were a person’s own son or daughter. Down through the ages children have been sacrificed with a view to gaining the favour of gods or for the appeasement of demons. In modern times, Tantric rituals have claimed children as sacrifices, and perverts have abused children sacrificing them to lust, and have got away with little or no punishment.

The Bible reveals God to be One Who proclaims the worth of children. They have an ordained place in God’s plan for the created world. God did ask Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, but that was only to test him, to see whether he would God before his son, and whether he would trust God to keep His promise that Isaac would indeed be his heir. Having seen Abraham’s heart, God didn’t let him go through with the test. He stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son to gain God’s favour, and in a way when God stopped him from sacrificing his son it was in the end an object lesson for all God’s people that God didn’t approve of human sacrifices to gain His blessing.

The Bible reveals God to be the God who proclaimed the worth of children. For God children are not consumables or expendables. Children don’t have to wait until they grow up to be adults before they are included in God’s plans and programmes. Children are included by God because God is Who He is.

The God Family

The biblical revelation of God was in three stages. First, God revealed His transcendence─ that He is God above all, that God is Creator, Sustainer, and Protector. In the second stage of the divine revelation, God’s presence was experienced by people among whom God was incarnate in the person of Jesus. God was God with us, taking part in all our experiences and feeling for us. God cares enough to be our Saviour. In the final stage, God revealed His immanence. He came into human lives as the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, who indwells those who received Jesus as Lord. The Creator, the Saviour and the Sanctifier are three distinct persons, but are completely one, each living in the others (see Jn.10: 31, 38).

The Bible reveals that God is one being in three persons. God is triune. The notion of Trinity is one that is totally incomprehensible to the human mind. Humans are able to comprehend the concepts of singularity or multiplicity and therefore human speculation can come up with doctrines of God being just one person or of the multiplicity of gods. That God is triune is pure revelation. If God hadn’t revealed this truth, we would have just remained with our speculations.

But God has shown us these things through the Spirit.

The Spirit searches out all things, even the deep secrets of God. Who knows the thoughts that another person has? Only a person’s spirit that lives within him knows his thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (1 Cor.2:10-11, New Century Version).

The best known definition of God is that “God is love” (1 Jn.4:8). Most people don’t know that it is from the Bible. Many reverse the order of the words and think that when they say “love is God” it has the same meaning as the original statement. It doesn’t. Love can be false or true, selfish or unselfish and selfless, possessive or committed but liberating, manipulative or redemptive. The love of God is so true and so redemptive that God is definable as being love in essence. The definition that God is love fits in with the revelation that God is triune.

Love is a word about relationships. If God Who is one, was singular in His oneness, and all alone before He created anything, how could He be love? Such a majestically lonely God could not be love—no more than a hermit living in total isolation and refusing any human interaction could declare that he was in love. For God to be love there has to be someone to love and have a relationship with. That is why it is possible to believe that God is a trinity even though we cannot understand how three persons can be one God or how one God could be three persons. The notion is incomprehensible to the human mind. But it is believable because God is love.

God is the surname of the family, and there are three persons in the God family: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Because God is a family, God calls families into His fellowship. When the world was being destroyed in the Flood, Noah’s family was saved. When humankind continued to alienate itself from God, He chose Abraham and his family. In the Exodus from the slavery in Egypt God liberated all the families of the people of Israel. (The Passover was not inaugurated as a national observance, but it was observed in homes according to their families). Prior to their settlement in the Promised Land, God gave Israel laws that recognized and safeguarded people by their families.

In a family, children are important. In a sense, families are about children. Procreation, nurture of children, and aiming for the settling of children is the agenda of any/every family. When a baby is born, the whole family is centred on that baby.

God recognized the importance of little children and ordained that when Israel observed its most important festival, in every family the littlest one would have a significant role to play in the continuing education of people (Ex.13:26).

God is Father

Before Jesus people knew only about the Creator. They knew Him to be all powerful. Though there were songsters and prophets who talked of God’s loving kindness, people regarded God only as the Almighty Lord. Certainly no one had ever taught that God is Father.

Jesus was the first to tell people that God is Abba (Father). The word “father” is too formal. The word abba is more like “papa”. The idea was totally revolutionary. It still is. Today Muslims in India use the word abba when addressing their fathers, but they would never think of referring to God as Abba.

Paul was so wonder struck and impressed with this usage of the word, that he felt the need to preserve the original Aramaic word Abba within the Greek text of what he wrote (Rom.8:15; Gal.4:6) to stress the significance of Jesus Christ’s teaching that God is Father.

The Jews were expecting that when the Messiah would come, he would restore Davidic kingship and establish an earthly kingdom. But Jesus talked of God’s kingdom as a kingdom not of this world. He said that one did not fight for God’s kingdom in the way that people fought for an earthly one (Jn.18:36). To gain entry into God’s kingdom one must be born again/born from above (3:3, 5). Jesus said that we have to become children to enter God’s kingdom (Matt.18:3). When God is Father, it makes sense that we have to become children in His kingdom.

Churches today don’t regard children as full members. Kids are treated as those in preparation for membership, just like they say that children are the future citizens of a nation. But in God’s kingdom they are the owners of the kingdom. Adults have to become children to enter the kingdom. As children they’re already in. The kingdom belongs to them. They belong to the kingdom. According to Jesus, they have their angels looking at God face to face (18:10). That’s a mysterious statement. But Jesus said it.

Obviously Jesus wanted children to be encouraged and affirmed.

• Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me (v.5, NCV).
• Whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward (10:42, NASU)

They are not to be treated as outsiders. That’s what the disciples did to children who were brought to Jesus for His blessing (19:13). The disciples thought that children were not important enough for the Master to bother with. They never tried to stop any adult from meeting Jesus—even if they were social outcasts like leprosy sufferers or known prostitutes. But Jesus went against that typical attitude and said that God’s kingdom belongs to children (19:14). Imagine that! But we don’t and that is why we still try to keep kids out saying that they are not ready to be regarded as followers of Jesus.

Children may not be rational about why they accept Jesus when brought up in the circle of faith. They’re just simple followers. They imitate. That is how they learn. If you lead, they will follow. Lead them to Jesus.

God is Faithful

The Bible reveals God to be one who initiates covenants with people. He makes covenants and keeps them.

Covenants are the formalisation of relationships. A relationship is given official or public recognition. One goes on record that the relationship exists. For instance, a wedding proclaims that a man and a woman have entered into a covenant to be faithful to each other, and that no one is permitted to come between them or do anything to undermine their relationship.

Tokens or symbols accompany covenant-making. Tokens give a covenant a real world presence. They are proof that it happened and is not something that we imagined in a dream state.

When God instituted His covenant with Abraham, God made circumcision the sign that all Abraham‘s descendants were to bear. Circumcision was done when a baby was just eight days old (Gen.17:12; 21:4; Phil. 3:5). The ritual clearly declared that God’s plan included children from their very infancy.

Whole households were baptized in the Early Church (Acts 16:15, 33; 1 Cor.1:16). In that ancient world, a household was not a nuclear family, nor just an extended (joint) family of brothers and their families. A household included even the slaves and their families. There were bound to be some kids in such large groups.

Paul wrote that even if only one partner in a marriage is a believer, the children of that marriage are “holy” (1 Cor. 7:14). Scripture says some strange things, doesn’t it? Who would have thought that kids born in a home where one is from another faith are holy?

The end of the matter is, God loves children. Jesus loved kids and drew them into His circle and proclaimed them owners of God’s kingdom. Adult believers, if they are indeed believers, must believe what Jesus said and not try to dispossess the children of the King.

EFICOR Seminar on Social Action

Friday, October 2, 2009

 

Riya Jacob organized a seminar on Social Action.

Rev Kennedy Dhanabalan of EFICOR (the Evangelical Fellowship of India Committee on Relief) was the resource person.

In all 17 persons attended the seminar. 

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Lunch was served in the Phillips’ home as always.

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In the post lunch session there was discussion about how to proceed in identifying a group to work with. Rev Kennedy promised to be back when we’re ready to take the next step.

CONDITIONS APPLY

Message preached on Sunday, September 13, 2009

Old guarantee cards for electrical appliances always had small print. People didn’t usually bother to read the stuff in small print because the print was so tiny. They would read the portion that said that the item was guaranteed for one year and were quite satisfied. When the gadget stopped working, armed with the guarantee card, they would return to the shopkeeper and expect an immediate replacement of the defective piece, only to discover that according to something or the other in the small print they could not expect anything.

These days guarantee cards don’t have small print, but say that “conditions apply.” Yes, the product is guaranteed, but the buyer has to abide by certain conditions. Even today customers discover that the guarantees are not as good as they thought.

Companies announce free offers or the chance to win something or the other in a lucky draw. But “conditions apply.” It isn’t quite so free as the announcement made it appear. When such announcements started to appear, I was in college, and I would say to myself, “I’ll walk into the shop and say, ‘I don’t want to buy anything, but I’ll take the free item’.” Of course, I never did that because I didn’t want to be regarded as someone crazy. The point is there is nothing free. There is always a price to be paid, a condition to meet.

Christian preachers talk about the unconditional love of God. Of course it is:

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life (Jn.3:16, NCV).

But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Rom.5:8, NCV).

It is true that God’s love is unconditional, but we do have to place ourselves in the path of the love flowing from God. Like a river that floods only the villages and habitations in its way, God’s love floods only into the lives that stand in the path of the flow. That is a condition.

Allow Jesus to Fit Us

When humankind fell, it distanced itself from God. Adam and Eve who fellowshipped with God, no longer felt close to God and avoided His fellowship (Gen.3:8). And that is the way it has been ever since. Our hearts are not inclined toward seeking God. Humans were out of sync or out of tune with God. Someone had to come and do the syncing. Someone had to retune us.

That is what Jesus came to do.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God (Jn.1:12-13, NLT).

Being fit for God’s company and kingdom doesn’t come with self-efforts. We need to be reborn. Starting a new page won’t do. Only changing the book and starting afresh would bring us back into fellowship with God (Jn.3:3,5).

Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit (Jn.3:6, NCV).

For this complete changeover to happen all that we need to do is believe that Jesus can and will do it for us (see Jn.1:12-13 again).

For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants (3:16-21, NLT)

It is only when we believe that Jesus is able to save us that we will turn to Him. It is only when we believe that Jesus is the only one who can save us that we will turn to Him. Until then, we will try to fit ourselves for the kingdom, but all our own efforts will be unacceptable to God, because like Adam and Eve we declare our independence from God. We declare that we can fit ourselves and become like gods. That’s revolt. That is why it won’t work at making us fit for heaven.

Allow Jesus to Do His Work

The Bible tells us that on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus went around washing His disciples feet. All of the disciples were in shock. They sat there like dumb machines that can be grabbed and manipulated by a living person. The disciples didn’t know how to respond to this act of Christ’s and mechanically extended their feet as Jesus came to each of them. That’s what happened until Jesus came to Peter. The big, blustering fisherman roused himself from his stupor and protested that he wasn’t going to allow His Master to wash his feet. To this Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me” (13:8, NLT).

Many people don’t allow Jesus to do His work in their lives. They think that by being a decent sort, they can make the grade. But Jesus is very clear. Unless He is the one washing us clean, it won’t suffice. We just won’t belong to Him. We won’t be fit company for His Father and the Holy Spirit. If we don’t allow Jesus to wash us clean, we declare to Him, “We can become gods without any help from you.” If we don’t allow Jesus to do His work, then we’re still in revolt against God’s rule in our lives.

Some people after coming to Christ, take over handling the rest of their transformation. Peter thought that he would be different from all the others. He was not going to be like others in allowing the Master to touch his feet. He didn’t realize that he was claiming that he could be different from all the others without the Master’s help. Jesus says that it can’t be done. He is the one who can transform us. Without Him, it won’t happen.

Allow Jesus’ Power to Flow

Hard stone in the middle of a river, though awash with water, will still not be able to grow anything. Only soil that is soft enough to allow the water to flow into it is any good for growing any plants. So, it is not enough to stand in the flow of God’s love. There is a need to open our lives to let the love of God enter our lives. Jesus said,

Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples (15:4-8, TM).

Oh yes, the love of God is unconditional. But only the person who will let that love flow into his or her life will experience the unconditional love of God. Nothing can stop the love of God reaching us and entering our lives.

Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings or hunger or nakedness or danger or violent death?…But in all these things we are completely victorious through God who showed his love for us. Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.8:31-19, NCV)

No one else can prevent us from experiencing the love of God. It is absolutely unconditional. The only one who can stop me from experiencing God’s love is my self. The only condition that applies to experiencing God’s love is that I must let it flow into my life.

CONDITIONS TO FULFILL

Message preached on Sunday, September 20, 2009

In any agreement there are two sides. An agreement is a two-way street. It is a relationship. There is a contractual element to an agreement. There are conditions that apply to both parties.

The condition applicable to being a Christian is that we need to let Jesus do His work in our lives (Jn.13:8). What then are the conditions that we need to fulfill on our part? What does Jesus want me to do?

After Jesus had washed the feet of all His disciples He said,

Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them (vv.14-17, NLT)

“Do what I did,” is all that Jesus says to us who wish to follow Him. He said that the reason to do this is because we are disciples. That is implied in calling Him “Master”.

Be a Disciple

Many folks think that the word “disciple” is a term that is exclusive to the religious world. That word just means “student” or “learner.” There is nothing religious about the word.

What does a student have to do? Today parents tell their children, and student counselors tell youth, “Concentrate on your studies.” What they mean is that their wards should get book-knowledge or head-knowledge. They should learn the theory. They are being advised to learn with their heads.

Learning was very different earlier on. First of all there was a relationship between teacher and student. That is no longer the case. That is why they have parent-teacher associations in schools today. But it isn’t such a good idea. Parents today don’t want their kids to learn wisdom. Parents want them to learn for a career. They want them to learn, not for learning’s sake, but for something ulterior. With that agenda, parents are the ones to derail any attempts to reform education.

Nehem’s parents admitted him to a school that advertised they would only teach toddlers to learn by playing with toys and with one another. To their dismay, after the first PTA meeting, Nehem started to come home with homework. He had to do reading and writing. His father said, “There should be no PTA meetings.”

In the school of Christ, the teacher-student relationship is important. It is only because of that relationship that anything is required of the student.

Learn by Following

The second thing about education in the ancient past was that the teaching method was what we describe as “show and tell.” There was greater emphasis on learning with hands. Students learnt to do. They gained hands-on-knowledge. Jesus the Teacher told His students, “Just do what I did” (v.15).

When the disciples asked about rank in the kingdom of God, the Lord drew their attention to a child. He told them to be like a child in humility (Matt. 18:1-4). A child may pretend to be a king or a soldier and strut around, but has no airs. He is only playing. Little children do all their learning by imitation. They are humble enough to imitate those that they admire. That is all Jesus is asking us to do. Imitate Him whom we admire. Only then would it be true admiration.

Of course, learning does involve getting head-knowledge. Jesus said that His disciples were to do what He did (v.15), but He also talked of them knowing or learning things and following up the learning with doing it (v.17). Do, learn, and do: that’s what Jesus said.

We think that we must first become a follower of Christ’s and then serve Him. But the Lord turns that notion on its head. He said, “If anyone serves me, let that person follow me” (Jn.12:26). When John Wesley didn’t understand about salvation through faith, the German Moravian Peter Böhler said to him, “Preach faith until you have it, then, because you have it, you will preach faith.” Böhler seems to have said, “Imitate faith and learn.”

What exactly was Jesus Christ’s act of washing the disciples’ feet about? The Apostle John recounted that episode with the following introduction:

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love (13:1, NIV).

Mark of the Disciple

Jesus demonstrated to His disciples that He was not offended by their self-centredness, selfishness and disrespectfulness. In their quest to race to the top in the kingdom, thinking it was like all earthly power structures, they didn’t even wash the Lord’s feet. No one wanted to wash the Master’s feet lest he found all the other disciples queuing up to have their feet washed right after Christ’s, and he would be manoeuvred out of the race. Each one thought of himself, not of the Master. As the Teacher, He could have ordered anyone into subservience and servility. Instead out of love, He Himself picked up the basin and served them.

What is love? For a Christian it is keeping the Jesus rules—doing what Jesus would do.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (13:34, NIV)

If you love me, you will obey my commands… Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them …If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching (14: 15, 21, 23-24, NCV).

I loved you as the Father loved me. Now remain in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and I remain in His love. In the same way, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you (15:9-10, 12, NCV)

When we love others the way Jesus does, we become one with Jesus and His Father. We will be demonstrate by our imitation of Christ Jesus that we are children who belong to God’s family.

When aristocratic families grieve they manifest a quiet dignity unlike the uneducated. While the unschooled give complete expression to their grief with loud wails, and tearing at their hair, or rolling on the ground, the aristocratic will show a calm exterior, even though they feel sorrow just as much as others. But they are conscious of their identity and it makes them conduct themselves in public in a manner that befits their status. In a similar way, we, who are royalty (1 Pet.2:9; Rev.5:10), the children of the King of Heaven, show by our conduct that we are God’s children. Our conduct sets us apart. It distinguishes us.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (13:35, NIV).

For children imitating father or mother is not drudgery, but a joy. Jesus said that we would indeed find joy in obedience.

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy (15:10-11, NCV).

As we obey, we will find ourselves drawn into friendship. We don’t obey because we are slavish about the laws of God, but because of love being our motivation. We are not slaves. Jesus says we become His friends as we follow Him.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father (15:14-15, NCV).

As a disciples of Christ there are just two basic things we need to learn and do. We need to let Jesus do His work in our lives, and we need to just follow what Jesus did.

ONLY LOVE AUTHENTICATES FAITH

After Indu and Jürgen Eisenberg led in the opening songs of worship, Triza Joseph sang a Hindi song proclaiming the lordship of Jesus.

Rev J T Raja led the service and officiated at communion.

Mark Syn, Ruth, Nathan, Elizabeth and Benjamin were members of the church till they moved to Noida in March.  The family was visiting for the weekend and Mark brought the message ONLY LOVE AUTHENTICATES FAITH:

The Challenge of Faith

There was once a painting exhibited in London, which showed a monk, head bowed and hands clasped, deep in prayer. However, on closer inspection, you could see that it was actually a monk squeezing a lemon into a bowl. This is so often a picture of our Christian life – seemingly impressive when viewed from a distance, but less authentic when seen from close up.

Most of us have experienced the challenge of not just conforming to what the outward expectations of our faith in Christ are, but to remain connected to God on the inside as well. Even mature believers may stray into ‘playing the game’ – knowing how to say prayers in a ‘spiritual’ way, knowing which meetings to turn up to – yet inside, losing that intimacy with the Lord.

The Jews fell into this trap too. In Jesus day, he criticized the religious leaders for being white-washed tombs – looking perfect on the outside, but housing nothing but death on the inside. (Matthew 23: 27-28). The prophet Amos criticized the nation, saying that the Lord ‘hated their religious feats’ (Amos 5: 21-24). Even though they brought Him burnt offerings, he despised them. He scolded them for the empty noise of their songs. In modern language, it is akin to the Lord telling us off for coming together for church, paying tithes and worshipping him. How can this be? Because all these things are valid and good outward expressions of our faith, but they only mean something in the context of our relationship with God.

There is nothing wrong with rituals. In fact, many people say rituals are very important to the life of a healthy family. Rituals communicate values, give an anchor to children’s lives, and even help the family pass through transition and tragedy. But rituals are only meaningful in the context of relationship.

We were made for love and relationship

When I was in University, we often used a booklet called “Knowing God Personally” to share the Gospel. The first point laid the foundation for the rest of the booklet: God loves you and created you to have a personal relationship with Him. This is the basics of the Gospel.

Love changes us. Love is a transforming power and people change when they feel loved. Consider the bride on her wedding day – she absolutely glows. Consider a child who grows up in a loving family environment – they grow up to be able to give and receive love as adults.

However, also consider the converse: supermodel whose flawless beauty hides feelings of worthlessness inside. There are stories of models who find everybody around them telling them are ay ravishingly beautiful, yet inside they feel ugly. This is because love only transforms if the person knows and believes they are loved. Likewise, there are wives who do not know that their husband loves them, and children who feel that their parents do not love them.

How can we know the depth’s of God’s love more each day? Love transforms us all, but there is only one love that truly fills the gap inside us – the love of God.

Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac – a picture of God’s love for us

In Genesis 22: 1- 18 we glimpse the depths of our heavenly Father’s love. This story reminds me of a couple I knew who were wanting to adopt a child and the circumstances threatened to derail that process. The long years of disappointment from childlessness, and the risk of losing their last hope for a child saw them weeping in despair. Only when their child was finally adopted did anguish turn to joy. In the same way, imagine Abraham and Sarah’s joy at finally receiving the miracle child of promise at the age of 80 and 100 respectively. Their joy would have known no bounds… until the day when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son.

As a father I cannot imagine anything worse in life than losing one of my children – let alone sacrificing one. Abraham knew God had spoken and he obeyed God, but what anguish the three day journey from Beer-Sheeba to Moriah would have been. We know the end of the story but Abraham did not. Abraham simply obeyed and believed God.

Finally God sees Abrahams’ heart and stops Abraham with the words, “Now I know you fear God because you have not withheld your son, your only begotten son”. This is a picture of the depths of God’s love for us - God, our heavenly Father loves us so much that He did not withhold His Son, his only begotten Son, who died for us. This is the love God has for each one of us.

Experiencing God’s love personally

Romans 8: 38-39 tells us that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. We can know this with our head, but we can also know it in our hearts?

Many of us may feel at times that we do not know God’s love. Intellectually we know he loves us because the Bible tells us so, but inside we feel unloved and far from God. We might feel we have let God down through our own unfaithfulness. The thing about God’s love is that we cannot earn it or be worthy of it. All we can do is received it gratefully.

I’d like to challenge you to discover God’s love in a deeper way. Like a wife who asks her husband from time to time to tell her that he loves her, we too can ask God to show us His love afresh. There are many things we can do to develop our relationship with God, but the beginning of this is knowing how to experience His love.

May our prayer be: “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51: 12). Restore to me the joy of our first love, Lord.

12th Anniversary Service – August 30, 2009

 

The service began with Noel and Nive Eisenberg joining their dad Jürgen in leading the opening songs while mother Indu looks on.

The church had a very special speaker for our 12th anniversary:

Pastor Kuru proudly introduced Riya Jacob who grew up in Grace Bible Church and went on to do her biblical studies in the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.     

Here is what she told us all:

 

Remembering God’s Faithfulness:

In celebrating 12 years of journey, we are celebrating ‘our togetherness’, the milestones we’ve covered, the setbacks we’ve had, the people who’ve been a part of us, our ministries at Grace Bible church, and above all God’s faithfulness in leading us to be the church that He wants us to be.

Remembering who we are:

When we think of church, we think of it in terms of the partial picture of what a church is, most commonly as a building or a place of worship. Therefore, Peter implores us to take a deeper look at what it means for us to be a church, to recognize who we are in light of who God has called us to be.

Paul in this letter earnestly calls the Christian believers to take upon this great privilege reminding us in 1 Peter 2:9-10 that:

* We are people who’ve been called, named, and destined. We are no longer people who are groping about in darkness, but people who have been given a name, people with a unique purpose, a much higher calling than this world can ever offer.

*We are now people who are part of the redeemer’s plan of making for Himself a remnant, a people who are called to carry His name forth.

* Although we are strangers and aliens of this world, we are no longer rejected or abandoned, but people who are carefully joined together to form the household of God, the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit or in other words, the church, the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 2:21- 22)

Remembering the task:

With this great privilege also comes great responsibility to live a life that is worthy of our calling:

In a world where success is measured by numbers and our identity by what we do, we easily confuse our calling with doing one activity after the other. While doing certainly has its proper place, being a church means something more than just going about our day or merely getting the work done.

*First, Peter says that He calls us to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness in to His marvelous light” ~ We have been called forth to announce, to tell, to declare, to speak a word of love, of grace in the darkest, difficult, incomplete, irregular path of life. *Secondly, He calls us because of who He is and not because of the perfect life that we lead (‘coz we don’t & He is not impressed with the ways that we try to be perfect either) It is because of His grace alone that we are called forth.

* He calls us in our imperfectness, in our brokenness to be something more of a creative force in this world. Regardless of who we are and where we’ve been, He calls us to be the church in the darkest valley, in the midst of doubt, confusion, and chaos.

*We are called forth to be agents of change to those around us, in our work places, neighborhood, in our church, schools and colleges in order to speak a word of kindness, of goodness to the parched world, ever so thirsty for the goodness of the Lord. In 1 Peter 2: 10-12, Peter reminds us that we are called forth as people who has tasted His goodness, as people who’ve been shown mercy, as people who have received grace. The call is to rise up to be the people of grace, mercy, and of goodness to others. There are enough people to criticize, to condemn, and to judge but very few to love, and to be the agents of grace.

* The challenge, therefore, is to rise above these typical patterns of the world that may not always be easy, fun, or as great as it sounds. Nevertheless, we are called, both as individuals and on a cooperate level to surrender and to lean in to listen to the Spirit as He leads us to be the church that God intends us to be.

The service was followed by a special time of fellowship:

CHURCH’S NEWSLETTER – Sept 2009

Vol. XIII/1

September Pulpit Calendar

All services begin at 9.30 a.m.

06 HOLY COMMUNION SERVICE

Preacher: Mark Syn

13 Preacher: Pastor Kuru

20 Preacher: Pastor Kuru

27 Family Service

Fridays, Sept 11th & 25th at 7 p.m.

In the home of the Sarwans:

E 16 Mahanagar Extension.

Women’s prayer time

Second Sunday 13th

after the service.

Be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect...as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers (1 Peter 3:7).

from the pastor

Dear People,

We’re 12 years old. We started with 110+ in fellowship. In 1997 Operation Mobilization families and singles, who were not attached to any church, attended our services because it was at their base. Whenever any OM teams visited their HQ, they would also attend our services.

In 2001, when we shifted to the home of the Phillips family, the OM teams no longer took the trouble to attend church, and in 2005, when OM started its own services, the OM families started to drop out. Along with a number of people leaving the city (families that relocated to other parts of India, young people who went away to college and careers) our number has dropped to 68.

It’s true we could carry on as we are. But that’s not what we are here for. We need to grow so that we are bringing more people in contact with the Lord our God.

Some who attend our services are less fluent in English. For their benefit we need to go bilingual. Apart from singing songs in English and some in Hindi, we will also need our messages to be translated into Hindustani. (Don’t worry. Messages will be shortened, so that you won’t get bored).

Grace Times of course can’t go bilingual. Unless someone else wants to do it.

In Christ’s love,

Kuru

Sonia, sister of Nalin Phillips, died after battling cancer. Pray for sons Kunal and Nicky, and brothers Rajan, Ajit, Nalin and their families. Pray for Aunt Shireen Revis and her family.

Elsie Thomas (in Dehra Dun) had surgery to remove a fibroid and is recovering.

Vinita Singh has been battling viral fever for a long time. Pixie and Anand, Shobha and mother, Ravi Modwell, Sanjay Massy, Jeba have all recovered from flu. Jürgen had a relapse but is recovering well.

Pooja recovered from a sprained leg, but has been doing well academically.

Cindy and Naomi have both had baby boys and Shwetha is to have her delivery in another 15 days. Prabha and Shobha’s niece Poonam had to have some bed rest, but is doing well now.

Triza Joseph has some serious problems for which she has to undergo long term treatment.

Rev J T Raja started work in a new village. Devotional meetings to take place every Monday evening. The village work is growing. Praise God for what He is accomplishing

Ishaaq is having a baby! Jess is 12 weeks pregnant. Jess has rather high BP. She still has a troublesome and painful ankle.

Birthdays in Sept

04 Shrishti Lugun

21 Arpit Prakash

25 Shireen Revis

27 Neha Eisenberg

Credo

Not what, but Whom, I do believe,
That, in my darkest hour of need,
Hath comfort that no mortal creed
To mortal man may give;—
Not what, but Whom!
For Christ is more than all the creeds,
And His full life of gentle deeds
Shall all the creeds outlive.

Not what I do believe, but Whom!
     Who walks beside me in the gloom?
     Who shares the burden wearisome?
     Who all the dim way doth illume,
And bids me look beyond the tomb
The larger life to live?—
Not what I do believe,
But Whom!
Not what, but Whom!
—John Oxenham