All posts by Virjil Selvan

Life’s Journey

Imagine if you would that you want to go to Oamaru on the bus, the buses run to Oamaru every day of the week and there are at least three different bus companies to choose from. The trick with all these bus companies is that they charge different fares and that they go at different times. You can pay as little as 22.99 on Naked Bus or as much as 42.00 on Intercity but to be fair Intercity does have a cheaper rate if you book early. In the middle is Atomic Bus Lines at 30.00.

So off you go with your packed lunch off to see the penguins and limestone buildings in Oamaru, hopping up onto the bus, you find a quiet seat and as you sit down you plug yourself into your MP3 player for those of my generation or older that’s like a tiny electronic portable tape deck that just keeps playing music, it doesn’t stop and you don’t have to turn the tape over.

So there you are plugged into a medley of classical music, a bit of Vivaldi’s four seasons, Lady Gaga, Hill Songs and Chris Rea. You are enjoying the music so much that you close your eyes and open them as you pull into Greymouth.

Panic. You were going to Oamaru. You are in Greymouth, I spent my last 30.00 on that ticket, I can’t get to Oamaru from here, I have no more money, I know no one in Greymouth! Where will I sleep, who do I go to for help.

You may see that life is like a bus journey, made up of many short trips to different places, often to numerous and exciting destinations, conversations with lots of different people and packed lunches.

Take a step back, take another look, just for the next ten minutes or so. Consider this your life’s one long bus trip. One bus, one fare, one destination.

GETTING IN/OUT OF THE BOAT

In our life journey with God, there are moments when we are to get out of the boat because our faith and trust in the Lord needs to grow. But, there are also moments when we need to get back in the boat because we need to rest and be renewed.

In both situations, we must listen to and for the Lord’s direction. –Jim Kane

Many times we get into situations off guard, we are not prepared. Eventually, as the situation becomes more grievous, we look to God in desperation. But the word of God says, even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil. Now to remember that I should have a background of knowing God, through his scriptures. It’s not enough that we read our bible or meditate on it only during my hard times. It’s very selfish. We need to get to know him. So that even before the situation arrive, I am equipped to handle it. Situations are inevitable. But God’s word should be the sword that we carry throughout the battle.

Community: So as a community, let’s have this feast together. Many times we are involved in our own study, which is good. We should do that but if we move with the community, it causes us to learn so much and understand God’s heart. When I am in a wedding feast or for that matter in a community, it looks very odd to carry your own food. Unless we are on a special diet by the doctor. When we feast with the community, we share our convictions, thoughts, and our expectations. We learn so much. So let’s do this with the community. Community is larger, many who are not part have become a part, some have moved on, we have prayer walks with our community, we have fun and food. Then why not bible reading together.

Commitment: It’s a commitment. The character of a person is known by their commitment. I understand the time constraints but when I am committed for it, I will do it even if it takes that extra mile. It shows my character. In marriage, if we don’t commit to each other, then that marriage fails or it’s just meaningless.

Courage: it shows our courage to share the word boldly, even when I am not good at expressing it. It’s God’s big family, and in a family I don’t pretend. I am myself. I share my thoughts and opinions even though it doesn’t make sense or even when my language is not good. I am vulnerable only for God. To be a part of His family and fellowship. None of us are perfect. That imperfection shows up for some people very evidently whereas for some it is subtle, but according to God, both of us need to work on it. Unless we don’t show the error, we will remain there, and we will not be able to grow to the next level.

Let’s have it practically. I have taken a small portion from Friday’s reading. Let’s do it together. So that we don’t wait till tomorrow, if there’s any challenge we can help immediately.

2 Samuel 12: 1 – 13

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveller came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.

Let’s make it a habit / practice that we share and learn. As we do that we not only grow but we are able to face many giants in our life. Our life’s journey will be more interesting as we inculcate this aspect as well.

Sandra wife of Virjil .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

We may have heard lot of stories about faith. In our lives , we may have met people of faith. We all may be knowing someone by whom we are overwhelmed with those people’s faith.

Once

An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout “PRAISE THE LORD!”

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, “There ain’t no Lord!!”

Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted “PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!”

The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, “PRAISE THE LORD.”

The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, “Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn’t.”

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, “PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!”

Another one, The

Flood was on its way, forcing everyone to evacuate. The police rowed up to the most pious woman in town and said, “Ma’am, you have to leave this house! People are dying out here!”

The woman replied, “No, I’m not leaving. God has always helped me before, and He will do it again.”

So as the water started to rise, she went to the second story of her house. Another boat came by, and the captain yelled, “Ma’am, you have to get on this boat or you’re going to drown!”

The woman replied again, “No, God helped me before, and He will do it again.”

The water rose even higher. This time she went to the top of the roof, where a helicopter came and hovered overhead. The pilot called into his loudspeaker, “Please climb aboard, ma’am. You are going to drown!”

The women sniffed and again replied, “God is going to save me!”

But the water rose higher, and soon she drowned to death. She went to Heaven, and there she asked God, “Why didn’t you save me, O Lord?”

And God replied, “I did help–I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”.

Today we are going to look at the two levels of Faith

Little Faith and Great Faith :

During certain events Jesus describes these two levels of faith. But before that, what is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Simply put, the biblical definition of faith is “trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove.”

This definition of faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing something to be true. Trust is relying on the fact that something is true. A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is sitting in the chair.

Only Believing in Something is not Faith. Also, relying on the fact that the something is true is Faith.

Jesus talks about this Intellectual assent (relying on the fact that the something is true) and TRUST. That is what we are going to talk about this today,

The bible talks about Little Faith in many scripture portions we see that

Matthew 6:30

• If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

(Do not worry about tomorrow)

Matthew 8:26

• He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

(Jesus is with disciples in a boat , The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”)

Matthew 14:31

• Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

(Jesus in a boat , Jesus walks on water , peter wants to try it out, so he asks Jesus, if he can join him to walk on the water, But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, was beginning to sink, and he cried out, “Lord, save me!”)

Matthew 16:8

• Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

(⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. , ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? )

Matthew 17:20

• He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

(Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy , Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,

Let us see what is Great faith

Jesus identified only two people in His earthly ministry who He said had great faith; a Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5–13)and a Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21–28).

For the Canaanite woman, it was her daughter and for the Roman centurion it was his servant.

Let us look at one of them GREAT FAITH Matthew 15 : 21-28

Interesting Chapter (let us read)

Before we discuss this, lets us understand who are Canaanites.

GENESIS 9:20-27

And God promised this land i.e the promise land Canaan .

Let us see the history of Canaanites

The indigenous people of the land of Canaan worshiped many gods but, chief among them, the goddess Astarte and her consort Baal (considered vegetative/fertility deities who then took on more impressive attributes earlier ascribed to Sumerian gods such as Enlil).

Women in Ancient Israel

• most were restricted to roles of little or no authority,
• they were largely confined to their father’s or husband’s home,
• they were considered to be inferior to men, and under the authority of men — either their father before marriage, or their husband afterwards.
• They could not go out in public, or talk to strangers. When outside of their homes, they were to be doubly veiled With all these challenges, she went to Jesus.

Why her faith was called / known as greatest faith?

1. She showcased her Faith in real desperation

Matthew 15: 22

²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord

2. Faith with persistence

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

3. Faith with humility

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

4. Faith beyond Insult

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Her Intellectual Assent on Jesus “22 crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And her trust

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Both were in Place (Intellectual Assent and Trust). Where are we today? Are we people of little faith or God will say that men / women you have a great faith.

I believe that Faith need to be Built, We start with being people of little faith and sharpen it , practice it and we become people of great faith . God wants each one of us to be called people of great faith.

Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

What is the Gospel

• “Gospel” means “god” meaning “good” and “spel” meaning “news” overall meaning “good news”
• In Christianity gospel generally refers to birth, death and resurrection of Christ
• First 4 books of the bible Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called gospels
• But gospels describe Jesus message as the gospel
• Jesus message was “Repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 4:17)
• Jesus also taught us to pray, “Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” or let the dominion of God be on earth through you and me.
• So the real gospel is when we make it personal, “Jesus came for me, he died for me, he rose again for me so by believing in him Gods kingdom will be established in me”
• What is God’s kingdom?
• God’s kingdom is where God is king. God’s kingdom is characterized by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom 14:17).
• So we become the channel through which God’s dominion is established on earth.

God’s kingdom (Rom 14:17)

God’s kingdom has following characteristics

1. Righteousness
   • Gods throne is established in righteousness ( Ps 89:14)
   • Right with God and man (Rom 3:22)
   • Outward expression of Christ in us
2. Peace
   • Peace of God that pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7)
   • I give you my peace, my own peace I leave with you ( John 14:27)
3. Joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom 14:17)

So since Gospel is ““Jesus came for me, he died for me, he rose again for me so by believing in him Gods kingdom will be established in me” lets look at each aspect, why Jesus came, why Jesus died and why he rose again.

Why Jesus came?

Jesus came since there is no other option

• Rom 3.9 – Jews and Gentiles are all alike under sin.
• Rom 3.10 – There is no one righteous not even one ( Rom 3.10 )
• Rom 3.12 – All have turned away they have together become worthless, there is no one who does good, not even one.
• What about Jewish belief or the old testament ? Can it not save us ?
• Rom 3:20 – No one will be declared righteous by observing the law
• What about those who does not know Jesus?
• Rom 2: 14-15 They are a law for themselves, the requirements of the law are written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and thoughts now accusing them. Their own law written in their hearts cannot justify them.

So no other way for salvation for mankind there for Jesus came, his message was,

• Jesus came to save the lost; He said, “It is the patient who need a doctor. I have come to save the sinners not the righteous” (Mathew 9:12, Luke 19:10). Jesus is the only one who provides hope of salvation for a sinner, tax collector and prostitutes.
  • Jesus came to give grace – unmerited favor, for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17)
  • It is by knowing the truth that you will enter freedom, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)
  • Jesus is God’s greatest gift, (John 3:16)

Why Jesus died ?

• God is a God of justice. One of the virtues of God, just the way God is love, God is holy, God is a Just God.
• Crucifixion of Jesus occurred in April 3 AD33 Under Pontius Pilate ( Ad 26 to AD 36 ) – this is history.
• He died as atonement for our sin. He paid the price for our sin.
• Hebrew 10.12 This priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins.
• Hebrew 10.14 By one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy
• Hebrew 10.17 “ Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more”
• He died for all your sins don’t carry them any more, also forgive others, be free. There is now no condemnation those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)
• Jesus died for our sins and take away sinful nature from us, also for all our sins.
• 1 John1:9 the blood of Jesus cleanses us continually from all sin
• If anyone be in Christ he is a new creation!. I am justified freely by grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus

Why Jesus rose from the dead?

• Rom 4:25 – He rose again for our justification.
• In the Gospel righteousness from God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness in the same way when we believe God credit righteousness to us. A righteousness that is by faith.
  • To restore us back to God from the fallen state to restored state
  • From the Garden of Eden back to the garden by second Adam Jesus
  • Restored son ship (John 1:11, 1john 3-3)
  • Restored fellowship through word
  • Restored dignity
  • Purpose for life
  • Restored Gods dominion in our life (Rom8: 31)
  • As he is so are we in this world (1john 4-17)
  • We will do greater things that what he has done (John 14-12)
  • We participate in the divine nature of God (2Peter 1:4)

Conclusion

• Gospel good news, God’s kingdom can be in us, Jesus through the Gospel brought heaven is right here among us and in us. Righteousness peace and joy in the holy ghost that is the kingdom of God.
• Jesus made us his children, What ever we do will prosper. In this world we will live victorious life by believing in the Gospel.

How to receive this kingdom ?

• If you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is God and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved! (Rom 10:10)
• So let us live knowing that the KINGDOM OF GOD IS UPON US, IN US and through us spread into people around us !
• May 2020 be an year of restoration and transformation by this Gospel, for all of us!

James Raj worshipping at New Hope Community .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

It’s all about a moment. A moment of decision making. Even as new year’s arrived, we are all in the verge of decision making. Our list of dos and don’ts are ready. Our new year resolutions are either beginning to take roots or it’s still on the tip of our tongues. However, we can always connect to Mr. Naaman. Probably, he was standing on 31st December and thinking about his condition, and how his next year would be. He might be thinking about his leprosy. he was a valiant soldier, the favour of God was upon him but he didn’t know God. I am reminded of Samuel (1 Sam 3), similarly he didn’t know God but God called him. We may be in that position. We may be sick, confused, bitter, and here people are talking about new year resolution. God is calling us, showing us favour,but we are unable to comprehend his voice and see beyond our situation. Sometimes God speaks through a different voice. He knows our pain. It’s quite surprising that Naaman didn’t know God but God knew him and not only that he gave him victory in his battles. He was shown favour by his master. But what naaman needed is not fame but he needed healing. He needed a fresh beginning. he needed someone to tell him the truth. It’s not the richness or the fame that got him healing but his humility to quietly accept Elisha’s command and also, his possessions couldn’t heal him, Elisha made it very clear by not accepting his gifts. Healing cannot be bought. It has to be accepted and acknowledged. He understood that it’s God who has healed him. It is God who has made him complete. It was only a moment that changed his entire story. He could have died as a leper. Definitely, he would have been remembered as a valiant soldier but a leper. However, God healed him and his destiny changed. It was his response to the calling of God. God made a way for his healing through his servant, teaching him humility. Humility could have been an issue with him, as we see again that when Elisha asked him to go and dip himself in the river Jordan, he became outrageous, which shows that his ego was hurt. or probably he was fed up of people’s treatment. He was a valiant soldier after all. In the same way, to get God’s healing, we need to humbly accept his calling. Approach in humility. My new year resolution will only work out if I have the humility to accept that I am the one who needs healing, i need to change, I am in need. People may have a different approach towards me, but I need to obey.

Next is his journey, he had to literally walk into that river. People say that, the river was very dirty. It was not at all approachable, that’s why he says don’t we have rivers in our place that he has asked me to dip here. His logic and common sense didn’t meet up with the command that was given to him. Many times my knowledge or logic would be challenged. But am I still willing to accept the word from a stranger. God is working on my character. He is working with my ideologies, and challenging my logic and common sense. Breaking all that is formed by the world.

Every miracle takes time and patience. We stand in this new year, hoping that this New year will bring newness but are we ready for some chiselling and some patience. It takes a lot of courage to actually, take that step into our new year resolution. May be we have failed many times, we have tried ‘n’ number of times but may be we have not had enough courage to continue with it. We told ourself that it won’t work, I am a fool, that I am doing this, one dip, second dip, look at my self, I am a shame, third dip, why am I even attempting this, fourth dip, let me just give up, fifth dip, ok now since I have come so far let me just do the other two. it’s a dread. Will I accomplish this or will I look like a fool drenched in mud. This was extreme patience, humility and courage that requires our new year’s resolution to work out or for that matter any change to workout. it’s a moment that can work a miracle.

2 Kings 5

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]

2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.

Before & After

1. Naaman was a great man

through him the Lord had given victory

he had leprosy, Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. Naaman went away angry, servants went to him and said, “My father..for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.

2. Elisha: Elisha the man of God. he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. Elisha sent a messenger. As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.”

Naaman was angry, he was confused, he needed help. However, he was a good man.

The word of God is Alive

Half a century ago, in one of the Indian villages, there was a family. the family size was five( Husband, wife and three children). The Husband was a drunkard and notorious man. His wife was a home maker and simple lady. The man had all kinds of bad habits such as drinking, fighting in the streets, cheating and beating wife. He used to quarrel with his wife almost every day.

One day he took a sharp knife and killed his wife at the culmination of their argument and fight. He was imprisoned for a life time – for sixteen years. Their three children became orphans. They had two boys and a girl. The girl baby was just one and half years when she lost her mother. The boys were ten and eight years old respectively. These children were brought up by their maternal grandparents. Due to poverty, the older son discontinued his education, however, the second son continued his education with much struggles.

The man became a prisoner and he was serving the Vellore central Prison. He had witnessed the preachers who had come into the prison to tell the love of Jesus and pray for the prisoners. He approached that evangelist to help his children to continue their studies. The evangelist promised him that he will take his three children into a Christian Boarding School. Finally, he succeed by taking his second son and the daughter. The first son had already discontinued his education, therefore he couldn’t help him.

However, that girl did not accept Jesus Christ but the second son accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour. He committed himself into the full time ministry. He was sent out of the hostel after five years after his 12th grade. Then he continued his graduation at Vellore Voorhees College. After graduation he joined the Operation Mobilization for Evangelistic ministry.

He joined Methodist Church in 1990 and was sponsored for theological Studies, he went to Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur for his Theological formation. He was awarded 20 academic awards for his excellent performance in his studies. And he received the university Medal for NT Studies in the 1995 batch of the Serampore University, Kolkata. After his completion of BD studies he was ordained as Pastor in the Chennai Regional Conference after the due examinations and scrutiny of his candidature. Now He serves as a Senior Pastor of Anna Nagar Methodist Church in Chennai, India. Further he had done his M.S.W, M. Phil and pursues his Ph.D.

He is married to Uma who is also a Pastor. He is blessed with two daughters. Who can understand the way of the Lord? The boy is no one else than the author of this article.

May the name of the Lord be glorified. Jesus Changes Life

Contributed by Rev.andrew B Natarajan on May 16, 2017 (message contributor)

Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.

Issac Newton, First Law of Motion.

Naaman’s life changed. To come to that moment of change, it takes humility, courage and patience. i may be surrounded with doubts, with hurts from people, but the only thing that can change my situation is my trust in God and obedience to his voice. Also, lot of people play a role in our life. Acknowledge their presence. God can speak through us and through them.

God sent Jesus into our life to transform us and change us completely. He sacrificed himself for your moment. This moment of change can only come with my faith in Jesus. it can come with my moment of revelation about this true God. we may be hurt, humiliated, and challenged. What is God speaking to us about our new year’s resolution or a decision to change? Can we trust the cross? We need to take courage and go to this river. Thankfully, Jesus has done all the humiliating part of it. We need to do the acknowledging part of it. Acknowledging that God can change my life. As we take a step each day towards, reading the word (first dip), Praying (second dip), refusing temptations to go back to the old ways (third dip), Talking to my leader about my struggles (fourth dip), being connected to his people (fifth dip), I will see a breakthrough coming. It took seven dips for Namaan to see a miracle. May be we are just there, we got to persevere till the end. Who knows your situation better, you or God? Restoration is on it’s way. It’s all about that moment.

Sandra wife of Virjil .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

The message of Christmas – A Loving God

When we look at the manger , we can only think of the Love of God towards us. The message of Christmas is all about this loving God.

Secondly , The message of Christmas is so personal

• For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting  Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

A child was born to us, to you and me. It was a personal  gift to you and me.

• Therefore the Lord will Himself give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His Name “Immanuel” (i.e., “God is with us”).Isaiah 7:14(1:23)

He will be called Immanuel , God with us.

“Christmas is full of surprises.” Somewhere in my reading this week I came across that sentence. “While I am sure it is true, it doesn’t always seem true”. Christmas poses a yearly challenge to those of us who have heard the story since we were children. After you have attended 20 or 30 or 40 Christmas pageants, and after you have listened to at least that many Christmas sermons, and heard (and sung) every Christmas carol a few hundred times, what more is left to be said that hasn’t been said before?

If we know about Christmas at all, you know about Mary and the angel Gabriel, about the dangerous journey to Bethlehem, about Caesar’s decree, about Herod’s insane jealousy, about the inn with a “No Vacancy” sign, about the angels and the shepherds, and about the mysterious Wise Men from the east, and the last-second flight into Egypt. All of these stories are so well known that when we hear them again, we don’t really hear them at all because we’ve heard them all before. We hear but we don’t hear.

That is indeed a problem.

This event in History changed the entire course of mankind. God sent his only begotten Son for you and me.

If we want to go back and ask this question to ourselves, “Why did we need a Savior?, Why Christ has to be born?

Romans 3:23

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

There was a huge gap between Man and God because of Sin. And Christ to be born to pay the ultimate price for Sin . He, who is blameless and without Sin.

What is the message of Christmas in our lives? We are going to look from

                  John 3:16

                   ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not                               perish but have eternal life.

1. Love : When we know someone loves us , we can walk an extra mile with them right? If we know , that our boss loves us , cares for us and if he asks us to work on 25^th dec , what would be our response? Just on a lighter note.

It was all because of Love. Today morning do we doubt God’s love? Do we question his love towards us? He loves us and that’s the reason Jesus was born for us.

Do we love people the way God loved us?

2. Giving : God the father gave his one and only son . The son i.e. Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross. The message of Christmas is about giving. Jesus gave up his heavenly throne and was born in a manger , a stinking place, and what God expects this morning from us is to give our hearts to him , to give our life to him.

3. Sacrifice : “whoever believes in him” . Trusting requires his will to be done not our will. We need to give away our desires . Sacrifice our desires for the grand story of Christ.

4. Eternal life : We have an assurance , that we are going to live after death. Our life here is temporary and our Christ has prepared a place for us in heaven. Are we all excited for this Eternal life? What we are going to achieve here is temporary, our Job , investment , good life style . We need to focus on building something which is permanent i.e. in heaven.

God needs people : Many things played a key role during the birth of Christ, on Christmas day.

He needs people with whom God can work:

Mary : Who will not doubt

Joseph : Accept the will of God

Shepherds: People with the naïve heart (No shrewdness), celebrated Jesus.

Inn Keeper: Helpful people

Wise Men (Magi): People who will look beyond and expect unexpected things

Angel: Messenger, Protected and guided

Star: To show the way of Christ.

God needs people who will not doubt in his plans , God needs people who will accept the will of God , God needs who will have a clean heart , no deceit and they will celebrate Jesus , God needs people who will be helpful , God needs people who will look beyond and expect the unexpected things, God needs people who will be a messenger , guide and protect, God needs people who will show the way to others and lead them to Christ. That is , God needs you and me for this grand grand story.

I believe , we all are part of a grand story , Who are we in this story? Currently we are part of some story today. We may be students , working professionals, house wives , retired professionals , children. Who are we in this story and he wants us to play a major part in this story . Can we accept this invitation of partnering with Him today?

Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

BE PREPARED TO MEET THE SAVIOUR

Joseph is an interesting Bible character for the simple reason that he plays a very significant role in the life of Jesus, but then he passes off the scene and is not mentioned beyond Jesus’ boyhood (Luke 2).

Tradition has it that Joseph died before Jesus began His earthly ministry.

Joseph was a very good man as can be seen from the story at hand. He had more than likely been brought up learning the traditions of Israel and the belief in a coming Messiah. He had heard the prophecies before.

A lot of us today are very much like Joseph. We’ve heard about religion all your life but we have yet to personally meet the Savior. What God said to Joseph, He is saying to you as well.

GOD’S MESSAGE ABOUT THE SAVIOR… 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1: 18 – 21

1. God is at work in your life.

All our lives God works on us, chiselling away those parts of our life that hinder us from fitting into His eternal temple. Our Christian life is a work in progress. Jesus Christ is changing us from a useless stone to a useful one. Before Michelangelo created the masterpiece we know simply as “David,” Agostino d’ Antonio had worked diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. He gave up his effort and said, “I can do nothing with it.” Some others tried after him but failed. This piece of marble was laid in a rubbish heap for 40 years. Out strolling one day Michelangelo saw the stone and believed that it had great possibilities. We know what happened. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the world’s masterpieces of sculpture- David. For Michelangelo, the job of the sculptor was to free the forms that were already inside the stone. He believed every stone had a sculpture within it, and the work of sculpting was simply a matter of chipping away all that was not a part of the statue.

When Jesus looks at us, He sees not a rough piece of rock but He sees inside of us the potential to be a beautiful dressed stone useful in his temple. As the Master Sculptor He is able to chip away all that is not a part of what He wants us to be. This work of transformation is accomplished only by the One referred to as “The Living Stone.” F. B. Meyer says, “Stones touch the Stone and become jewels.” Stones useful in building God’s house.

I don’t believe for a second that Joseph and Mary became the earthly parents of Jesus by

accident. They were chosen for this task. We are not given insight into exactly why God chose them but we know that God had selected them and had so arranged the timing of their lives (and of the world for that matter) that Jesus would come at the perfect time and to the perfect place.

God has been at work in your life as well. He knew you before you were ever thought about by your parents. He so arranged things today that you could be here in this place, hearing the

gospel with an opportunity to meet the Savior.

God is always at work in, around, and through us. We can either sleep through His activity or

respond to what He is doing. I hope you’ll want to be involved with what God is doing today.

2. God is providing you a Savior.

Joseph learned two vital truths about Jesus that day that each of us must learn as well…

1. Jesus is the incarnate God.

“of the Holy Ghost… God with us.”

Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He possessed all of the qualities of a human being

physically, emotionally, and intellectually yet was above the possibility of sin, having

been born to a virgin and not having received an earthly father’s sin nature. He knows

how to be human.

He also possessed every attribute of God from His omnipotence to His omniscience. How

did He limit Himself to a time and place and from knowing everything? He never ceased

to possess these qualities, but temporarily limited His ability to access them. He never

ceases to be God.

See Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11 New International Version (NIV)

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

1. Jesus is the heaven-sent Savior.

1. Jesus came with a mission.

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

–Luke 19:10

Jesus came to glorify God by completing the work that God had given Him to do.

What was that work? An earthly ministry of preaching salvation, ending in the

death that would accomplish salvation. Jesus was all about the redemption of

mankind.

1. Jesus has given us a great commission.

“As the Father hath sent me, even so sent I you.” –John 20:21

Not only has Jesus come to seek and to save lost mankind, He has also

commissioned all of His people to go and tell others of His saving power.

3. God is inviting you to respond to His gift.

It has been said that anticipation exceeds realization. Certainly, when it comes to Christmas gifts, we have all experienced that at one time or another. As we mature, however, we begin to anticipate Christmas, not because of what we will get but because of what we will give! Of course, if shop diligently and spent hard-earned money for a family member’s gift, only to see it ignored, it breaks your heart.

Have you ever left a Christmas gift unopened? I haven’t! In fact, the only Christmas presents that are ever left unopened are those wrapped for someone who does not arrive to receive them. Sadly, when it comes to God’s unsearchable gift, that is what many are doing. They have left the greatest of all gifts – the gift of God’s love wrapped up in His Son, Jesus Christ – unopened.

Joseph had a choice in the matter. God had given him clear instructions to go ahead and marry Mary, but Joseph had to decide to obey. Imagine all that Joseph would have missed had he said “no.” What happens if you say “no?” God has given you this opportunity and has ordered your life to bring you to a moment of decision about Christ, but what if you say “no?” “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14-15

But Jesus came to offer you eternal life if you’ll only respond with “yes.”

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might

have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” –John 10:10

Sandra wife of Virjil .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

Let’s Begin

Christmas preparation in any home begins with a newness in the atmosphere and the ambience. Each one is super excited about it and therefore, they start with planning. Today let’s begin our church preparation for Christmas. Like any other important day, we begin with Christmas. When anyone plans for an event, they first start with jotting down what is required. Some people do a backward planning. What are the requirements for this day? Why is this day so significant for me? Or how do I make this day ‘The Most memorable moment’ of our lives.

Christmas comes and it passes on. But surprisingly it is the most awaited season of the year. Everyone waits so eagerly for it. I have never heard anyone getting bored of it. The very name December brings a smile on our faces. We can already feel something bubbling within us. What is the cause of this? How do we make this Christmas more meaningful?

Planning

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21: 5

During WWII General McArthur asked an engineer how long it would take to build a bridge across a certain river. “About three days.” The engineer was told to go ahead and draw up the plans.

Three days later McArthur asked for the plans. The engineer seemed surprised. “Oh, the bridge is ready. You can cross it now. If you want plans, you’ll have to wait a little longer, we haven’t finished those yet.”

Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. Proverbs 24: 27

Some years ago a young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. “That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you fell this tree.”

The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “Start Monday!”

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by, and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”

Startled, he replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”

“Normally we do,” answered the foreman, “but we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last on Wednesday.”

“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!”

The foreman, sensing the boy’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your ax?” The young man replied, “I’ve been working too hard to take the time.”

1. Mind map

It’s organizing my life. I need to understand where I am in my life. How is this Christmas going to make a difference anyway? God had a plan right from day one of Adam and Eve’s sin. He told Eve, that the seed of your womb will crush the head of the serpent.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16: 9

1. Reflection

I need to reflect on my actions, my words, my attitude, my thinking, how am I and the way I have been throughout. It’s good to pray and ask God to show us our mistakes, our folly and also the way we have dealt with people and situations. Eg. Mirror. Question myself on my Faith. Did it grow or is it still stagnant? Is still God telling me that I love you or is God saying go ahead my child for you will be hated on preaching the good news but I am with

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28

James 1:22-24 — “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

1. Introspection

Introspection is a deep conversation within yourself. How am I hurting others and why am I doing what I am doing? It’s good to rechannelize my thinking patterns. We ought to introspect. Am I becoming defensive or aggressive.

2 Corinthians 13:5 — “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

All the above will enable us to prepare our hearts for coming of our saviour. It would be great to spare a couple of hours on the above concerns.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1: 5

Basically a good planning session will help us to get into the actual job of cleansing. We can involve our leaders, mentors, family, and a trusted friend to plan our life or to help us walk in the plan of God.

Key Question: Am I in the centre of God’s will? My plan for Christmas is to have a good time and get back into that miserable life again or take this as yet another opportunity to unwind myself.

Cleansing

A woman once wrote that at a garage sale she had spotted a handsome antique copper kettle for only $2.50. It was badly tarnished, so she asked the woman running the sale if the discoloration would come out. She cheerfully offered to try some copper cleaner on it and disappeared with it into the house. Reappearing with the gleaming kettle, she handed it to the buyer for inspection. It was indeed a more attractive item, plus it also had a new tag attached. It read: “Like new-$10.” This is interesting. When the copper kettle first went on sale, it’s owner practically gave it away. But something changed its worth. What made the kettle more valuable? A simple cleansing. When the owner took the trouble to clean away the grime/ removed the discoloration and stains it was worth 4 times as much Almost everything IS more valuable once it has been washed and cleaned up, and so it is with us (Source Unknown).

Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

1. Dusting off the wrong

Dusting is basically wiping off the layers that can be seen. It’s very evident that we need to cleanse our small wrongs (according to us it is small but for God it’s the same). We need to forgive those people who have gossiped about us, we need to forgive those who are not related to us and their actions have hurt us but not so much that I am bothered about it. It’s only a quick cleansing.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

1. Scrubbing of the deep

Some issues in our life need deep cleansing. There are baggages, emotional hurts, our hampered relationships that need cleansing. That needs to be resolved. It may not go very easily but it does need a lot of detergents, strong cleansing formulas, it takes all our strength. This cleansing may drain us out. We may want to ask some other professionals to help us out with these kind of issues. Yes it’s a lot of scrubbing. May be there are some places we have never looked at, we want to look at those areas. We may have never looked into our financial sins, into our relational, into our prayer life. We may have a face that people see but there is another person living in me. Let’s scrub it off.1 Corinthians 6:1-20

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers

1. Decluttering

At times, our life is so messy, it needs decluttering. It needs some things sorted. Lot of misunderstandings need an explanation. Sometimes we need to sit down with the confusion and rewind everything. Apologise, get everything right. We need to pour our heart to the Lord. Ask him to help us declutter our messed up lives. Get rid of all the bitterness and hurts. Asking God for healing from within.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1: 9

Those who refuse to make New Years resolutions because they always break them anyway are missing the point. Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. (Source Unknown).

Restructuring

After all the cleansing we need to restructure our lives. Put things in the right order.

Matthew 7:3-5 — “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

1. Discard

We need to discard all that is not bearing fruit. Or it doesn’t matter any more. Some things are no longer required. We need to make decisions to let go. These are the most difficult decisions, to let go. Sometimes we also have to let go of toxic relationships, habits, Jobs, etc. vs If a hand causes you to sin gauge it out.

So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Mathew 5: 29 – 30

Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways, for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. Prov 3: 31 – 32

1. New

So as we are cleaning, we figure out that there are lot of things that we need to buy. While we are reflecting, introspecting, we understand that only God can make things new. We need to form new habits, get a new job, so that we get rid of old habits and rituals, get a new schedule, so that we can have our personal life with God in place.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Phil 4: 19

1. Renew

We need to relook at what we are intending to go. Start analysing God’s plan. We need to renew certain decisions. Sometimes renewing of stuff simply works well.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me Psalm 51: 10

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom 12: 2

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90: 12

My life is controlled by a clock. School begins at 8:00 a.m., and I am there at 7:30 to work with students. First period ends at 9:30, and new students arrive. And so on, through the day. Then, when school is over, I have my first music student at 3:00. My first math tutoring session is at 3:30. And on it goes.

On Sundays, I preach at 8:00 a.m. at a nearby church that is pastorless, and I’m expected to be there on time, ready to go. Some Sundays I preach at two churches, and then I have to leave the first church at 9:00 a.m. in order to get to the next church by 10:00 a.m.

Day after day, week after week.

The strange thing is, I never realized just how regimented my schedule is. I never gave it a thought. It was simply part of how life works.

Then I went to Argentina. And I discovered that not everyone operates the way we do here in the United States. When does church start? When everyone gets there, and has had a chance to greet everyone. When is supper? Sometime in the evening when it’s ready.

We’re doing an after-school program? Great! What time is that? 3:00. Or maybe 3:20? Or 4:00? Well, no, not everyone is here yet, so we’ll get started around 4:15.

And all of a sudden, for the first time, I realized just how much my life centered around the ticking of a clock.

Now, my point in sharing this is not that one way of approaching life is better or worse than the other (there are positives and negatives to both approaches). My point is: centering my life’s activities around the movement of gears and clock hands is something I was virtually unaware of, to the point that it never occurred to me that there was another way to approach life.

The same was true of how I greet people. I grew up in a culture where a greeting goes (almost without fail) like this:

Me: Hi, how ya doing?
Them: Fine, you?
Me: Good.

And that’s it. Fast forward to the time I spent in northern Africa, and discovered that every greeting involves a plethora of questions like “How is your wife?” “Is business going well?” “Are you parents well?” and you are actually expected to answer these questions, instead of just saying, “Oh, fine.”

I was never aware of how shallow our greetings are until I went somewhere that they did something very different, and suddenly I became very conscious of the manner in which I greet people!

Sandra wife of Virjil .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

Timid: lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery; easily alarmed; timorous; shy.

characterized by or indicating fear:

a timid approach to a problem.

Paul’s point is that people of faith are the ones who should not have this “spirit of timidity.” Our walk with God should be marked by “spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

sound mind. Legally, having the capacity to think, reason, and understand for oneself. Adults by nature are considered in general to be in sound mind, but through certain circumstances can be rendered as being not in sound mind, due to intensive brain damage or other major incapacities.

Generally, power is the ability to cause or prevent an action, make things happen; the discretion to act or not act. … The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality. The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. KJV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. NLT 2 Tim 1: 7

When we say God has not given us a spirit of Fear means then who gives us this fear. It could be

1. Our own self, which accumulates experiences resulting in fear. I have experienced this before, it’s not going to happen.
2. Spirit of fear could be because of other people’s conditioning that takes place in our life. We watch other people or many a times to avoid a certain compromising situation, other people warn us on something and we have readily become accustomed to it.
3. Spirit of fear could be due to certain mentality blockage. In other word, my knowledge contradicts with my convictions. Deception by the enemy. It paralyses me or I dread being caught in a trap.

God on the other hand mentions that I have given you a spirit of love, power and sound mind.

Love goes beyond. Jesus showed that love. In other verses from the bible it says, Love casts out all fears. That means if I have love, I need not have any room for fear. My heart should be so full of Love for God and people that fear will not or should not creep in. Love releases me of all compulsions, and bondage’s. It’s fear that puts me in chains but love gives me the freedom to even let go. It gives me the freedom to forgive and not hold back to my experiences and live in that room of fear that it’ll happen to me. Love wipes out my fears of the past as I choose to replace it with love. love builds trust, trust and faith in God. Yes my experiences might have been a trauma and I would never understand the impact but definitely the love that I talk about builds my faith to accomplish those unaccomplished or failure over and over again, not because, I am capable but because my God is capable. Jesus destroyed the hold of sin in my life on the cross. He loved us so much. Therefore it says, love casts out all fears. 1John 4: 18

Spirit of Power.

Power is something everyone wants to have. Many times we believe that we need to be humble and etc. yes indeed. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the power. Power if looked by definition means, power is the ability to cause or prevent an action, make things happen; the discretion to act or not act. … The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality. The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

It’s a capacity to influence behaviour, power is the ability to prevent or cause an action. In other words, it makes us people of change. We need to bring about the change. We need to be influencers. We have forgotten the fact that we have been given the spirit of power. We forget that we have that within us. This is because, we always have seen the cross as not powerful but actually , it’s the power of God portrayed in such a strong manner that it has the capacity to bring life, healing and deliverance.. It’s this cross that has given us life, a new beginning. What can cause a change? Cross has caused a change, therefore, it is the power of God revealed through it. The power that we have is much stronger than all the entitlements. We need to understand this power. Look through the eyes of faith. I am powerful not because of my money, job titles or my position but because of the cross.

Spirit of Sound mind:

sound mind. Legally, having the capacity to think, reason, and understand for oneself. Adults by nature are considered in general to be in sound mind, but through certain circumstances can be rendered as being not in sound mind, due to intensive brain damage or other major incapacities.

It’s the capacity to think, reason and understand. I need to reason out. I need to be at power with my colleagues, my fellow mates, and people around me. I shouldn’t take things as they are, if I don’t agree or feel comfortable. Many times we have a chalta hai attitude. I confess that I too had that attitude and even now I struggle with that attitude, because that had become my innate being. I need to jolt myself up and ask myself the BIG ‘WHY’. Why do I do this? I need to take a stand on this? Jesus always questioned the pharisees in their religious practices. Why? He expects us to have a sound mind. be alert. Question yourself. Reason out. We shouldn’t be mediocre people. Time and again we have been reminded of being a royal people, holy nation. We just become so accustomed to doing what is being conditioned. It becomes more of a tradition and not something that will build us up or build others. We need to think out of the box. My husband keeps reminding me that. I am yet to learn that. We have to be logical in our approaches. We can’t be a crowd. We need to stand out of a crowd. Tell me why would someone like to hear you, if you do not have a sound mind. No person would like to be around an insane person. We love to hear from people who give us logical reasoning. We need to cultivate that habit. We need to build a generation who would have a sound mind and not go with the flow. Urge people to think, reason and understand. Because, this is one of the SPIRIT that God has given us. A faith that has a sound mind.To defeat the enemy with a sound mind. Defeat the enemy by reasoning out, by being alert and not getting into his deception. We need to have sound mind to not manipulate scriptures, to reason out the truth.

I spent much of my ninth summer on a bicycle. About a mile from our house the road went down a steep hill and turned sharply at the bottom. Coasting down the hill one morning, I felt my gathering speed to be ecstatic. To give up this ecstasy by applying brakes seemed an absurd self-punishment. So I resolved to simultaneously retain my speed and negotiate the corner. My ecstasy ended seconds later when I was propelled a dozen feet off the road into the woods. I was badly scratched and bleeding, and the front wheel of my new bike was twisted beyond use from its impact against a tree. I had been unwilling to suffer the pain of giving up my ecstatic speed in the interest of maintaining my balance around the corner. I learned, however, that the loss of balance is ultimately more painful than the giving up required to maintain balance. It is a lesson I have continually had to relearn. As must everyone, for as we negotiate the curves and corners of our lives, we must continually give up parts of ourselves.

Sandra wife of Virjil .The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

Now we are in our third week study on the week of Genesis . We are going look at the aspect of punishment . And how our progression of sin leads to punishment.

ADAM and Eve Sinned , what did they do? They ate the fruit which was not supposed to be eaten.

Now we see Adam and Eve have children , one was named CAIN , second was ABEL and third was SETH.

Let us look at the event of first offering and the first murder:  The progression of sin

Cain was working in the soil and Abel was with livestock.

And we see here that Cain & Abel brought an offering to the Lord. The Lord looked at the offering of Abel in favour.

The best aspect, was that God’s presence was still there with Cain , Abel and Adam. Even after Adam and Even sinned , and they were moved out of the garden of Eden . God’s presence was still there with the entire family. Let us go ahead and read

Chapter 4:6

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

What does it mean? The desire to kill has come (sin) and God is asking to over come it. Rule over it .

Was this statement true for Adam and Eve as well in the garden of Eden? Yes, it was true for them as well but they sinned.

Chapter 4:14

¹⁴ Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

God’s desire was always to give life (like Enoch) and the first offering which was accepted . An offering was accepted in the cross as well.

From Adam to Noah

Cain > Enoch > Irad > Mehujael > Methushael > Lamech

Seth > Kenan > Enoch > Jared > Mahalalel > Methuselah > Lamech

Then we see another character Enoch. Who was Enoch? Enoch was the son of Cain . What happened to him? He was taken by God. He did not die.

(We talked about the two trees in the garden , one was a tree of Life and another one a Tree of knowledge of good and evil)

Lamech was the father of Noah.

The no of years each of them lived may be a literal number, a number which was multiplied by. But many of the scholars don’t believe that it was exact years.

Let us look at another event which changed the entire course of Earth.

The Great Flood:

Genesis 6:1,2

6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

The phrase sons of God here has been interpreted to refer to either angels or human beings. In Job (1:6;2:1)

Job 1:6

⁶ One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Others believe , Sons of God , Godly men marrying sinful women (as women were not called daughters of God in this context)

The Argument of Mortal

Genesis 6:3

³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with^[a] humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Someone, morally independent , gets access to the fruit of life . He will become immortal. Before this happened (fall of man) do we recollect anyone who was morally independent and was immortal?  It was Lucifer.

He will be perishable , he will die (Gods intention was to give him life, not death).

Let us come to the verse

Chapter 6 Verse 4 ,

The Nephilim : People of great size and strength. The Hebrew word means , fallen ones. They were known as heroes of old , men of renown but in God’s sight they were sinners Fallen ones.

Verse 5 Total Depravity :

⁵ The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Just think of this or imagine it, happening at our homes with our closed ones , how do we feel?

Verse 6 Lord Regretted:

⁶ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.

We saw last to last Sunday , God said it was very good. But because of wickedness , every human being became so corrupt .

Verse 8 , 9 :

⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

 This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. ¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Noah’s godly life was powerful contrast to the wicked life of others.

Let me make a point here, This did not imply sinless or perfection. As if, there was no sin in him , Because he was also in a fallen state.

The earth became so corrupt and it was full of violence

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Because of man’s depravity, not only them, but all living creatures were subject to death.

What is the Theological lesson for us. What God is reminding us  / re-instilling in our lives this morning?

The progression of sin :

For Cain , first he was upset / angry and then he killed Abel.

If we don’t deal with Sin, in the right time, it may became progressive and lead to our spiritual destruction .

(The definition of sin can be as simple as anger, lies etc and we all know here, what sin we are in?)

God’s heart grieves when he looks at us , if we are  not leading in the right direction.

But his Grace is more , He is a gracious God. God made a provision for us in Jesus Christ like the ark. We escaped the punishment by the blood of Christ.

Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.

As we continue studying the book of Genesis ,  Today we are going to look at chapter 2 & 3.

Before be proceed , let us look few details which will help us to unpack today’s message.

Genesis chapter 1-38 reflect a great deal of what we know from other sources about ancient Mesopotamian life and culture. Creation, genealogies, destructive floods, geography and map making, construction techniques, migrations of peoples, sale and purchase of land, legal customs and procedures, shepherding and cattle-raising—all these subjects and many others were matters of vital concern to the people of Mesopotamia during this time. They were also of interest to the individuals, families and tribes of whom we read in the first 38 chapters of Genesis. The author appears to locate Eden, humankind’s first home, in or near Mesopotamia; the tower of Babel was built there; Abram was born there; Isaac took a wife from there; and Jacob lived there for 20 years. Although these patriarchs settled in Canaan, their original homeland was Mesopotamia.

It is supremely a book that speaks about relationships, highlighting those between God and his creation, between God and humankind, and between human beings. It is thoroughly monotheistic, taking for granted that there is only one God worthy of the name and opposing the ideas that there are many gods (polytheism), that there is no god at all (atheism) and that everything is divine (pantheism). It clearly teaches that the one true God is sovereign over all that exists (i.e., his entire creation), and that he often exercises his unlimited freedom to overturn human customs, traditions and plans.

We saw last week, God’s creation.

First Day – Day and Night

Second Day –   Sky

Third Day – Vegetation (seed-bearing plants)

Fourth Day – God made two great lights

Fifth Day – Living Creatures (Sea & Land)

Sixth Day – Let us make mankind

Seventh Day : Chapter 2 : 1, 2 – Rested / Celebrated

Today we are going to look at one of the Key event that changed the entire human race.

The Fall of Adam . Today we are going to do a study on the fall and rise of Adam.

Let us read Genesis chapter 2 & 3

So God rested , he celebrated what was created , because it was very good. It did not have to be repeated , revised , it was perfect.

God rested the seventh day , Although the word sabbath is not used here . The Hebrew verb translated “rested” is the origin of noun Sabbath . The sabbath was not an official covenant obligation until the giving of the law in mount Sinai. It was one of the ten commandments.

Let us deep dive into the story of Adam & Eve

The Hebrew word account occurs 10 times in Genesis , at the beginning of each main section . The phrase ‘”Account of heaven and earth”” introduces  the record of what happened to Gods creation .

In Verse 4 , we see “When the Lord God”

Often both appears together in the Old Testament, thousands of times. Clearly refers to the one and only one God.

“Lord” means in Hebrew YAHWEH.

“GOD” means in Hebrew ELOHIM, is a general term.

THE RISE OF MAN

Verse 7

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

We are made in the image of God and absolutely have a unique relation with God. And we were created to have a relationship with him.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

Verse 8 , 9

⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now coming to the Garden of Eden ,

Now the Lord God had planted a garden – God planted a Garden and he gave that to man.

(So we look at the relationship of God and Man). During my college days , whatever stuff I used , would share with my friends . That showed the intensity of our friendship. The same relationship of being a friend / a father is showcased by God to man i.e. God planted a Garden and he gave that to man.

Because he birthed us and cares for us as his child.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east. The garden was thought to be near, where, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers met. What today , is southern Iraq.

Eden  – a name synonymous with paradise

Tree of life -Signifying and giving life , immortal, those who eat from it, will live forever.

Tree of Knowledge and evil – signifying and giving knowledge of good and evil , leading ultimately to death to those who eat from it.

It is quite interesting to see these two different trees .one you eat, it gives life and other you eat , you die.

Lets take the argument in this way, Lets Focus on an Important thing, that is to understand when Adam and Eve were created they possessed both i.e. Life and Knowledge of good and evil.

Let us talk about LIFE (Tree 1) – God told Adam and Eve , “don’t eat from any of those trees” . If you eat then you will die. What does that mean ? They already possessed life which was immortal (They will live forever with GOD) because God cannot lie.

Secondly, Knowledge of Good and Evil (Tree 2) MORAL DISCERNMENT as they came from the hand of God. The dialogue between Serpent and Eve.  ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” What does it mean? Does she not possess knowledge of good and evil? She did not know that she is not supposed to eat the fruit.

Their access to the fruit of the tree of life showed that God’s will and intention for them was life. But Adam and Eve sought creaturely (Non human) source of discernment in order to be morally independent of God. They wanted to take their own decision, why to reply on God for every instruction / direction ? That was the deception.

In Verse 15 , 16 – Lord Commanded

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God said, take care of it – govern the earth and a command to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

In Verse 20-25 , A companion for Adam.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

The divine intention for husband and wife was monogamy. i.e. Only one wife.

In chapter 2 , we see the Rise of Man , Giving him a place which was not planted by him , giving him dominion over all the creatures , giving him a SUITABLE companion , giving him work .

Now The Fall :

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Serpent : The great deceiver clothed himself as serpent. “Did God really say” ?, the question and response that changed the course of human history. By causing the woman to doubt God’s word , Satan brought evil in the world. Here the deceiver undertook to alienate people from God . Elsewhere in the scriptures he acts as an accuser, to alienate God from people.

Verse 3:

³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

The woman adds to God’s word – “You may not touch it”.

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Now Satan accuses God of having unworthy motives. your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Is a half true statement , their eyes were opened for sure, but the result was quite different from what the serpent had promised . You will be like God ,Did they become like God? did this happen ? No, it did not. Instead they found themselves naked in a fallen state which God never desired.

I love this , Even after all this , God called man, “where are you?”  Verse 10 , the same garden once a place of joy and fellowship with God , became a place of fear and hiding from God.

Then the blame game started : Adam blamed Eve , Eve blamed serpent.

And there was a curse on the land , Adam , Eve and serpent.

THE RISE OF THE SECOND ADAM

Today’s message is incomplete if we don’t discuss the Rise of second Adam.

Verse 15 , he will crush your head,

God’s redemptive plan was in place , that a second Adam or last Adam will come.

He was born  from an offspring of  woman. It was Jesus.

(1 Corinthians 15:45-49).

“The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven

And we were given a glimpse of that provision in verse 21

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Garment of skin to cover their nakedness, what does it signify. It signifies a sacrifice , it signifies an innocent blood has been shed .

Romans 5 : 19

¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

What happened in the garden of Eden , similar events happened in a wilderness. Let us look at both the Adam’s and their response.

Let us read Matthew 4: 1-11

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Let us look at the comparison of Genesis 2 & 3 with Matthew 4 : 1-11

Satan / Deceiver tried his skills here as well.

Jesus was hungry , and he was tempted

1. Make the stone into bread (desirable , pleasing to eyes)
2. Throw yourself down (You are not going to die)
3. All this I will give it to you , if you will bow down and worship me. (You will become like God , all will be yours)

We can see the similarities of TEMPTATION of first Adam (garden of Eden) and the Second / Last Adam (wilderness) but both their responses were different.

4. ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
5. ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus recognized the enemy. His obedience brought us life. Whereas Adam disobeyed and he failed. Jesus is our perfect Adam.

Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.