All posts by Virjil Selvan

When we say obedience, what is the first thing that strikes?

Obedience is a very difficult aspect of our life. We learn it right from our childhood. Parents keep on insisting that we obey them. When we are at work, we are expected to obey our superiors, the terminologies may change but the bottom line is obedience. We may call it pressure, compulsion or anything else. If we analyse, we are obeying some or the other all the time. An explanation for that would be, if I don’t obey God, I am obeying either my flesh or an external source. I am all the time in that mode of obedience or submission. If I don’t obey my parents, I am obeying my flesh. Therefore, we are in these states of obedience through out our life time:

Obedience to Man

Obedience to self

Obedience to God

Obedience to leaders

Obedience to Parents

Obedience to our superiors

It’s not only that but it’s also very relative. If I choose to obey someone, at the same moment I am disobeying some one else. That is, if I choose to obey my friends and submit to their decision, I might not be doing what my parents have expected me to do. It’s very relative. It’s finally my decision as to who I should be obeying and disobeying at the same time.

1 Sam 25

 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.

⁸ Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”

¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹ Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

¹⁸ Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs^[b] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” ³⁷ Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

Abigail chose to obey her heart, or probably, she heard God. But at the same time chose to disobey her husband. She was definitely in a state of dilemma. However, I am assuming that she had a taste and experience of what obeying God feels like. Therefore, she took that step forward and went ahead with it.

Obedience and it’s Consequences:

Every Obedience has it’s own consequences. Depending on whom I am listening to. If I decipher at the right time, I might gain from that submission and if I don’t then I might get bitter, not only that but I might not even listen to that person again, because of the consequences that I’ve had to suffer. Or, even if I happen to listen to that person again, I may be filled with doubt or become restless. I lose my peace.

My Obedience or submission is based on my faith level. The confidence that I show towards God helps me to obey him in FAITH. Which means, though I can’t see what comes next, I have already taken a step forward. I have submitted to Him. I personally believe, hearing God and taking a step of Faith is a fool proof decision towards obedience. We will never be disappointed. It only calls for a miracle. I have experienced many miracles in life. Not because I was brilliant at obeying God but I had none to depend on. That’s what I believe, God wants to tell us today. Listen to His voice, the still soft voice that comes from within and around.

Hebrews 11: 8 – 12

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

1 Samuel 15: 22

But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Obedience is a choice. it’s not instant. We obey either out of fear or love.

To obey is a blessing, disobedience is painful we learnt this in Sunday school.

Obedience comes easily with authorities but not with people lower than us or equal to us. Atleast, we can blame it on the authorities. Example: My employer said that so I did it. If I say my subordinate said that, and so I did, then people will think I am a fool. Let’s look at this story:

Naman story. 2 Kings 5

He was a man in command, still he obeyed. he was healed.

 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.”

It was a choice made by him, either obey the girl or disobey the girl and submit to his ego and bask in his pride. However, I am glad he chose the other way round.

Lord, help me to obey. Help me to listen.

If people were true to the first commandment, obedience to the remaining nine would follow naturally. It is because they are unsound in this that they break the others.  (D.L. Moody).

A missionary translator was endeavouring to find a word for “obedience” in the native language. This was a virtue seldom practiced among the people into whose language he wanted to translate the New Testament. As he returned home from the village one day, he whistled for his dog and it came running at full speed. An old native, seeing this, said admiringly in the native tongue. “Your dog is all ears.” The missionary knew he had his word for obedience. (Ministers’ Research Service).

To sum it up:

1. Obedience is not always pleasant, it’s walking on fire.
2. Obedience or submission is based on my faith level.
3. Obedience needs discernment.
4. Obedience needs humility. Listening to our mentors, plays a vital role in our life. Listening to our leaders. Listening to our parents / children. It definitely goes back to discernment and humility.
5. Finally, obedience to God is fool proof.

Generally, it so happens with me that I hear God first, correcting me or instructing me something and I see the same as an evidence through many people, as you may call it, a confirmation that I should go for it. Then, I realize that yes, God had told this to me. It becomes easier to obey and submit, knowing that God is in control. Discernment along with obedience goes a long way.

Jesus obeyed His father till the cross. Jesus summed up all of it on the cross. Obedience to God is fool proof. Jesus was lifted up for his Obedience to God. He was considered as disobedient by the Pharisees but Jesus knew what He had to do. Cross was not easy. Yet He went ahead having full confidence in what His Father had planned. It calls for Faith. Jesus did not succumb to extreme pressure.

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.

A mother with unending responsibilities & pressures, let’s learn ‘the Art of getting Off pressure‘ & living a life of freedom.

We all have to handle pressures , people who are working, they have to handle pressure at their work place , if you are a student then, you have to handle pressure at school and college, if you are housewife, then you have to handle the pressure at home.

Today we are going to touch base on the role of Womanhood / Motherhood.

God has made women very differently a unique gifting which men don’t have.

They are aware of everything in detail from the kitchen, children, daily needs, everyday household chores and the list will go on and on.. And if they are working then it is an added responsibility.

They are emotionally gifted as well. And they are emotionally attached with everyone.

This unique gifting to manage so many things can trigger stress and disappointments because of everyday pressure. Where the expectation is set every day, that they must be perfect.

And there can be a point where we are not able to enjoy the unique gifting which God has blessed each woman with.

How to handle this everyday pressure?

Let us read from the bible a scripture portion

Luke 10: 38-42

At the Home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[f]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

It’s quite an interesting scripture portion and it has so much of relevance and truth, if we understand it and apply it in our lives.

Whenever Jesus went, a huge crowd followed him and his disciples were also with him. The pressure to handle so many people and prepare things for all of them was Martha’s responsibility.

The Art of getting Off pressure’ & living a life of freedom is to make ourselves understand the need of ONLY JESUS

There are so many things we can learn from the life of Martha, because we are like her. What made Martha worried and upset?

1. She was Distracted

Luke 10: 40

⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made

Too many responsibilities. Each one of us sitting here can relate to that. It’s all about handling pressure . Practically as we handle too many responsibilities, there are chances that we will be distracted and we get stressed.

As we are celebrating Mother’s day . What is it that distracts us the most.?

Is it the children’s future / education?. is it the needs of your spouse? Is it the future of our family?

1 Peter 5 :7

⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

2. She was Upset

Because of the distractions, she became stressed and then Upset . She may have looked at her sister (Mary) and by her response she may have got upset. “Why I have to do everything” attitude?

3. She became complaining

Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me

All this is because of the responsibilities and pressure. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a gifting which God gave to a woman or to a Mother.

How to get off from this pressure and stress?

The bible says be like Mary.

What did Mary do? Let’s look into it.

1. To be at the feet of Jesus

When we understand that it’s all about him and he holds everything together. There will be peace. Its not me, not my effort and rejoice in whatever part you can play, there is peace.

There is peace when we give our household to God, our children’s future to God.

The pressure will always be there, but we will be able to handle the pressure and will not get distracted.

2. Listen to what Jesus said

Mothers need Grace to handle this unending responsibility, for that you need to have a relationship with God. Listen to his voice. It’s good to have personal quiet time and prayer even before we start the Day.

3. Choose the right Thing

Take a break from the regular routine. It is always good to take a break. Take a day off from your regular routine. Do what you like, what you enjoy, and our responsibility is to help them to take a break.

To Conclude, the key is to be connected with God.

The Art of getting Off pressure’ & living a life of freedom is to make ourselves understand the need of ONLY JESUS

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.

Churchgoers ought to be nervous when they read the story of Judas. Proximity to Jesus was not guarantee of allegiance to Jesus or spiritual maturity. Judas was one of the inner circle of apostles. He spent around three years on the road with Jesus, witnessed his miracles in person and was personally discipled by Jesus and yet none of these things guaranteed his perseverance in the faith. Often Christians live as if their job is to simply turn up at church and it is the church’s job to make sure they grow spiritually. But the Judas paradox shows us that there is still an onus on us to play our part in our spiritual formation.

One detail of the Judas story that seems particularly pregnant with meaning is the fact that when Judas decided to betray Jesus he was given 30 pieces of silver, which is the exact amount of money that someone in the ancient Middle East would have been given if someone accidentally killed their slave. Jesus failed to measure up as a slave to Judas’ desires and agenda, and so Judas conspires to get him killed. It’s a cruel and bitter twist in the gospel story – a great wrong, done to a man who did not deserve it in any way.

Authentic Relationship with God, I see it that way.

Voice that resonates God’s heart: They have not rejected you as their leader but they have rejected me. 1 Samuel 8: 7,8  ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

Judas rejected Jesus as his King.

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26: 14 – 16

²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.” Matthew 26: 21 – 26

⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”^[d]

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.

Matthew 26: 46 – 50.

The kiss of Judas, also known (especially in art) as the Betrayal of Christ, is how Judas identified Jesus to the multitude with swords and clubs who had come from the chief priests and elders of the people to arrest him, according to the Synoptic Gospels.

What could be the reason people hated Jesus?

Truth: Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life. He said the truth, no matter what it took. He also said the truth will set you free. He showed compassion but at the same time he said to many, go sin no more or your sins are forgiven.

Addressing someone’s wrong is the most spiteful thing. People will love us as long as we appreciate them and boost their confidence but they will reject us if we show them their dark side.

Many times when God shows us the truth, it is not easily digested. We feel, this couldn’t be us. Definitely, it’s for my neighbour, spouse, children. Worse, scenarios we would misunderstand the person.

Truth hurts, it’s not always pleasant. Also, ironically, this is the very thing that sets us free. On the other hand, when we are on the receiving end, we hate the person who has told us the truth about ourselves.

It is up to us to decipher, definitely, but truth is something when spoken even as a joke, it can create a jolt.

Why should Jesus show this sin to anyone? His aim was to cleanse us from all wrong. Adam’s sin that was running within us, he wanted to eradicate that. The ultimate was the cross.

How can I build an authentic relationship with God?

Learning from Moses:

 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

¹⁰ Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in the entire world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.

²⁸ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.

³⁴ But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Knowing God

• Spending time : forty days and forty nights. What about us? Forty minutes
• Listening: How do we know that the Lord spoke? Because, Moses was listening.
• Reading the Word: Best key to understand God’s heart is to study the word of God. It’s studying not mere reading.

Communication

• Freedom of Speech: I may be bitter, therefore, bitter words come out of my heart. I may be childish and therefore, I may place my request in that manner. It is my heart communicating with God. He knows what I mean. He cherishes my words.
• Freedom to share my heart. I am free to share my hurts, my pain, and my concerns. I don’t have to hide anything from Him. There is so much freedom.
• Freedom to be silent (Gazing at his face). Like a weaned child I look unto you. Sometimes, it’s only silence that can assure us peace. When we look at His face, we get that peace and assurance, even in a turmoil.

Components of Relationship

• Trust: When I trust, the truth will not hurt. I will introspect, and reflect.
• Love: Loving God is not just chanting some words, but exploring, what makes Him feel loved. He understands our condition and continues to show His love but, what about us? How do we show our love towards him?
• Forgiveness: Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin

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.

When I was at work on Friday , we have a big bay and one of my colleague  was asking a question to my other colleague.  Why you did not take a holiday today and why Good Friday is good ? My other colleague answered her, that Jesus died for all my sins and wrong doing. What does that mean? I will illustrate it with a story; once upon a time there was a king and in his kingdom there was justice and order. Over a period of time, one day, he got a complain that there were some eggs which were stolen every day. Everybody wondered who could dare to steal in a just and orderly kingdom. The king passed a law that if the thief is caught he will have to bear 100 lashes till death as his punishment for this crime.

An enquiry took place and a trap was placed to catch the thief, and eventually he was caught. The king summoned everybody to watch the assassination which was going to be so brutal. When everybody gathered, the thief was brought in the center of the kingdom so that everybody can watch the punishment. To keep the suspense alive the thief was in a mask so that no one can see him . The king commanded that he be tied on the pole and the mask to be removed and begin with the lashes. As soon as the mask was removed, the king could not take his eyes off the thief , he was shattered, but the law that he made had to be fulfilled . It was the kings very own son. Now there was no turning back on the law, which the king commanded. He commanded his soldier to start lashing, but before he started lashing, he stood before his son, and the king removed his cloak, embraced his son, covering him. Then he commanded now begin with the punishment as he stood there embracing his son. Everybody was amazed to see this. The law for a wrong doing is death, and there was no turning back. What the king did was by taking all the lashes , was that he fulfilled the law but spared the life of a wrong doer.

That’s why good Friday is a good Friday for us, the punishment which we were supposed to undergo, His love covered us from that punishment and he died on our behalf and that was good, because we were saved on someone else’s expense.

Today as we celebrate Easter , JESUS was resurrected (Resurrection is the concept of coming back to life after death), he was risen from death. It is a celebration which gives me a hope of life after death which is eternity , i.e life never ending .

As we are aware, that when Jesus was crucified (i.e.he was killed on the cross) all his disciples (who followed him) left him because they thought the same will happen to them as well . They will also be killed. When we read the bible it says that they all locked themselves in a room and they were fearing for their life.

Let’s read John chapter 20:

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We saw that after Jesus’ Resurrection, he again met his disciples. They were the ones who left him alone when he was dying on the cross.

When we look at history (i.e. not from the bible). It records the events of the 12 disciples as to where they went and what happened to them .

They went to different parts of the world out of which one disciple also came to India, i.e. ST Thomas.

History states that many of them were killed and died a horrific death.

So we were talking about the disciples just few minutes ago, who ran away when Jesus was taken for crucifixion. We also read that they all locked the door for fear of their life.

So the question was, what changed them? As we had discussed about history that they were all martyred and also went to an extent to loose their lives?

It was the Resurrection day which changed them. There is power in Resurrection. Everything changed in their life after that event after they saw Jesus alive.

Why the event of Resurrection was so powerful?

Resurrection had a message of Love:

Jesus not only showed his love on the cross. He also showed himself after he was resurrected (He came back to life).

He came back to his people and showed himself again to them. He understood that they needed him most during this time. In our life as well, when we need Jesus the most, he is there. When we think that everything is finished and there is no hope for us. He comes back and shows himself to us. He is such a loving God. He is always there. He gave a counsellor, that is the Holy Spirit to us, who directs us, and leads us.

Resurrection had a message of Forgiveness:

Jesus showed himself to people (disciples) who betrayed him .  Who denied him. This shows his act of forgiveness towards everyone, even to each one of us sitting here . We have denied him but he continuously shows his love and forgiveness.

We all know how much difficult it is, to forgive people who have hurt us very badly . We take an extreme step, that is, we just want to disconnect from them.

Once there were a couple. Each time they fought the wife would break something and the husband could clearly hear it from wherever he was. This happened over a period of time and the husband came to expect that whenever, they had an argument, he would hear a sound of breaking.

One day it so happened that, they had an argument but he didn’t hear any such sound. Next day when both of them were sober and settled with their fight. They were seated on the breakfast table, the husband apologised to his wife. He said “I am very sorry about yesterday but I have a question ringing in my head, why didn’t you break anything yesterday after our argument?” The wife replied “it is true that I did not break anything yesterday but I did clean the toilet with your toothbrush.”

It is indeed very hard to forgive. But Jesus forgives us and also asks us to forgive.

The event after Resurrection commands us to forgive people.

The ultimate and the primary message from the Resurrection is HOPE:

Jesus conquered death. And he promised an eternal life after death, to whoever believes in Him.

The Resurrection gives us a hope of life after death. Isn’t that amazing! A hope to face tomorrow.

We sung a song.  “Because he lives”

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives

The message of Resurrection is that :

Because my God lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives

Life is worth living.

Friends, Instead of all our challenges, hopeless situations. There is Hope because of this Resurrection day, Easter.

That I can face any situation, any discouragement, any hopeless situation because my God lives and he holds my future.

When we understand this Hope, life becomes more interesting, worth living now and for eternity.

He is in midst of us which gives us hope, that he is always with us. His promises will never go in vain. Every word from my God will be Fulfilled. Whatever he taught his disciples were fulfilled.

The Tomb is empty, Jesus is resurrected.  The disciples saw that there was no fear of anything and we know that rest is history.

Let us grow in Hope and Love because Jesus is always with us. May we have a blessed day and the Joy of Resurrection spread into each day of our life.

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 Palm Sunday?

Jesus allowed the multitudes to praise Him as their King on the Sunday before His crucifixion (Palm Sunday). The apostle Matthew affirms this as fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9a. Zechariah continues on with the prophecy:

What does Old Testament say about Palm Sunday or the Triumphal Entry about Jesus into Jerusalem?

Zechariah 9:9a

“9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee.” (ASV, 1901)

Zechariah 9:9b

“9He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (ASV, 1901)

( Other references Genesis 3:15, 49:10; Isaiah 7:14, 53:3; Deuteronomy 18:15; Daniel 9:26).

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3

²⁶ After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.^[a] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. Daniel 9:26

It’s significance

Passover and Palm Sunday have significance, on the day of the Passover, Jesus was crucified.

¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

Exodus 12: 12 -14

Jesus the king, riding on a donkey hosanna.

The people sang part of Psalm 118: 25-26: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord

It demonstrated that Christ had come to be the King. As Matthew explains, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to the Daughter of Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” ‘ ” (Matthew 21:4-5).

John 12:1 – 3, 7, 8, 12

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you,

[c]

but you will not always have me.”

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna![d]”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[e]

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”[f]

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Jesus was the Prophesied messiah. It is all this prophesy coming true that enables us to know the authenticity and seriousness.

Palm Sunday is nothing but part of the prophesied event. Prophesies which were done thousands of years ago.

What is the application?

There are a series of events that take place before the triumphal entry.

1. Jesus being anointed by Mary, he allows that to happen, saying it’s my burial.
2. Allowing people to call him a King. They were not the same people who crucify him but they are the ones who witness Jesus resurrecting Lazarus.
3. Everyone lay their clothes down, they honour him by waving palm branches and having the confidence that, this is it. He is the messiah who was prophesied by Isaiah and Zechariah.

• Jesus’ Triumphal Entry in my life.

Tom Barnard writes, “The crowd was clueless. They never got it right. They shouted praises. He wept. They looked for a warrior-king riding a white stallion. They got a carpenter riding a donkey. They wanted hype. They got a healer. They wanted a prophet. They got One who fulfilled prophecy. They wanted a scepter. They got a Savior. They got nothing they asked for but everything they needed. Only they never got it. They were clueless. Jesus was the only One there who really knew what was happening on that first Palm Sunday.

“It’s so easy to become like those people in Jerusalem. We think we know what’s going on, but we really don’t have a clue. We have a bad week, and we blame God. Our kids act out, and we blame the school. We work two jobs and wonder why things aren’t better at home. Jesus comes to our town, and He wants to help; but we don’t recognize Him for who He is. We think He will be impressed with our boats and our businesses and our stuff. He is not. He wants our hearts. That’s what Palm Sunday is all about.”

• My faith in the prophesies

The donkey awakened, his mind still savouring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride.

He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. “I’ll show myself to them,” he thought.

But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.

“Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?”

They just looked at him in amazement. Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move.

“Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself. “I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me.”

But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the market place.

“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches!” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”

Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother.

“Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without Him, you are just an ordinary donkey?”

Just like the donkey who carried Jesus in Jerusalem, we are most fulfilled when we are in the service of Jesus Christ. Without him, all our best efforts are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and amount to nothing. When we lift up Christ, however, we are no longer ordinary people, but key players in God’s plan to redeem the word.

Many times we are like that donkey we don’t believe in the prophesies. We can’t fathom what is happening. Where is Jesus triumphing in my situation? Why am I still struggling? But Jesus has an overall plan. His way of redemption is not my way of redemption. But it’s my willingness to become a donkey so that he’ll be the King.

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.

What if we have 2 seeds, let’s say of an oak tree, and plant them, one seed planted in the middle of a dense forest and another seed planted in the slope of a hill. The seed panted in the slope of the hill is going to be exposed to all kinds of elements. That is, exposed to every storm, exposed to every wind, exposed to everything that comes. So this tree will grow up to be a very strong tree , as the roots had no choice but to go deeper, no choice but to spread wider and that tree is going to grow strong because it is exposed to all the things and it has to survive. What will happen to the seed which is planted in the middle of the dense forest. It does not have any need to put his roots deep or spread it because it is protected from other trees, it’s relatives around.

What a parable for us as believers. The Christian who is willing to engage the enemy and to advance the kingdom of God, he will go deeper and stronger. The believer who wants to stay in the shadow of other people’s spirituality, remain weak and remain shallow. Is that right? Until you and I are willing to engage with the power of darkness, advance the kingdom and not just always find a place of safety for ourselves. Until you are willing to take up the agenda of God and do what God wants us to do. Not to fulfil our own agenda but fulfil his agenda and pay the price what ever it may be, we cannot grow strong, and we cannot grow deep. The day we come to God and say God not my will but your will be done. Not my purpose in life but your purpose in life. That’s the day we really grow strong and grow deep in God.

This series on the Armor of God is so important; it helps us to really stand strong in the midst of a spiritual war.

Remember we looked at the belt of truth; which protects us from Satan’s deception. We will not be gripped by anxieties, worries, or our Circumstances. We will be gripped by the truth of God’s word. Put it on; guard our mind with the belt of truth.

Secondly, we talked about the breastplate of righteousness, which has to be worn on our chest. Which protects our heart with Satan’s condemnation, from accusations, from bitterness; unforgiveness and we stand on the righteousness of Christ, not based on our self-effort. It is based on faith; it is based on love, our faith in God and his love for us. Faith protects us from condemnation and Gods love protects us from bitterness and unforgiveness.

We also looked at the shoes of the Gospel of peace which protects our feet. As we run in the service of the Lord to publish peace and reconciliation where ever we go, through the Gospel.

This morning we are going to look at the other three pieces of the Armor. The fourth piece of the Armor which we need to have is the shield of faith. We put on the belt, put on the breastplate and put on the shoes, now we pick up the shield of faith.

We all may have seen a shield; it is Armor for our defence. This shield gives total and complete protection. Ephesian 6 “Above all pick up the shield, to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

We need to shield ourselves from Satan’s weapon of discouragement, and doubts. This shield can protect us from every attack. Some of us here may feel like we are facing issues from every corner. What we have to do is RAISE UP THE SHEILD OF FAITH. Don’t look at what we see now, lift up your shield and claim that Lord I believe.

Nehemiah 4: 1-15, Nehemiah 4 describes the rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem and the challenges he faced, read verse 1-3.

They were ridiculed, and discouraged by them.

4 ^[a]When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, ² and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” ³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

In verse 7 , they begin to use direct physical fight

⁷ But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.

In verse 8, the enemy brings confusion:

⁸ They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.

In verse 10 , the enemy brings discouragement

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

In verse 11 , They bring fear

¹¹ Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”

In verse 12 , they bring negative reports:

¹² Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

The scenario worsened each time and that is when, Nehemiah stood up. In verse 14

¹⁴ After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

He put the shield of faith , over him and over his people.

We have to learn to fight for our family , we have to learn to fight for what we treasure . We fight for our sons , daughters , our spiritual sons and daughter and brothers and sisters. We learn to fight for the church against the plan of the enemies.

We don’t wait , just don’t get into a mode of discouragement , we stand and we say enough is enough .  We fight the battle. We Raise up the shield of faith.

We need to Raise and claim what is ours. The devour want to come and steal away everything . We need to stand up and stand against him.

When someone is sick , I usually tell Abisha, her immune is not strong , when they are not doing good in their studies , we say you do not have good memory power. When we have a tough time at work , we say boss / project is not good.

We need to rise up , put our shield of faith , learn to pray  . look out what Nehemiah said .

Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome

When we raise our faith, what happens in verse 15

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.

When we raise our faith, the scheme of the enemy is exposed and demolished. The key, when we are in doubt, we have to do what Nehemiah suggested. “WE SHOULD RECALL WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE”

Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome

We recall what God has done. When we do this, we can raise our faith. If God is not in our situation, what is there to fight? There would be no power to fight, because it is not by our strength

In Psalm 77: verse 2, 10

When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

We have to recall the greatness of God, the great acts of God in our life. We raise the shield to stand in the promises of God.

There is a story mentioned during the time of world war 2, the Holocaust Nazi Germany, aided by local collaborators, systematically murdered some six million European Jews.

A French family were hiding a Jewish family in their basement for several weeks and they found that they were never discouraged and kept waiting and waiting on God for their deliverance. Later on, when everything was over, the French family saw writing on the wall by the Jewish family.

They wrote, I believe in the sun, even if it does not shine. I believe in love , even if it is not given. I believe in God, even if he is silent.

Raising up the shield of faith in belief.

Let us read Romans 4: 18 – 21

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”^[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Faith is not denying facts, faith is not pretending it is not there when it is there (sick is sick)

I look at the circumstances, knowing it is not good,  but we glorify God. God has the power to do what he has promised.

The question we can ask ourselves today is, are we fully persuaded that his promises will be fulfilled?

Faith is very contagious, when we look at few people, we are in awe of their faith. It passes on.

Similarly doubt is also contagious (like your wife asking you, did you lock the door?)

³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

We can raise the faith for others as well.

We need to raise faith on behalf of our cell group, family, church, and our city in Jesus Name.

When we see, that in our cell group we are having a tough time or in our church or family, pray for it, we don’t just have to sit, we are in his army. Pray for our city for a new hope.

Let us watch this video , Its very similar to our challenges, hopeless situations but in the end we dont have to forget that our God is in full control.

Series on Spiritual warfare – Belt of Truth -Courtesy Benny Ho:

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

Eph 6: 13 – 15

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

An Illustration:

There was a bully who would demand lunch money. But because the victim was small, he would succumb to it. But eventually he thought that he needs to fight back, so he joined Karate lessons. But the master demanded him 5 dollars. He decided that the bully was much cheaper, and continued to pay him.

Many Christians believe that it’s easier to be defeated by the enemy than defend the enemy. Instead of yielding and bowing down to him, is better to stand against him. Girded with the truth. Putting on the full armour of God, rather than bowing down to circumstances. We move into cycle of victory instead of defeat.

Second piece: Breastplate of righteousness. It’s two pieces of metal plates over their chest area. To protect the soldier’s vital area like a bullet proof jacket, especially the heart. A soldier’s heart can fail. Discouragement, morale is down, once we lose heart we are defeated. Above everything else guard your heart. Matthew 15: 18 ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. out of heart issues of heart. Isaiah 59:17 – He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. righteousness put on as bp. Not of our works Philippians 3:9 ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.. If work then

1. Attack of Guilt and Condemnation – inward attack
2. Bitterness and unforgiveness towards others.

Breast Plate of Christ’s righteousness takes care of this 1 Thessalonians 5: 8 ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Breast Plate elaborated by apostle Paul. Put on faith and love as a Breast Plate. Breast Plate of righteousness is rooted in  Breast Plate of faith and love. It helps to overcome guilt and condemnation. Have total faith to Accept that Jesus has overcome it on the cross. How do we overcome bitterness and unforgiveness? Accept we have the love of God inside of us. Faith overcomes guilt and condemnation; and Love overcomes bitterness and unforgiveness. Breast Plate protects our heart.

Galatians 5: 5-6 ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Faith expressing itself through love.  Righteousness based on Faith in Christ and love of God towards us. We have a righteousness that comes from God. Breast Plate of Christ’s righteousness is placed firmly across our hearts, we will be able to stand and overcome Satan’s attacks of guilt and condemnation. How many people struggle with guilt, secret sins, past. They feel bad about their past failures, etc. Phantom pain – leg or arm is amputated but yet they feel the pain is still there. Because of the memory of that pain remains, and they feel it physically. It’s locked inside the memory. Christian’s are obsessed about past failures and are still in pain. Even though Christ died for all of their past mistakes, it still cripples them. It robs them of their devotion, ministry, their relationship with others, rob them of peace and joy. Just like phantom pain. It need not be there, but they are still feeling it. Satan accuses us of all these sins. He shouts out that God will not accept you. You are not good enough. He tells us that we can never change, you are not forgiven, you are not doing enough, etc. The next thing we do is we give up. We are so crippled by all these things. Put on the Breast Plate of righteousness that comes from the Lord Jesus, so that you can rise up and say to the devil, I am who I am by the grace of God. By the grace of God I am made clean, holy, righteous, perfect and I come boldly to the throne not by the works that I have done but by the blood of the lamb. I love because He first loved me, by His love I can forgive. By His Love I can do this, and we learn to rise up and take a stand against guilt and condemnation. Turn to your neighbour and say I am free from guilt and condemnation; Satan is a liar but I am on fire. I can run to the Lord.

Satan knows that once he has plunged us in guilt, condemnation and unforgiveness, he has literally crippled us. It makes us totally ineffective. We are never sure, if we are worthy to stand before this holy God. We are not sure, if God really responds to our prayer. Put on the righteousness of Christ and you’ll be able to stand and claim that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. The blood of Jesus is sufficient for all of our sin and we can bring it to him. We need not walk around with guilt and condemnation. God is for you and not against you. Not to pretend that we have no sin, or deny the fact that we are failures, it is learning to look to Christ.

Eg: You have a cell member, the concept of accountability. You ask if they have done their QT. The member says, I haven’t but I’ll do it next week. We show grace. However, next week also he has failed. This happens n number of time and finally, he quits. He draws a conclusion that it doesn’t work with me. We have very subtly introduced law. Because we are telling them go and try harder. This is based on self effort. Based on our own ability. We strive on our own resolution, our own will power. We should let them know that they have failed. You should let them know that they have sinned, we cannot shift sin under the carpet. You cannot let people know that you have failed but actually, you have not failed. Tell them the truth, that we need to spend time with Lord Jesus. Rather than pointing out at their sin constantly, we should have directed them towards Christ Jesus. We should have said that we all struggle but we need to look to Jesus for help and not our self-effort. Key is Galatians 2: 20 ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The life I live now is not by myself, trying harder but trusting in Lord Jesus. I live by faith in the son of God who calls me and gives himself for me. Subtly we do not allow ourselves to not be gripped by guilt, but we need to look to Lord Jesus. Watchman Lee was preaching, by the end of the sermon, a lady walked upto him and asked him to pray that she would be more patient with her children. Watchman lee said, he’ll not pray that she’ll strive from her own strength to be patient towards her children but she would allow Jesus to be patient to her children through her. It’s a world of difference, one says, I’ll try harder, the other one says, I cannot do it but I’ll need the Lord Jesus. Then we are not self centred people but Christ centred. We need to put on the breast plate of righteousness, so that Christ’s righteousness may come in. This BP is Faith and love that protects my heart. From bitterness, unforgiveness, it protects me.

The third piece is the sandals of the gospel of peace. Put on the sandals of the gospel of peace. A soldier cannot go anywhere without his boots. When your boots are on, it means you are ready to go at the command of the king or at the command of the captain. Ronald Docks quotes “in readiness to publish the gospel”. Vs 15 ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ‘with your feet ’. If your shoes of the gospel of peace  are firmly in your feet, you are ready and available with a message of reconciliation. You are an ambassador of the gospel. At the slightest prompting of the spirit you are ready and available to go anywhere and to anyone with the gospel of reconciliation. We are an ambassador of Christ, making an appeal for people to be reconciled to God. This Gospel of peace is not appealing only appealing to pre – believers to be reconciled to God but also, it is an appeal to Christians. To be reconciled again to the ways of God. We are appealing to all kinds of Christians, backslided Christians, stagnant Christians, to get right with God again. Come back to the path of sanctification. The gospel of peace is a message of reconciliation. Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”. If you have the gospel of peace, it means your feet are really lovely. That is because we bring a message of peace wherever we go. We proclaim good tidings, we proclaim salvation. It is all rooted in one thing that your God reigns. It is rooted in the fact that God is reigning. He is sovereign, he is in control. It always comes back to the sovereignty of God. When Paul says in Ephesians 6, put on the shoes of the gospel, he is actually looking at the Roman soldier. He is referring to the strong heavy sandals that is used for long marches. Leather bonds, all the ways up. In the sole there are spikes. Fought physically. The shoes dig in and they can stand their ground. The shoes of the gospel of peace anchors us firmly on the ground. No matter what happens, dig in to this gospel of peace, we appeal to them, get right with God. Dig into the gospel, our message to you is peace. Our message is reconciliation. The only way to true peace is surrender to the will of God. You can’t dig into the gospel of God unless you surrender to the Prince of Peace. Let your will become his will. So when people offend you, cheat you and humiliate you, we still chose to respond in love. We do not retaliate, we chose to stand firm in peace. This is the only way to stand strong in the storm.

Illustration: A pastor was going out for a walk with his friend. He saw a scorpion stuck beneath the rocks. The pastor went out to rescue this scorpion. His friend advised him not to do so, as it will sting him back. The pastor went ahead and removed the rocks to release the scorpion, and the scorpion turned to sting the pastor. The pastor screamed in pain. His friend said, “see I told you”. It is in the nature of the scorpion to sting. The pastor said it is in my nature to save, and how can I allow his nature to change my nature. Many times we get into a situation like this. When people put us in situations, instead of standing strong in our nature, actually allow other people’s nature to dictate how we respond. We are not reacting, every time they step on our toes, we punch their nose. We retaliate instead of responding in peace. And let’s be challenged today that we learn to do this. The sinful nature inside is to fight and have its own way but Christ’s nature is to love, and we should never allow the sinful nature to dominate Christ’s nature. We must allow the nature of Christ within us to rise up. Romans 12: 17 -21 heaping burning coals on his head. We purposely be kind to that person and kill him softly with our kindness. Do the enemy a favour, to bless them. Not a reverse psychology. Overcome evil with good. When we repay evil with evil, we are no longer standing, we are beginning to yield to evil.

Illustration:

An old lady was waiting at the parking lot for space to park her car. As soon as she saw someone move their car, she tried to park in but no sooner a young man swept his car into the parking space. This old lady was furious and shouted at him. She said, I was already putting my car into the parking lot, how could you come in before and park first. He very arrogantly replied, that’s because, I am young and fast. After he left the parking lot, he heard a loud noise of his car being banged. He saw that the old lady was banging it several times. He furiously came and questioned the lady. She said I am old and rich. That’s retaliation. If we live in the philosophy Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, there will be many blind and toothless people quoted by Mahatma Gandhi.  If our feet is dug firmly in the Gospel of peace, where there is evil, we chose to love, where there is resentment, we chose to forgive, where there is pain, we chose comfort, where there is offence we chose to overlook, where there is insult we chose to reconcile. In short, we go in the opposite spirit, on the contrary, we attack evil, we attack the opposite spirit. That is very powerful.

Matthew 5: 43 – 45 ³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. We ask, why should I love my enemy, why should I go through this struggle? Philip Yancy calls it the scandal of forgiveness. Forgiveness is very scandalous. The guy offends me like crazy and then he turns around and says sorry. This very scandalous. I am supposed to forgive, what about all the pain that I went through. After all the stabbing, he says sorry and I must forgive. Forgiveness is scandalous. It doesn’t make sense. It is illogical because grace is illogical. Tell me why should Jesus die on a cross and then forgive us? Why should he do that? It’s actually scandalous. That’s the point, it is about grace, not logic. Then people say, why should I forgive? I will not forgive the person unless he changes. Until he changes, I will not forgive him. Actually that also doesn’t make sense. Forgive: means Before you give, that is forgive. Give before. That means before the person even changes, I can forgive him. We need to differentiate between forgiving an offence and forgiving a sin. Can a forgive a person before they have actually repented for their sin? A husband who has committed adultery, a wife forgives. She has forgiven the offence, the pain that he has caused by committing adultery but can she forgive his sin? To forgive a person’s sin is in God’s domain. He has to sort that out with God. But can I forgive the husband even though he has not repented yet? I forgive him, I let him off for the wrong that he has done against me, but he’s got to sort it out with God as far as his sin is concerned. Because that’s not my domain. But when I forgive him for the wrong that he has done against me, I have set myself free. Forgiveness set us free. But in the end, that man has to sort out his sin with God. Until he repents before God, his sin is not forgiven. Therefore we differentiate clearly between forgiving an offence and forgiving sin. We got no right to forgive a sin. We only got the right to forgive an offence. We should ask ourselves from Matthew 5: 43 – 45 ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven., why should I do that? Because if we forgive, then we resemble most like our father in heaven. Then you may be sons of God, when you are a peacemaker. You are never more like God, than when you are a peace maker. There is no victory for us until we forgive the offences that are done against me. In the movie ‘Forrest Gump’, Forrest Gump and Jenny throw stones at Jenny’s childhood house, which has treated her miserably. Jenny collapses eventually, and Forrest Gump makes an innocent statement, “there aren’t enough stones”. There must come a point when we say enough is enough, we just let the rocks fall from our hands. We let the injustice, the hurt and the pain, the anger and frustration, the wrongs, let it go. Forgive the person and let God take over. That will be the moment when we’ll put on the shoes of the gospel of peace and we move on. We got to come to that point. The challenge is that we want to be free from people. Let’s not be caught in this, but let us be free. There may be people who have wronged you, hurt you and caused you pain but can you let them go free? Yes you can let them go free and set yourself free. Don’t imprison yourself with anger, bitterness and resentment. The biggest irony in this prison is that the key is in your own hands. You could have just unlocked it and walked out. And the key to unlock it is to put on the shoe of the gospel of peace and forgive, let it go. Let the rocks fall of from your hands. That day would be freedom.

Courtesy Benny Ho

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 all believe in a supernatural realm. A realm that is not visible to our naked eyes. It’s a spiritual battle.

And we all are in that battle. God wants to turn us into a warrior. The battle belongs to God. The victory belongs to his Church. The book of Ephesians gives us many pictures of the church.

Including the Church as a family. When we read the first part of Ephesians, Paul is using a metaphor of the church as a temple, church as bride, Ephesians chapter 6, church as an Army. The metaphor has changed from church as a family, temple, bride and Army.

Also, we say the Church is a hospital but the ultimate goal is not only to become a hospital, so that the spiritually wounded people can come but it is also a mighty Army of God.

The day we accepted Christ, whether we know it or not we are already enlisted in his Army. We are not only a servant of God. We are also a soldier of the Cross.

As a solider we have engaged with a new enemy. What’s the meaning of an Army if there are no enemies? We don’t just have a Christian walk but we are engaged in a Christian warfare. The warfare is so intense that, Apostle Paul uses a word wrestle.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood” he said. ‘Wrestle’ also means struggle. It is hand to hand, face to face combat (Dangal , WWE). The spiritual war, we are engaged in is hand to hand, face to face. The intensity is that high.

The more we grow in Christ, the more intense the warfare becomes but we are not afraid because “for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” but the apostle Paul also knows that the weak will not survive this war.

If we are weak we can’t survive this war. Paul begins with this in Ephesians 6:10“¹⁰ finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We have been told to be strong, strong in what? Muscles? Our commitment? Our passion? No, Strong in the Lord. It’s being strong not in our power, positions, but, in his mighty power.

We are not exempted from the warfare but we all have been given an Armor for defence, weapon for attack and assurance of a victory in Christ Jesus.

When we read the NIV version of Ephesians 6:10-20, we see repetitive words “STAND” four times. The attitude which we need to have when we engage in a spiritual warfare, I will not retreat (withdraw) but I will stand against the devil’s schemes.  We will not run away, we will not back out, we will not retreat but we will stand and advance against the devil’s schemes.

Julius Caesar, who played a critical role in the rise of Roman Empire, had led his army to England. Immediately as they reached they burnt their boats behind them. Their attitude is this, there is no turning back. You either win this war or you die. We should have this kind of attitude in Spiritual Warfare.

A question was asked to a military General, which army usually wins? He said the Army which advances. In a defensive position we cannot win a war. The army which advances usually wins.

Church, I want to challenge you today, that we arise to take a stand against the scheme of the devil. The word scheme means methods, strategies, plans. That means no scheme, no methods, no plans of the enemies can prosper against us. Can we read this scripture portion?

1 Corinthians 15:57

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:31, 37-40

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us,who can be against us?

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Before even we start engaging with the enemy, we must first put on the full Armor.  When Paul writes about the Armour of God in Ephesians 6:10-20, we should know the context . Apostle Paul is in a prison and he was chained.

Ephesians 6:10-13

¹¹ Put on the full Armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ Therefore put on the full Armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

We have to put the full Armor of God. How can we stand strong in midst of a spiritual war? Put on the full Armor of God.

If we want to stand strong in a Spiritual war , we can do these 3 things

1. The Armor must be put on before not After the Battle :

Paul Says, Therefore put on the full Armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,

The ‘days of evil’ is a time of attack, times of temptations. The soldier must put on before the day of the battle not after. i.e Before we are even attacked NOT during the attack (temptations, deceptions, attack). During time of PEACE , we have to put on the Armor of God. So that when there are attacks, temptations, deceptions, we are able to stand and not caught off guard. In other terms we have to be operationally ready. Can we imagine a soldier putting on his weapons after it is attacked? The Armor must be put on before, not during or after.

Some of us do the same thing, during good times, we do our own things. Chasing our own ambitions and when the temptations come, they are unable to stand. When the attack comes they fall, when the heat comes on, we all get burnt. If we put our Armor beforehand, there is no surprise attack. Whatever attack comes, we are ready for it.

2. Secondly, The Armor which we put must be complete.

Paul Says, Therefore put on the full Armor of God

During training, the soldiers are trained, from  carrying water bottle to a weapon . They have to carry everything. Like for some of us our Heart is protective but our mind is not Vice versa.

3. The Armor belongs to the Lord

The Armor is the Lord’s. God’s Armor is fashioned and designed by God. No human ideas can take its place. No amount of management skills, people skills, modern physiology, positive thinking can take the place of the Armor of God for our defence.

It is his belt of Truth, breastplate of righteousness, his shield of faith.

The truth is we can’t earn it and we must not try to earn it. It is supplied by God through his Grace.

When a solider goes for a battle, all the weapons are his or it is supplied by someone? The Government issues to him the latest weapon based on the fact that he is part of the Army.

In the same way, based on our relationship with Christ, the Armor of God, is issued to us. As long as we are the child of living God, we all have the Armor of God.

All together there are 6 pieces of equipment

1. The Belt of Truth
2. Breast plate of righteousness
3. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of Salvation
6. Sword of the Spirit

We have Six hardware and One Software “pray in the Spirit on all occasions”. The     whole thing is wrapped up with praying, a dependence on God.

We will look at these equipment one by one

1. The Belt of Truth

If we look at the context behind it, Paul is writing this letter in a prison during the Roman rule. The Romans used to wear long robes and their belt , helped them with their movement.

For our spiritual movement, we have to guard our mind with Truth, with the word of God. Our mind needs to be filled with the word of God.

Devil can deceive us by his lies. Most of us fall here. We need to discern the lies of Satan. The more and more we walk with God and grow spiritually, the more we can discern these lies.

And we have to guard our mind with the truth, i.e. the word of God (Jesus Temptation).We should be gripped with the word of God in our lives. Satan’s lies, deception, accusations, temptations. We will be able to take a stand and resist them in Jesus Name. We will become people of destiny not doubt.

When things press on, Children fall sick, relationship issues, Job issues, pressure at work, exam pressure. We become gripped by circumstances. We go in depression, start doubting God, start complaining .We lose faith, and we are discouraged. We are talking about someone who is spiritually good, when things were good. We need to be strong not deceived by lies.

The devil wants us to be in this cycle of defeat. First he attacks us with circumstances, one after another and as a result of this, we are stressed out. And it quenches our faith, making us discouraged. Once we are down, we begin to doubt, we read all the promises but we ask ourselves is that true , and then there is doubt and lies by Satan.

God says, wear the belt of truth. Stand by it and fight the lies and we have won the battle.

1 John 3:8

⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

Series on Spiritual warfare – Belt of Truth -Courtesy Benny Ho:

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

BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION: THE JORDAN RIVER AND THE WILDERNESS

Mark 1:9-13 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;[a] with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

God’s Love displayed

These forty days we pray that God will reveal in our hearts his love that He portrayed on the cross. Jesus’ journey begins with his Baptism in the river Jordan. God becoming completely human. He endured this journey that God had ordained for Him.

My understanding of these 40 days

It’s a commemoration, we remember that Jesus took up this task of redemption. His aim was to fulfill the gospel and the prophecies. He came to redeem all that was lost, in bondage and groaning with pain. He came to redeem not only the present but the past and the future. The first step towards this redemption was that he became so vulnerable, humble and meek that he fulfilled all righteousness in order to be a humankind.

Baptism:

Baptism was one of this fulfilment of becoming a Human Being. Baptism is nothing but the cleansing of all our past sins, iniquities. Mark 1: 4 – 5. John’ s baptism was a baptism of repentance. So did Jesus have to repent? No. He was simply fulfilling the obligation of being human, Matt 3: 15 – 17 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”.

Voice of God:

Therefore God opens up the heaven and testifies on His behalf. It is a sight worth watching as the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are all present at the same time. It was a mission that Jesus had to accomplish. He already knew the price, the sacrifice and the pain that he would have to go through.

This is just the beginning of his preparation for the crucifixion.

The voice of God was kind of a seal to the plan. The descension of the spirit was the seal itself. All three of them were in the plan. Jesus was preparing himself to go through this physically but God the Father had to go through this pain in his heart. The Spirit had to suffer too. Why?

All for the love of mankind. Why did God love us so much?

Illustration:

We are his children: Our breath is breathed by God. He made us in His image. We have his characteristic and heart. He wanted to live with us eternally. He wants to communicate with us, have a relationship with him. A relationship that will last forever. God knew we were deceived. We are still deceived. As per the law of God, any kind of sin, or blemish had to be eradicated. How is this going to happen? Someone had to die. Someone needs to be punished.

And that was Jesus. Jesus, not only redeemed us by paying a heavy price, he became the second Adam to change our lineage of sin, 1 Corinthians 15:22. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

It wasn’t about this forty days, it was about eternity. Jesus knew, it’s a an unbearable pain but for a short time. He would soon ascend into heaven leaving his spirit with us.

Wilderness

Wilderness was just a glimpse of what Jesus would face on the cross. He would be left all alone, tackling the evil one by himself. Angels would not be allowed to comfort him throughout this period.

Mark 1: 12 – 13 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. What a sight!! Lonely, deserted, painful, tempted.

Why? All for the sake of redemption. Such a costly price. Such a massive decision. This Sunday is a commemoration of the lent that has begun. But it’s not only these forty days but it’s about Jesus’ great sacrifice and price. It’s the good news that at the cost of an innocent man, I am redeemed. I don’t have to face the wilderness, I don’t have to pay the cost of my wrongdoing. I don’t, because, there’s already someone who has gone before me and has done it on behalf of me. However, it’s a shame, if I still wallow in self pity and sinfulness after knowing this truth.

What should be my response? Is there any way I can repay him? Paul says, for the sake of the gospel, I can do anything and can go to any extent, because, even if I were to die for this sake, I will not regret, because the price paid is much greater than what I am in chains for.

What am I taking back home? The assurance of eternity, a restored relationship and forgiveness. It’s far too much of a price to pay, if I understand that, I believe, my life will not become based on my agenda.

Galatians 3:13 English Standard Version (ESV)

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

He was cursed, dejected and rejected.

What’s my response? This is the gospel my brothers and sisters, that Christ became a curse. He became what we are. But He paid a great cost to redeem us. This lent as we begin may we share this good news to all those who are yet in deception / ignorance and in bondage.

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.

Life’s Turning Point

Last time, we journeyed through the calling of Matthew. Matthew was sitting in the Tax booth , doing his routine activities, in the midst of which, a man came to him whose name was JESUS and told him to follow him, and Matthew followed him.

Matthew 9

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

This day for Matthew was a decision-making day.  A turning Point in his Life . He left everything and followed Jesus. He did not even know where he was going. He may have just heard about Jesus.

In our professional life  and spiritual life, we all have a moment which is our Life’s turning Point (Marriage, Job etc ). Also in our spiritual life, we have a turning point. If we look at Matthew, that day, when Jesus called him changed his life.

And today we have an entire Gospel, the book of Matthew, which is written by Matthew.

So from Matthew 9, up till the end of Matthew’s life , he followed Jesus. Physically with Jesus, when Jesus was alive and, without Jesus when Jesus died. What I meant here is that, he was very focused on his calling even after the death of Jesus Christ he followed him wholeheartedly. As per history, Matthew went as a missionary in Persia, Medes and he was killed in Ethiopia.

His life’s turning point was during times, when he was doing very well in his professional life. He was enjoying life with his friends and he had lot of friends.

He left behind the source of his riches; he left his position of security and comfort for travelling, hardship, and eventual martyrdom; he left his old life for a new life with Jesus.

“Follow me” , a command that changed Matthew’s life. Lets read .

Mark 10 :17-22

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]”

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

The above text is mentioned for the Rich and, how difficult it is for the Rich to enter God’s Kingdom.

But if we notice here as well, there was a call for the Rich young man. “Follow Me”.

Who was this Rich Man?

Not only professionally he was Rich, He was Rich Spiritually as well.

(“all these I have kept since I was a boy”)

Jesus, loved this person and really appreciated him as well.

Now, it was a decision which could have change his entire life. He knew the Truth. He had read it, meditated it and followed it.

Jesus meets this young man and says, leave your Riches and then follow me. The turning point in his life. The scripture says

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

He missed that great opportunity. An opportunity of an eternal life. An opportunity to follow his creator.

Its not like he does not want to do it. He wanted to do, but he can’t.

What was the difference between Matthew and this Rich Young man? I don’t know.

But God knows what we are holding on to. And who we are?

God calls each one in a very different way. He will call someone to be a missionary, someone to be a prophet, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors, some to serve the poor.

What is our life’s turning Point? I don’t want to conclude this message. Let each one of us conclude it personally. How many years have we waited to acknowledge God’s calling in our life.

Just knowing the calling that we have been called by God for something is not complete . A calling is complete when we acknowledge Gods calling when he commands.

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