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EAN ME Template 3 My dear parishioners, Warm greetings to you all in the sweet Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I thank God for this privilege of sharing the word of God with you this month. Our Almighty God has chosen us and He is the one who enables us to live for His glory. I would like to share the word of God from Leviticus 26: 1-13. This passage talks about the blessing of obedience. Our mighty Lord expects His children to be obedient to Him always in their lives. By doing so, our good Lord is ready to bless us abundantly. He gave a promise to His children, to those who obey “I will walk among you, and be your God, and you shall be My people.” Leviticus 26:12. Our Almighty God delivered Israelites from the bondage of Egyptian slavery. He also gave statutes to them to be observed in the Promised Land. It also tells us about the blessings that God would give them if they walked in His statutes and obeyed His commandments. • Firstly, God Almighty reminded His people not to make idols of any kind and bow down before them, for He was the Lord, their God. God instructed Israelites to observe the Sabbath and honour His name and His sanctuary. For that reason, He has given us one more new month. We should not make idols - it may be the money we are after, or other material things. Instead, we should love God wholeheartedly. • Secondly, Almighty God promised to give His people prosperity, protection and peace if they observed His statutes and obeyed His commandments. The great promise He gave them was His presence among them. “I will set my tabernacle among you …I will walk among you.‘’ He said. He is still the same God. He is ready to bestow His manifold blessings on those who walk in His ways obeying His commandments. • Thirdly we should not obey God in order to get material blessings only. Our love and devotion towards God must be a true one. Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Obedience is proof of love. Obeying itself should become our joy, rather than the blessings it brings. In this new month may our good Lord enable us to obey Him always by keeping the Sabbath day holy and always give priority to the Church and its ministries. As God’s beloved children, we will feel His presence always in our lives. Let us seek our God Almighty wholeheartedly and obey Him to get His blessing by keeping His commandments and live as living witnesses wherever we are. Alleluia! Amen. Yours in His joyful service, Rev. Dr. V. Paul Birla Presbyter-in-charge and Chairman 4 ILLUSION OF EQUALITY The modern world that we live in, thrives on an illusion that all of us are fairly equal. Slavery, exploitation and discrimination are often thought of as things of the past. But look around and we can find that this is far from true! Social, economic, political inequality exists - in virtually all spheres of life! Like those famous lines spoken by the pig in George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Animal Farm’, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Down the ages, philosophers like Plato have attempted to analyse, define and sometimes even justify the inequalities of the world. And often, this disparity has been the root cause of all evil! United in Christ But the Christian church is the first institution in history to bring together Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and free - on equal footing. The apostle Paul waxes eloquent on this. He says that while God revealed Himself in the past through Israel, now, through Jesus, Gentiles (those outside of Israel) can also be “heirs together with Israel” (Eph. 3: 6). Yes! we can all equally “approach [Him] with freedom and confidence”. And through the church’s unity the world will see God’s wisdom and goodness. Thus salvation unlocks for us the mystery of unity as people of any and all backgrounds become one in Jesus. As Philip Yancey says, “If we want the community experience God is offering to us, we have reason to seek a congregation of people “not like us.” Equality in all things In Philemon we read about how during imprisonment in Rome, Paul becomes a spiritual mentor and close friend to Onesimus, a runaway slave once owned by Philemon. When Paul writes to Philemon, a leader of the church in Colossae, asking him to receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ, he exemplifies tact and diplomacy. “Although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love… [Onesimus] is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord” (Philem. 8-9, 16). We find Paul appealing to Philemon on the basis of equality, friendship, and love saying “I did not want to do anything without your consent…” (v. 14). What a wonderful lesson to us Christians, that in all our relationships, we must seek to preserve harmony and equality in the spirit of love. Fabiola Jacob 5 Featured on the cover this month is the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar (formerly, Rangoon, Burma). The back cover features the Cathedral’s interior, altar, baptism font and pulpit – photographed by Jaswanth Soundarapandian. About the Cathedral The majestic Holy Trinity Cathedral is located in the busy Bogyoke Aung San Road in the heart of Yangon, adjacent to the touristy Bogyoke market (formerly Scott market) and Junction City Mall, great destinations for jewellery, clothing, fashion goods, handicrafts as well as traditional Burmese and Chinese food. The main Anglican Church in Myanmar, this iconic Cathedral was designed by Robert Chisholm, a British architect, in the Indo-Saracenic style to adapt to the warm and humid conditions of Burma. Construction began in 1886, with the laying of the foundation stone by Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India, and was completed in 1894. The red brick neo- Gothic style Cathedral with a striking white steeple, has historically strong connections with the British military regiments who were in occupation during the period of the British Empire. Although the Cathedral survived the Second World War, the altar and the pipe organ were destroyed during this war. The pipe organ has not been restored (which is the only shortcoming to this magnificent Cathedral), with the congregation using a regular organ for worship services. The side chapel has a memorial for the thousands of soldiers killed during the Second World War in Burma. This iconic Cathedral looks stunning from the outside and is well maintained with beautiful gardens, lush green lawns and a canopy of trees. The atmosphere inside the huge compound is tranquil and calm despite the hustle and bustle outside. The inside of the church is well preserved, warm and welcoming. The five beautiful stained-glass windows at the altar represent The Epiphany, The Baptism, The Crucifixion (centre one), The Resurrection and The Ascension. The Cathedral celebrated its 125th Anniversary (quasquicentennial) in February 2011. The Cathedral is open for worship every day of the year. The Holy Communion Service on Sunday mornings is at 7 am, followed by the Sung Eucharist at 8:30 am, both conducted in English, and well attended by around 300 believers. Coffee fellowships follow worship services. The Evensong is at 4:30 pm in the Burmese language. On weekdays, the Holy Communion Services are held at 7:00 am. The Cathedral also encourages involvement of children and adults in their ministries. The Holy Trinity Cathedral is a ‘must visit’ for anyone visiting Yangon. They say it is a little bit of England left behind in Myanmar. Jaswanth Soundarapandian 6 GEMS FROM THE BIBLE Put them in your heart-bank – memorize and use them! • A Christian should live as Christ did - I John 2:6 • You must not tell lies – Deuteronomy 6:17 • Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you – Genesis 17:23 • I am the Lord who heals you – Exodus 50:26 • You must not steal or lie or defraud – Leviticus 19:11 Premella Soundarapandian Announcement – Subscription Covers The CSI Synod Council has recently made a few important Amendments to the Pastorate Constitution, and we are expected to follow the same. All families in our Parish are expected to get a second subscription cover for their spouses. The covers are ready and kept at the Church entrance. You are requested to kindly collect the same and start offering the second subscription cover along with the first, from April 2019 onwards. Pastorate Committee 7 SHARING John the Baptist asked anyone having two robes to give one to another who has none, David wanted to share his meals with Jonathan’s lame son; He was asked to share all the king’s meals, Unfortunately, bloodthirsty men his life sealed. Multitudes followed Jesus and there was no food, Jesus asked His disciples to feed them if they could; They had a few fishes and seven loaves of bread, Everybody shared and four thousand ate the food, by Jesus blessed. After binding ‘Anti Christ’, Jesus will sit on the judgment seat, He will keep the goats to His left and ‘sheep’ to His right; He will tell the one on the left, ‘I was thirsty and hungry and naked, you never shared; To the one on the right, ‘when I was thirsty, hungry and naked you shared what you had.’ It is every body’s duty to share the ‘Good News’ with others, It is not enough if you have accepted Christ and about others never bother; The time is running short to stand in front of the throne of white, You will have to face, the Judge Eternal ‘Jesus Christ’.
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