MOM : Jul 25 : Onam is round the corner

The main theme for today's session was planning for the onam celebrations ! The time of the year that reminds us of our roots.

We will have our Onam Celebrations on Sept 5. That's the new dates. Hope all of you will be back from your trip for your own "Onam celebrations" in Kerala with family.

Nia & Robin taught us a new Onam song - Kera Nirakal Aadum. However... an update : we may not sing this song. However those who want to hear this awesome song, please check out this youtube video.

Will get back with more details when we do have it.

BTW thanks to the members who ensured the youth league meeting started off on time (within 15 minutes of church ending). 

A warm welcome to the new members.

Futsal :
We also have a football team almost ready for the Tournament being conducted by the Chetpet Church as part of the Platinum jubilee celebrations.Those interested please post a comment or send an email to the group.

Have a great week ahead.

http://youthleague.spmcadyar.org/

MOM July 18, Welcome to new members and Session update

This week's Youth League Meeting was an interesting session, thou a bit longer. OK, I would say, today's session actually started of almost as soon as the church concluded :-) We had an active participation by everyone to pull in new members. We had lots of students from Hindustan College and other potential new members to the Youth League. We had atleast 4-5 of the members engaging them.

BTW since this post also goes out to all new visitors, let me take the opportunity to welcome all the visitors to the St Paul's Marthoma Church Adyar (www.spmcadyar.org). To be precise, we have 24 persons newly added to this mailing list today. I know many may be already regular visitors to the church. Do come for the Youth League as it could help mold your lives according to the will of God. That's one part of the goal. It also helps you socialize with people of your own thought process.

We also had 3 coupon books to be sold and it was done quite easily by our most active members :-).

The singing session started a bit late. We had a follow up discussion with Rev Jacob Achen.

We decided we will have a quick re-cap of what we heard in the sermon before we start the discussion. Members please remember we have to make the session interactive, hence try to collect some points to share and think of questions for the speaker during the sermon itself. Lets make every minute we spend count.

The main theme of the sermon in church was love as a common denominator. It ended of with a true story about the Rickshaw Puller and a small girl, that reminded what charity really is.

Some of the below points were asked during the youth meeting.

The first was the significance of turning the other cheek when one of it was slapped. A point was highlighted that it does not mean submission to wrong doing.

The story of the Rickshaw Puller was touching as it showed what we consider charity. It highlighted the fact that we need to give our time and effort for others. Money alone is not sufficient. Giving money out of abundance is not charity. Quality over quantity matters. I would leave it to one of the members to add a comment with the details of the story in this blog.

I am sure there were other points discussed, I hope other members would chime in.

Onam Celebrations:
We will have our Onam Celebrations along with the Church Harvest Festival on Sept 4 & 5. Our Thirumeni, Rt. Rev. Chrysostom Marthoma Vellia Metropolitan will attend and grace the occassion. We plan to have some games and activities organised during that weekend.
Football Tournament - MTC Futsal :
We will also participate in the football tournament conducted by the Chennai Center Youth League to be help on 7 & 8th August at the YMCA Grounds, Nandanam. We will get back with the exact times for the matches by end of the week.

We also decided to opt out of the Shuttle Tournament organised by the Christian Sports League.

BTW if you missed the Jul 11th session, don't miss to read the blog post titled Confessional Prayer of the Marthoma Church.

Hope to see those who did not attend today, next week.

Have a great week ahead.

July 11 : Confessional Prayer of the Mar Thoma Church

We were privileged to have Rev Sam Koshy Achen talk to us on the confessional prayer of the Mar Thoma Church during the youth league meeting. Here is a quick write up of what we understood. BTW we had good attendance at the youth league meeting  with over 25 people attending. Now to the details.

There will be Series of messages on the Sacrement of the Marthoma Church on every Second Sunday.

Why do we believe in Public Confession?

Public confession is a tradition dating back to the time of reformation in the church. Public confession is an act of affirming the sinful nature of oneself before God and the community. Belief is with support and help of the community, hence public confession.

 The Prayer of Confession can be divided into three statements.

1. Statement to God
2. Statement of Sin
3. Statement of Redemption

Each statement has 3 subparts.

 Statement to God

 The Statement to God addresses God the Father who created the world, Jesus the Son who is the Savior and the Holy Spirit.

• God the Father created us in his image .Therefore we are both spiritually and cosmically like him. Hence we are inherently good and have the potential to be good. However He has given us the freedom to do good or evil. It is when we misuse the freedom that God has given us that we fall into sin. (Creator God). In spite of our sins God forgives us like our parents.
• Jesus dies on the Cross and saved us from sin. God sent His Son in the form of a Human to save us. Even though Jesus redeemed us, we still continue to sin (Redeemer God).
• Holy Spirit reminds us about what is good and bad. The Holy Spirit is like our conscience which tells us the difference between good and evil and guides us. The Holy Spirit is the Counselor within us.(Reference- John14:16)

Statement of Sin

We sin through Thought, Word and Deed

Thought – we sin through Thought because our intentions are not correct; we are filled with malignant thoughts which direct the course our thoughts are shaped. (Reference - Acts 8: 21)

Word – we sin through words which are usually said on the spur of the moment or during quarrels. (Reference- Proverbs 12: 18, 19)

Deed- we sin through our actions because our deeds are not good (Reference Luke 23: 41, 42)

Thought, Word and Deed are related to each other at some level. Hence our thoughts will affect our words and actions and vice versa.

Statement on Redemption

Redemption is meant for persons who are truly sorry for their sins. Even people who you think can never be accepted are also forgiven. 

• Woman who was a sinner – she took the initiative to confess.(Luke 7 : 47,48)
• Publican –  the tax collector Levi – Jesus took the initiative and goes to the sinner (Luke 5: 27-29)
• Thief on the cross – even at the time of death you can confess.(Luke 23: 41,42)
  

Some of the points mentioned during the class :

• Confession is like a new handshake with God.
• Communion is like a Fellowship meal with God. (Psalms 103: 6-8)
• Even if a person is a sinner, God will honour him if he comes back.
• Serious and repeated confession will give you a control over sin. Dedication is necessary; i.e., you have to be truly sorry for your sins.
  
• Confession is an every time, anywhere activity.

Please post any comments on additions or corrections to the content. Any factual errors, do let us know by posting to this blog, so that we can make corrections.

- Ashish & Biju

 

Instructions for BRIM Electronic Display in Church

K.K. Agencies deployed the display device in Church. We call it  BRIM because that is the first text shown on the screen. The below options are for the keyboard based one bought in 2005.


Editing and existing entry:

• Switch on the display by plugging it in.
• Choose the entry by using the Up and Down arrow key
• To edit a specific entry. press F1, now edit the entry using the keyboard. Be patient, it is slow.
• Once making changes, press Enter, then F12. Now it begins to scroll.
• Press F9 to make it stop the scroll. Press Up or Down arrow key as appropriate to reach the right entry.

Adding a new Entry to the end of the existing list:

• Switch on the display, in the state when it is scrolling, press F8
• Now you will see different options. 
• The first entry is GAP:01 then press Enter to view the next option.
• Speed:05 Enter
• Wait:02 Enter
• Now you can add content. By default the font may be big, reduce it by pressing F5 and the save as usual by pressing Enter and F12.

Resetting All Entries:

• While the text is scrolling (typically happens when you start BRIM for the first time or when you press Esc), press F11. 
• You will see SET TIME on the screen. When you see this, press the UP Arrow key and then navigate to CLEAR ALL. 
• Enter Y and DELETE ALL MESSAGES.
• Now Enter one by one in the normal procedure as mentioned above.

You can contact KK Agencies,  the manufacturer/vendor in the following numbers :  044 - 2245 69 25, 94444 56052

Summary of the lesson from the book of Daniel - chapter1

At the beginning of his reign in Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar of babylon ordered his chief Ashpenaz to bring in the most brilliant men in Israel. The men were to be young and from noble families, having physical appeal and showing aptitude in all kinds of areas. These men were to be taught the culture and literature of Babylon. In this passage, Jerusalem represents the 'land of god' and Babylon the 'land of satan'. It shows how satan tries to bend people to his will by forcing them to the act of idol worship. He does this with great shrewdness, by taking the young from their families and showering them wit luxury. The young men were given food from the king's table and the finest wine to drink. He knows tat the old are fixed in their ways and the young are impressionable.

Among these men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishaul and Azariah. They were all given new names by the chief official. Daniel did not object to any of the luxuries on fine education he was given. Nor did he object to his new name, which was an insult to his beliefs. He believed all such things were superficial in nature. None of those depicted who he was as a person. But he would not indulge himself with the royal food and wine. He felt such an act would be an act of treachery to his faith.

The chief feared that if the King saw Daniel looking lean and unhealthy compared to the other men, the king would punish him. Daniel challenged him, telling him to give him and his friends nothing but vegetables and water for 10 days. At the end of 10 days, Daniel and his friends were much healthier and nourished than any of the other men. From this we understand that god provides everything we could ever need, If we just believe in him. Daniel and his friends firm belief in the lord, even in the face of the enemy is admirable and our faith should be independent of the circumstance.

These four men were dear to god and he blessed him with the gifts of knowledge and understanding. From this we see that gods love shows no bounds for those who are not afraid to stand up for him, whatever the situation. The king found Daniel and his friends 10 times more brilliant than anyone else and showered them with riches and high positions at court.

- Anuj