Christmas Carols Dec 10, 2011 - Update

A photo update of our Yuvajana Sakhyam Members singing during the Christmas Carols 2011.

Latin, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, English, Malyalam.... Carol Song by Yuvajana SakhyamThat's what we are planning for the 2011 Christmas Carol Song on  Dec. 10th.
We will sing the song O'h come all ye faithful in  Latin, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, English and Malyalam. This is being taught by Tony and team.
Please come to church on Dec 3 and Dec 4 for the practice. I have attached the lyrics for your reference.
We will send the voice recording of the same so that you can listen to the words/accent and learn some of it on your own.
 http://spmcadyar.org/yl-resources/multi-lingual-o-come.mp3
We want all the Yuvajana Sakhyam members participating in it.

You can view other snaps here.

ARPANAM - Liturgy and Worship

As a follow up to last week's study on liturgy, we had a very interesting study on liturgy lead by Rev. V.M Mathew Achen. Here is a gist of what we heard. This is not a complete summary. Please attend it next week to hear first hand.

We are a liturgical community, we are a worshipping community

Worship

· Is an activity of ascribing worth to God

· Is to credit sacredness of God

· Is to acknowledge God’s worthiness

· Is reverence and adoration for God

The word worship is mentioned 158 times in NIV Bible version

Attributes of our worship

· Our worship is developed from Jewish worship

· Monotheist community i.e. worships one God.

Exodus 20:3-4: You shall have no other God before me. You shall not make for yourself any carved images or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

· Worshipping in a particular place.

Exodus 9:1-2: Then the lord said to Moses” Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, “thus says

the Lord God of Hebrews:”Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Liturgy

Liturgy means order of worship.

§ Greek word Leitourgia-means public duty

§ Hebrew word Abodah –means temple service of God

Liturgy: Is a form according to which public religious worship is conducted

Worship is a natural experience; liturgy consists of external forms and rituals believers use for worship

Sacrament

The word has originated from the Latin word which meant an oath of allegiance

§ Syrian word khadesh-means to be holy

§ Greek word Mysterion is akin to sacrament

Sacrament is a means of grace/something mysterious

Two dominical sacraments are

§ Baptism

§ Holy Communion

Bible and Liturgy

The liturgy in the olden times influenced formation of scriptures. The revelation made by God to Israleties, there deliverance from Egypt, and Gods mighty acts where passed on to Generation by word of mouth and songs, which later took a written form of scripture.

§ The origin of the present liturgy is from scriptures

§ The earlier liturgy of Mathoma community was given by St James

§ Our present liturgy is result of reformation by the reformation leaders like Abraham Malpan and others

Illustration of direct and indirect use of scripture in our liturgy

Direct Use

§ Reading of scriptures in all sacraments

§ Listening of scripture

§ Interpretation of scripture

§ Scriptural verses in liturgy

Indirect Use

§ All our prayers are based on scriptures

§ Theology of liturgy

§ Hymns

§ Responsive reading

- Dayana

Study on Liturgy : Theme for the month

In the the coming weeks, the main theme of the Yuvajana Sakhyam meetings will be a study on Church Liturgy.

We will have Rev. Dr. Prakash George, Rev. V. M Mathew, Rev. Issac P. Kurian, Rev. Gigy Thomas as guest speakers.

Please attend and be blessed. Checkout the flyer printed for this purpose below.

Thanks to Sujith for arranging the flyers !

Group Discussion : Activities for Youth Meetings

Last Sunday  we had a very interesting discussion in our sakhyam meeting. 


Our Gurukul friend Mr. Jijo Thankachen started talking about The Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sakhyam and  he explained what all we should know about our Yuvajana Sakhyam. Followed by this topic he asked all members to write one or two programs which they would like done in our Sakhyam meetings. All were interested i doing this  exercise and based on their choice we divided the groups in to four. There were  four different topics. 


Then each group had discussed about their topics separately and  came up with good ideas on how  we can  implement these. One person from each group came forward and explained their suggestion.  


Ideally we need to plan  and  follow a theme for a month. Based on the theme each team should present their activities.


Team A - Dayana, Alex, Rainu, Kevin

Social Initiatives

• Commitment towards any social organization for a period and providing necessary assistance for their crucial needs
• Regular visit to this organization
• Providing monetary help
• Providing clothes
• Tuition for kids
• Taking them outing once in a year
• Sponsoring a child or an inmates expense

Team B - Kuruvilla, Deepti, Feba, Lidiya

Our group discussed on the topic how Youth Members of our church can help in the GO GREEN activity that's been progressing all around us. But we need to think about the fact that are we participating in such activities.God made this beautiful world and is given to mankind to take care of it. Are we doing the task that is entrusted on us?

So as a youth member of this parish, how  can we save our environment. Small initiatives might change the world and make it a better place to live. Some of the initiatives that we can do :

        Use emails wherever possible instead of paper. Avoid printing papers unnecessarily.
        Avoid the use of plastics in our parish and let the youth ensure  whether it is being accomplished .
        Use paper cups or steel cups (paper plates/steel plates ).

        Donate a jute bag or paper bag to every youth and ensure whether they are using properly.Carry that bag wherever you go and ensure you are not bringing a plastic cover/bag home. If such an initiative works out in the right manner,we can tell the church members about our GO Green activity and ask them to do so (by giving /selling them jute bags).

        Ensure that the electrical appliances are unplugged /switched off when we are not using them.

        Take adequate steps to buy the appropriate quantity of food so that it will not be wasted.



Team C - Allen, Galdwin, Blessy, Cinchu

1. Invite senior citizens to the sakhyam meeting to share their thoughts and experiences. Try and conduct programs for the senior citizens in our church, visit them, which would be a good way to make them happy.
2. Make the presence of the youth league felt in the church by conducting youth Sunday once in a month or so, singing new songs once in a while on Sundays etc...
3. Encourage praise and worship services.
4. Bible study: Take a bible verse, spread it to all members, each and everyone do a study on the given verse and discuss it the next Sunday.
5. Name the trees in the church compound. Take up plant trees campaign in the church and the surrounding areas.
6. Try and have a uniform, when we go as youth league for programs or competitions.
7. Send thoughts to all the members on a regular basis in order to encourage the youth in our church to come for the youth league meetings. 
8.Talk to the new people who come to church and invite them for our meetings.
9. Encourage more team work.


 
Team D - Sujith, Jerin, Nia, Aneesh


1. Detail class and video presentation on our liturgy and history
2 Gospel concert and worship
3 Lucky draw for the poor and needy
4 Debate on current affairs
5 Monthly theme - for a year 12 theme
6 One day tour
7 Two day camp
8 youth meeting in an orderly manner - Bible reading, songs, daily activities, minutes reading


Thank you all for your valuable suggestions and hope we can implement at least some of it.

Special thanks to Mr. Jijo Thankachen, who had conducted this event.

Let us work together and bring out excellent results.

Regards,
Biju.

Youth Sunday Update

Today was celebrated as Youth Sunday.

We had all round participation of the Yuvajana Sakhyam members today.

The special guest for the week was Rev. V. M Mathew who talked to us from the Bible about Joseph and how he was able to be role model for integrity in work and life. In addition to other values, he also talked about how Joseph transformed bondages in to triumphs.

We had Dayana, Cinchu and Alex assisting Achen with the Youth Sunday English Order of worship.

Aju and Blessy participated in the offertory collection and kiss of peace.

Vishal, Sujith and Tony assisted Achen in the altar.

As mentioned last week, we also had a special Hindi song - Yesu mere saath he, yeshu mere andar he, composed and tuned by Mr. Tony. Thanks for everyone's participation today.

Especially it was a great sight to see everyone on time in church by 7:40 am (when the time given was 7:45am) for the song and activities preparation ! Great team work.

The Youth Meeting that followed started off with singing two songs and prayer by Mr. Gijo. Then we had Rev V. M Mathew Achen continuing from where he left the sermon and called up on the youth to ensure the right attitude in the workplace, and to live a disciplined life to become a disciple of the Lord.

We had five new faces today : Arun & Kiran (twins), Feba & Lydia (ME Anna university) and Kevin. A warm welcome to all.

Kiran made the closing prayer.

Have a nice week ahead.

Youth Sunday : True Spirituality in the Age of Information Technology - Youth Sunday (19th Sunday after Pentecost)

This Sunday will be celebrated as Youth Sunday - October 9th. It also coincides with our Qurbana Service in English.

The youth league will also sing a special Hindi song taught by Mr. Tony. All Youth League Members are requested to join the singing. It will be just before the sermon. We will have a practice session at 7:45 AM on Sunday before church begins.

Theme for Youth Sunday as per the Sabha Lectionary :
True Spirituality in the Age of Information Technology - Youth Sunday (19th Sunday after Pentecost)

Lessons:
Gen. 39:1-10
Phil. 3:1-11

Epistle-Gospel
1 Tim. 4:6-16
St.Mark.10:17-22

Evening Reading
Ps. 148
2 Tim. 2:l-13

Updated : Download link for the Youth Sunday Order of worship that we will follow during the church service.

MOM - Onam Accounts Committee Meeting - 2011

The committee meeting of St. Paul's Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sakhyam was held on Sunday (2nd Oct. 2011), immediately after the Yuvajana Sakhyam meeting.

Agenda of the Meeting:

1) Presenting the accounts of the Onam celebration held on 18th Sep, 2011

2) Finalizing the date and the venue for Yuvajana Sakhyam Camp.

3) Discussion about Magazine (Kai - ezhuthu - mazika)

4) Congratulating Kalamela Winners

The meeting was started with prayer by Rev. Gigy Thomas.

Onam accounts:

The Onam accounts was then presented by the treasurer Ms. Dayana Joseph. The details of the onam expenses and income will be updated in our blog. The committee verified and passed the accounts.

As planned earllier, the committee directed the treasurer and secretary to create the new bank account and transfer the settle the money to the account quickly. As part of this, they are to create the FD account for Jossy memorial fund at the earliest. The Jossy Memorial Fund will be maintained by St. Pauls Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sakhyam and the interest of the corpus will be given through the appropriate channel to fund education of a child.

Youth Camp : We decided to have two days camp in our church premises on 14th and 15th January, 2012. Participants from age group 15 and above are welcome to participate. The camp committee will meet separately and plan for the arrangement of the camp.

Kai ezhuthu Magazine:

The committee nominated three people for managing the magazine publication. Following members are nominated by the committee.

1. Kuruvilla Mathew - Release Owner / Publishing / Co-ordination and ensuring timely completion.

2. Content Owner - Christo Jacob George & Sujith M Philip

Finishing date of this magazine is on 31st Jan, 2012.

We also spent few minutes for congratulating Kalamela winners. The trophy and certificate will be provided to the winners on the Youth Sunday(9th OCT, 2011).

The Meeting ended up with closing prayer by Gibu and the benediction by Rev. Gigy Thomas.

Biju

Secretary

Kallamela Update : 2011

The Chennai Center Kallamela was held in Padi church. A team of 8 participants went from our church. They hired a mini van and started off at 7 AM.

The participants were : Biju, Dayana, Anish, Christo, Jerin, Deeepti, Blessy, Alex, Alen John....

Jerin - Essay Writing - First, Elocution Malayalam - Second, Solo Singing Second.

Dayana Joseph - Essay Writing First

Blessy Ann Joseph Bible Reading Second

Chirsto Jacob - Story Writing Malayalam - First, Poetry Writing Second,

Kuruvilla Mathew Cartooning First

Tableau - Group Event - Second

It was a memorable experience for all. Special thanks to Alex for joining us and giving moral support for the team!

Hope more of our friends will join next year. Have a great week ahead.

Onam Sangamam - 2011

Friends,

We had a very successful Onam celebrations. Thanks for all your participation and support.

The Yuvajana Sakhyam presented a skit along with the choir singing some good songs and the sunday school students chipping in with some great performances with dance and plays.

You can find the photos taken below :

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW

Yuvajana Sakhyam Onam Sangamam 2011

Onam Sangamam 2011 - Sept. 18, 2011

Onam Sangamam is back.

We will have the Onam Celebrations for the year 2011 at the St Paul's Marthoma Church, Adyar on Sep. 18th 2011.

The special guest for the event is Mr. Ashok of Hindustan Group of institutions. We will also have our below Vicar Rev. Gigy Thomas, Rev. V. M. Mathew and Rev. Joby Thomas Samuel.

We will have a host of activities starting from a Onam song by the choir, skit by the Yuvajana sakhyam and other programs by the Sunday School. This will be followed by the Onam Sadhya!

Please come and participate in the celebration.

Have a great weekend.

- Biju Philip

Chennai Center Yuvajana Sakhyam Meeting on Sat @ St Paul's Adyar

All members are requested to be at the Church on Saturday, Jul 23rd, 9:30 AM to attend the Chennai Center Yuvajana Sakhyam Center Meeting.

This will also be an opportunity to meet other members from the Chennai Center.

Please come prayerfully and be blessed.

July 17 : Songs and Planning for Onam

Today's was a session mainly to plan for the Chennai Center Yuvajana Sakhyam Center Meeting to be held on Jul 23rd at our church.

We practiced some songs and had an introduction to the Onam programs by Christo.

Next week singing will be lead by Nia / Anish and Team.

All members are requested to be at the Church on Saturday. Jul 23rd, 9:30 AM to attend the Chennai Center Yuvajana Sakhyam Center Meeting

July 10 : Rev V. M Mathew on Seeking Him, The Old Testament and some HEATED discussions

This week we had a very interesting discussion and talk by Rev V M Mathew, a student of the M.Th. He talked to us about the importance of The Old Testament.

There were a lot of intriguing details that he shared with us and these will surely help us understand the context of the Bible.

It started off with the call to seek the Lord and that seeking should not be limited by

• convenience
• considerations
• corrupted way of our life

Seeking should involve

• a confrontating Him
• Returning to the Lord - re-turn.
• Submitting to his ways and thoughts

Some of the others points mentioned discussed are mentioned. It went in to the structure of the Old Testament books, plus some interesting facts about organizing the Bible.

• Between 400 BC to Jesus birth, there is no coverage of history in the Bible
• It is very important and interesting to first of all understand the chronology of the Bible. This will help us put things in to perspective.

Those who did not attend, did miss some very interesting views about the Bible and make sure you come every second Sunday to attend the classes organised by Rev. V. Mathew Achen.

MOM: 3rd July 2011

Last week we had two interesting activities in our Sakhyam meeting.

We all learned "The Lord's prayer" in Hindi, which was taught by Tony Varghese.

We also had an interesting Bible Quiz(Topic Related to New Testament ) conducted by Gibuchan.

I hope all of us remember the Lord's prayer Hindi version :-)

Bible Quiz was very interesting as it would help us to understand the theme of each chapter in the New Testament. We had two teams, Team A and Team B which lead by Sherin and Deepti. Gigichan was the official score keeper and ensure fair play:-) Finally Team A won by just "5" points:-). So special thanks to Gibuchan for conducting this programme and looking forward for more ... :-)

See you in church this weekend.

MOM: 26th Jun, 2011 - Message by Rev. Joby Achen

Today we had Rev Joby achen who is student Chaplin in Chennai as the guest speaker.Achen gave a very meaningful message on human worries and anxieties and the way out of it through word of God.

There are three major factor which leads to anxiety

• Uncertainty
  
• Agitation
• Fear

In today’s fast moving world each one of us are constantly under the grip of any one or all of the above mentioned factors.

But word of God clearly shows us the way to ward of anxiety. The word of God says in Mathew 6:25-31

25 .Therefore I say to you don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on .Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26 .Look at the birds of the air for they neither sows nor reaps nor gathers in barns yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you of not of more value than they.

27. Which of you by worrying can add a cubit to his stature?

28. So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin.

29. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

31. Therefore don’t worry saying what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or what shall we wear?

32. For all these things the gentile’s seek. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.

33. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.

Though worry and anxiety are an indispensible part of our life, it is in a way a factor which drives us every day to perform. God does not except us to sit with hands closed, but take up responsibility without lamenting.

If we have a great relationship with God through prayer and have total submission to the will of God, we just need to do our responsibility as excepted by us and God will work through us and bring perfection in all that we do.

Some thoughts put forth by our youth member were as follows.

· One of our youth members said about the great emphasis given to Yoga as a stress buster. So during the discussion the view that was put forth was that

Yoga is akin to our prayer where we try connecting with the almighty, which our forefathers religiously followed through family prayer in morning and evening .But today we hardly find such time to kneel before God and pray.

All we need to do is understand the priorities in our life and keep aside a good amount of time to strengthen our relationship with our creator and everything else would fall in place.

Posted by Dayana Joseph

MOM: Jun 19th 2011 : Tony Varghese Testimony and Song

Today we had our Achen and Mr. Tony Varghese - the new student from Gurukul Theological College during the Yuvajana Sakhyam meeting. Tony did most of his schooling from near Jabalpur, MP and is a final year student for the B.D now.

We also had four new members to the Yuvajana Sakhyam. First of all let me extend a warm welcome to each of them. They were Subin, Cibin, Reenu and Anila.

Today Tony shared his testimony and we sang a few songs. Basically we reveised some of the songs that Jerry taught few weeks back.

Sherin gave a brief update on the Yuvajana Sakhyam Center meeting. Two of our members were selected as various representatives of the center committee. Sherin was selected as the auditor and Alan John was selected as Committee Member.

Note : we will have a Bible quiz on Jul 3, 2011. The objective of the quiz is to understand the high level objective of each book of the Bible. During the quiz, various facts/statements about that book of The Bible will be mentioned and you will have to guess the name of the book. To start with we will focus only on the New Testament.

Have a great week ahead!

MOM: May 29 Learning new songs

Today we had the choir master, Jerry teaching us some new songs that we can sing during our upcoming Cottage Fellowship.

The songs we learnt are :

• Into my heart, into my heart
• When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart. .
• No never alone, no never alone
• two other convention songs

We will have our Cottage Fellowship at Achen's parsonage, on Jun 4th Saturday - 4PM. If you missed last week's session, check out the last post for updates.

BTW : those interested to play badminton can come to church around 6:30 AM on week days and Saturdays. The recreation club of the church is ensuring a good atmosphere for this purpose and has been doing it well for the last two months.

MOM: May 22, 3Ms lead by Bishop's secretary Achen

In today's session we had Rev Jose C Joseph achen who is the diocesan Bishop's secretary speaking to the Youth members.

The main message was the necessity to be control of 3Ms. The three Ms are

• Motor bike
• Mobile
• Mouse

Each the above can impact our lives negatively if we are not careful. He called up the youth to deal with care each of these.

We need to make sure we are not addicted to say the mobile. Ending up talking when it not necessary and wasting time that can otherwise be spent productively.

Also make sure you are not addicted to the computer. Know the limits that you have to observe on your own. Listen to your conscience, and stay clearly away from bad sites.

All these point to one theme. Know your limits and make sure you do not abuse the freedom and trust entrusted on you by your family and society.

Christo Jacob George : Marthoma Students Conference Representative to the Marthoma Prathinidhi Mandalam

The St. Paul's Marthoma Yuvajana Sakhyam proudly congratulates Mr. Christo Jacob George for being elected as the Marthoma Students Conference  Representative to the Marthoma Prathinidhi Mandalam, for the year 2011 - 2014.

Prathinidhi Mandalam This is the house of representatives, the apex body of the Church, consisting of the Metropolitan, all other Bishops, Vicars General, representatives of clergy and parishes, representatives of the recognised Institutions of the Church, representatives of those who have become members of the Church as a result of the missionary work of the Church and persons nominated by the Metropolitan.

The Mandalam elects the Sabha Secretary, Lay Trustee & Treasurer and Clergy Trustee. The Mandalam decides all spiritual and temporal affairs of the Church. The annual report, accounts and budget are scrutinised and passed by the Mandalam. The decision of the Mandalam are circulated in all parishes by the Metropolitan, with the approval of the Synod.
Read more about the administration of the Marthoma Church in the sabha website.

Christo is the son of Rev. George Thomas and is a dedicated and dynamic personality pursuing his Masters in Philiosophy in the Madras Christian College, Chennai.

We believe he is a dedicated and  valuable asset to our church and will be an apt representative for the students of the Marthoma Church.

We wish him all the best and pray that, the Lord almighty will give him wisdom and understanding in all his endeavours.

 Rev. George Thomas (father) and Christo Jacob George

Gladwin, Ashish and Christo

Congratulate Christo by sending an SMS to 801-575-6246 or email to christo_grg @ yahoo .co.in

MOM: May 8th Rev. V. M Mathew, Rev. Jobi and Rev. Gigy Thomas Achen

Today we had three priests in our midst.  Rev. V. M Mathew, Rev. Jobi and Rev. Gigy Thomas Achen.

The meeting started with prayer by Gigy Thomas achen. Then Regichayan welcomed V. M Mathew Achen, Joby achen and also all new
comers to the sakhyam meeting. The main speech was conducted by V. M Mathew achen who was our V. B. S director.

Achen focused mainly on the problems of youth based on bible portion Genesis chapter 3. Though so many problems faced and the main focus was given on "temptations". The very first temptation comes to our mind from The Bible is the temptation which Adam & Eve
undergoes. Serpent tempted Eve by raising doubt whether God has really said not to eat the fruit. Similarly Satan lead us into temptation
by raising doubt in us. Here in this scenario Serpent tempted Eve by emphasizing that if you eat the fruit you will be like God. We always
think that we should be in control of everything. It helps Satan to put us in temptation. Because like Eve at times we want to be like God and
control everything.

About the fruit which made Eve to be tempted by Serpent there are 3 kinds of temptation:

• Temptation of eye
• Temptation to consume
• Temptation to possess

Temptation of eye:
Eve got tempted primarily by the sight. Even in our life we are primarily tempted by sight or eyes. In 2 Samuel 11:2
we can see that David sinned due to temptation of eye. In this era of technology chances are more for youngsters to get tempted by eye.

Temptation to consume: Nowadays we human beings are consuming or eating food not because of hunger but for taste. This is another
form of temptation which will lead us to be tempted.

Temptation to possess: We always have temptation to possess everything we desire. We human-beings are never satisfied with what we
have, that's why we always got an urge to possess. And thereby we will be easily tempted.

Being tempted is not a sin but falling into temptation is sin. We are always surrounded by the temptation of becoming God, by temptation
of eye, temptation to consume, temptation to possess. As Jesus Christ overcame the temptation which Satan raised, we will also be able to
overcome the temptations. We live in a world of temptations and the only solution to overcome this temptation is with Jesus Christ. This leads
a life with him and word of God. We will acquire the strength to resist all kinds of temptation which Satan tries like he did in Adam & Eve.

Some doubts were asked to achen:

How to overcome the peer pressure?

The only solution is that we should have strong faith and should have courage to say no to the temptation which Satan will be raising
through peer groups. Achen explained it with an example from his own experience in life.

Then Joby achen who is the new chaplain for youth ministry in Chennai gave a self-introduction and requested all youths for their co-operation in his
ministry. And he presented a urge for meeting all the students and youths, thereby extending works of youth ministry in Chennai.

Our Vicar, Gigy achen offered all support for Joby achen in name of our sakhyam and inspired the youths to overcome peer pressure. He
also asked sakhyam members to render support to others who are suffering from peer group pressure.

The meeting ended with prayer by V. M Mathew Achen.


- Jerin

Farewell Abey Thomas

Abey, one of our active, dynamic and vociferous friends is finishing his academic project in Chennai and heading back to Kerala to finish his masters. Well though many would like to see him dead :-), he was a talented and active member of the choir, yuvajana sakhyam and badminton club.

Older post : Other Farewells meeting photos to Rev K C George Achen and Rev Sam Koshy Achen.

So why this post ? We could not wish him during our Sakhyam meeting, so thought it best to post in this blog.

Abey was a good photographer too and has taken a lot of them.... below are some of them :-) By the way he has a lot of friends and ...... . BTW do not miss to checkout the comments section.

Wishing you all the best Abey...

Abey

Abey and friends

Abey and his enemies :-)

Easter Service @ 6 AM : Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valia Metropolitan will Attend

Friends,

Here is an update on tomorrow's activities in Church.

Tomorrow's Easter service will be at 6 AM in Church.

We will have Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valia Metropolitan attending the service.

Tomorrow is Thirumeni's birthday too. Hence there will be a small celebration.

This will be followed by breakfast.

Church organised Farewell meeting for Rev. K C George Achen

Tomorrow is also Rev. K C George Achen's farewell meeting. He is also retiring from active service too. Lets make it a memorable one for him by attending both the service and the meeting that follows.

- Gibu

UPDATED: Photos from this event.

Other Farewells meeting photos to Rev K C George Achen and Rev Sam Koshy Achen.

Marthoma Students Conference 2011 - 101th Conference

Farewell meet for Rev Sam Koshy Achen - Photo Feature

On Sunday the farewell meeting for Sam Koshy achen.

Rev. Sam Koshy achen is leaving Chennai. He was a very popular achen among the youth and has been participating in various activities of our Yuvajana Sakhyam like the one day outing to Scripture Union.

Christo, Reji and Jerin shared their experience on the good guidance and enlightenment provided to personally each one of them and as youth league by both achens.

Mementos were presented to KC George and Sam Koshy achen

Sam achen thanked everyone for their good words .He took the opportunity to also thank the people who had greatly influenced his life, the foremost being his mother who according to him challenged them through her steadfast faith in God in spite of undergoing lot of turmoil in her life.

Achen urged each one o f us to challenge others through our faith in God

Achen said “I am a collaborative product “

Achen also expressed gratitude towards his parish in Elanthore and especially K O Philopose achen who had been instrumental in great changes in his life and guided him into church ministry. Achen also thanked Sunil George and K G Paul achen for shaping his teaching ability.

Achen also gave some insights on significance of kneeling during Good Friday Services.

When we kneel before god we:

· Admit Gods supreme authority in our life

· Remember the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the cross for remission of our sins.

· Look forward for a new heaven and salvation which is symbolically represented when we kneel toward the eastern direction(Revelation 21:2-11)

Achen urged each of us to give tithe and to challenge others through our faith.

K C George achen greatly appreciated the various initiatives taken by youth league and encouraged us to continue with the same spirit and enthusiasm.

Thank you for your leadership Achen.

- Dayana / Deena

Annual General Body Meeting and Achen Farewell

Last week we had the annual meeting of the St Paul's Marthoma Yuvajana Sakhyam. It was held after the followed by Church General Body on Sunday. We started with Song and Prayer.

The Annual Report for 2011 was read out. Additionally the accounts was read out. It was read out by Gibuchan and Cinchu.

Nia read from Romans the Bible reading. Later on Jerry, Ruby and Jenzo sang a nice song as part of the meeting.

Farewell Meeting for Rev K. C. George:

The annual meeting was followed by a farewell meeting for our beloved Achen and Kochamma. The felicitation was given by Rejichan, Biju, Deepti and Christo. Other Office Bearers of the church Gigichan, Sennichan and Binodhachan also participated in our meeting.

Annual General Body Meeting on April 10, 2011

The annual general body meeting of the St Paul's Marthoma Church will be held on April 10, 2011 Sunday after Church. The main agenda will be to pass the annual report and accounts for 2010 - 2011 of the Yuvajana Sakhyam.

All members are requested to attend.


- Secretary

Lenten Prayer : Day 31

LENTEN PRAYER FOR DAY THIRTY ONE

DAILY BIBLE READING

Day :  Exodus 14: 21-31,   Acts 18: 18-28

Night:  : Isaiah  40: 12-24,  Romans 1: 8-17

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LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 30

LENTEN PRAYER FOR DAY THIRTY

DAILY BIBLE READING

Day :  : Genesis 20: 8-18 ,  Romans 9 :1-13

Night:  : Jeremiah 33: 6-11 , Romans  9:14-33

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Lenten Prayer : Day 29

LENTEN PRAYER FOR DAY TWENTY NINE

DAILY BIBLE READING

Day : Daniel : 3 ,  Acts : 16 :16-40

Night: Genesis : 43 , Galatians : 6

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Lenten Prayer : Day 28

LENTEN PRAYER FOR DAY TWENTY EIGHT

DAILY BIBLE READING 

Day : Genesis 18: 1-15,  Acts 16: 8-15

Night : Isaiah 55: 1-11,  I Corinthians 9: 15-27.

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Lenten Prayer : Day 27

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Seven. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here: Daily Bible Reading.In order to see the text clearly, click the image for a larger size image. Sometimes the browser will zoom out and show a smaller image, you can click the image a second time to make it bigger.

MOM & Weekend Event

We started the Yuvajana Sakhyam after the Sevika Sangham breakfast sale. We learnt a new Maramon Convention Song and this was followed by Quiz conducted by Christo and Gladwin. We formed two teams called DMK & ADMK(Names suggested by Gladwin) :-) . DMK and ADMK were lead by Robin and Daiju respectively.

There were seven rounds for the quiz based on various categories :

1) Bible portion(John chapter 5 to 10)

2) Meanings of Syriac liturgical terms

3) Abbreviations

4) Pictures

5) Logos

6) Flags

7)Audio-Visual round.

It was a very interesting quiz. Thanks to Christo and Gladwin for made a unique style of quizzing.

Finally DMK Won the quiz by just five points:-)




Bible Study during Sermon

It was 4th Sunday after lent started. Daiju presented a speech based on Matthew 15: 8-28.

He told the story of the a Canaanite Woman's Faith.

A Canaanite woman came to Jesus and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!"

But he answered her not a word.
His disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away; for she cries after us."
But he answered, "I wasn't sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But she came and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, help me."
But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
But she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith!

How we will survive in this hard situations ?
God will hear those who repent. Do not come to church as for a formality or as a routine ..Be in Faith with Lord..

Jesus is not meant for Jews but for every one. Learn " How to receive not only to give".

Faith :- Its a combination of Objective faith and Subjective faith..

The woman's words and actions showed her faith through being persistent. She knows she was just tested by God with His responses. But the woman was able to wait and beg for God's mercy. That's how much faith the Canaanite woman has for our Lord. This should have been our attitude over any circumstances in life.

Cottage Fellowship:

Cottage fellowship will be hosted by Dyana and Jerin on 2nd April 2011(Saturday) @ Dayana's house. Please note the below address.



No.17/11, Zion Appartment,
Mahalakshmi Street,
Gandhi Road,
Velachery.

Landmark : Opposite to David Matriculation School

Cottage fellowship will start at 3.30pm.

Thank you Anish for summarizing the Bible Study.

Lenten Prayer : Day 26

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Six. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here: Daily Bible Reading.In order to see the text clearly, click the image for a larger size image. Sometimes the browser will zoom out and show a smaller image, you can click the image a second time to make it bigger.

Lenten Prayer : Day 25

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Five. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day, click here: Daily Bible Reading.In order to see the text clearly, click the image for a larger size image. Sometimes the browser will zoom out and show a smaller image, you can click the image a second time to make it bigger.

Lenten Prayer : Day 24

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Four. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here: Daily Bible Reading.In order to see the text clearly, click the image for a larger size image. Sometimes the browser will zoom out and show a smaller image, you can click the image a second time to make it bigger.

Lenten Prayer : Day 23

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Three. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here: Daily Bible Reading. In order to see the text clearly, click the image for a larger size image. Sometimes the browser will zoom out and show a smaller image, you can click the image a second time to make it bigger.

LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 22

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty Two. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here: Daily Bible Reading.
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LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 21

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty One. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here:Daily BibleReading.
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LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 20

Lenten prayer for Day Twenty. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here : Daily Bible Reading.
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LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 18

Lenten prayer for Day Eighteen. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here : Daily Bible Reading.
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Farewell to Rev. Jacob P Thomas & Bible study

It was a farewell meeting for our beloved Jacob P Thomas Achen. Sakhyam started with prayer by KC George Achen. This was followed by a vote of thanks to achen by Regichayann and Christo .

Additionally we had a prayer chain for few subjects. The subjects were prayer for Sujithachan and Soumyachechi, prayer for the tsunami and earthquake affected people of Japan, students writing their exams and prayer for Gibuchan.

All Sakhyam members actively participated in the pray chain and the meeting ended by Jacob P Thomas achen giving the closing prayer.

Bible Study during Sermon

It was 3rd Sunday after lent started , Achen given a speech based on Mark 2 : 10-11

He told the story of the paralyzed person

He came up with 2 views of the story,

1. Crowd :- barrier for the person to meet Jesus.

We need to be truly dedicate ourself in our act and pray during lent day, this will help us to meet lord.

2.Power :- God has only one power and it is Love.

Lent is the season for the experience of giving your life over -- in each moment, bodily, deliberately, to Christ and to what the Spirit is showing you. God wants you to surrender yourself, and let the Spirit work in you.

It is the opening up, the turning over to God, the repenting of our sins, the turning away from that which does not please HIM.

Thanks Anish(Kuruvilla) for posting this Bible Study

LENTEN PRAYER : DAY 17

Lenten prayer for Day Seventeen. Also read the Bible portion for a specific day here : Daily Bible Reading.
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