From the Desk of the Presbyter-in-Charge

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ!

Almighty God enabled us to witness one more triennium in our lives. We need to be thankful to God for His blessings and guidance. He had been with us in our life journey and enriched our experiences by His presence. His presence made things possible and more meaningful. We need to introspect ourselves and have to proclaim along with the Psalmist `This is the Lord`s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes` Psalm 118:23.

As Church, families, individuals this is a time of thanksgiving for His bestowed grace upon us and is also a time of submission. `A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you` Psalm 91:7. `You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday` Psalm 91:5,6. A new triennium is not our merit, but it is a gift of God and His mercy. It is a symbol of His pertaining presence upon us in the past. It also exemplifies that our God is gracious.

‘It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end` Deuteronomy 11:12. The gracious pledge of our heavenly Father is an assurance of His care and concern. If He will be our source, the situation will never fail us (whether hill or valley). Extra ordinary faith enables us to transcend our circumstances. ‘For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith’. 1 John 5:4. Faith can change any situation. No matter how dark it is, no matter what the trouble may be, a quick lifting of the heart to God in a moment of real, actual faith in Him, will alter the situation in a moment.

Faith is a God-given facility which when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view and by which the impossible things are made possible. Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our cooperation. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy, and we have a feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie. Faith is walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely. Faith says not `I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it, ` but `God sent it and so it must be good for me`. Faith requires unconditional belief in His faithfulness. God wants us to trust Him apart from all feeling, resting His own word and on His faithfulness to His promise. Faith is moving beyond our understanding. Both of them said to Him, ‘Lord if you had been here, my brother had not died’. Their inner thought sounds like this ‘we do not understand how you could let death come to the man whom you loved’. To them Jesus replied, `You may not understand; but I tell you if you believe, you will see`. Abraham could not understand why God should ask the sacrifice of the boy, but he trusted. Joseph could not understand the cruelty of his brothers, the false witness of a perfidious women and the long years of unjust imprisonment. But he trusted and saw the glory of God.

Likewise in our life too, we may not be able to understand the devious ways of God and sometimes we may ask why plans and purposes that seems good to my eyes should be baffled. God does not expect us to understand them, but we need to believe in Him. We need belief beyond our circumstances, then only our faith will remain as glory to God. We need to believe beyond human comprehension, then only our faith would challenge the circumstances. In the new triennium, may God enable you to stand firm in your faith and be uncompromising to practice faith.

Yours in Christ, Rev. Jerin Thomas George Presbyter-in-Charge