NEWS LETTER OCTOBER 2016

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EDITOR’S NOTE

I greet you all in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.God made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.We will not be able to understand the great love God had for us when He made us who were yet gentiles, His sons and daughters through His son Jesus Christ. In the same way Jesus Christ washed us by His blood and made us holy so we could call Him Abba Father through His spirit. He gave us the garments of righteousness and His angels to minister unto us. All the righteousness He earned, He has given unto us, so that by accepting that righteousness when we pray with authority, our Lord honours that prayer; even the Kingdom of God honours that prayer. The Bible says “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”. Along with that, the Bible says about Elijah in James 5:17 “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” The Lord heard Joshua’s prayer for he was a righteous man. Joshua 10:12 “Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.” All authority in heaven and earth is in your heavenly Father’s hand. What He says comes to pass. He says in Isaiah 45:11 “Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” So remain in His righteousness as one with Him. Jesus Christ says in John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Be righteous like Elijah and pray fervently. Job 36:7 “He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them forever, and they are exalted.” When you live in this world in righteousness and integrity, you will be a blessed man. Proverbs 20:7 “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.” King David says in Psalms 106:3 “Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.” Righteousness and justice are God’s qualities. So accept these qualities in you to be the children of God. The Lord will bless you from generation to generation. Psalms 112:2 “His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.” The Psalmist King David says by his experience in Psalms 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. The God of righteous Abraham, the God of righteous Isaac, the God of righteous Jacob, the God of righteous Joseph, and the God of righteous Moses, will in the same way be a God to all your generations and he will take care of them in a wonderful way. Psalms 102:28 “The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.” The first blessing of righteousness is salvation. One more blessing is a long life. Daniel spoke of this secret to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27 “ Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.” So my beloved children, all these things will bring a great harvest in our lives. Read the word and be blessed. May this year bring a plentiful harvest in all spheres of your life and in your families.

God Bless you all.

Yours in His Service

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord. I suddenly fell sick due to which I went to the doctor who gave me some medicines, but after having them I got small boils on my body. I further took medicines for them but to no avail. On Saturday when I attended church, after the Service I told Pastor Saroja about this who prayed for me and within two days I was completely alright. I give lots of thanks to my Lord for healing me and also thank Pastor for praying for me.

*Sis. Kiran Ravi Singh, Kalina

Praise the Lord. When I was walking down my college library stairs, due to the rains the stairs were very wet, and I slipped and came sliding down the large stairs. That moment I was just praying to the Lord that I don’t land on my head. By God’s grace I landed safely on my legs without getting any hurt or pain anywhere on my body. Anything could have happened to me on that day but only by our Lord’s grace and Pastor’s prayers I was saved from a very drastic incident. I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for saving me and I thank my Pastor Saroja for always keeping me and my family in her prayers. Thank you Jesus.

*Bro. Obed Roberts, Vakola

 Praise the Lord. Whenever my husband used to drink liquor and come home there would always be a fight and nobody could sleep peacefully. Last month for the first time I took the prayer oil to my house and applied it on my husband’s head after he drank liquor and came home. That night he neither fought with me nor with anyone else in the house and we slept peacefully the entire night. I thank Lord for His grace and mercy. Secondly, my elder daughter Rajni had high fever. I gave her only the prayer oil and her fever left immediately; she started sweating and then became completely alright. I give all glory and thanks to my Lord Jesus for His healing touch and thank Pastor Saroja who prayed over the prayer oil.

*Sis. Pinky Lad, Vihar

Praise the Lord. I had fever and was not keeping well enough to do even daily routine work. I called up Pastor Saroja to pray for me and by Lord’s grace my fever vanished and I was perfectly alright. I give all glory to Lord Jesus for healing me and I also thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers.

*Bro. Devdas Swami, Jogeshwari

Praise the Lord. I had an underarm boil in my right hand which was very painful, due to which I couldn’t lift my hand to do any sort of work. I applied the prayer oil over it for two to three days. By Lord’s grace and mercy the boil went off as if it was never there. Secondly I also had a bleeding gums problem. At night I used to apply prayer oil all over my gums and by Lord’s grace, within two days I got healed. I give all glory to Lord Jesus for healing me and I also thank Pastor Saroja for praying over the prayer oil.

 *Sis. Esther Patel, Goregaon

Praise the Lord. I was suffering from a bad stomach upset due to which I experienced severe pain in my stomach and because of that I couldn’t even sleep at night. I drank the blessed prayer oil and got relief from the pain that night. I continued taking the prayer oil and without taking any medicines I am completely healed by Lord’s grace. All glory, honour and praise to my dear Lord Jesus for touching me through the blessed oil. I also thank Pastor Saroja for praying for the prayer oil and always remembering me in her prayers.

*Sis. Evangela Roberts, Vakola

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store.

Visualizing the family needs, she said: Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.” John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store. Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, “Do you have a grocery list?” Louise replied, “Yes sir” “O.K.” he said, “put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.” Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, “I can’t believe it.” The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer which said: “Dear Lord, you know my Needs and I am leaving this in your hands. The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said, “It was worth every penny of it.”

Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.

 So many of us do not take advantage of the power God has given us. A PRAYER!

 

Win souls for Christ and you will shine like stars

 

Philippians 3:9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Before he met the Lord God, Paul was a proud man because he was well educated and qualified, good looking and belonging to the prestigious tribe of Benjamin.  But one day he met the Lord God and was converted, and since the day he found the love of God, his only aim was to spread that love amongst the gentiles. Philippians 3:8-11 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” Vs. 8 says that everything in life was ‘Vain’ for him. In the bible we know the story of the first king of Israel i.e. King Saul. After Saul became a King, he was disobedient to the God’s command, hence the Lord God removed him from being the King. When we have accepted the Lord God, we must always abide by the Word as we have read in Philippians 3:9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Here, we have seen how Paul was converted, and how after he met the Lord God, his life changed and everything thereafter he considered ‘Vain’. He lived his life just in accordance to the Word. In contrast we see King Saul’s life; he was not as thirsty for the Lord as was Apostle Paul. Hence God punished him by removing him from being the King of Israel. Those who love the Lord and want to serve Him, those who seek him and want to find Him must put themselves to test every day before the Lord. We must submit our lives to the Lord and our sins too will be cleansed and washed by His blood and we will be sanctified by Him alone.

 Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Our lives are very precious for the Lord, and for this Lord Jesus left the heavens and came into this world for our sakes. His Love is beyond compare of any love that this world can give us. We do not know how precious we are to the Lord. The people of the world see only what they can see from the worldly point of view; how big a house one has, the wealth that one has, one’s qualification and education, etc. But our Lord sees our heart and who fears Him and loves Him; for God loves those who love Him and fear Him. Ps 4:3 “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.” Here we read that the Lord is checking our heart and mind and soul, He looks for those who fear and love Him and for those who seek Him. Ps 4:7-8 “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” Here David says that more than honey and milk, the Lord has given him happiness. Lord is always searching for disciples who will follow his righteousness and do His works on this earth. David said that even if there was no milk and honey, God’s happiness is enough. God’s eyes are always searching for those whom He wants to bless and those whom He wants to prosper in this life. He is seeking for disciples who will fear Him and do His works on this earth. For such people, God’s blessings are for generation to generation. What is it like, being a disciple of God? It means a disciple is obedient to His Word. The Word always says “Obey God.” Deut 4:40 “Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, forever.” We have to be obedient to God’s Word and do what He wants us do. Deut 8:11 “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:” When we become God’s disciples, it is always favourable to us in our lives. God blesses us when we are obedient to His command. Isaiah 65:22 “They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” It is a great blessing in our life to be obedient to God’s Word and walk in His command. The biggest blessings that we receive from God is when we win souls for His Kingdom. When we win souls for God’s kingdom, we will never lose anything in life, rather we will only experience gains. It is when we forget God’s love for us and disobey His commands, that God closes His ears and eyes to us. In the book of Nehemiah, we read how the Israelites forgot the love of God quickly in their life. When pain and sorrow returned in their lives thanks to their disobedience, they once again repented and started calling out to God. Our God being merciful and gracious, is always slow to anger and full of love; once again He forgave His people and blessed them. He is the same God today, He has not changed. If we do our work of winning souls on this earth, He will not forget us and what we sow, we and not others will reap its fruits and enjoy it. Those who plant, they themselves will also eat its fruit, this is the promise of our Lord God. This is the blessing given by God to those who follow in His footsteps and are obedient to His command. The biggest of all blessings is when we win souls for His Kingdom. There was once a boy who climbed a high hill and settled down at a flat place from where He could view the river passing by on the other side of the hill. There he found sound some good coloured stones and started throwing them into the river. Its ripples and sound fascinated him, so he continued throwing more and more such stones into the river. Finally, he picked up one stone and returned home. He narrated this experience to his father and told him that he was fascinated by the sound that the stone made in the river. His father enquired about the type of stone and the son showed him the stone he had picked up. The father told the son “These are actually precious and expensive stones, why did you waste these precious stones by throwing them into the river?”  In God’s eye we are also precious like these stones. He would not like even one of us to be wasted, rather He would love that we are all saved for His glory and His Kingdom alone. Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Our account of how many souls we have brought to God’s saving grace is written in Heaven. Daniel 12:3 says “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Who will shine like stars in the sky? Those who win souls for His Kingdom will shine like stars in the sky, for every soul is precious in God’s sight. No one can buy souls; Jesus Christ gave His life on the Cross to purchase souls for His Kingdom. The Word says “those who bring many to God’s saving grace and help them to walk in righteousness, will be like stars in the sky.” So if we have to shine like stars in the sky, we have to bring many on this earth to God’s saving grace. While Jesus lived on this earth, He walked whole day long from one village to another, even if it was to save just one soul. He loved the world and fulfilled His Father’s will on this earth and hence is seated on the right side of Father God in Heaven. It should be our aim in life now to continue His work on this earth and win souls for His Kingdom. It is our duty to take the ‘Living Word’ to those perishing souls who have not yet heard the Word, and share with them the same, and bring them from darkness into light. Then, one day God’s promise will be fulfilled in our lives. None of the wealth accumulated in this world can take us to Heaven, but it is our continued works done for God’s Kingdom that will take us to heaven. Daniel 12:3 “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” We must strive to continue Lord Jesus’ ministry on this earth. When we are willing to do God’s work, He will equip us with His Holy Spirit and authority. Mathew 10:1 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Just as Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them His spirit and authority to set the captives free, to heal the sick and broken hearted, lame, blind, dumb and deaf; He will also equip us, who wish to bring the perishing to God’s saving grace with His Holy Spirit and authority. When we desire to do the same, God will give us His powers to use on this earth, beyond the imagination of human beings. We must have the zeal and commitment to do Lord’s work and He will make the way for us. We know Lord Jesus used to travel from one village to another, to save even one soul.  But his constant aim was to win souls for the heavenly kingdom. John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” God the Father thought each and every life so precious that He sent His only son Jesus Christ on this earth to do His works and save souls for His kingdom. In the above verse Jesus says “The time is coming when I will not be able to do any works, hence now when I have the time, I must do the works of My Father.” God’s desire is that not one soul be lost in this world. Jesus Christ fulfilled His desire till He was crucified on the Cross of Calvary; now it is time that we pursue from where Jesus Christ left us. God has given His unfinished work in His people’s hands to complete. The more we bring to His saving grace, the more blessings we will reap in our lives. We know that where there was no Shepherd, Jesus went searching for the sheep of this world. Hence Jesus is the good Shepherd.  Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus came searching for the lost, to bring them to His saving grace. Mathew 18:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” In the Holy Scriptures, we read that the Lord God questioned Cain in Gen 4:9 “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Jesus says in  Mathew 5:23-24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” God desires that the love for brethren increase on this earth. Heb 2:11 “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Many people on this earth still live a life like Cain did, but this is not what God wished for us. God wishes that we love one another and that our love increases for each other. Hence God the Father sent His only son Jesus Christ into this earth. God’s desire for us is to increase the love of brethren in this world. Mathew 12:50 “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Love for one another must be a strong bonding in our lives, in our family and in our congregation. If this relationship does not exist, God says “before you bring the offering to my altar, go and set right the relationship with your brother, then come and offer sacrifice to Me.” God desires that we obey His every command and do likewise as He desires. We must always strive to be disciples of God by obeying His every command. God’s eyes are always upon those who wish to serve Him and do His works on this earth. Jesus said “Who is my brother, my sister, my mother?” Pointing to the crowd, Jesus says “They are my brother, my sister and my mother.” Even today, God has not changed; He is expecting the same love from us towards our brethren. Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to call us His own, yet today we are ashamed to call Him our brother, just as Cain said of Abel “Am I my brother’s keeper?” But the love of our Jesus Christ was so great upon us, that He chose to be born on the earth into a carpenter’s family and continue the works of His Father on this earth. How precious are our Jesus’ thoughts towards each one of us! He is gracious and merciful towards every single soul. This is the love of Jesus Christ for us.

Luke 19:6 “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.” God has given each of us some talent or another, so we need to use our talent for the extension of God’s kingdom on this earth. Here talent is referred to as ‘Mina’. Mathew 25:20-22 “And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.” We see in both verses that talent is referred to differently but means the same. To one He has given 2 talents and to another He has given 5 talents. He expects us to use it and increase the 2 to 4 and 5 to 10 thus saving souls for His kingdom. We have read in Daniel how we need to bring many people to righteousness and the Lord’s saving grace, so as to shine like stars for His Glory. In the Holy Scriptures, we know that David was gifted with the talent to write songs, while God gifted Solomon to be a wise man and he wrote many books; Daniel was gifted with the talent of praying; he was a prayer warrior for God. In spite of the King’s decree that no one should pray to any other God and only bow down to the King’s image, yet Daniel kept his windows open and looked towards God’s Holy temple and prayed only to the living God. This was His boldness and thus he continued to use His talent. In our lives too, God has given each one of us some talent or the other; He has not created us without talent. We have to use it, and when we desire to do God’s work, He will make the way for us, equip us with His Spirit and give us the authority to do His works. Just by being a believer, we will not become stars for Him. We know Jesus Christ did not rest at all on this earth, He continuously strived to do His Father’s will and works. He walked for miles and miles and preached in a village; then retired for prayers and continued to walk to another village to preach the Word. His only aim was to constantly win souls for the Heavenly Kingdom. Till His last breath on the Cross, Jesus only accomplished His Father’s will. As promised, He has left behind the Comforter for our sakes and He has left behind His living Word for us to preach. Now it must be our desire to also continue the good works for His Kingdom. It is His children alone on this earth who can and will fulfill His desire and do His works. Then only will the promise that God had given to Abraham “that your children’s children will shine as stars in the sky” be fulfilled. Now that promise is in our hands, to complete the works of God on this earth. Our only aim should now be to win more and more souls for His glory. We know the story in the Scriptures, of the two sisters, Martha & Mary. Both of them did service to Jesus; one cooked food and the other listened to what Jesus preached. Similarly, even today we are all doing service to the Lord: I go from place to place to preach the Word, but the congregation must support me with their prayers that many souls come to God’s saving grace in these meetings. Only then may you claim to be Abraham’s family and shine as stars for His glory. It is daytime still, so we must do the works of God with great vigour; soon it will be night, then we will not be able to do any works for the Lord. Before darkness falls, we must strive to win many souls for His kingdom.

Acts 10:1-3 “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.” Here we see Cornelius’ faith; he was a disciple of God and His entire family feared God. He also gave large donations for the people of Judah and He prayed for them. God has given each of us talents too, and we must use it; if we do not use it we know what happened to the man to whom God gave one talent to, and who kept it aside. God punished him and put him into hell fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the worm does not die. God will ask each one of us an account of the talents that He has given us. Luke 19:26 “For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.” To conclude, we have seen Saul’s story, who before he knew God was striving hard in this world only to make a name for Himself, by persecuting the children of God. But one day He met God and was converted to Apostle Paul, after which he felt that everything he had pursued in the past was ‘Vain.’ He now dedicated his life completely for God’s glory and strove to win souls for God’s Kingdom. Likewise, we must also live our lives in accordance with God’s command and win souls for His kingdom.

May this message bring blessings in our lives too!

Praise the Lord!

Pastor Saroja M

Rose of Sharon Old Aged home

I greet you all in the name of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

 September 2016 was a joyful month for the inmates and staff of our Rose of Sharon Old Aged Home, because we had many visitors and we did not know how the month flew by!

The visitors were also excited to visit our Rose of Sharon Old Aged Home and they expressed their feelings by saying how clean and friendly  our  Home is. May God Bless them! Below printed is one of the notes received expressing the feelings of the Visitors  on their visit to our Home.

Dear  readers ,do continue praying for me and my staff. May God Bless you all more than what you expect.

 

 

 

 

This month the focus of learning was on ‘Attributes of God’. Attributes means a quality or a feature regarded as a characteristic or an inherent part of someone or something. Jealousy is one characteristic of God.

Explaining jealousy as an attribute to the little ones is certainly tricky. When you have to tell a kid you need to be jealous, you would have questions shooting back to you saying that it is wrong.

 As per scriptures in 1 Kings 19:14 which says “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of host” this was one of the attributes in learning.

The children learnt that like in the day of old,  Prophet Elijah fought with the prophets of Baal as it is written in 1 Kings Chapter 18. Elijah not only put forth a challenge to the prophets of Baal, to prove that we serve an Almighty God, who is the keeper of Israel and who neither slumbers nor sleeps. They learnt how Elijah being jealous for the Lord against the believers of the pagan gods and in the end ensured that none of them even escaped death. The same jealousness helped Elijah stand for the Lord and defeat the believers of Baal.

The kids learnt that we need to be jealous for our Lord Jesus, because He is the one who shed His blood on the cross to cleanse us from our sins. Unlike the prophets of Baal, who shed their blood and received no response from their god. We serve a living GOD whose ears are open towards us be it any time of the day or night.

Do continue to pray for our little ones, while they learn to replicate the characteristics of God in their lives.

 Joy Salins