Dearly Loved ones in Christ
Greetings in the name of our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Let us thank and praise God for His providence and guidance in the past month. Month of July starts with the biblical thought of stewardship. It is a biblical mandate. Bible speaks a lot about this. The Parable of the Talents that we see in Matthew 25:14-30 instructs us the biblical truth,-“We are Stewards not Owners”. I am also having the opinion that none of us are owners of anything. All that we have belongs to the Lord. We are stewards – not owners. If Jesus lives in us, we will realize the fact that we are His stewards rather than being owners of our possessions. This parable teaches us that bringing our resources under Christ’s feet is one of the most important basic principle that we need to breed. In Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”It is important to note, that satan is using the lust for money to establish his rule and authority in our hearts and God is using the heavenly truth of stewardship to instill His rule and authority in our hearts of humankind. Where are we now? Who is our companion? The Bible teaches that in the last days men shall be lovers of money. Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves bread in and steal; but lay up your treasures in heaven.” Christians are Stewards. The Bible says ‘The earth is the Lords and all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein (Psalm 24:1)’. So God is the owner of everything in this world. Whatever we have is only from God. We are only the trustees of HIS property and God wants us to be a good Steward. We are accountable to God. We are tenants not owners. We are stewards and trustees.
To instill God’s kingdom in our hearts we must empty ourselves and we must accept the fact that we are simply stewards of His possessions. The choice is ours as the parable of the talents illustrates so clearly.
Theological education and ministerial formation is another theme that we discuss during this month. We live in an age where there is more importance to theological education. It is right to say that most of our church leaders who are in power lacking proper theological as well as biblical knowledge.Theological education is conducive for any kind of ministry even to an ordinary nonprofessional. God prepares a person for ministry when he/she is in mother’s womb, even if he or must be educated theologically. Jeremiah 18 speaks about the concern of God behind every servant of God through two symbols-pottery and potter. Theological education is conducive for every person of God to find solutions in society. Therefore, it is right to evaluate that theological education prepares everyone to demonstrate God and kingdom of God to the community around. So let us pray for every theological institution. Genuine theological education makes a person perfect in every situation.
Many of our Church members are in India, spending their vacation with their dear ones and refreshing themselves in homely environments. May the Lord give them a pleasant and fruitful stay with their parents and relatives and enable them to be back in right time.
Let us uphold each other in prayer, so the Lord will look in to our lives and bless everyone with His Grace that is sufficient.
May God bless you all
Johnyachen
