edition 73 - news letter november 2014

8/10/2019 Edition 73 - News Letter November 2014

1/14

MESSA

GE

THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH

PARISH MESSENGERVolume 73 / November 2014

THE TEST OF

TRUTH

i f y o u w o u l d

understand Christs

words fully and tastethem truly, you must

strive to form your

whole life after his

pattern.

If anyone wants to

u n d e r s t a n d m o r e

perfectly the teachings

of another person, one

m u s t l i v e t h o s e

teachings and so test

them. To understand

better the convictions of

an environmentalist, one

must practice living in a

way so as to do the

leas t ha rm to thee n v i r o n m e n t a n d

discover what kind of

feeling this brings. To

understand better the

p r i n c i p l e s o f a

vegetarian, one must

practice eating no meat

for a time to discover

what impression thatmakes.

Jesus welcomes our

putting his teachings to

the test by practicing

them in daily life. If they

work out in actual like,

then the must be true.

Take forgiveness, for

example, which Jesus

taught and lived. When

we forgive someone an

intentional wrong, do we

feel good about it in our

hearts? Is the other

person blessed by it? Is

the world a better place

because of it? Or thinkof self-denial for the

sake of others. When

we deny ourselves

some pleasure in order

to help someone in

trouble, do we have a

good feeling about it

inwardly? Is the other

person happier? Doesthis please God?

Jesus once said If any

mans will is to do Gods

wil l, he shall know

whether the teaching is

from God or whether I

am speaking on my own

authority (John 7:17).

Notice that the verb to

do, not just talk about it.

To do it is to put into

practice in daily life. He,

the creator of all life,

k n o w s t h a t H i s

teachings in the crucible

of actual life. He, the

creator of all life, knows

that his teachings, when

practiced, enrich life as

nothing else can.

Lord Jesus Christ, you

came that we might

have life. Give us the

will to live the truths you

taught, and in livingthem to discover new

depths of joy and peace

and a new closeness to

you, our way to God the

Father. In your name we

pray, Amen.

May our good God bless

you all,

With prayerful regards,

Mothy Achen

PARISH MESSENGER www.perthmarthoma.org.au 0426 283 829


2/14

CONGRATS!

ON HIS ACHIEVEMENT OF THE

DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY- PARISHIONERS OF THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH

DEAREST REV. DR. MOTHY VARKEY


HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS

TO OUR


3/14

VBS


Mr V B Mathews who has been involved with Child Evangelism Fellowship

for over three decades discusses the importance of Christian education. He

was the VBS Director at our Parish VBS 2014 and is currently based in

Singapore along with his family.

One of the questions frequently asked by people is, Do we need to teach our

kids? Why cant we wait till they grow up then find out for themselves? When it

comes to Christian Education, at least some parents and grandparents think like

that even though they dont recommend it for secular education for which they

would rather start teaching kids even before they are ready for the school!

As Christians, we would want to consider the Biblical principles concerning

teaching our children. Why should we teach children? A brief answer could be

twofold! First of all the Bible Commands us and secondly, the Child Demands it.

Word of God commands it

God s Word clearly instructs us that we are to Teach children, Gods Word. In

fact its Gods command! In Deuteronomy Moses was given Instructions as to

what he has to tell the people. In chapter 6 God told .. these things which I

command you shall be in your heart and you shall teach it to your children

Parents were commanded to teach their kids the things about God. In Psalm 78,

the Psalmist Asaph emphatically says, that we have to teach our children and

even the children that are yet to be born so that they wont become a rebellious

generation as their forefathers. Its Gods clear instruction that His people should

TEACH their young generation.

Gods message is for every one without age limit. In his letter to the Ephesians

and Colossians, Apostle Paul exhorted the parents not to exasperate their

children but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. How can

we do it without teaching Gods Word? Certainly it involves teaching!

DO WE NEED TO TEACH OUR KIDS?

By Mr V B Mathews


4/14

VBS


Teaching of Christ concerning children is found in the Gospels. In Matthew 18:6

He clearly said that we should not be hindrance to children. In verse 10 He said

we are not to despise them meaning we should not underestimate or look downupon them thinking they are too small and let them think about learning Gods

word when they are old enough. The Bible says faith comes through hearing.

Only when we are willing to take the trouble and pain to TEACH them, then they

can hear and through that hearing faith in God starts growing strong.

The Child Demands

The year 1980 was observed as the year of the child. World leaders talked so

much about the Rights of the child because the world recognized that they are

deprived of many of their rights. Nothing more was done universally concerning

all those rights. I personally feel that every child has the right to know God. How

can they know if we dont tell them or teach them? If we fail to teach then we are

depriving of their Right to know God.

Children are always under attack. Somehow we fail to recognize it. Peer pressure,

occult, wrong doctrines, influence of social media, child abuse, drugs, crimes etc

are only some of them to name. Unless our children are taught Gods Word, they

wouldnt know how to tackle critical situations. Gods Word is powerful. Thats why

the Psalmist say Thy Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against

Thee (Psalm 119:11) Teaching Gods Word is not just for head knowledge. It

influences them to have change in their life. Apostle Paul says it is power unto

salvation while it is foolishness to those who perish. It has the power to transform,

to enlighten and to empower in the day today life.

David Livingston, the famous Scottish missionary and explorer, said, Our

business is to teach children about sin and the Savior, without even a hint about a

certain age to accept Christ. The Holy Spirit will, in due time, convict them of sin.

When he convicts of sin, whatever the age, who are we to dare to interfere with

His work? . Any child is old enough to accept Christ when he realizes that his

sin is against God and that because of that sin, he is lost without Christ. Thatswhy Apostle Paul says that it is power unto salvation while it is foolishness to

those who perish.

DO WE NEED TO TEACH OUR KIDS? (Cont)

By Mr V B Mathews


5/14

VBS


C. H. Spurgeon said: The capacity for believing lies more in the child than in the

man. We grow less, rather than more, capable of faith. Every year, the

unregenerate mind grows further from God, and becomes less capable ofreceiving the things of God. A child of five, if properly instructed, can savingly

believe as well as an adult.

If we dont teach the children, as they grow their mind can go further away from

God. If we know what we believe is true, then why should we hesitate to teach our

kids? We all know and agree that Gods Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light

unto our path. But still we are apprehensive when it comes to teaching the Word

of God to our children.

When Jesus said we need to be converted like children, (Matt.18:1-4) I strongly

believe that He was pointing to some of the characteristics of Children. Children

are Teachable, Trustful and Humble where as adults think they know everything

(no teachable) Adults are sceptical (not trustful) and proud (not humble) We need

to become like children!

Certainly there are consequences if we fail to teach our kids. An example of this is

seen in the study of two families in the state of New York. A survey covered five

generations of two individuals, namely Max Jukes and Jonathan Edwards.

1. One man, Max Jukes, was a criminal. 1,026 of his descendants were traced.

Of them:

300 died prematurely. 100 were sent to prison for an average of 13 years

190 were public prostitutes. 100 were drunkardsThe cost to New York State was $100,200,000. Apparently there was no one

to teach Gods word to Max or his descendants.

2. The other man. Jonathan Edwards saved at the age of seven because his

parents took the trouble to teach him Gods Word. Jonathan with his wife

founded a Christian home and took time to teach their kids. Tracing 729 of his

descendants, this is what they found. Of these:

P300 were preachers of the Gospel. 65 were College professors13 were University Presidents. 60 were Authors of good books

3 were U. S. A. Congressmen. 1 was a U. S. A. Vice-President


By Mr V B Mathews


6/14

MEETIN

GS


CHURCH SERVICE & AREA ACOLYTES

Date Theme 1stLesson 2ndLesson EpistlePrayerGroup

02 Nov 2014(Malayalam)

Annunciation toVirgin Mary

Zech.2:10-131 John.3:1-16

Eph.1:3-10 Fremantle

09 Nov 2014(English)

HudosEetho :Renewal ofthe Church

Micah.6:1-8 2 Cor.4:7-151Cor.12:12-20

Joondalup &North ofRiver(combined)

16 Nov 2014(Malayalam)

Annunciation toZechariah

1Chro.24.1-19

Heb.5:1-102 Cor.2:12-17

CanningVale

23 Nov 2014(English)

World SundaySchool Day-Initiation of Childrento the Faith andPractices

Prov.23:15-26

Heb.12:1-131 John.2:7-17

SundaySchool

30 Nov 2014(WorshipService)

Visitation of VirginMary to Elizabeth.

Gen. 18:1-16 1 Pet.1:8-12 2 Cor.1:3-11YuvajanaSakhyam

07 Dec 2014(Malayalam) Birth Of John TheBaptist Isa.55:6-13 Heb.4:1-13 Gal.1:11-17 Murdoch

No wonder why King Solomon said, train up a child in the way he should go; he

shall not depart from it even when he is old Proverb 22:6

We have great expectation about our children. We also have a great responsibilityto see to it that our children are taught and trained in the Word of God. May God

give us needed wisdom, courage and strength to bring them up in the nurture and

admonition of the Lord by teaching them Gods Word. Thus making the future

generation that will fear the Lord and put their trust in Him.


By Mr V B Mathews


7/14

REPO

RT


The Sabha Mandalam meets once every year during the Onam holidays.

This year the meetings were held for 3 days from September 9 to11 in Dr Alexander

Marthoma Valiya Metropolitan Memorial Auditorium, at the Sabha headquarters in

Thiruvalla. This is a get together of the representative bodies of the whole church, in

India and the diaspora spread over the world. All the Bishops, majority of the clergy,

evangelists, and lay people made up more than 1400 folk gathering. Members are

elected to the Sabha Mandalam and the Council from the Parishes in the 13 dioceses.

While Sabha Mandalam is the body which discusses policy matters[ spiritual, material,ecumenical, administrative and the like] within the framework of the written constitution,

and is free to suggest changes and amendments, the Sabha Council [ about 30

members and Metropolitan as Chairman] is the decision making body. These

decisions have to be approved by the Episcopal Synod where all our bishops are

members.

Mandalam meetings commenced on Tuesday morning; after the formalities of

registration, the inaugural session started at 10 A.M; there was morning worship. Thedevotion was led by Moron Mar Baselious Cleemis, Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara

Catholic Church, a good friend of Marthoma church. Before business started all stood

up and took an oath, pledging allegiance to the church as responsible Mandalam

members.

Then the Metropolitan Most Rev. Joseph Mar Thoma read out his presidential address,

welcoming all and updating the activities going on and programs being initiated;

followed by passing of the account of last year and related matters.

A full afternoon was spent on question- answers. All questions received before the due

dates were already discussed in the council meetings; Printed answers/explanations

were distributed beforehand to all. Over 60, some of them were very pertinent and

important eye-openers, about admissions and appointments to schools and colleges

for which donations are mandatory, criteria for transfer of Parish priests, bad practices

in conducting elections, to mention a few.

MALANKARA MAR THOMA SYRIAN CHURCH

Prathinidhi Mandalam Report


Prathinidhi Mandalam Report (Cont.)


8/14

REPO

RT


The second day started early morning with a Holy Communion service, specially

conducted for the occasion. Following it, the priests who retired from active service this

year were felicitated.

Then the meeting of the Special Mandalam started. The subject was retirement for

bishops. After the discussions, it was decided to leave the issue to the Episcopal Synod.

Men and women in our church who made outstanding achievements in various fields

were given awards.

The most eventful and exciting was the third and last day when office bearers were to

be elected by votes. Arrangements were perfect; constables were posted at the

entrance of the compound, and everything went off peacefully. Results were out the

same evening. A team of 20 members, few priests and others lay people were elected

to the Vaidika Selection Board.

The topic of study this year was Revitalising Family in a Changing Media Space. A

copy of the book prepared and published by the Sabha Council was given to each , andfew hours were spent in useful discussion. Reflections on the issues, failures in modern

family life were heard from experienced people.

I had the privilege to attend the mandalam as the elected member from our parish, it

was an educative experience.

Report by Mrs Mary John


Prathinidhi Mandalam Report


Prathinidhi Mandalam Report (Cont.)


9/14

MINIST

RIES


YOUTH FELLOWSHIP

Youth Fellowship meets fourth Saturdays of every month at 04:00pm at

the residence of a parish member.

Encourage all youngsters of our parish to participate in the activities of theYouth Fellowship. For further details, please contact Ms Shauna Rivya

Jacob ([email protected]).

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Regular Sunday School on all Sundays before the Holy Communion

Service. Contact: Mr Ninan Thomas or Mrs Susan Abraham for further

details ([email protected]).

EDAVAKA MISSION

Edavaka Mission meets at the residence of a parish member every

month. For further details, please contact Mr Solomon Jacob.

PARISH CHOIR

Parish Choir meets for practice every Sunday after the Holy CommunionService at Murdoch Worship Centre. For further details please contact Mr.

Ginsu Ninan ([email protected]).

SENIOR CITIZENS FELLOWSHIP

Senior Citizens Fellowship meets fourth Saturdays of every month at

12:00pm at the residence of a parish member. For further details, please

contact Mr Retnarajan.

SEVIKA SANGHAM

Sevika Sangham meets once every two month at the residence of a

parish member.

Encourage all women in our parish to participate in the activities of the

Sevika Sangham. For further details, please contact Mrs Babbin Mathews

([email protected]).
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


10/14

KIDSO

NLY



11/14

KIDSO

NLY



12/14

PRAYERS


PRAYER POINTS

For Your Prayers

Pray for our Parish, Vicar and the members;

Pray for all our Parish Organisations and for all their activities;Pray for the blessing of upcoming National Youth Camp 2014;Pray for all kids preparing for their annual examinations;Pray for our Sunday School kids and teachers;Pray for this nation and its government;Pray for world peace and for all war torn countries; andPray for the kids and youth of our parish for them to have a

blessed and God fearing future.

AREA PRAYER GROUP MEETINGS

Area Prayer Group Date & Time Venue (residence of) Representative

Canning Vale

22 November 2014,

6:00PM Mr Abraham Kurien Mr Abraham Kurien

Fremantle01 November 2014,6:00PM

Mr Ninan Thomas Mrs Reny Mathews

Joondalup21 November 2014,7:00PM

Mr Jibu Mammen Mr Soney Titus

Murdoch09 November 2014,6:00PM

Mr Thomas Thomas Mr Kurian Parayil

North of River

08 November 2014,

4:00PM Mr Sanu Sam Mr Joji Varghese

Willetton08 November 2014,6:00PM

Mr J Retnarajan Mr Shibu Mathew


13/14

WISH

ES


BIRTHDAY - November 2014

Jolene Jo Varghese (1 November)

Prince Babu (1 November)

Rhea Thomas (2 November)

Tanya Susan Thomas (6 November)

Ninan K Thomas (8 November)

Dr Kuruvilla Mathew (9 November)

Sam Koshy (9 November)

Jordan Philip Christy (15 November)

Shaun Thomas Alex (16 November)Raja Gopal (16 November)

Vinson Abraham (16 November)

Georgey Thomas (17 November)

Dr Sajan Thomas (19 November)

Benita David (19 November)

Lavin Abraham (20 November)

Robin Chandy (20 November)

Jeevan P Mathew (21 November)

J Retnarajan (24 November)

Priyanka Suzanne Philip (29 November)Naomi Lisa Ninan (29 November)

God Created You with his own hands; He Knows your name and your thoughts; HeBlesses you with life, with love; And the joy of another year to know him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY - November 2014

Kurian S Parayil & Leela Kurian (3

November)

Jerry Cherian & Somin Jerry Cherian (3

November)

Philip Kurian Parayil & Anju Joham Parayil

(15 November)

Thomas Mathew & Shilu Thomas (17

November)

Robin Chandy & Tintu Sara Mathew (20

November)

Biju Daniel & Soumya Biju (27 November)

Anish P Varghese & Rini Mercy Raju (27

November)

May the Almighty God continue to bless your family more and more in the coming

years. May you be an inspiration and example for others in the days to come.WISHING ALL CELEBRANTS HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!


14/14

Messenger Notes

Please feel free to drop in your comments and suggestions regarding our Parish

Messenger at [email protected].

We are looking for articles to be published in our monthly newsletter. Those who can

write articles, poems, drawings (kids) please contact the Webmaster at

[email protected]. This is another opportunity to use our God given

talents for the Glory of God.

PARISH FAMILYCONTRIBUTION

ACCOUNT DETAILSthe National Australia Bank

BSB - 086 136Account# - 865 285 498

PARISH BUILDINGFUND

ACCOUNT DETAILSthe National Australia Bank

BSB - 086 136Account# - 195 940 763

PARISH GIFT FUNDACCOUNT DETAILS

the National Australia Bank

BSB - 086 136Account# - 848 646 298

preferred transaction mode is electronic transfer to the Parish account.

For more information, please contact

Rev Mothy Varkey(Vicar)Mob: 0426 283 829Landline: 08 6161 6797email:[email protected]

Mr Shibu Jacob(Secretary)Mob: 0452 255 765email:[email protected]

Webmasteremail:[email protected]

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth, P.O. Box 3104, Shelley, WA 6148

for private circulation only
mailto:[email protected]?subject=mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

edition 73 - news letter november 2014

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