BIBLE SUNDAY
24 Aug 14
Pastor Nenglian commenced the worship service with a prayer after reading a portion from the Bible inviting God to preside over the congregation. He encouraged the gathering to continue praising God for giving each one a new day to glorify Him. This was succeeded by a brief but lively time of "Praise and worship" led by the Worship Team.
WORSHIP TEAM
Three songs, "Lawngkhawlna khawpi", "Nang na lian hi" and "Jesu'n vai a hawm hi" were being sung one after another while offerings were collected by the ushers. Praise and worship was then concluded with a prayer from the worship leader, brother Mung. The Pastor then made the offertory prayer.
DEDICATORY SERVICE
Today's congregation was, yet again, blessed enough to have witnessed the glory of God as a new born baby Zammuanhoih, the first daughter of our brother Kambiaksang of Munirka was bought to the sanctuary of God. The Pastor made the dedicatory prayer of the little child and thereupon asked God to protect and lead the child in His light as she grows up.
The time was thereafter taken by Upa Kamsuanthang, Secretary, TBSUC and then the Superintendent of the BCD after Upa Kamsuanthang had made important points that had to be made known to the congregation. The BCD also presented sister Chiinngaihmuan (Children Sunday School Teacher) a memento of appreciation for her two years of selfless dedication and service towards the department and the children of EBCC Delhi. She is to leave for Korea on the 27th of August for further studies in her field, the superintendent announced.
SERMON- Pastor V Nenglian
The Pastor took over the pulpit and addressed the congregation firstly informing the assembly that the day's service was a special one as it was the BIBLE SUNDAY which is being observed annually. He continued with an introductory speech about the "Bible Sunday", giving brief details on the history of Bible translation and advised the assembly to keep their faith in the Bible, trusting and believing only what's written in it. He further encouraged everyone to make the truth/light of the Bible as the path finder and the lamp in the darkness.
The Pastor made known to the congregation about the international organizations and regional offices, like the BSI, BIIS , The Gideon’s International, and the Wycliffe Bible Translators, working hard in translating, distributing, studying and promoting the usage of the Bible. He also informed that doors for donating to such offices and institutions are widely open to people who wishes to donate. GBC, the only Bible college of the EBC located in Manipur, has always been opening its door by offering lists of patron memberships to people who donated, he added.
History of the Bible
The Pastor gave a detailed analysis on the history of the Bible as a whole, its translation and highlighted the different books of Bible the different churches have. He also included in his sermon points of differences between the Protestant churches with that of the Catholics in its acceptance of the books in the Bible. He took examples like the inclusion of Deuterocanonical writings (Apocrypha) in the Bishop's Bible( by the Catholics). These parts of the book were written during the "Silent period"(BC 400 to AD 1). The Catholics have 73 books in the Bible compared to the 66 books in the Protestant Bible versions.
The Bible has two sections
i) Old testament, which was written in Hebrew and Aramaic,
ii) New testament, which was written in Greek.
Septuagint (LXX) = Greek version (250 BC)
Vulgate = Latin version (it had 71 books)
English version = John Wycliffe (Handwritten in 1384)
English(New Test.) = John Colet in 1496
German(New Test.) = Martin Luther in 1522
English(New Test.) = William Tyndale in 1526
Coverdale Bible = Great Bible (the complete Bible 1835)
Bishop's Bible = by Church of England in 1568
King James version = 1611 (as protestant Bible)
English version of the Bible was first translated in 1384 by John Wycliffe. Only one copy was made as it was a handwritten version. Later in the year 1496, John Colet, a professor at Oxford University, translated the New testament and gave lectures to his students in a class which, in about six months time, grew to a number of over two thousands attending his lectures.
Martin Luther had 73 books in his version. He was reluctant to include the Epistle of James, Hebrew, Jude and Revelations but did so only after a huge pressure from the church authority.
William Tyndale's version of the New Testament was the first copy of the Bible available to the public. This version was later revised to a complete version and was distributed for public use in 1839 as “Great Bible”. The Bishop's Bible of the Catholics was translated with the permission of Queen Elizabeth and then came the King James Version after the death of the Queen. The Kings James Version was commissioned by King James.
CANONIZATION: Criteria for Bible Canon
!) Apostolic origin- whether Apostle's writing mentioned/included the name of the book
!!) Universal acceptance- whether churches before 4th CE accepted the book
!!!) Liturgical use- its usage in worship
!V) Consistent message- the flow of the message
Bible translation in India was initiated by 'Serampore Trio' under the leadership of William Carey.
The Pastor before ending his sermon added that EBC Church presently works with the BSI, BIIS and Wycliffe in Bible translation.
The congregation was concluded by Upa Tuanmuanthang with a word of thanksgiving to God.
-------------------------
By- L Hau Ngaihte
Content Writer, Media Team
