Sunday Worship Service
July 21, 2013 @ 1100 hrs
EBCC Church, Dwarka, Delhi
This Sunday congregation started when the conductor of the worship service Upa Thiankhanmuan welcomed the gatherings and accorded warm greetings to them. He also praised the holy name of the Almighty God for granting another fine day. He then invited the Praise & Worship Team to lead the congregation in singing hymns of praise.
Led by the Praise & Worship Team, the congregation sang 3 songs viz “Nang toh ton a pai ka ut”, “Kanaan Zuan in ipai” and “Ka hinna kon pia”, which was followed by mass prayer. Thereafter, offerings were collected and Upa Chinsum had offertory prayer.
As planned, Upa T Kaithang led Sunday School Class on Mark chapter 10 & 11. Brief outline of his teachings are summarized (topic-wise) in the following paragraphs.
About Divorce:
Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce. Instead of giving direct answer, Jesus preferred making counter questions and asked the Pharisees to look at the books that Moses wrote. The Pharisees told Jesus about Deuteronomy 24:1. That verse has a rule for a man who wants to leave his wife. Because the people are stubborn and do not always want to obey him, Moses allows a man to leave his wife by giving her a Divorce certificate. But God does not want a man to do this. Jesus told the Pharisees about Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24. God wanted husbands and wives to remain together for their whole lives. Marriage is important.
Jesus and the Children
As families are important so are children. Jesus taught his disciples about the importance of children. But the disciples still wanted Jesus to be with the Pharisees and other important people. So when people brought their children to Jesus, the disciples tried to hurry them away. But Jesus was angry and asked to bring children and prayed for them. He also says that if people want God to rule their lives, they too must become like little children.
Jesus and the Rich Young Man
The rich young man asked Jesus if there was anything else he should do. Jesus told him that he needed to sell everything he owned and give all the money to the poor, then follow Him. All of his stuff was blocking the way to his relationship with God. Jesus also stated that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
God is kind to his people
Peter assured to Jesus that they have left everything to follow him. On Peter’s realization, Jesus was glad and told the disciples that He taught the truth. He further said that no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
Jesus was not afraid to go to Jerusalem. He knew the things that would happen there. So he walked in front of everyone. His disciples followed him, and the crowd was behind. The crowd were afraid since they thought that there may be trouble in Jerusalem. So Jesus spoke again to the disciples and told them clearly about the things that would happen. People would hurt Jesus and they would kill him. But God would not let Jesus remain dead. Jesus would become alive again.
The Request of James and John
Two disciples – James and John approach Jesus and request to grant them to sit, one on his right and one on his left, in His glory. But Jesus said to them that they do not know what they are asking. He, instead, questioned that whether they will be able to drink the cup that He drank, or to be baptized with the baptism with which he was baptized. Sitting on His right or on His left, Jesus said, was not for him to grant; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Jesus, further, told to them that whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.
The blind man called Bartimaeus
Jesus was travelling towards Jerusalem. Jericho was the last town before Jerusalem. Bartimaeus could not see. But he still knew who Jesus was. And, Barthimaeus firmly believed that Christ would cause him to see and so he shouted to Jesus. Jesus said to him that because of his believed in God, God had made him well. And then Bartimaeus could see and followed towards Jerusalem.
Christ the King comes to Jerusalem
When Jesus and the crowd were near Jerusalem, He sent two of His disciples into a village to bring him a donkey. Jesus wanted the animal so that he could ride toward Jerusalem’s gate. The crowd had been afraid that there would be trouble in Jerusalem. But when they saw Jesus on the donkey, they were not afraid. They were very happy. They remembered that God had promised to send a king, called the Christ. They used the word ‘hosanna’ which means, in Hebrew, ‘We ask you to save us.’ People knew that Jesus really was the Christ.
A tree without fruit
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing a fig-tree with green leaf from a distance, he went searching for its fruit. On reaching the tree, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. But then, He curse the fig tree that no one will ever eat its fruit again. Jesus shows us the way that all things should bear fruits.
The market in the temple
When Jesus arrived again in Jerusalem, he saw people doing business inside the temple’s gates. Some people were selling the special coins that people used in the temple. Other people were selling birds and animals. He told the people that they must take their animals away. He would not let them continue their business. Jesus did all these things in a very strong way. And, when Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him and asked him from where he got the authority to do such things. He, instead of giving them direct answer, asked them : John’s baptism – was it from heaven, or of human origin? As they could not give answer to his question, Jesus too, did not answer their question.
Jesus taught his disciples very valuable lessons of life, about humility, how one should allow others to be first and be a servant of all.
The service concluded with the Lord’s prayer.
~ Siampu Thomte
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