Dearly beloved in Christ, Greetings
It is with gladness in my heart that I thank Almighty and congratulate you for
my pastoral appointment by our Bishop.Dr.Elia Pradeep Samuel to MTC, Bhandup at
the session of 31st Bombay Regional Conference, Pune.
At the outset, I would like to thank my predecessor Rev. Christopher Raja and
the committee for their deep commitment to the church and its spiritual
rejuvenations.
What is the church? Is the church a building? Is it the place where believers
gather to worship? Or is the church the people—the believers who follow Christ?
How we understand and perceive the church? “A church is a group of believers who
gather for religious purposes”. “A church is a building in which Christians meet
for worship,” The word "church" as rendered in the New Testament comes from the
Greek term ekklesia which is formed from two Greek words meaning "an assembly"
and "to call out" or "called out ones." In summary, the New Testament church is
a body of believers who have been called out from the world by God to live as
his people under the authority of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23).
This group of believers or "the body of Christ" began in Acts 2 on the Day of
Pentecost through the work of the Holy Spirit and will continue to be formed
until the day of the rapture of the church.
A person becomes "a member" of the church simply by exercising faith in Jesus
Christ as Lord and Saviour. His purpose of the church is two-fold. First the
church comes together for the purpose of bringing each member to spiritual
maturity (Ephesians 4:13).
Second the church reaches out to spread the love of Christ and the gospel
message to unbelievers in the world (Matthew 28:18-20). So church is defined as
a local assembly of believers or a congregation that meets together physically
for worship, fellowship, teaching, edification, prayer and encouragement in the
faith (Hebrews 10:25).
Let us desire to build the family of God by the punctual worship through the
Word of God to expand His kingdom to the communities’ right around us.
As we all are aware of our church structure issues and confusions,I urge you not
to be discouraged in any way about the size of it. God’s strength is not in
numbers but in faith and implicit obedience to Him. Let us open ourselves more
transparently and completely to resolve all the barriers, together in unison
with the strength of God and work towards spreading the gospel. The ministry of
the church is successful when men and women within a local church come forward
to shoulder the responsibility with diligence. So pray ardently every day.
Martin Luther rightly said, "Come, let us sing a psalm, and drive away the
devil. Hope to see God’s wonders in our midst.
God is predicative, not attributive.
With every good wish for God’s blessings,Yours in His mission,