Volume 50 / December 2012

PA RISH M ESSENGER
The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

Message from the Vicar

Grace
God created through love and for love. God did not create anything except love itself, and the means to love.He created beings capable of love from all possible distances, Because no other could do it, he himself went to the greatest possible distance ,the infinite distance. This infinite distance between God and God, this supreme tearing apart, this agony beyond all others, this marvel of love, is the crucifixion. Nothing can be further from od than which has been made accursed (Weil 1987) The grace of God is that God goes the greatest possible distance to join gravity-bound humanity. The distance is so great that it means a supreme tearing apart of Gods own self. When Jesus Christ is crucified, made accursed, he is as far from God as is possible. Jesus, bound by the gravity of human sin and suffering, is God going that ultimate distance out of love and creation. Weil sheds new light on the familiar word grace, Grace is supreme tearing apart of God. God, powerful creator of all that there is, is loving enough to lay down all that power and submit himself to the force of gravity. In Jesus the crucified God becomes the victim of gravity. Grace means God becomes the accursed and suffering servant, joining us where we are. In the world of human affairs, being the victim, the weak one, seems no insignificant and ineffective. Weil knows this is not the way the world wants to operate. Similar to Jesuss parable of the yeast which leavens the whole lump, Weil compares Gods grace to a catalyst which operates by their mere presence in chemical reactions. Gods supreme tearing apart means that the world will never be the same again. This act becomes the catalyst which creates our love of God and love of neighbor. God is the only one who could submit to the force of gravity, take it upon himself in Jesus Christ and continue to love, Gods love is stronger than the force of gravity. Because it is, we have the sure hope that gravity cannot keep us in bondage forever, God has bridged the distance, suffered and died, but continued to love. Grace is at work in our world. Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born king. Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! Have a blessed and joyous Christmas. May our good God bless you all, With prayerful regards, Mothy Achen

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

from your Secretary

Christmas Message
Shepherds who watched the sheep at night, received a divine message about the ultimate Lamb who would take away the sins of the world through His death and resurrection. The lack of money or worldly riches precludes no one from spiritual privileges and blessings. The things of God's kingdom are often hidden from the great and noble and revealed to the poor. The busy labor of the hands need not prevent someone from being favoured with special visit from God.Let us resist the suggestion of Satan that religion is not for the working man. The weak of the world are often called before the mighty. The last are often first, and the first last. So Let this Christmas be a time when Christ is born within us changing our basic human nature into divine ones. Let this Christmas be a life changing experience instead of being just another celebration. Have a BLESSED Christmas May our good God bless you all, With prayerful regards, Christy Tom Secretary

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Church Service & Area Acolytes

Date 02 Dec 2012 (Malayalam) 09 Dec 2012 (English) 16 Dec 2012 (Malayalam) 23 Dec 2012 (English) 25 Dec 2012 (English) Theme Visitation of Virgin Mary to Elizabeth - Bearers of Good News Birth of John the Baptist Annunciation to Joseph The Mystery of Holy Incarnation Yaldo - Feast of Nativity. Birth of Our Saviour 1st Lesson Genesis 18:1-16 Judges 13:2-25 Isaiah 40:1-11 Isaiah 11:1-10 Micah 5:1-9 Zechariah 14:l-5 Exodus 33:12-23 2 Kings 2:19-22 2nd Lesson 1 John 1:1-10 Hebrews 2:1-10 Revelation 2:12-17 1 John 5:1-12 Colossians 1:15-20 Acts of the Apostles 1:6-11 Hebrews 13:7-21 Acts of the Apostles 19:1-7 Ephesians 5:15-21 Epistle 1 Timothy 3:10-17 1 John 5:l3-20 Philippians 4:4-9 Romans 1:8-16 1 Timothy 1:14-17 Prayer Group Fremantle Joondalup & North of River (combined) Canning Vale Willetton All

30 Dec 2012 Our Lord who is coming (Worship Service) again 31 Dec 2012 (English) 06 Jan 2013 (Malayalam) Year ending - Watch Night Service God who is always with us Danha (Epiphany): Baptism of our Lord Outside Kerala Mission Destruction of Body and Soul- Loosing of the Kingdom of GodTemperance Sunday God of Life, Lead us into Justice and PeaceEcumenical Sunday Cost of Discipleship

1 Thessalonians Yuvajana Sakhyam 1:14-17 1 Peter 5:6-11 Romans 6:1-11 All

Murdoch

13 Jan 2013 (English)

Isaiah 28:1-7

Galatians 5:16-24

Fremantle

20 Jan 2013 (Malayalam) 27 Jan 2013 (English)

Genesis 6:13-22 Isaiah 42:1-7

James 5:1-11 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Ephesians 6:10-17 1 Peter 4:12-19

Joondalup & North of River (combined) Canning Vale

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Organisation News
Youth Fellowship
Youth Fellowship meets third Saturdays of every month at 04:30pm at the residence of a parish member. Encourage all youngsters of our parish to participate in the activities of the Youth Fellowship. For further d e t a i l s , p l e a s e c o n t a c t M r Vi t t y J a c o b (youth@perthmarthoma.org.au).

Parish Choir
Parish Choir meets for practice every Sunday after the Holy Communion Service at Murdoch Worship Centre. For further details please contact Mr. Ginsu Ninan (choir@perthmarthoma.org.au).

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.

Sunday School
Regular Sunday School classes will resume in February 2013. Contact: Mr Ninan Thomas or Mrs Babbin Mathews for further details (sundayschool@perthmarthoma.org.au).

Edavaka Mission
Edavaka Mission meets at the residence of a parish member.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER

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 Mary John (sevika@perthmarthoma.org.au).

Edavaka Mission conducts intercessory prayer meeting on first Friday of every month at 07:00pm at the residence of a parish member. Prayer requests can be deposited in the box kept at Murdoch Worship Centre during the services. Encourage all parish members to participate in the activities of the Edavaka Mission. For further details, please contact Mr Ninan Thomas.

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Area Prayer Group Meetings

Area Prayer Group Canning Vale Fremantle Joondalup No Prayer Meetings for the month of December Murdoch North of River Willetton Mr Shaji Mathews Mr Joji Varghese Mr Benny K David Date & Time Venue (residence of) Representative Contact Vicar Mr Anish Varghese Mr Binu Jacob

For Your Prayer

Pray for our Parish, Vicar and the members; Pray for all our Parish Organisations and for all their activities; Pray for the upcoming Parish Carols, House Caroling, Christmas events and services; Pray for all our parish members who are going to India for holidays for their safe journey and stay; Pray for this nation and its government; Pray for world peace and for all war torn countries; Pray for the youth of our parish for them to have a blessed and God fearing future; and Pray for a blessed 2013 for our parish and for all the members.

Sacrament: The word sacrament is derived from the Latin word sacramentum meaning to make sacred. A sacrament is a visible means of experiencing the invisible Grace of God. Without the help of symbolic language and visual expression, it is difficult to communicate spiritual truths (Eph. 2:8-9).

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Each sacrament has five essential aspects specific intention, meaning, Words of Institution, Matter and celebrant.
Type to enter text

Birthday and Wedding Anniversary

Birthdays December 2012
Angela John (2 December) Dr Lekha George (3 December) Abel Varukunnel Mathews (4 December) Alex Varghese (6 December) Sarah John (8 December) Vitty Varghese Jacob (12 December) Smitha Jacob (13 December) Joel Raja (15 December) Mabel Mathew (16 December) Reny Elizabeth Mathews (17 December) Alara John (21 December) Allen A George (22 December) Margret Thomas (24 December) Jerry Cherian (27 December) God Created You with his own hands; He Knows your name and your thoughts; He Blesses you with life, with love; And the joy of another year to know him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!! 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 THE CELEBRANTS HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!

Wedding Anniversaries December 2012

Jinu Johnson & Sheen Jinu (19 December) Ninan K Thomas & Elizabeth Ninan (20 December) Toms M John & Mary Toms (27 December) James R Rajesh & Dhanya Rajesh (29 December)

Messenger Notes
Two new sections are introduced in our Parish Messenger. Please read along to explore them. Please feel free to drop in your comments and suggestions at admin@perthmarthoma.org.au. 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 admin@perthmarthoma.org.au. This is another opportunity to use our God given talents for the Glory of God.

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

News - November 2012

Sunday School Exams 2012
The Sunday School examination was conducted on 18 November 2012. The exam was a conducted for the first time in our Sunday School and the kids were very excited about preparing for the exam. Majority of the students attended the exams and commented that it was a worthwhile exercise. They are looking forward for the results now.

World Sunday School Day 2012

The World Sunday School Day was commemorated on Sunday, 04 November 2012. On the occasion our Sunday School kids and teachers co-ordinated and organised various parts of the Sunday Service. Miss Priyanka Suzzane Philip delivered the message on the occasion. The kids took the leadership in singing beautiful songs and it brought a special spiritual presence to the worship service.

The photographs of the event is available for download from the Parish Gallery.

Parish Choir
The Parish Choir was busy preparing for the Christmas events especially for the Parish Carols on 1 December 2012. They had regular practice sessions fine tuning their musical talents. This years Parish Carols will definitely be a cherishable moment for us.

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Events - December 2012

Parish Carols 2012
When: Saturday 01st December 2012 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm Where: St. Davids Anglican Church, 54 Simpson St, Ardross, WA. Come along for an eve filled with music and fun.

House Caroling 2012

It is that time of the year again Santa is coming to visit your homes along with our marvellous voices. The dates and corresponding areas covered will be advised in the coming days.

Christmas Service 2012

The Christmas Service will start at 8:00am at Murdoch Worship Centre.

Watch Night Service 2012

The Watch Night Service will start at 10:00pm at Murdoch Worship Centre.

Worship Schedule
Malayalam Service Holy Communion Service every rst and third Sundays at 09.00 am. English Service Holy Communion Service every second and fourth Sundays at 09.00 am and Divine Worship Service on other Sundays at 09.00 am. Special thanksgiving prayers will conducted for birthday and wedding anniversaries during the communion services. The Bible study, on the Gospel according to Mathew lead by our Vicar, starts at 08:00am every Sunday.

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Thoolika
An Introduction
At some point in our lives, we all have felt the need to come closer to God. After long thoughts and prayers and with the Executive Committees approval decided to start a new section in our Parish Messenger named as Thoolika. Thoolika is a Malayalam word meaning pen. In this new section you will find positive spiritual short messages that could lighten up your minds. This section will be completely open to all Parish members who can write. This is an opportunity for using your God given talent to glorify His name. You can write about any topic which could bring goodness and peace to the heart of your fellow being including short passages, short stories, travelogues, experience, etc. Now to the technical bits - All material will be reviewed by our Vicar and appropriate changes may be made. However, the complete responsibility and ownership of the content lies with the author of the topic. The following disclaimer will be included along with your passage The opinions expressed on his material are the authors personal views and do not reflect those of the Mar Thoma Parish Perth or its members in any way. Please do not provide any copyrighted contents. If you need to use a quote in your passage please provide appropriate credit to the original author. We believe that these messages will bring some peace and tranquillity to your lives. We trust the parish members would utilise this opportunity and make this new initiative a success. Please note all articles required to be published the following m o n t h m u s t r e a c h t h e We b m a s t e r b y e m a i l (admin@perthmarthoma.org.au) on or before 20th of the current month. Please restrict your passages to half a page or around 200-250 words. Signing off your Webmaster

Unique Claims - by Shibu Jacob

I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6) This is one of the seven I am statements made by Jesus in the gospel according to John. One of the most common accusations flung at Christians is that they claim to be arrogant. "How can you believe that you're right and all the thousands of other religionsare wrong?" Isn't it the height of arrogance to claim that Jesus is the way to God? A way, possibly. But .the way? To claim that all religions are essentially the same is to say that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincereand this neglects the fact that you can believe something sincerely and be sincerely wrong. Hitler held his beliefs with sinceritythat doesn't make them true though ! Jesus does not compare with anybody. Nobody else in history has risen from the dead, calmed storms, raised others from the dead and fulfilled numerous prophecies; nobody else in history claimed to be able to deal with the problems of the human heart like he did. Nobody else in history claimed, as he did, to be Immanuel (God with us). To say that we believe Jesus is the only way should have nothing to do with arrogance and everything to do with introducing people to Him. The act of sharing the gospel is often likened to one beggar telling another beggar where food is available. The gospel is not good advice to men, but good news about Christ; not an invitation to us to do anything, but a declaration of what God has done; not a demand, but an offer. And that brings us face to face with Jesus himself: a Jesus who made astonishing claims about himself. C S Lewis said that Jesus left us only three options. Either he was madutterly insane. Or he was bada cynical liar. Or else Jesus was who he claimed to be- God incarnate. The Bible and its message that declares Gods love for mankind has been debated throughout history and it has withstood the test of time. As we approach Christmas let the wonder of the season fill our hearts with gratitude for Gods very best gift given to us in Jesus Christ.

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

Little Hands
An Introduction
Little Hands is a new section we would like to introduce which is very close to our hearts. A section dedicated to all our talented little angels. Matthew 5:14-16 says You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Let us take this opportunity to show our talents for our Creators glory. You can use this section to publish your own short passages, short stories, hand drawn drawings or paintings, travelogues, experience, etc. We can include your personal achievements in this section to glorify our Lord. As part of this section well be publishing quizzes or puzzles on a monthly basis. All winners (giving maximum correct answers) and the correct answers will be published in the following month. All articles will be reviewed by the Vicar but no changes will be made to the document. Well try to publish your creation in its original form (hand writing) if technically possible. All entries can be f o r w a r d e d t o t h e We b m a s t e r b y e m a i l (admin@perthmarthoma.org.au) or by hand to your Sunday School teacher. It will be much appreciated if you could kindly send the material by 20th of the each month to be published in the following months Parish Messenger. We request full support from the parents in this regard. Praise the Lord. Signing off your Webmaster

Quiz No. 001

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. What was the name of Jesus mother? What was the name of the garden where Adam and Eve lived? With what food did Jesus feed 5,000 people? What method did the Romans use to kill Jesus? From which part of Adams body did God create Eve? Who, when accused of being with Jesus, lied and said that he did not know him, three times? Which creature tricked Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit? At Christs crucifixion what did the soldiers place on his head? What is the first line of the Lords Prayer? What relationship was Ruth to Naomi? email your answers to

Please

admin@perthmarthoma.org.au. Please do so with your parents permission. (The winners and the answers will be published in the following months newsletter)

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth

www.perthmarthoma.org.au

For more information, please contact Rev Mothy Varkey (Vicar) Mob: 0426 283 829 Landline: 08 6161 6797 email: vicar@perthmarthoma.org.au Mr Christy Tom Webmaster (Secretary) email: Mob: 0431 479 134 admin@perthmarthoma.org.au email: secretary@perthmarthoma.org.au

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth, P.O. Box 3104, Shelley, WA 6148
for private circulation only The Mar Thoma Parish Perth www.perthmarthoma.org.au