"Together on a Mission"

"Together on a Mission" is a Newfrontiers conference for leaders and those actively serving in their local Churches.
Thirty five people from Masiha Church will be attending this conference in Bangalore from the 2oth to the 22nd of October.

We request all to pray for

- Our thirty five delegates to be powerfully impacted at the conference
- The worship team to be annointed (Five people from masiha are part of the conference worship team )
- The preaching of Gods word to impact many
- For all the arrangements and the organising team
- For the delgates who are travelling in from eight different states
- May this truly be a huge step forward in us being "Together on a mission"

Another Elder in masiha Church

Masiha Church believes in team leadership and has been led by Samir over the years alongwith Rahul and Pinakin.
Sunday 18th October is significant for Masiha Church as Rahul Rao will be set aside as an elder.
We see in scripture how Paul would start a Church and then would appoint elders in each Church who would carry the responsibility of governing the Church.
We believe it an important spiritual activity and we are grateful to God for the coming sunday.

We ask the friends of Masiha Church to pray for us and drop in if you can to be part of our special sunday.

MASIHA RESOURCES Launched

Masiha resources - a collection of messages on DVDs was launched with great joy on Sun 30th August. The list of messages available include messages preached on the sunday celebrations as well as various conferences.

Teachings on worship, Law and Grace, gospel messages , stories of the Old testament etc are available.The are messages in English or Hindi or Bilingual.

DVDs are priced at Rs 20/- only.

Connect with us and we will be happy to see you blessed by the word of God.

David vs Goliath

( preached by Rahul in Masiha Church on the 16th of August)

1 Samuel 17 – The Background Story - War takes place between the Israelites and Philistines. Saul is king of Israelites, who were camped on 1 mountain and the Philistines were camped at another mountain at Socoh in Judah, a valley (Elah) separating them (the reason why no 1 initiated the attack)

The bible describes Goliath - < 9 feet , a warrior from young age, giant in bodily form, undefeated, well shielded (carrying a protection gear weighing 75+ kgs along with a shield bearer) he is referred to as ‘Champion’ (vs.4) literally means ‘a man between’ He was indeed a man who stood between Israelites and victory. The Israelites were scared of him, he was intimidating and the entire army including King Saul feared the giant (vs.11). He taunted and challenged the Israelites for 40 days, twice a day and no one dared to combat him (vs.16). The Proposal that Goliath suggested (vs. 9): He wanted a 1 on 1 fight to decide for both the armies – ‘Winner takes it all’

David enters the scene…sent by his father (vs.17)…3 of his 7 brothers were in the army. While greeting his brothers, Goliath appears and threatens the Israelites as usual. All the Israelites run, later discussing the reward (great wealth, Son in Law, Tax Exemption) assigned by Saul for the victor who defeats Goliath. 1st obstacle – Eliab – he rebuked David (vs.28) judging his heart. Also made him realize how menial and trivial his job was (caring for the sheep in the desert) we often face opposition or discouragement from our very own, near and dear ones (friends, family, relatives) e.g. Jesus was stopped on his journey to the cross by his close friend Peter (Matt 16:22). Jesus’ family wanted him to focus on His ‘public ministry’ (John 7:4)

We as elderly members, parents, friends and well wishers need to allow our young ones to blossom and grow in God. Avoid being over protective, as God is your shepherd so He is a good Shepherd (John 10:11) to your children too. Let them do exploits for God, encourage them to walk in their ‘walk of faith’ (the mother eagle pushes her young ones out of the nest in order to teach them to fly) Remember, we are called to soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

2nd Obstacle – King Saul’s under-estimation of David. King Saul under estimated David because of his age and inexperience. Do not under estimate the power of God. He used Joshua as a warrior when he was young, at a young age God called Samuel; God had a great purpose for Mary and used her for His glory while she was a teenager. Many examples in the Bible, wherein God chose people to glorify Him, irrespective of the age barrier. We need to reinforce our faith in our young ones and encourage them; ‘Experience’ will come with experience.

David’s response – God will rescue me, God who has got me this far, will see me through (Phil 1:6) He trusted not on his strength or ability but on his God. Not by our might or power, but by His Spirit (Zech 4:6) Challenges get bigger in life, but God remains the same, unchanging and faithful. David’s face off with Goliath – Goliath tries to intimidate David (vs.43, 44), but David reiterates his faith in God (vs.45-47). He mentions that the ‘battle belongs to the Lord’ David saw Goliath very differently fromthe others. He saw Goliath with the eyes of faith and the giant now began to see himself as a dog (vs.42). We need to look at challenges and adversities with the eyes of faith, then giants will fall & mountains will drown (Mark 11:23, 24).

The Big Fight - David showed it is not size but faith that matters. (2 Chron32: 7-8) He spoke faith into the situation before tackling it (vs.45-47). David had amazing confidence in God (Deut 1:30, 31). Finally, he killed Goliath with a stone & a sling. God gives us victory in the most unusual manner if we trust in Him.

David’s victory was a victory for all Israelites who received the plunder. Goliath’s challenge was met, winner took it all.

Jesus was David’s descendant and David was a fore shadow of the Messianic king. Satan has all mankind in grip of fear, whether fear of death or sickness or failure or future. We are not independent of sin, rather in bondage to sin and we cannot help 1 another (as helpless as the Israelites). Our king Saul’s (government, religion, people) cannot save us.

But God sent us his one and only son (just as David’s father sent him) Jesus Christ, the true Messiah defeated Satan by dying on the cross for all of us. Jesus’ death on the cross gives us victory though we did not fight the fight, but those who trust in Jesus are victorious. As David fought on behalf of the Israelites, Jesus fought with Satan on behalf of mankind. Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sins and His resurrection has given us the gift of eternal life. In Jesus, we are victorious, more than conquerors (Rom 8:37), we are victorious over death and sickness and our future is secured in Him. Hence, let’s put our faith in Him.

The purpose of Worship

Why should we praise and worship. Let us look at three reasons.
1. God is Worthy

We see praise and worship throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God is
awesome, great, majestic, Holy ……He is worthy and deserves to be praised.
Genesis (24:26,27)
At this the man bowed in worship before GOD and prayed, "Blessed be GOD, God of my master Abraham: How generous and true you've been to my master; you've held nothing back. You led me right to the door of my master's brother!"
Revelation (4: 8-11)
The Four Animals were winged, each with six wings. They were all eyes, seeing around and within. And they chanted night and day, never taking a break: Holy, holy, holy Is God our Master, Sovereign-Strong, THE WAS, THE IS, THE COMING.
Every time the Animals gave glory and honor and thanks to the One Seated on

the Throne-- the age-after-age Living One-- the Twenty-four Elders would fall

prostrate before the One Seated on the Throne. They worshiped the age-after-age LivingOne. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,
Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it.

God is a God worthy of worship. The purpose of
Creation was to worship the true and living God and magnify His works.
(Romans 1: 20-25)
By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.
What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives.
They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.
They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.
And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them--the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh,

yes!

2.A calling and a privilege

To praise and worship the living God is a privilege. It is our eternal calling.
(Rev 7: 9-12)
I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there--all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb
and heartily singing: Salvation to our God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb!
All who were standing around the Throne--Angels, Elders, Animals--fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God,
singing: Oh, Yes! The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, The honor and power and strength, To our God forever and ever and ever! Oh, Yes!

In the Old Testament times, common people did not have such an easy access to God. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, once a year and that to with great risk and a definite purpose.
(Lev 16: 1, 2)
After the death of Aaron's two sons--they died when they came before GOD with strange fire--GOD spoke to Moses:
"Tell your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy of Holies, barging inside the curtain that's before the Atonement-Cover on the Chest whenever he feels like it, lest he die, because I am present in the Cloud over the Atonement-Cover.

But thanks be to Jesus’ work on the cross, we now have an immediate access to God minus the formalities of animal sacrifice and other rituals. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice and we have an access to the Most High God in Christ Jesus.

(Gal 3:25)
But now you have arrived at your destination:
By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God.
He has called us out of darkness into his glorious light to declare the praises of our God
3. A response to God

Right from Abraham to Moses to David to the disciples to the angels, everyone who encountered God & His son Jesus had 1 common response, i.e.; worship.

Jesus said he who has been “forgiven much will love much”. The woman displayed her love towards Jesus.
(Luke 7:44-47)
Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair.
You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet.
You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume.
Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."

Gratitude of heart will often be displayed through an outward expression. Praise is an act of gratitude to what God has done in our lives.
Anyone who has encountered God will respond in thanksgiving, praise and worship.

MASIHA Resources

Bibles, Books, messages, worship Cds - all are very helpful for the building up of our faith in God. Masiha Resources is a ministry within Masiha Church which makes these available to all who are keen to grow in God.

Masiha Church runs a bookstall on sundays from where you can purchase these resources.

We have also begun to collect some live recordings of good messages. This collection of messages are primarily from the Sunday sermons preached in Masiha Church and a few from different conferences too.

Masiha Resources will be launching a DVD library on the 30th of August. Keep connected to know more about the tiltles available and make use of this ministry to build you up in the most Holy faith.

Worship Seminar

Worshiping the Lord Almighty is our prime calling. Masiha Church held a seminar called "Seeking Worshippers" on the 15th of August.

The broad topics covered were
1) The purpose of Praise and worship
2) The philosophy of Praise and worship in Masiha Church and
3) The practice, in order to fulfill the purpose and philosophy.

The notes of this seminar will be posted on the blog and can be made available on request. The live DVD recording of the seminar will also be available. Please write to us.

THE TROPHY IS OURS

Masiha Church has won

the newfrontiers maharashtra inter Church cricket tournament, held on 26th Jan 2009.The performance of the team was excellent. Jeetu won the best batsman award and Jagdish the best bowler one. Manish captained the team well. Many from the Church gathered to support the team. The children were brilliant in rasing their voices - the ground echoed with "Masiha..Masiha". Well done to all!!!!!

A Multicoloured Church

Simon Petit was an apostle of amazing passion and understanding. He was very well received by many especially in the strife infested continent of Africa. He was committed to building a Church which broke every dividing wall between people.We are all one in Christ.

Here are Ten Practical steps in a multicoloured Church that he shared. May you be blessed and challenged.

1. Be convinced theologically of the Biblical nature of the Church, the calling and eschatology of the Church

2. Be jealous for God’s glory in diversity- God is more glorified in diversity than
Uniformity

3. Be concerned for every person who is lost. Evangelistic passion will help reach all types of people.

4. Be aware of the changing composition of society- they are in transition

5. Be proactive about cultural diversity-make it easy for people of other cultural backgrounds to come

6. be a talent spotter- disciple all communities

7. Be wary of political correctness

8. Be ruthless with racism in your heart

9.Be prepared for pain- this is not sentimentality, this is spiritual warfare.

10. Be passionate about a glorious Church- We are God’s new tribe

Prayer and fasting

As a Church we are on a three week prayer and fast ( 4th January to 25th January)
It is good to seek the Lord - The Bible says "commit all your plans to the Lord and he will make your paths straight" Let us do that....
Please join us as we seek him for the following:

• An increased spiritual hunger for God
• The presence of God in all our meetings - especially during this season of fasting
• For a new dimension of the supernatural in our midst
• An increase in numbers with many people turning from darkness into Light

Masiha Church is also launching special midweek prayer meetings in Bandra west, Khar east, Mahim and Dharavi from the second week of January.

Please do contact us for more details. Trust this will encourage many more to come and meet with the Living God.

The BIG Catch

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

As we enter the New Year - let us see a few important lessons from this story
Obedience
Peter was a seasoned fisherman –however he did not say to Jesus “you are a carpenter, I know more about fishing than you”. He was willing to let go of his so called experience and obey Jesus – He let the nets down.
The disciples were radical- They left everything to follow Jesus. For some of us it will be a laying down of things and following Jesus.
Be willing to just obey Jesus.

Expect the Big catch
What a catch!!!!- They got -It blew their mind - As you obey Jesus this year you can expect God to break in with amazing blessings.
I am Believing God for a Big catch- I encourage you to do the same.

In everything –see Jesus
Peter has just been blessed with an amazing catch- I would have expected him to be rejoicing and giving thanks – but here he falls at the feet of Jesus, sees his own sinfulness and the holiness of God. Every miracle will draw us to see the greatness of Jesus. May we never lose sight of Jesus- It is all about honouring his name.

Help of one another
It is not about me doing my thing. Our nets will break – we need help.
Call for help- hundreds will come in and all need to be cared for. Be willing to help-A united people is a great strength- We are in this together- we are partners- James and John were partners with Simon.
And lastly
From Now on you will catch me
Those who have encountered Jesus are recruited to this Calling. Let us not miss this. Catching people for God was the prime call on the disciples when Jesus first recruited them.
Everything in Church life is good- kids work- youth work- music -Bible teaching- working for the poor - generosity etc but let us not forget-
Jesus said “from now on you will catch men”

Masiha Church this year let us step into the deep
May we all have a very fruitful God filled 2009