Sunday, 30th March 2008, Koramangala Methodist Church, Bangalore

The Sunday after Easter was a little bit different in the sense of walked instead of biking to church. I reached early to hear the choir practicing songs for praise and worship and for a change I sat in the middle instead of the corners. The sermon was taken by Pastor Andrew and I was wide awake for most of its part, which was a different experience altogether.So here goes the sermon...

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
Corinth a place where church was established by Paul. Corinth a cosmopolitan city. Corinth a place where ship building was the major occupation. Corinth a place where many philosophy thrived. Corinth a place where people were fascinated by preachers and cult leaders. Corinth a place where people loved wisdom. Corinth a place of pluralistic community. Corinth a religious city, the light of Greece. Corinth a place where immorality thrived. Corinth a place where prostitution thrived. And here was a where a church was established. Bangalore is also cosmopolitan. Do parallel exist between our city and Corinth? How should we as a church be. Like flies getting attracted to dead meat are people flocking to this city like that.
1:21..What is wisdom of God, wisdom of man....Human wisdom is constantly craving for the quest for God. With human wisdom many Gods get created. If you recognize and portray how God should be then that can also be called as idolatry. Greeks looked for wisdom as God. Here Paul introduces Gods wisdom. We preach Christ was crucified. Crucifixion is humbling and shameful....and for Greeks Messiah getting crucified was foolish. Greeks were in lookout for personality who could speak but God's wisdom is not the same. God reveals himself as a God who suffers. The glory of God is experienced by his love and grace. God chooses a weak thing in life to show his love, grace and forgiveness. The cross is the power of God. It is the saving power and a power which overcomes the enemies. God's wisdom is that he operates in weakness which dismantles conventional beliefs. His ways are different. Ask God to show his wisdom. Here then will come the answer that he chose corinth when she was weak and sinful. The parallel is between the weak thing(cross) and weak people.So we should not boast as the glory is Gods'. Then ask give more evidence as I am not satisfied. 2:1 is an another example of God's wisdom. Nike ad says just do it, but here you can't do it all alone. When we recognize our weaknesses then God takes care of them. Our faith must be in the power of God not in our mere wisdom. Weakness could be anything. It could be loneliness, ill health, financial problem....God says that he will operate in our life with his wisdom we just have to submit.


Wow that day it was sounding more interesting than today when I tried to replicate it. Still I have to say the content is still good enough to be consumed by a believer.

I can never be the same...

I know I was lonely...
Looking out for someone comely..

I agree that I was searching..
Hoping to find someone pleasing..

I sincerely never believed..
That I can ever get someone so sweet..

But then you were there..
An angel out of nowhere..

"An angel" said I..
How could she ever be mine..

But Your heart was kind..
And you did not mind..

The devil of my heart..
Was in the lookout for a shot..

You gave me the look..
Merrier than the silver brook..

My search was over..
My heart was pleased forever..

My heart was glad..
I thought I will never again feel sad..

But I over looked the fact..
That my feelings were like a selfish act..

The bond created...
Was too weak that it easily got berated..

You were strong..
Your beliefs even stronger..

You said it was over..
Cause your promises are more important than your lover..

I can never believe ...
Cause my thoughts are not so easy to release..

I am trying hard to make you stay...
But it seems I am no more in the frame...

I cling on to hope..
To reach the roof without any rope..

You saw me as a devil I am..
I cannot argue cause that's what I am...

I wish you could stay...
Wish it every time I pray..

You made a believer..
Your love made me the happiest creature..

But here I am today...
Lost among the multitudes of the day...

Before (I met you)!! I was searching..
Before (I met you)!! I was looking..
Before (I met you)!! I was hoping...

You changed me...
And now you say you will leave me..

Now I am only hoping..
Trying to seek happiness which is not coming..

I have lost my faith..
Which is giving me the biggest pain..

Without you I am no more the same..
Without you I am going insane..
The only truth although it may sound lame..
That I can never be the same..
That I can never be the same..
That I can never be the same..

Easter, 23rd March,2008, Koramangala Methodist Church, Bangalore

Easter was the day which went too holy for me. Attended dawn service at 5 a.m. in KMC then attended 9:30 am service at KMC with my cousin and then attended the musical service at 6 pm in KMC. Unfortunately in all of them I was rather sleepy because of waking up so early. So attending all three services as an option did not turn out to be so good. Anyhow here are the excerpts from the three services.

1) Dawn Service 5 am: Luke 24:1-8. The sermon was taken by Pastor H Mathew and the inevitable happened that is in between service I was toggling between sleep and consciousness. So here are some random points I manage to remember. We look for living among the dead. We go to places to seek among those who cannot provide. Resurrection has provided greater hope. Recognition is one the stepping stone of proclaiming Jesus. Unexpected things are always a possibility and the impossible with men is possible with God. The only thing more I remember is the following and I like it very much. He said the following in reference with something which you guessed it right I have forgotten. He said The trains of thoughts on a lonely track, the greener grasses and the trees passes by. Well from these random phrases/sentences you must have realized that I was really sleepy.

2) 9:30 service koramangala. As from the excerpts of the sermon of the dawn services you might have realized that I was sleepy. What chances did I had to be attentive and awake during this service. Yes my friends the probability of that happening was 0, in spite of a very good sermon by Rev. Theodore Williams. He said We believe on Him as a living Christ. For time the Lord revealed Himself as a living one ( after crucifixion). One of this revelation was to Peter ....Luke 23:14..We cannot keep on worshipping him only during the time of troubles and sorrows. ..Suddenly on a long 'life' road Jesus happen to meet paralyzing, blinding sadness... We should open our hearts and allow the scriptures to do the rest. The urge is strong and it stays with us....not just as a problem but as saviour..He will never refuse invitation...The guest will then become the host. He will become the master. He is not an aspirin tablet for quick relief. So we should open our heart and submit. That's it, these are the few things I was able to assimilate during the time I was awake and I hope that you may gain something out of these incoherent aggregation of the sermon.

So the day ended in the evening in the church listening to beautiful rendition of some wonderful and meaningful praise and worship.

Excerpts from Chop Suey: System of Down

Simply love these few lines...

Father into your hand
I commend my spirit
Father into your hand
Why have you forsaken me
In your eyes
Forsaken me In your thoughts
Forsaken me In your heart
Forsaken me
ohh trust in my self righteous suicide
I cry When angels deserve to die
In my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to die

How Dare I

How dare I feel the pain...
When loneliness ruled in all those rain...

Who gave me the rights to crib...
When I hoped only for some feeling in my rib...

The rights to sulk was never mine...
For the angels grace was much more than divine...

I ask..Is it right to think myself so lowly..
A voice replied..this realization can only be holy..

For the grace was not mine to obtain...
It was only my luck that could not refrain..

The absence which I may feel..
For it; was never and never will be a big deal...

I was living the happiness which was leased...
But How dare I even question its release...

I can only render a cry...
But then How dare I even cry...

How dare I...
How dare I...

Good Friday (21st March 2008, KMC : Koramangala Methodist Church) : Part 2

Carrying on from the previous post here are the elaboration of the last 4 verse by Jesus on the Cross.

4) "Eloi, Eloi,[a] lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"Mathew 27:46. This has probably been one of personal favourite. There is something about these few words which has always been able to attract. First of all Eloi Eloi....sounds tacky and cool and above all these words sounds that of a desperate/defeated man and I guess some point of time in our life some of us might have such an experience of desperation. Nevertheless different people can have different views on the point and the speaker who was going to speak on them was a choir leader. I had great expectation from him and I bet he did justice to these words by his own interpretation. I have to ask for excuse if I am unable to reciprocate the same thing he said over here. Anyhow here is what he said: Imagine the scene the one who is the healer, the one who is the preacher the one who is loved by many...is hanging on the cross. The one who proclaims intimacy with his father is crying out. If this does not make an impact on our lives then probably we are too used to it. Probably then nothing would ruffle our feathers then. Sometimes in our life we feel meaninglessness, abandonment, unloved ....These feelings gets enhanced by the media , by the people around us, by the overall environment. Today we are living ripped apart from God. Before death this becomes the deepest identification. It is said that Mother Teresa also felt forsakeness from God. Christ forsakeness reaches deep into our own.Sinlessness forsake the sinful creature. Greatest deed is what Christ did on the cross. So has He reached deep into our hearts to be more specific have we allowed Him that special place

5) Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." John 19:28. Meditation on these words were taken by a lady who along with one other lady maintains decorum/discipline in church during the time of communion. Her was the most impressive content which I was struggling to keep pace with. I will anyhow try to remember as much I can. The meditation undertaken went something like this Were they the words uttered by a desperate man. definitely not....Only cries of the disciples penetrated the slumber..The only thing flying higher were the doves...Thirst refers to physical thirst...These were words of humanity in divinity...Why did He endure thirst was it amazing love...was it amazing grace...Its spiritual dimension is the fulfilling of the old testament prophecy. John 4:34 Jesus thirst to fulfill His fathers work. Greek word used for fulfill means to complete. He thirsted for reunion with His father. Imagine God and the two on his two side. His heart thirst to save you and me. Why did not everyone was able to see that He was the Messiah. Probably because they were not thirsty. The one who thirst is the giver of living water. Irony of an empty soul is that it is perpetually dissatisfied. It shifts from one thing to another. A dry soul would be the one which does not know what it is missing. Whereas the satisfied soul knows who is God and goes to that thirst quencher. Are we in constant relationship with God? Do we thirst for Him. John:7:14 If anyone is thirsty come to me and drink

6) When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30. This was taken by another lady. Her content was also well formed but it seemed it was not coming naturally to her still her content did draw attention which I was unable to ignore. Still the things I remember I will pen down. He was caught, beaten and crucified. spiritually battered and physically broken on the cross. This was a cry of triumph on the cross. He had accomplished what he had come to do. The sense was of accomplishment can be guaged in five different ways (i) All prophesies were accomplished in just one man, Jesus. It was finished in Him. (ii) All forms of sacrifices were abolished because He sacrificing Himself on the cross. (iii) God justice were met. Full atonement had been made. The wages of sin was fulfilled forever and the ransom paid in full. (iv) The power of satan, sin and death were destroyed. (v) He ratified the eternal covenant i.e. God the Father, God the son and God the Holy spirit. Eternity passed and the son of God willingly submitted himself to the father to pave the path of cross. So question which should be asked by us the strength of the response we establish between us and God

7) Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:46. This was taken by Reverend H. Mathews and I am sorry to say that I am not a big fan of his sermon at least in English. I lose his context and meaning more often than not. This is what I think he said. If we relive the same form of hardship as Jesus did on the cross what will be our reaction. These versus re-emphasize the trust of Jesus in his father. Elaborates the kind of faith we need to live in. (Jewish) mother often tell their children to pray these versus as prayer which shows the closeness of relationship. The presence of the father always accompanied Jesus. What is required by us is to delight in Lord and he will take care of all our needs. Sorry as i said I always drift a lot in his sermon.

This is it guys that was what I heard and probably understood on the 23rd of March KMC's Good Friday service.

Good Friday (21st March 2008, KMC : Koramangala Methodist Church) : Part 1

I have been thinking about this for a while and finally I am doing it i.e. to try and write out what the things I had heard and part of the thing which I may have assimilated. You may like it or you may not, I do not bother but I have decided that I will write about them anyhow. Anyways this post is the first of its kind in my blog and their will be many more in due course of time

Good Friday : Well I am not going to introduce its meaning and would not be preachy but instead write about what I had been preached. This post has seven section in accordance with the seven thing said by Christ on the cross and in accordance with the speakers speaking on these words in KMC.

1) "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." : Luke23:34. This was discussed by a lady and I was unable to get a single thing she wanted to say. To me it was too incoherent

2) "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." : Luke 23:42. These words were reflected upon by a guy. Although he is unknown to me as everyone else in KMC but one thing is confirmed that he was impressive and was able to engage me for the whole time. He started of by talking about some one. It went something like this. --- He was/wasn't probably there when thousands were fed. He was/wasn't probably there when the dead was raised. He was/wasn't probably there when people were healed. He was/wasn't probably there when ....By this time this speaker left me wondering who is the so called "He" is he talking about till the time when the sermon came to this. He knew who Jesus was and he was a thief. He knew that he was hanging beside two people. He knew that one was good and the other deserve his fate. Amidst all the insult mooted out by different people to this good man, one reacted differently inspite of being a robber. A transaction happened between man and God and an audacious question was asked "Remember me ......" . Good....well till now he was able to keep me interested by his beautiful oratory skills but the better part was yet to come when the speaker revealed his actual intentions/meanings. He said We may come to church every week and pretend to be as much holy as possible but the fact remains that we are caught in the ways of the world. God does not forget. God did not forget Joseph thrown into the pit by his brothers. God did not forget Daniel in the den. God did not forget Samson. God did not forget .... and God did no forget this thief. He will remember us but the question is will we ask Him ??

3) "Jesus said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son." He said to the disciple, "Here is your mother."": John:19:26-27. This word from the cross was taken up by the pastor. KMC has two pastors actually one reverend and one pastor. Have no idea what these titles stand for. But the one who is pastor is young and this guy lead the meditation of these words. His sermon went something like this. The scene shifted from the soldier to the present. Jesus went about doing miracles and now He was on the cross. The lady standing is a true mother and like any other she loves her child inspite of the world condemning her child on the cross as a criminal. On the cross Jesus glorified His Father and honoured his mother. Children has responsibilities towards their parents. That is what Christ was taking heed of while still on the cross. The point is a new life is possible if a relationship is thriving. A disciple took hers as her mother and it was beginning of a new relationship as a symbol of circle of faith. To us the mean of that faith is the church. As the community grows we should always welcome one another and accept. So we should allow these new brotherhood to prosper so that when time comes we be able to bring comfort to others. One of the examples he used was of a German Pastor during the time of Hitler who was killed for explaining Jesus as a Man for others The pastor concluded by saying Like wise we have to do the welfare of others like Jesus did even going through all that he went through on the cross

दीवारों से मिलकर रोना अच्छा लगता है: Pankaj Udhas (Getting it in Hindi font was in itself a motivation to put it in my blog)

दीवारों से मिलकर रोना अच्छा लगता है,
हम भी पागल हो जायेगा ऐसा लगता है.

दुनियाभर कि यादें हमसे मिलने आती है,
शाम ढले इस सूने घर मी मेला लगता है.

कितने दिनों के प्यासे होंगे यारो सोचो तो,
शबनम का कतरा भी जिनको दरिया लगता है.

किसको “कैझर” पथ्थर मारूँ कौन पराया है,
शीश महल मी एक एक चेहरा अपना लगता है.