From Vicar’s Desk

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Vicar’s Message 1

Holy Commun-

ion Service

1

Area Prayer 1

Birthdays 2

Wedding Anni-

versary

2

Secretary’s

message

2

Talent night

Pictures

3

Walk for Cure 3

Upcoming

Events

3

Condolence 3

Crossword

Puzzle

4

Additional Pic-

tures

5

Area Prayer Meetings

Mar Thoma Church of San Francisco

V O L U M E 1 0 - 2 0 1 5

O C T O B E R N E W S L E T T E R

I N S I D E :

· Vicar’s message

· Area Prayer meet-

ings

· Holy Communion

service schedule

· Upcoming Events

· Pictures

· Talent night ipictures

San Ramon Area October 23, Friday 8:00pm Tentative

Sacramento Area October 17, Saturday 4:00 pm O.C. Ninan & Soumini family

Central Valley October 25, Sunday 5:00pm Renji and Jaya family (Stockton)

San Francisco Area October 24, Saturday 4:00pm Tentative

Fremont Area October 24, Saturday 7:00pm Tentative

South Bay Area October 10, Saturday 7pm Kurien Thomas (Raju/Rosamma)

October 4 Malayalam Holy Communion service @4 PM South Bay Area assist

October 11 Malayalam Holy Communion service @10 AM San Francisco Area assist

October 18 English Holy Communion service @10 AM Fremont Area assist

October 25 English Holy Communion service @10 AM San Ramon Area assist

November 1 Malayalam Holy Communion service @10 AM Central Valley Area assist

November 8 Malayalam Holy Communion service @10 AM South Bay Area Assist

Holy Communion Service

Greetings to

you in all the

name of our

Lord and savior

Jesus Christ.

Isaiah chapter 40 talks

about the blessings that we

receive when we wait upon

the Lord. Isiah 40.31 says 31

but those who hope in the

Lord will renew their

strength. They will soar on

wings like eagles; they will

run and not grow weary, they

will walk and not be faint.

There are three blessings

that will be given to those

who wait. They will renew

their strength, they will sour

on wings like eagles, and

they will run and not grow

weary and will walk and not

be faint. Let us wait upon the

lord and He will give His

strength. All our parish activi-

ties during the month of Sep-

tember were a blessed one.

In the month of October, the first

four Sundays are set apart to re-

member various mission activi-

ties of the church. The First Sunday

is the day of Voluntary Evangelists

Association. This organization was

started in 1924 under the leadership

of Late Abraham Mar Thoma Metro-

politan with the great vision “Every

Marthomite is a Missionary”. 1) Bi-

ble Study 2) Sharing Experiences 3)

House Visits 4) Intercessory Prayers

5) Conducting Prayer Groups 6)

Medical Care for the poor and sick

7) Gospel Work among non-

Christians. The Second Sunday is

set apart to remember the physical-

ly and mentally handicapped peo-

ple. They are also created by God

with various talents. They are to be

accepted with equality. They are to

be called “Differently Abled” in-

stead of “Disabled” Third Sunday is

Youth Sunday. Youth hood is a great

gift from God. It is the time of possi-

bilities, dreams and actions. Possi-

bilities of youth hood are to be used

in constructive ways to build up the

society. Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sa-

kyam was started in 1933

to help the youth to witness

the kingdom of God

through worship, study,

witness and service.).

Fourth Sunday is Christian

Family Sunday. Family is

instituted by God as the

early heaven on earth. It is

the basic unit and founda-

tion of society. Family is

where we learn to live as a

society. It is the place

where parents transmit

human values to the

younger generation. Chris-

tian family is the place

where each on lives for

others and all together live

for God. May God bless

and guide us to meditate

upon God`s purpose about

our life and to partake in

God`s mission of the King-

dom of God.

With prayerful regards,

Rev. Biju P. Simon Achen

P A G E 2 B

irth

da

ys

The message from our Achen talks

about the first four Sundays in Octo-

ber are set apart for the “mission activi-

ties”. In that the third Sunday (Oct 18) is

devoted for “Youth Sunday”. In the Mar Thoma Calendar it is noted as

“youth in search of a meaningful

l i f e ” . ~

But what is a successful and meaning-ful life? Where you get your answers

will have profound implications in this

life and in the eternal life.

The world passionately tells young

men and women (movies, internet, and

television) that there is no God. Since

there is no Creator, humans are simply

an evolved species that came into being

for no discernible reason. There is no

objective morality to which we are all

are accountable. Morality (right and

wrong), therefore, is subjective and

defined by each individual person and/

or culture. Since morality is personal,

each person is free (to an extent) to de-

fine what they believe is right and

wrong and morality is then based on

maximizing “pleasure” where possible.

Therefore the world’s answer is that the

primary purpose in life is to maximize

“personal pleasure”. Therefore “Eat,

drink, and be merry” is world’s suc-

cessful/meaningful life.

The Bible has a completely different

answer. 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If

anyone loves the world, love for the

Father is not in them. The world and

its desires pass away, but whoever

does the will of God lives forever”.

God says that men and women are

his special creation who have been created in His own image (Gen 1:26).

Men and women were intentionally

created by God to bring glory to

God. The primary purpose of life is to serve the Creator. “Train up a

child in the way he should go; even

when he is old he will not depart

from it” (Prov 22:6). God knows that young men and young women need

to be taught how to be a men and

women. Deuteronomy 4:9 says.

“Teach God’s commands to your

children and to their children after

them.” Deuteronomy 11:19 reiterates

this and says, “Teach them to your

children, talking about them when

you sit at home and when you walk

along the road, when you lie down

and when you get up.” Ephesians 6:4

says to bring your children up “in the

discipline and instruction of the

Lord.”. So in conclusion What is a

successful, meaningful life? It is

remembering Ephesians 2:10: “for we

are His workmanship, created in Christ

Jesus for good works, which God pre-

pared beforehand, that we should walk

in them.” A successful life is one that

walks before God in faith and meaning

comes from bringing glory to Him. I

am glad to say that our youths are ex-

cellent role models and their love for

God as well as the church is un-

fathomable.

We had a successful Harvest festival

and thank everyone who participated.

The talent night program was excel-

lent. I thank the organizers especially

Mr. Anu philip for the great effort and

coordination. Youths participated in

the “Susan G. Komen Race for the

Cure 5k run/walk in SFO” and raised close to $2,000. Our next big events

are the convention coming up in No-

vember, the Christmas Carol pro-gram scheduled for December 12th

and House-to-house Carol program in

December. As in the previous years we

will have the General Body meeting &

2016 election in November. Please

pray for our church, its

activities and all the office

bearers . ~

S incerely, ~

Jacob Varghis (Prasad)

Fro

m t

he

Se

cre

tary

PA

GE

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1-Hannah Jacob

1-Rosin Tharakan

1-Abby Cherian

2-Annamma Kurian

2-Anna Mathews

2-Santosh Palackamannil

Abraham

3-Shino Kurian

4-Sumeetha Jacob

5-Libby Kurien

6-Susan Thomas

7-Mathews Issac

7-Isabel Roy

7-Sunita Chandy

9-Anila Thomas

10-Abin Chankal John

11-Aleyamma Thomas

12-Juavana Varghese

13-Shaun Ninan

14-Rachel Johnson

14-Sally Kurien

15-Mathew Jacob

15-Leelamma Philip

16-Beena Jacob

17-Michelle George

17-Benjamin George

18-Kurian Thomas

18-Julie George

19-Daniel George

19-Rhea Skaria

19-Jacob Cherian

20-Josie Varughese

20-Alexei Godfray

22-Ewin Mathew

22-Elizabeth Chandy

22-Sreya Mathew

23-Noel Mammen

23-Abigail Anish

25-Henning Mathew

26-Cherian Mathews

27-Shija Johnson

28-Deena Alexander

28-Sarah Eapen

29-Jaiden George

29-Sarah Thomas

29-Ethan Anikathil

30-Anoushka Samuel

5-Mathew Jacob & Baby Jacob

7-Dr. Memuriyil M. Thomas & Valsamma Thomas

9-Abraham Mathew & Sunu Easow

15-Titus M. George & Darlena David

22-John V. Mathew & Santhamma John

24-Mathew Varughese & KochuThresia Varughese

24-Mani R. John & Anitha Paul

27-Shaji Mathew & Daisy Mathew

29-Shino Kurian Family & Nora Kurian

Wedding Anniversaries

M A R T H O M A C H U R C H O F S A N F R A N C I S C O O C T O B E R N E W S L E T T E R

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· Oct 3-10:30 am Fasting and Prayer @church

· Oct 2-4 - Yuvajana Sakyam Conference (San Jose) MTC SV hosting

· Oct 2 - Diocesan Council meeting @church

· Oct 4 - Diocesan Bishop farewell meeting (6pm)

· Oct 8-12 -Sevika Sungham Conference New Jersey

· Oct 11-18 –”Yuvajana Sakyam Varam” Celebration

· Oct 12 –Columbus Day Holiday for some

· Oct 17- 08:30 am Men’s Bible study in Hayward (Sat)

· Oct 14–18 Senior Citizen conference Houston

· Oct 18 –Yuvajana Sakyam Day

· Oct 10– 10am Choir Fellowship (Tentative)

· Oct 25 - Family dedication Sunday

· Oct 30-1st Nov Young Family Conference New York

M A R T H O M A C H U R C H O F S A N F R A N C I S C O O C T O B E R N E W S L E T T E R

Mr. P.T. George ( 80 years old) Father of

Naveen, Fremont passed away on Sep-

tember, 29, 2015 in India , Funeral de-

tails: on October 3, 2015 Saturday 10 AM at Coimbatore CSI church. Naveen/Mina

and children are in India. Please pray for

the grieving families and for safe travel.

Condolences:

Talent night performance

Race for Cure

P A G E 4

M A R T H O M A C H U R C H O F S A N F R A N C I S C O O C T O B E R N E W S L E T T E R

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Crossword Puzzle, October 2015; Bible Portion: Esther 4-7 NIV