Lighthouse

Message from Achen

Dear Horeb Family,

“But the angel reassured them, ‘Do not be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.’”  – Luke 2:10 (NLT)

As we enter into the final month of 2022, Horeb is once again preparing and getting ready for “the most wonderful time of the year”, the time for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  Yes, the Christmas season will be a reason to celebrate in many ways for many around the world, but how will our celebrations compare?  Some of us, especially children, wish that Christmastime would last all year, while for others in this world, this can be a season not so awaited in their time of grieving or experience of loneliness or homelessness.  Yet, Christmas still stands with the promise of great joy for all and through all who receive its meaning and message in their lives.  And that meaning and message of Christmas is not diminished but all the more empowering in our present times.  The first Christmas revealed then and still reminds us every year of the unfailing love of God – that God will not forget or abandon us, leave us or forsake us.  Rather, God’s will is to be in relationship with us, to enter into our experiences to redeem and transform, to give us heavenly peace and joy, and for our lives to bear and share the love of God and hope given through Christ to the world around us.   As we celebrate Christmas this year, may the Good Lord bless and enable our celebrations and commemoration, our fellowships and activities to uphold and testify the saving grace and love of Christ to the world around us.  May this Christmas bring each and every one of you the experience of real joy, peace, and salvation.

As we are also drawing near to embark upon the New Year 2023, let’s be encouraged and strengthened by the faith and hope that the real meaning of Christmas offers our lives.   Let’s go forward with renewed confidence in that “God’s plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day.”

 Wishing all of you a most blessed Christmas and Happy New Year 2023!

With prayerful regards,

Rev. Arun Samuel Varghese

Song of Gratitude

Ancy George

Fall quarter of the year is one of the most fun and beautiful time of the year with Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations around the corner to warm the hearts of weary souls that have been laboring through the endless cycle of work and mindless activities. This time of the year makes us stop and think of what we are thankful for in our lives leading us to the advent season, reminding us of the greatest source of our joy and hope, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

As I write this, a Jewish song called Dayenu ( it would have been enough/ it would have sufficed us”) comes to mind, a song sung during Passover seder followed by Al Achat Kamah (hum much more so).  These songs are songs of gratitude, reminder to never forget God’s mercy. A few stanzas’ of Dayenu is as follows “ If He had brought us of out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgements against them-Dayenu, it would have been enough. If he had carried judgements against them, and not against their idols-Dayenu, it would have been enough…” This song is followed with Al Achat Kamah (hum much more so) which says that yet how much more should we be grateful to the Omnipresent one for all his blessings.

 If we were to apply these two songs to the advent season and make a few stanzas, it would say

“ If God has chosen to destroy Adam and Eve after they sinned, it would have been enough

If God had chosen to pick the royal palace and not Mary and Joseph, it would have been enough

If Jesus had overlooked the blind, the lame and the sick, it would have been enough

If Jesus had judged the Samaritan woman or Mary Magdalene, it would have been enough

If Jesus had picked the more qualified educated Jews to be his disciples, it would have been enough

If Jesus had chosen not to suffer the death on the cross and come and gone as a royal Prince, it would have been enough”

Yet

“God chose to have mercy on mankind when Adam and Eve sinned, so that Mankind wouldn’t be destroyed from the face of the earth and not condemned for eternity.

God chose Mary and Joseph, two people who were no royalty, to be parents to Jesus so you and I can relate to His heart, a heart that doesn’t discriminate between the rich and the poor.

Jesus had compassion on the sick, the lame and the blind so that no one would condemn them and say that they were born with special abilities because of their sin.

Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman and Mary Magdalene because he wanted the world to know that He is Love and in His eyes, he loves us all inspite of our flaws and failings and wants to give us another chance.

Jesus picked the unqualified to tell the world that He sees potential where the world doesn’t because He created us and He can do wonders through us, if we were to just submit and obey.

Jesus died for us on the cross so you and I can live with the hope of eternity and a victorious life here on earth because we are for all times loved by the Creator of the universe, sovereign over all creation and who gave us victory over sin, satan and death”

As we enter the advent season, let us reflect on our own lives as well and sing our song of Dayenu and Al Achat Kamah, reflecting on how God has provided for us in our good times and our bad times, that sometimes when life throws a curve ball and we wonder with our “if only’s”, we can sing with a heart of gratitude that “ if God had not answered my prayer, dayenu, it would have been enough” because even though we may not have gotten what we wanted yet how much more our God who send his Son to this world to die for us has provided for us in ways that we would have hardly imagined!

Esther's Purpose

Joana Thomas explains why Esther is her favorite Bible character and how Esther showed strength in a troubling predicament and chose to do God's purpose in her life. Video edited by Ruth Jacob.
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