Lighthouse

March 2026

Vicar's Message

Dearly beloved in Christ,

We are getting into an important month of great Lent observation.

We are intended to learn how to shoulder each other's burden, like Christ did for the universe, particularly for us, which is not that easy, but a risky business to follow in daily lives. But still we are called for it.

When we observe the mid-Lent, we are remembering Christ's preparation for carrying the cross, which is for the redemption of the world.

Even today, we also have a part to play when we observe it; we are called to be liberative. When God did His part, we enjoyed and benefited. His creation should benefit some from us, nothing but carry our own cross and liberate many.

The cross was the real manifestation of grace, too, grace for the whole universe, the grace of deliverance.

There are many in bondage even today. When we observe Lent in different ways, it is our responsibility to manifest this grace in different manner. Then the entry of the King of peace would be easy among us, and that’s the real celebration of Easter.

Let the righteous Christ be risen in everyone; that is our ultimate goal of mission and observation of Great Lent. Let’s be faithful to the King of peace, regardless of what happens in our life situations.

May God be with every one of us and bless us to be a real liberator with Christ, that’s how we can fulfill our mission on Earth. Let His name be glorified. May the Savior God enable us to fulfill our purpose and to be real and true Christians.

With much blessings and prayers

Kochummen Achen

LA Horeb

MY FAITH JOURNEY

Jemini Nainan

What are you thankful for?

A few things I’m thankful for: I am very much grateful for the strength that God has blessed me with to build a career that I like, for the familial and social relationships that have kept me going at every moment, for the resilience to adapt in a new country, and for all the small things that I often take for granted in this world.

Are there any Bible passages, Bible characters, or songs (Christian) that influenced you recently?

Broadly, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians has been a book that has influenced and guided me through important phases of my life. To be precise, 1 Corinthians 10: 23-33 has been really valuable. For Paul says, “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up... just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. These verses have had a strong impact on my faith journey with Christ because of the distinction Paul makes between everything worldly around us and everything that one should do for the Glory of God. Despite the availability of a lot of choices/things, what we choose among those options, as Paul says, must be for the Glory of God and with an intention to do good for others. A faith journey, then, is described through this passage as a choice that one makes (out of the many options) which must align with the glorification of God.

Are there any spiritual disciplines that helped you (church service, fellowship, prayer, etc.) or hobbies grow in faith?

Growing up, I was accustomed to going to church, attending Sunday School, and attending practices for the church choir. I grew up singing Malayalam Qurbana hymns, and as much as I enjoy singing these hymns, they remind me of the joy in praising and worshiping God together as a church. Especially hymns like Aaradhichidam Kumbittu Aaradhichidaam, Parishuddan Mahonathan, and Ennodula Ninn Sarva have been among my favorites that have also helped me to grow as a person, along with other church activities.

The Jewish Carpenter

John Varghese

I was driving one afternoon when I noticed a bumper sticker on the car ahead of me. It read: “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter.” I smiled, and after a moment’s thought, I realised exactly whom that sentence was referring to.

It made me wonder: why did Jesus become a carpenter? He could have chosen any skill, any profession. And there is no mention anywhere in the New Testament of Him actually using His trade. Not once do we read of Him building a table or framing a doorway. So why carpentry?

He could have been a winemaker, after all, he produced the finest wine at the Wedding at Cana. He could have been a physician: he healed a woman who had suffered for eighteen years, gave sight to the blind, and cleansed the skin of ten lepers. He was, without question, an extraordinary teacher. Even the priests addressed him as Rabbi. His command of Scripture was so complete that the religious leaders in the synagogues grew envious, and that envy eventually turned murderous. He even showed a sharp mind for numbers, calculating how to feed five thousand people in the wilderness with almost nothing, and gave such a masterful answer on the question of taxes that His questioners were left speechless.

So why carpentry? For the longest time, I could not understand it.

Then it struck me. In His final hours on earth, Jesus carried the cross to the place where He was crucified. He was nailed to it. The cross was lifted with Him on it for the entire world to see. And that cross, that instrument of suffering and salvation, became the symbol that God gave His only Son to save humanity: that our sins are forgiven, that there is hope for healing, and that we can draw closer to Him through Jesus.

Now, what was that cross made of?

Wood.

To me, the cross became the ultimate masterpiece of a perfect Carpenter.

More than two thousand years later, I was sitting in a cafeteria in Pune, India, having lunch with a group of colleagues, none of them Christian. One of them picked up a Coca-Cola can and marvelled at it. “You know,” he said, “Coca-Cola is the second most recognizable symbol in the world.”

Without thinking, I asked, “Then which is the first?”

The whole cafeteria seemed to go quiet. After a pause, one colleague leaned in and whispered: “The Cross.”

I had nothing more to say.

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