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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 13 / Issue 46 / December 15 2011
Contents of this issue
Editorial
Immanuel - God with us
A Very Special E-card for Christmas
Join us in Facebook
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
By Sherly Isaac
Every year we celebrate Christmas but what is Christmas after all? Is it just a celebration for fun or just a time when Santa go loose in this world giving gifts to people? What is the reason behind it? Well, neither Santa nor snowman is the reason behind Christmas. In fact both of them have nothing to do with Christmas. Christmas is the day when Jesus was born in this world. God almighty chose to come down in the form of a man to save us from our sins and to save us from hell fire.
Last week I heard a strange message. According to him, "the difference between the courts of this world and the court of God is that while this world's court finds you guilty of your crimes and will punish you but when you stand before God's judgment seat, He will find you guilty of your sins but He will let you go unpunished." When I heard this message I was completely shocked. I thought, 'what type of misrepresentation of the message of the Holy and Loving God that was!
It is true that God is a loving God but He will not let you go unpunished free. Bible is very clear that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Bible also tells us in Romans 3:23 that, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So every person is guilty of committing sin and their punishment is to face eternal death. Eternal death means that hell is waiting for that person. God is not going to show partiality with some and ignore your sins. He is a righteous judge and He will judge with righteousness and fairness.
If you are found guilty of having committed sin, you have to pay for your sins. But God in His great mercy sent His only Son to die on behalf of us so that our sins could be forgiven. Jesus took our place on the cross to pay for our sins. If we repent and turn to Him and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, He is ready to forgive and forget all our sins. More than that, He is ready to give us eternal life.
Let no one fool you that you can live in sin and finally God will allow you to go unpunished. No, it is not true. If it was true then there was no necessity for Jesus to have come down and gone through such a horrible suffering on the cross. If it was true, then the message of Jesus has no value and Jesus' death was in vain.
But the reality is that Jesus came for this very purpose. He humbled Himself and became like one of us leaving behind all the glories of heaven. He took birth as a common human being. Lived and walked on this earth as a common human being and yet showed Himself 100% divine and 100% human. He was rejected by His own, He was mocked, He was betrayed, He suffered, He was bruised and He was killed. Why should He have gone through all these sufferings? Only for one reason, for you and for me! Yes, He came down just for you and just for me to redeem us from our sins.
Today, Jesus wants to give you the gift of eternal life by forgiving your sins. Would you accept Him or reject Him? If you would: invite Him in your heart. He will gladly forgive your sins. Otherwise one day you will have to pay for your sins by yourself. What would you choose?
Immanuel - God with us
By Sherly Isaac
Mat 1:21-23, "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
What a great joy to have God with us. In the Old Testament we read that God used to come down and talk with Adam and Eve. He came down and walked with people and even He came down and led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years. But sometimes when God got angry He left the people and was not with them. In those times when God was with them the people saw extraordinary things in their lives. They saw victory, they saw blessings and health. No enemy could stand before them.
One such man was Gideon to whom God said in Jdg 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
In those days Israelites were oppressed by Midianites and they lived constantly in fear. Midianites would come in large numbers and they would destroy the crops of Israel and make their lives miserable. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. And one day the Angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
When Gideon heard that, he asked a very strange question. "O my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites." His question was direct and genuine that "if God is with us then why such calamities and destruction in our lives? Why we are suffering so much?" And God tells him, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"
Later we see the mighty deliverance that came in Israel when God sent Gideon and victory was theirs. No enemy could stand before them. Even today if God is with us, we can see victory in our lives and enemy will flee before Him. And the first step to experience the presence of God is to invite Him in our lives repenting from our sins. When we do that He will gladly come in and bless our lives.
In this Christmas season I pray that the King of kings and Lord of lords be born in your hearts and let His blessings come in your lives.
A Very Special E-card for Christmas
A Very Special E-card for Christmas is waiting for you!
You can view this at:
http://ecards.jcsearch.com/pickup/pickup.asp?CardId=44445G855DH155524
OR just enter your CardID
by going to Card Pickup site at http://ecards.jcsearch.com/pickup/pickup.asp
Your CardID is: 4445G855DH155524
Join us in Facebook
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Through the Valley of Death & other Books
As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.
This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,
Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil
Your Spam Folder
If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
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