Captain Jose P. Mathew, from the Salvation Army, India South Western (Kerala) region, now studying in Gurukul, conducted his evaluation worship and sermon on 29th October 2008. The invocation was led by Jose himself. During the invocation Salvation Army flag, representing victory and authority ( the colours of which symbolized Trinity: bluie - Creator, red - blood of Jesus, yellow - the work of the Holy spirit), was elegantly carried by the young daughter of Jose. His wife, Alice, a good singer, led the Bhajan which was written by Jose himself and composed by John G. Varghese. It reflected the theme of the sermon, prophetic mission of building a new community.
The sermon was based on the text, Ezekiel37: 1-10. Jose started his sermon with the story of Colonel Yesudasan, founder of the Salvation Army in Kerala, who brought new life to the marginalized and the downtrodden Dalits of Kerala. Jose P. Mathew lamented that instead of building a community, now the "spiritual mafia" is taking over the church, making the Church, a religion of the market, without any sense of divine call or clear vision. Ezekiel is an example of a prophet who had genuine call from God and a clear vision for the society: The "dry bones," he saw represented the pathetic situation of the people in the valley. Today the Churches are insensitive to the realities of the valley -- the injustice, poverty, violence against the dalits, women and the marginalized in society. Instead of a people oriented ministry what we have now is a " task oriented and tradition oriented ministry." "Creating a new community out of dry bones is the mission of the Christians," he said. "Building community is not to convert people from other religions or bring people form other churches. "He quoted Mother Theresa who once told a journalist: I convert Hindus to be better Hindus, Muslims to be better Muslims, and Christians to be better Christians. Mission is liberating people form spiritual and physical bondage. Kingdom of heaven is the place of a liberated community. Jesus' sacrificial work on the cross was laying down his life for building a new community. Jose P. Mathew delivered the sermon in a clear and convincing manner. He was confident and proved himself to be an efficient worship leader.
Jose and his wife are experienced ministers in the Salvation Army. Salvation Army always encourages team ministry of the whole family. We pray that Jose and his family would make the ministry of the Salavation Army much more effective in India.
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