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How
Strong Is Our Faith?
By
Fred Mickae!ian, Jr.
TChannel surfing on a recent Friday evening, a story
on Dateline NBC caught my interest. It was about a
couple that found out they were going to have twins.
However, a sonogram showed that the twin girls were
joined from the chest to the pelvis. The couple, Mr.
and Mrs. Lincoln, refused an abortion, stating they
were strong Christians and it was not an option for
them.
The heart-wrenching story took the viewers through
the Lincolnšs pregnancy, their prayers and the preparations
for birth and informing their three other children.
It showed the two attached girls at birth and their
infant life leading to the decision for surgery to
separate the girls. The girls had three legs between
them and X-rays determined one liver, one pair of
reproductive organs and numerous other complications.
A team of doctors, surgeons and specialists prepared
for months for the surgery. They wanted to wait for
the girls, named Charity and Kathleen, to become stronger.
During
this ordeal leading up to the surgery, the Lincoln's
prayed that they would make the right decision. They
agonized over the possibility of neither girl surviving,
one dying, and/or the quality of life after surgery.
But their faith in God remained unabated.
The team of surgeons and surgical nurses prepared
for the long, arduous surgery. During the surgery,
new findings were discovered and instant decisions
had to be made. The liver was split between the girls,
as were the reproductive organs, each girl receiving
one ovary and one-half a uterus. The parents waited
in prayer and were prepared for whatever was Godšs
will. They received periodic updates on the progress
during the 30 plus hours of surgery to separate the
two girls. The Lincolnšs faith and trust in God never
wavered and was well portrayed in the documentary.
The surgery was a success.
When the twins were ready to leave the hospital, they
went home to a party of family and friends. The cake
celebrating the occasion read, "To God Be the Glory"
and the Lincoln's repeatedly said what a blessing
Charity and Kathleen were to them. The twins were
now able to crawl and play; each had one leg, but
smiles on their faces. The parents continued to thank
God and have faith in Him. May we all have that faith
and "To God Be the Glory."
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Perseverance
Hebrews 10:35-36
By
Rev. Joseph Matossian
The
Greek word hypomeno means, "to patiently endure," In
the Bible, it usually has an active sense. Perseverance is
overcoming difficulties. It is facing pressures and trials
that call for a steadfast commitment to doing right and maintaining
a godly life.
The
New Testament encourages us to value trials and difficulties.
For taken in the right way, they definitely can enable us
to develop perseverance.
When
we are facing difficulties and are under pressure, it is all
too easy to become discouraged and give up. However, Godšs
Word is clear. We should not give up. In order to produce
one tablespoon of honey for our toast, the little bee makes
4200 trips to flowers. He makes about ten trips a day to the
fields, each trip lasting an average of twenty minutes, to
four hundred flowers. A worker bee will fly as far as eight
miles if he cannot find a nectar flower that is closer.
In
every field, it takes perseverance to achieve great things.
George
Stephenson spent fifteen years to perfect the locomotive.
Field crossed the ocean fifty times to lay a cable, so men
would be able to talk across the ocean. Westinghouse was treated
as a wild lunatic by most railroad executives. "Stopping a
train by wind? The man is crazy!" Yet, he persevered and finally
sold the air-brake idea.
There
are four steps to work, accomplishment: plan purposefully,
prepare prayerfully, proceed positively, and pursue persistently.
So,
as we all face negative situations and difficulties. Let us
not give up. Let us continue and march forward. Let us take
to heart the words of the author of the Book of Hebrews who
wrote in chapter 10 verses 35-36. "Therefore do not cast away
your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need
of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God,
you may receive the promise."
Putting our trust and confidence in God, with patience and
perseverance, let us accomplish great things for the glory
of God.
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| Worship
updated
March 15, 2001 |
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Commitment To Missions
By
Louis Kurkjian
UACC Moderator
The Bible instructs us that being active in outreach
and helping others is a primary responsibility of Christians.
I John 3:16-18 tells us, "This is how we know what love is:
Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay
down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions
and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can
the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with
words and tongue but with actions and in truth."
Our
Church members are primarily individuals that have emigrated
from a foreign country or are first generation Armenian Americans.
We have taken advantage of and enjoy the freedom and opportunity
that exist here. There are many other Armenians that do not
have the same freedom and opportunities and cannot come here
due to economic political factors. Nearly all of them are poor
and need assistance. The Armenian Missionary Association of
America (AMAA), has for over 82 years been our mission arm in
assisting Armenians in religious, humanitarian and educational
ways worldwide. The AMAA has grown as a result of continued
commitment to missions by our congregation and others. It has
done a very effective job in Armenia since the earthquake and
has recently addressed the needs of Armenians in Eastern Europe.
It also supports Armenians that remain in Turkey. All this is
in addition to its long-term support of our communities in the
Near East, where most of our Congregation has its roots.
Our
Church has an active Missions Committee that, with Congregational
support, assists many worthwhile individuals, programs and the
AMAA. This includes our sister church, the Bourj Hammood Church
in Beirut Lebanon, that is the poorest but largest congregation
in the region. I would encourage each of you to visit a mission
area. The Near East and Armenia are good choices. A visit to
either area will be inspirational, informative and enjoyable;
it will give you a better appreciation of that community and
its needs. In addition, your awareness can be enhanced by material
we receive from the AMAA. I look forward to an expanding Congregational
involvement in our missions programs.
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The
Dirt That Cannot Be Seen
By
Rev. Ron Tovmassian
"'And
after He called the multitude to Him again, He began saying
to them, Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is
nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him;
but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile
the man'" (Mark 7:14,15).
When
I was a child, I had an ongoing argument with my mother. She
would ask me to clean my room, or do some other cleaning chore
and I would obediently set to the task. The problem was not
that I was unwilling to do the job, but that my mother and I
had two very different definitions of cleanliness. My definition
went along the lines of "out of sight, out of mind." I felt
that as long as everything appeared clean and orderly, it didnšt
matter what things looked like in the closet, or the drawers,
or under the bed, or behind the chair, or under the carpet.
I found it quite frustrating when she would insist that I clean
even the places no one could see.
She
defined cleanliness as "inside and out" and reminded me that
even if no one else knew it was there, I would know in my heart
that my show of cleanliness was only a masquerade.
I
soon came to learn, that Jesus thinks a lot like my mother!
He taught his disciples that the outer displays of righteousness
in a personšs life are often deceptive. No matter how righteous
a person may seem to be on the outside, what is on the inside
is more important. My room seemed clean enough to me but underneath,
where no one else could see, it was filthy. In the same way,
we can get so comfortable with the moral, respectable roles
we have created for ourselves, that we neglect to take the time
to examine our motives, our drives and our loyalties. On the
outside, we may appear to have everything together, while on
the inside we are losing our focus and drifting away from what
is really important. The dirt we must worry about most in our
lives is not the dirt the whole world can observe. It is the
dirt that no one can see, that we ignore ourselves until someone
opens our closet and we are forced to deal with it.
Lent
is the time of year when we make an effort to examine our lives
in preparation for Holy Week. It is not the time for a superficial
clean-up job. It is the time to clean dirt that cannot be seen
by the world, to cleanse ourselves from the inside out. We canšt
do this ourselves, so we fast and we pray and ask God to help
us. Only through the cleansing power of His Holy Spirit, can
we get that dirt out.
May
the Lenten Season this year be a time of inner cleansing, as
you examine your life through the eyes of God. Each year we
should change and grow, as we allow God to mold us and shape
us according to His divine will.
Make
this a meaningful and spiritually challenging Lenten Season
and a wonderful celebration of our Lordšs resurrection.
Evangelical
Links
Music
and Literature
bazaarplus.com-
The largest selection of Armenian and and Middle Eastern Music
anywhere
armenianmusic.com- Armenian Music, Parseghian Photo and
Records
narek.com- Armenian
Music, Books Film, and Art Gifts
Tourist
Info- Pilgrimages
Levon
Travel
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