Worship leader N. Thangkhanhau read out Psalms 90:1-2 and commit the worship service to the Lord. After an uplifting praise and worship session and collection of offerings, ordained elder Roumuan dedicated the offerings to the Lord.
Pastor Lamkhanthang welcomed the first timers and visitors to the church service and introduced the guest Speaker, Pastor Simeon Sundar, President BSSI and Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Bengaluru. After making some announcements, he read out Romans 8:31-37 and led the congregation in mass prayer for Manipur.
The theme for the sermon was ‘Offering ourselves to God’ based on Romans 12:1-5. Pastor Simeon explained that Romans 12 is the beginning of the assignment section of the book of Romans. The first and foremost among the ‘to do list’ is the command to offer ourselves unto God and this command applies to all. The reason for offering ourselves to God is because of the salvation we received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Being made alive in Christ calls for a corresponding duty on our part to offer ourselves to God. Pastor also explained that the altar on which we have to offer ourselves is the mercies of God. The nature of the offering as enumerated by Paul is as under:
- living sacrifice which can be achieved by putting to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13)
- holy sacrifice i,e, completely for God
- acceptable sacrifice i,e, on God’s terms and not on our terms. This also entails putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
The method of offering ourselves to God, in the negative connotation, is not conforming to the world. In the positive sense, it is being transformed by the renewing of the mind/being made beautiful in the mind by the word of God and the spirit of God. This leads to the result of the offering which is discerning the will of God and the knowledge of His heart for us through testing the very nature of God Himself. In conclusion, Pastor Simeon urged the congregation not to remain spiritually dead but to be alive in Christ and be set on fire for His glory.
After the last hymn was sung, ordained elder Chinsum closed the worship service with a thanksgiving prayer.
