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Contact Us:

Pastor Isaac or Pastor Ravi c/o:

Holy Trinity Church

Burlington Road

West Bromwich

West Midlands B70 6LF

THE ASIAN CALVARY

United Reform Church, Lea Rd, Wolverhampton

Asian Calvary Church, Trinity St, West Bromwich

Asian Calvary Church, Derby Street, Burton

Christian Fellowship, Witton Lane, West Bromwich

December 2011 Edition

Business Name

Highlights:

Pages 6: Notice-Board

Page:14 Sunday

School Fun!

By Pastor Ravi Pages 4-5

The Gift List Pages: 4-5

Sibling Rivalry: Fighting for

Presents! Page: 12

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Welcome to the December edition of the Asian Calvary

Newsletter.

Finally the day is about to arrive and I cannot wait to celebrate

the birth of my Lord Jesus Christ, Happy Birthday Jesus!.

This special edition is packed with all things Christmas,

including why we have a Turkey and what is Boxing Day?

We also have a special Christmas message from our very own

Pastor Ravi. I trust you will find this edition both interesting and full of

blessing for you and your family.

Remember the real reason for Christmas: Jesus is the Reason for the Season!.

I Thank you personally for your Support, God Bless you all. Merry Christmas.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one

another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:8-9).”

believe it is our mission to:

♦ Spread the Gospel message & help the lost

— through faith in Christ

♦ Assimilate all into a local church fellowship

♦ Cultivate all in order to help them grow

spiritually

♦ Equip all for their own personal, fruitful

ministry

God Bless You — Your Friend & Brother......Bal Manku

Bal Singh Newsletter Editor Email: calverychurch@hotmail.co.uk Phone: +44 7824 348276

WELCOME — December’11 Edition

15

Men being Men...

14

Kids Corner...

3

Youth Event!..

4

Pastor’s Pen… by Pastor Ravi : LUKE 1: 39-40

So now it’s time to think about the upcoming Christmas season. Again,

we’ll probably eat and drink too much, and watch too much TV. But the Christmas season has many other distractions, too, probably more than any

other holiday. We have to worry about shopping (getting just the right gifts for all of the

people on our lists). Many of those same gifts will then have to be returned

the following week (including clothes that don’t fit, and items the person already has or doesn’t like). The shops are crowded at this time of year,

and the traffic and parking are almost impossible. Christmas decorations need to be purchased and taken out of storage.

Putting up those decorations takes a lot of time and energy, because it has to be done "just right". There are decorations for the windows, the doors,

and the outside. And let’s not forget decorating the tree, with tinsel, lights,

balls, and all types of other keepsakes we’ve gathered over the years. I’ve saved the biggest material distraction until last, and that’s money! We need

to be able to pay for all of the other distractions I just mentioned, and a lot of us overspend in trying to buy all of those things that we think we need.

I want to talk about Mary and Elizabeth’s readiness for the birth of the

Messiah. In Luke 1, verses 39-40, We see that immediately after the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, telling her that she would give birth to the

Messiah, that Mary "got ready" and "hurried" to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

I want to look at what these two women of faith can teach us about our

own readiness to celebrate our Messiah’s birth, as well as our readiness to see Jesus when He returns at any time to rapture us into heaven.

Mary and Elizabeth have a number of things in common. First, they are cousins, related by family ancestry.

Both women also have unusual and miraculous pregnancies. Both women would have been religious outcasts to some extent. Elizabeth

lived most of her life unable to have children. Mary was a young girl who, although engaged to Joseph but not yet married to him, became pregnant.

According to Leviticus law, she could have been stoned for the sin of

fornication.

While this didn’t happen to her, no doubt people in her culture gossiped

and spoke badly of her for the sin of which they wrongfully judged her,

just as people undoubtedly did to Elizabeth for what they mistakenly

assumed about her.

Despite what people back then might have thought and said about them,

we know from the Bible that both were women of faith.

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Christmas Facts...

What is Christmas…?

The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," la

ter

shortened to "Christ-Mass." The even s

horter form

"Xmas" - first used in Europe in the 1

500s - is derived

from the Greek alphabet, in which X is

the first letter of

Christ's name: Xristos, therefore "X-Mass

Why do we call it Boxing Day

…?

26 December was traditionally known as St

. Stephen's Day, after

the first Christian martyr. It is called

Boxing Day because in the

old days lords & ladies of England

presented gifts in boxes to

their servants on 26 December in appreciatio

n of the work they

had done over the Christmas celebrations.

Why do we have a Christmas

Tree…?

In the 7th century a monk from Devonshire, we

nt to

Germany to teach the Word of God. Lege

nd has it that he used

the triangular shape of the Fir Tr

ee to describe the Holy Trinity of

God the Father, Son and Holy Sp

irit. The converted people

began to revere the Fir tree as G

od's Tree. the tree became a

symbol of Christianity, and was being

hung upside-down from

the ceiling as a sign of Christianit

y. The Tree of Life and stood for

the eternal life of Christ..

Why say Merry Christmas…?

When the saying Merry Christmas first came

about, the widely accepted meaning of the wo

rd was peaceful or

blessed. Thus, wishing someone a Merry Christmas is truly

wishing them a blessed or peaceful Mass of Christ.

Why do we eat Turkey..?

Turkey is eaten at Christmas because it wa

s an

expensive luxury food item until the 1950’s.

Although the price of a Turkey is

cheaper now –the

tradition has remained.

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Fighting for Presents—Sibling Rivalry...

It’s that time of year again, when being a Parent can prove to be expensive & a headache. If you have a fairly young child or newborn then you can normally get away with making your own choice for a gift. Without any risk of back-chat.

However if you have teenagers or numerous children in one Family, then this can prove to be a real nightmare. So many requests and tantrums and mood swings, getting the right present and keeping everyone happy is an impossible task. Believe me I know, my kids are a perfect example!. It is therefore quite common then for brothers & sisters to think you treat each of them differently. My own sister used to think I was the favourite –because I was the boy of the house!. If I got to stay up late one weeknight or I was given new clothes, or got to go out with my friends—she would get into one of her moods and scream the house down and not talk to me for months.! Although to our Parents we are all equal—its hard for us to understand this sometimes and unfairly criticize our family. It’s only when we become parents that we realise what our parents went through. This problem even existed 2000 years ago - Joseph & his brothers also had some sibling rivalry. The brothers were already jealous because their father showed favouritism towards Joseph, but Joseph made the situation worse when he boasted about his dreams. After being sold into slavery in Egypt, Joseph learned some valuable lessons, including how to speak carefully. When you are tempted to brag about what you have got or done, be sensitive to the feelings of others. Instead of boasting, thank God who has given you these gifts. So this Christmas be sure to thank God for having such wonderful parents and loving brothers & sisters. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ, so do this together - we are all equal in the eyes of God.

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Pastor’s Pen.. By Pastor Ravi : LUKE 1: 39-40

They were ready for what God had planned for them, and were willing to

be used in whatever way God desired. Today, as New Testament believers who live in the Church Age, we look ahead to the second

coming of Jesus the Messiah. During Advent, we try to go back in our minds and spirits to a time before Jesus’ birth. We remind ourselves how

He came, born humbly in a stable in Bethlehem. We remember why He

came, to ultimately die horribly on a wooden cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world. In this sense, we prepare for His first

coming, as Mary and Elizabeth did. Just as we today have so many social and religious distractions that get

in the way of our readiness, so did believers back at the time of Jesus’ birth. Their big distraction was religion. Instead of knowing the Old

Testament Scriptures and walking in the spirit of God’s word, the religious

leaders (the Scribes and Pharisees) had replaced faith and the true spiritual life with religion, a system of man-made laws for the people to

follow. For instance, if mud were to splash onto your garment on the Sabbath, you were not allowed to wash it, because that would be work.

Instead, you could let the mud dry on the garment, squeeze the muddy

area one time, and brush the mud away with your hand once. Anything more than that and you were then considered to be doing work on the

Sabbath. There were hundreds of these kinds of rules. Christianity today can be a religion that gets in the way of believers in

much the same way. The spiritual life becomes a set of do’s and don’ts, such as: I do go to church on Christmas Eve or morning; I only listen to

"godly" Christmas music and radio stations; I don’t let my children believe

in Santa Claus. Believers today who observe Christianity as a religion, as basically a list of do’s and don’ts, are usually not practicing the true

spiritual life as the Bible teaches. But just as Mary and Elizabeth were both prepared for the Messiah’s first coming, we too can be ready for

Jesus’ second coming. We have many opportunities during the Christmas

season to share our faith with family and friends; There are many people with physical and spiritual needs for whom we can pray and show some

consideration to. We can thank God in prayer for sending Jesus to save us; There’s nothing wrong with enjoying and participating in so many of

the secular activities occurring during the Christmas season. But if we are

truly ready for the Messiah’s second coming we can enjoy this season for all of the right reasons. May God truly bless you this Christmas season

and may Jesus be very real in your lives. On behalf of Pastor Isaac, Pastor Ashok and I, we wish you a very merry Christmas.

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Noticeboard — समाचार

Sponsor a Christmas Message

on Radio XL

this festive period –only £150

. The fee can

be shared between two familie

s. Please see

the Pastor’s for more informa

tion.

Programmes are on each day

from 7pm.

CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR MEET

ING TIMES

Christmas Eve:

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: Wolverhampton, Lea R

oad Church

Christmas Day: -2 Meetings

Time: 11am-12pm

Venue: Wolverhampton, Lea R

oad Church

Time: 12:30 –3:00pm

Venue: West Bromwich, Holy

Trinity Church, Burlington Ro

ad

(Meal will be served)

New Year Eve: Youth Meeting

11pm –12 pm

Venue: Wolverhampton, Lea Ro

ad Church

New Year’s Day: - 2 Meetings

Time: 12:30-1:30pm

Venue: West Bromwich, Holy T

rinity Church, Burlington Roa

d

Time: 2:30p-4pm

Venue: Wolverhampton, Lea Ro

ad Church

(Meal will be served)

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Church Meeting Times...

Resident Pastor’s for all meetings are:

Pastor In-Charge: PASTOR ISAAC: 07960 787096

PASTOR RAVI: 07891 570991

PASTOR ASHOK: 07958 604487

Holy Trinity Church, Trinity St, West Bromwich Fellowship every Sunday: Ladies Bible Study every Tuesday 12:30pm-2:30pm 7:00pm-8:30pm Punjabi Bible Study every Wednesday 7:00pm-8:30pm English Bible Study every Thursday 7:30pm-8:30pm United Reform Church, Lea Rd,

Wolverhampton Fellowship every Sunday: 4:00pm –6:00pm Ladies Fellowship ever Tuesday

7:00-8:00pm Asian Calvary Church Derby St, Burton Fellowship every Friday 6:00pm—8:00pm Beth Sadha Christian Fellowship, Witton Lane,West Bromwich Fellowship every Thursday

**New** Youth meeting last

Saturday of every month... Contact the Pastor’s for

more details.

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Comical Church...

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News समाचार

The Truth Revealed YOUTH CONFERENCE

Location: The Elmwood Time: Friday, 23 October 2009 18:30

Email Elka for further details at:

JOIN the FACEBOOK Group for Asian Calvary, great forum to discuss about anything to do with Christian Life.

OPEN to all…. Go to: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?

gid=2648916948&v=wall Or just search for Asian Calvary on Facebook!.

Have a Testimony , Event or Story to share??

Then why not email or call Bal to get it included in the

next Edition.

♦ Email: calverychurch@hotmail.co.uk

♦ Tel: 07824 348276

NEW YEAR CELEBRATI

ON PARTY—14th JANUARY

Time: 9am –4p

m

Venue: Imperial Palace, School

Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4LF

Website: http://www.theimp

erial-restaurant.com/

More Information from Pastor

Ashok.

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The Gift List..

It’s that "me of the year again, when everyone is thinking what to get each

other for Christmas, for some it is easy to get a gi$ for, for others it is

harder. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?

Surprisingly, when people of the faith think carefully about this, they come

up with similar gi$ lists. Rich or poor, young or old, male or female, the

things people really want, are not sold in shops. Infact, they are not

material things at all. Almost all thinking people have five basic desires.

Does the list below include what you wish you had..?

1.Inner peace

2.Hope a)er death

3.Making sense of personal suffering

4.Uncondi/onal love

5.Knowing the secret of happiness

There is a special book that promises to provide these five gi$s. All in one

package. That book is the world’s all "me best-seller, the Bible!. Wouldn’t it

be wonderful if this was true?, the strange thing is, that people who say it

isn’t true are the same people who have not put it to the test! But

everyone who has received the gi$ which God offers has found it to be

absolutely true. The way to receive this gi$ is by accep"ng a fact about

ourselves and then making a choice. It will not be easy, but we have to be

honest. We have to meet God’s perfect standard, but we have failed –

& the Bible calls this ‘sin’. So where do we get this ‘help’ from to be perfect,

this special help is called salva"on. If we agree to God’s plan and our

responsibility, he will give us the gi$ of God –which is eternal life. It’s your

choice!.

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Prayer Requests...

We ALL need a prayer once in a while Whether its:-

DEPRESSION ,WEAK FAITH, FAMILY PRESSURE,

FINANCIAL CONCERNS,HEALTH CONCERNS,WORK ISSUES

God is always there for you

Call Anytime: 24/7 365 days a year

PASTOR ISAAC: 07960 787096

PASTOR RAVI: 07891 570991

PASTOR ASHOK: 07958 604487