Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2011-03-01 / 3-4. szám
8 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD Vision Genesis 32:10 teaches us the following about a man’s prayer: “...with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ” The man’s name is Jacob. In another place the Bible says that Jacob was exceedingly prosperous. To be prosperous is good as it means wealthy, affluent, rich, successful. But Jacob was more than that. In the beginning, he was simply a poor man who had run away from his homeland. Some of us can relate to this picture. We have to ask the question, what was the key to his later success? You would think that he might have just gotten lucky, or that he won the Lottery. But it is not true. Actually we might call him an unlucky person. He was an alien in a strange land and his only relative cheated him all the time. Even the people he had made rich tried to take away his possessions. He had an agreement with his employer regarding his salary, but when the time came he did not get his due wages. On ten separate occasions, Laban (Jacob’s employer) told him: “I am not paying you the amount what we agreed on. I have changed the deal. I do not want you rich.” Jacob was a hard worker. Under his care, Laban’s flocks multiplied. He actually deserved a bonus! How would you feel, if at the end of the week (after you worked very hard and did a good job) your employer declares that he will is not pay you what you are owed? Yet he wants you stay on and work another week! The very same thing happened with Jacob and it went on for years. How could Jacob rise above his situation? He had a vision. He lifted up his eyes - and instead of looking at the circumstances, he kept his eyes on the vision. In Genesis 28:10-16 we read that God gave a vision to Jacob. He also gave him a Word (a Scripture). “You shall spread abroad,” He told him. In the original Hebrew text it is one word: pärats. Its meaning is “to break through ”. From this word - pärats, “to break through” - Jacob learned that great success was God’s plan for him. However, Jacob’s success did not happen automatically. Jacob kept this word in his heart by continuing to look at it in his mind. The word - pärats, “to break through” - appears in his story again and again. It was his theme word. God made a covenant with Jacob. The key to Jacob’s success was that Jacob kept his part of the covenant. He thought accordingly, dreamed accordingly and talked accordingly. In Genesis 15:5 we see something very similar happening with Abraham. The Lord instructed Abraham to look up to the stars. The Lord said to him: “Look toward heaven (look up). ” Our God is a purposeful God. He had a purpose in bringing Abraham out of his tent and telling him to see the night sky. The Lord used the night sky as an instrument to create a mental picture in Abraham’s mind. We, as humans, are capable of seeing the invisible. Hebrews 11:27 tells us that we are able to have a vision of the future. Realize it or not, all of us are going toward something - our life is headed toward a specific direction. We have to be conscious about this. So where are you going? Many people are just wandering, and they do not know where they are headed. They do not have a vision of their future. If you do not have a vision about your future you are just wasting your precious life. God created us with the ability of having a mental picture of the future. In Genesis 16:13 our God is called “God of vision”. We do not have to have an exact picture with all of the details fully complete, although the more details, the better. I am not talking about some kind of religious experience either. You can call it hope or wish - but you should have some kind of goal toward which you are heading. Please ask yourself the question: “toward what direction am I heading?” and ”do I have a picture of me (my family) a year (five, ten years) from now?” Do you have a vision of your future? It is easy to blame the circumstances when we are unsuccessfi.il. But if we take the time and learn about people who are successful in life, we can see that all of them had a vision (dream, goal). They live (or lived) around us, sometimes their circumstances were even worse than ours. However, at the end of their life they would tell that they had a mental picture about their future and they stuck with it all the way. You can do the same! Rev. Viktor Toth NEWS FROM WOODBRIDGE, NJ As we have informed our faithful friends through the pages of Calvin Synod, the John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church and the Hungarian Reformed Church of Woodbridge have merged. Worship services for the members have been held jointly since last September. On January 30th members of both congregations gave an accounting of their stewardship over the past year at our Congregational meeting. Reports on the live of the congregation was made individually but by the end of the meeting it was unanimously established that the new name of the merged congregation will be: Calvin Hungarian Reformed Church of Woodbridge, New Jersey. The membership has elected its new Officers and Elders representing both congregations and promised that they will work together in harmony and understanding to build the kingdom of God. The Woodbridge congregation acknowledged the long and hard work of its chief elder, Mr. John Kelemen by granting him the title of Honorary Chief Elder. Rev. Stephen Torok Amint már előzetesen tudattuk olvasóinkkal a Kálvin János Magyar Református Egyház és a Woodbridge-i Magyar Református Egyház egyesült. 2010 szeptemberétől már együtt tartottuk Istentiszteleteinket. 2011. január 30-án mindkét gyülekezet egyenként és közösen számot adott az elmúlt év működéséről, és külön pénzügyi jelentésben számolt be a templom épülete és a parókia eladásáról. A gyűlés végén a tagok úgy döntöttek, hogy az egyesült gyülekezet neve ezután Calvin Hungarian Reformed Church of Woodbridge, New Jersey lesz. Az egyesült gyülekezet megválasztotta a presbitérium tagjait és az egyház vezetőit, kifejezvén, hogy közös munkával, megértésben és szeretetben kívánnak együtt dolgozni és építeni Isten országát. A Woodbridge-i gyülekezet Kelemen János volt gondnoknak tiszteletbeli gondnoki címet adományozott.
