Calvin Synod Herald, 2016 (117. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2016-09-01 / 9-10. szám
2 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD cs?ÜS2 HERALD Official Organ of The Calvin Synod - United Church of Christ Founded in 1900 AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA Volume 117 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2016 NO. 9-10 Official Organ of the Calvin Synod United Church of Christ - Founded in 1900 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD (ISSN 0161-6900) is published bi-monthly $15.00/yearfor individual subscriptions; $10.00/year for groups, 50 or more copies Please make checks payable to the Calvin Synod Herald Editor in Chief: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai, Bishop 14530 Alexander Road • Walton Hills, OH 44146 Tel.: 440-221-5334 • Email: revkrasznai@gmail.com Co-Editor: Rt. Rev. Stefan M, Torok, Auxiliary Bishop 68 Cherrywood Drive • Somerset, NJ 08873 Tel.: 732-917-4566 • Email: sctorok@comcast.net Interim Hungarian Editor: Rt. Rev. Stefan M. Torok Business Manager: Wilburn A. Roby, Jr. 264 Old Plank Road • Butler, PA 16002 Email: warajr@embarqmail.com Newsletters prepared by: Cathy Paksi 419-733-5829 • cathy.paksi@gmail.com Newsletters printed by: Gazette Printers 724-349-3434 Periodicals postage paid at Butler, PA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 264 Old Plank Rd., Butler, PA 16002-3810 Manuscripts and photographs are not preserved or returned Send all correspondence to the Editor The views and opinions of the writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the position of the magazine or Calvin Synod. CALVIN SYNOD HEADQUARTERS: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai 14530 Alexander Road • Walton Hills, OH44146 Tel.: 440-221-5334 Email: revkrasznai@gmail.com OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS • Beaver Falls, PA • United Church of Christ of Bridgeport, CT • Cleveland, OH - West Side Hungarian Reformed Church • Columbus, OH • Dayton The proper procedure is for all interested ministers to send their completed PROFILE (as provided by the United Church of Christ) to the Bishop’s office: Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba G. Krasznai 14530 Alexander Road Walton Hills, OH 44146 Tel.: 440-221-5354 • revkrasznai@gmail.com Mustard Seed Faith “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ He replied, ‘Ifyou have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea, ’ and it will obey you'” (Luke 17:5-6 NIV). Dear Calvin Synod Congregations, Dear Brothers and Sisters, Children set a great example for us adults regarding faith. Small children accept what you tell them, without any doubts or questions. They will believe whatever you tell them. Let me share a funny story. A few years ago during Christmas time, my wife and children went to the Akron Zoo. When they arrived at the reptile exhibit, my wife saw a Komodo dragon and told my son that grandma, back in Hungary, always made a delicious Komodo dragon dish for Christmas. My wife thought that it was a great joke. However, a couple of days later she realized, after talking amongst ourselves, that my son really believed in that grandma and mom ate Komodo dragon meat during Christmas. We still laugh about it. So we need to be careful with what we tell to little children because they will believe what we say to them. Childlike faith is so pure and accepting. Therefore they set a great example for us. Faith is extremely important in our Christian lives. When we go to church, we hear a lot about faith. We read about faith in the Bible and we sing songs about faith. But what is faith? you may ask. In the letter to the Hebrews we find this definition, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1 NIV). When we say that we have faith, it means that we believe something is true, even when we cannot see it. It’s really like a mustard seed size faith that Jesus talks about in our text. Have you ever seen a mustard seed? The mustard seed is one of the smallest of all seeds. The mustard seed is so small that you can hardly even see it. I had read a story about a man who read this verse that is about this “mustard seed faith”, in the Bible and decided to put it to the test. There was a large tree in his front yard, so he went out to that tree and said, “In the morning when I wake up from my sleep, I want you to be gone.” That night the man went to bed. The next morning, he went to the front door, opened it, and looked out into his front yard. “Just as I thought!” the man said. “It’s still there.” What was the problem? What was the reason that his faith didn’t work? Well, first of all, the man didn’t have mustard seed size faith, did he? In fact, he didn’t have any faith at all. When he told the tree to be moved, he never
