Today, after drinking  a cup of coffee and eating “kakanin” I head on the church without much to take care of. The scripture verse this Sunday was from Colossians 3:1-4. Pastor E talked about character, how it is our inner strength. He says character is not what we do but it is who we are and it defines us, the expression of our faith.

Pastor E didn’t speak so much he just elaborate the importance of character as a Christian and how Christian should be after accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior, that the old has gone and the new is here, we must live like Christ like. A Christian a completely changed person, transformed in character.

The responsive reading was very touching and it reads like this –

Father, During this coming week there may be times when I shall not be able to sense Your presence or to be aware of Your nearness.

When I am lonely and by myself I TRUST YOU TO BE MY COMPANION.

When I am tempted to sin I TRUST YOU TO KEEP ME FROM IT.

When I am depressed and anxious I TRUST YOU TO LIFT MY SPIRITS.

When I am crushed by my responsibility and overwhelmed by the demands of people on my time, I TRUST YOU TO GIVE ME POISE AND A SENSE OF PURPOSE.

When I am rushed and running I TRUST YOU TO MAKE ME STILL INSIDE.

When I forget You I TRUST THAT YOU WILL NEVER FORGET ME.

When I forget others I TRUST YOU TO PROMPT ME TO THINK OF THEM.

When you take something or someone from me that I want to keep; when You remove the props I lean on for comfort in place of You; when You refuse to respond to my questions and to answer my selfish prayers, I WILL TRUST YOU EVEN THEN. Amen

Went to church on New Years eve and then went home and sleep, we have no preparation for the New Year. My sister wake me up when 12 o’clock strikes in the clock so I could see few fireworks in the sky, there’s not much then it is drizzling. The night is very silent, my father fired eight pieces of “kwitis” then when they’re all fired up, I went down and sleep again.

It’s New Year and most people sleep late but the church service started very early because it is first Sunday of the month. Pastor opened his preaching for the day by asking if we are pessimist or optimist.  Looking back, I am always an optimistic person, I always look at the bright side and I always find good reason in every situation, like why a flight has been cancelled or delayed, that life is more important than money and so on… then my light dies… I became pessimistic and expect worst in every thing, I became hopeless…

Anyway, the scriptural scripture this Sunday is from Ephesians 5: 15-17. Pastor reminded everyone to watch our step because sometimes we are guilty of living too fast, to redeem our time and make most of every opportunity and do God’s will.

Pastor E shared a lot of inspiring verses from the bible after the preaching proper like Let not your heart be troubled.” (John 14:1 KJV),  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and other verses that were strong enough to pacify a hopeless and weary heart.

Since I went to church early without eating anything I decided to have a sip of coffee, ate bread  and peanut butter after church and while I am eating an aunt called and invited us to their house to eat, was told that some of our relatives were there eating.  I am already full but we don’t want to disappoint our aunt so my sister and I went to their home which is now owned by her son. Well, they have plenty of preparation for the new year,  there was a lot of food to eat.

There was a different Pastor today at church since Pastor E was assigned out of town, Pastor J talks about the things you are willing to trade for something else from the book of 1 Peter 5:8-11. She said if we are experiencing good life and doesn’t experience problems we should be already nervous what path are we already walking. Maybe we are already walking a path to Satan’s lair, Pastor J set Job as example how he was tempted by Satan and how he remained faithful to God.

[Photo courtesy of pinterest.com]

Pastor J shared some insights or ways to know if we are already trap by the enemy, first she said we are trapped when the things we want were given without struggle because it is true that when a person life is well he forgot God. He encouraged every one to be vigilant, to focus and be observant and secondly to meditate God’s words.  A life without trial is an enemy’s way to trap you.

Today is youth Sunday and there nothing much happened, Pastor E is out of town and assigned to deliver a preach in other church.  The service was prepared by youth and the Sunday service was all about singing praises and a short message from one of the older youth, it was told the music and interpretative dance rendered by the young people talks about FAITH.

[Photo courtesy of jesustoday.com]

The speaker also shared some insights how to equipped or teach the next generation:

1. Approached God – Prayer
2. Admit and Reject your sins
3. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior

Since there was no preaching this Sunday which a little disappoint me the church service finished early. I love listening to God’s words because it comforts me and give hope to me.

Everything inside the church today is in Philippine language “Tagalog” because the country is celebrating “Buwan ng Wika” so Pastor E’s preaching is in our national language and his topic this Sunday is about the “Fortress Inside the Home” from Psalms 100: 1-5 and Psalms 127: 1-5.

[Photo courtesy of silverfox1341.blogspot.com]

Pastor E talked about the strength of the foundation of the home, the elements that should be present to build a strong Foundation.

It was first Sunday of the month and it was raining hard, the church service started very early. There were only few people inside the church maybe because of the heavy rain, people were trap on their home. I was a bit soak in rain despite of having an umbrella.

Pastor E’s scriptural topic was continuation and the last part about being a good disciple of Christ “The Confidence in Discipleship” based of scriptural verse John 15: 7-11. According to the bible to be a Gods disciple we should do three things – forget about our self, bring the cross and follow Him.

On the scriptural verses 7-8 we are told to be confident in our position, we should abide God and His words and when we do it God is glorified. Secondly, on verses 9-10 there is a provision, God’s love us and He challenge us to remain in His love, while on verse 11 we have the confidence in our position in life since God equipped us with many talents and abilities, along the way God provided for us even though we challenged Him by doing nothing, for not growing as a Christian.

[ Tagged In ] A Blessed Sunday, Church, Church Service, Sunday Service

It’s the last Sunday of the month and Pastor E’s topic on his preaching today was from the book of Luke 14: 25-33 with a a topic of “The Cost of Discipleship”. Blessings are free and costly and there is very little blessings require in serving the Lord conveniently, Pastor E asked the congregation that considering God’s investment in us, what God have received from us?

Pastor E also gave some points on the cost of discipleship like the criteria, God says on verse 26 to love Him more than we love our parents, brother and sisters and whoever do not so cannot be his disciple then on verse 27  it was said that in following Jesus there will be a cross to carry, it means responsibility and on verse 28 we have to sit down and think if we can continue serving God given the responsibilities and cost.

Today, is Father’s Day Sunday. Instead of Pastor E preaching it was his wife who delivered God’s message, the scripture reading was from the book of 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 with a topic “A Portrait of Fatherhood.

[Photo courtesy of fathers-days.net]

Pastor E’s wife shared the traits of a father, according to her a father is able to express genuine love, he has transparent life where he isn’t ashamed to cry in front of others, he has unselfish diligence, genuine spirituality and positive influence in his child’s life.

There was some testimony from other members for their father, they were called to share something in front of the congregation.

Hospital was our second home for a few days already, my father and I go home in the morning to collect water, do the laundry, cooked food and do other household chores and then we returned during lunch and went home again in the afternoon and went back to the hospital at late afternoon. It was been our routine for several days, it was hard to sleep during the night because we have to monitor my mother’s urine every hour, by draining her catheter and measuring it. I sleep a bit at night and do the task during early morning but I can’t sleep well at all because I was worrying with my mother’s condition.

Anyway, I am not planning to attend church service today but my sister texted that if I want to go to church I just have to make sure that everything is right at home, so I immediately searched for my jeans and went to church with a cloudy mind, lack of sleep and non-stop worrying.

[Image source: mbchiawassee.org]

This Sunday is my father’s birthday and it was exchanged pulpit Sunday which mean different Pastor will do the preaching, the preacher was a woman pastor (Pastor E.F) from sister church, her topic for the day was about “Service That Pleasing the Lord” based on scripture reading Matthew 25: 14-31.

What kind of service pleasing the Lord? According to Pastor E.F, productive service pleases the Lord, a service that is effective and fruitful, God gave us talents and ability for us  to flourish, He expected us to level up. Secondly, passionate service pleases the Lord, it is a service that is burning, committed, eager, excited, enthusiastic, hot and emotional in short it is a service that is from the heart. We should work with love to the Lord, our motivation should be love to glorify God. Thirdly, a faithful service pleases the Lord, it should be close, consistent, devoted, loyal and trustworthy. A faithful servant never retired, he served faithfully as long as he is alive. According to Pastor E.F a good servant acknowledge God as the owner and him as a steward and faithfulness is keeping promises.

Today, is the first Sunday of the month so the service started 7 o’clock in the morning. Pastor E topics is about the “The Call to Discipleship” based on Matthew 4:19 when Jesus invited Peter and Andrew to follow him to be fisher’s of men.

[Photo courtesy of relationaldiscipleship.wordpress.com]

Pastor E encourages the congregation to strengthen their faith and live like Jesus wanted His children to be, to follow Him and live on His words. He also discuss about Jesus invitation to Peter and Andrew,  he said it was not only for them but for everyone. Peter and Andrew followed Jesus without hesitation, they trust and became obedient.

[ Tagged In ] A Blessed Sunday, Church, Church Service, Sunday Service