Preached on August 01, 2021
By Preacher Ponciano Tan Main Text: Psalms 139:23-24 KJV [23] Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: [24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. As the month of August enters, the church congregation was blessed to hear a message by one of our brethren, Bro. Ponciano Tan. The message spoke to us and heed us about being careful with our hearts. In our everyday lives, we tend to be careless; being insensitive unconsciously when speaking, and making rash or impulsive personal decisions. We also forget or even worse ignore our purpose as Christians such as “fishing for souls” and “to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Ever since the pandemic began, we have been continually tested in our faith, in our service, on how we serve, and in our battles for the Lord how we fight the good long fight. It is inevitable that our hearts become primary targets for the "enemy" to attack. The message serves as a warning and a reminder of what can happen happens when our hearts become confused, cold, and calloused. Idleness makes a Christian cold in faith, thus, a cold heart.[4] In Ecclesiastes 10:18 KJV states that idleness or in other terms slothfulness makes a “building” decayed thus having leaks. The building can be illustrated as an unmaintained Church that caused inactive members or so-called slothful servants. A sanctuary for the children of God must always be clean literally, metaphorically, and spiritually. We must not dwell into idleness; some people are lost without Christ and we should do what must be done. A Christian with a confused heart cannot encourage the unbeliever, and thus, fails to win souls. It means that we listen to “scoffers” and create doubt in our soul, causing us to follow our own evil desires instead of the Will of God. I had experienced this when I was a young lad in my high school days. I became a critic or as previously stated “scoffer” of the Word of God. Doubting every teaching until I eventually backslid. I was literally a Christian with a cold and confused heart until one day I found out that God never gave up on me. Made me whole again and molded my heart to accept the Word once again. A Christian with a calloused heart cannot change, understand and listen to apply the word of God in their lives. Calloused, meaning hardened, can be felt physically in our skins and metaphorically in our hearts. Sadly, some Christians already have calluses in their hearts without them realizing it. Those who have calluses in their Heart must seek to rekindle the Fire in their faith and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The enemy does not have a hold on us Christians except to what we give to him but we must not forget that Christ died, risen, and gave us eternal life with His own Blood. Bro. Ponce emphasized that it is dangerous when a Christian has even just one of the three "disorders" of the heart. A Christian should always live in accordance with God's will and trust Him fully in His plan. Remembering Job, when he lost everything, from material things to his loved ones, he did not fail to trust God. Even when Job's wife even told him to curse God and die after contracting diseases amidst the trial of his life, he stood firm in his faith in God. Quoting a message from an unnamed Pastor, "Job lost everything; but to him, God was his everything". Let us be meek, lowly, and humble ourselves before God. Continuing to be fishers of men, constant in our daily devotions, and always seeking God. /written by: Steven Caramoan /published by: Em Gacad
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Preached on July 07, 2021
By Pastor Godwyn Aguinaldo Main Text: Matthew 22:37 KJV [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Each one of us is uniquely designed by God. As we’ve learned from the parable of the talents, God entrusts us with things or abilities differently, that is why we differ in the ways we serve God. However, as we acknowledge our differences, the Bible also teaches us that there are certain right attitudes in which we all should be in one accord. The Prayer meeting’s message tackles four essential attitudes every believer should have. First is towards God. In Matthew 22:37, the Lord specifically commands all of us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Philippians 2:2). This means that our attitude towards God is to love Him unconditionally and wholly. However, it first requires that we fully trust and have faith in Him. The second point is about the right attitude towards self. The Bible has various reminders concerning self-reflection. This is done to make sure that we know our current position in front of God (Galatians 6:3-5). It keeps us humble, prevents boasting, and allows us to be willing to serve even in the smallest of ways. Studying the word of God is necessary for self-reflection as it provides the guidelines and standards with which we ought to align ourselves. The third point is about our attitude towards our brethren. As believers of the Lord and as part of our local church, cooperation is required in order for us to accomplish greater things for the Lord (Hebrews 10:24-25). All of us have a purpose, we can use our individual differences to fully utilize the talents and privileges God had entrusted in us. In doing so, we ought to show our understanding, warmth, friendliness, and openness towards the brethren. These things also prevent strife and miscommunication that disrupts our fellowship and hinders the work of the Lord. The last point is about the right attitude towards the work. Every one of us should realize that every service we are enabled to do is a privilege. Acknowledging this bears a grateful attitude towards the work and it should be recompensed with enthusiasm and eagerness. The work that we do is a manifestation of the faith that we received. As James 2:18 would tell us, “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works”. In the service of the Lord, the right attitude is essential. It refines our service and enhances our full potential as stewards. As light and salt of this world, having the right attitude, we should continue in the good works that God had before ordained for us to walk in. /written by: Raphael Pacheco /published by: Em Gacad |