Straight From My Heart

Hello! Welcome to our worship service today. It's always a pleasant sight to see God's people gathered in the Lord's day like this to praise and to pray. Our presence here is a symbol of God's grace abounding, from your choice to come to worship and from the time you took your ride or walked to this place God's grace was and is at work. It is The Lord who put the desire in our hearts to be with God's people today, it is also through the working of the Holy Spirit that are all able to worship today. Prayerfully let us savor every moment and engage ourselves to prayer as we listen and seek God. No one should go home empty handed when the heart is hungry for God. As the old Methodist preacher would say only those who are filled with themselves will go home empty in heart. And that those who came empty will go home filled. With this I remember the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount " Blessed are the poor in spirit....." Let The Lord do the subtraction of the unnecessary in our hearts so we may enjoy simplicity. Our quest in living a simple life is not a simple process at all. God in His grace makes the subtraction process both humorous and hurtful. Somehow the humor makes us bear the hurt and learn the lessons. So I ask you what are the things, people, relationships , opportunities that God is obviously deducting from your cluttered heart ? Well, by faith see God's hand and embrace God's purpose. Believe me though the process is painful the relief of being unloaded with many heavy things ( we put ourselves) is beyond compare. Go through it and don't interfere with God, and see that simplicity is something your guts can't do but His grace can. Pray for Pastor Bobby as he will be leading the team to help the victims of typhoon Pablo. He will focus on this for the next three months. For Pastor David who is in Baguio to visit his family. For Rev. Judy Leones to handle the weekly clinic at the welfare center. And the rest of us who will be doing various ministries this week . Pray for Dr. Dey Brato as he oversee the building project and with him the various teams. As we cross our Jordan let us remember we need God more today that yesterday. Together with the psalmist I say in my heart .... " I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of The Lord" Psalm 122:1a Joyfully let us surrender to God and see that His subtraction is paving the way to a simple life by faith. Respectfully, Rev. Arnel C. Tan

Straight From My Heart

As we enter the threshold of a new year, let us do so with a united desire to know God more and to unclutter our lives that we might travel light in this journey of faith. In prayer, we continue to seek God's direction on how to do His will this year. We continue to listen and obey God as we journey with other brethren from various groups in responding to the needs of the people of Compostela Valley. Pray for Pastor Bobby as he leads the team that will do the rebuilding projects. For the next three months, Pastor Bob will be facilitating this effort. Pray that God will open the doors of blessings by which we can share our resources. This year will also be a challenging one to all of us especially in the area of purging our hunger for material things, and in prayer, discerning our involvement in whatever ministry God will lead us. Pray for Pastor David Tan as he speaks to the high school students of Davao Christian High School on their ‘Spiritual Emphasis’ week. Remember me in prayer as I give the message for the first flag-raising ceremony for the year 2013 at the city hall. Along with these activities, let us all remember to pause and pray. Today begins the 52 Sundays of 2013 . . . let us ask for God's grace— that The Lord will grant us the opportunity to be in His house on every Lord's day! Let us make worship and prayer a joyful response to the invitation of God to commune with Him. By the way, the distribution of the our daily bread devotionals for teachers starts this month. Pray that God will touch the lives of teachers and students through this. We will also partake of our first communion in 2013 today. Take this time to reflect and refocus our hearts and minds to The Lord Jesus Christ. As a body of believers, let us celebrate and remember Christ who died and rose from the dead for our sins and for the glory of God and let us have a sense of deep homesickness in longing for the coming of our Lord. Finally, let me express my appreciation to all those who worked hard and sacrificed for the dawn Christmas services and the simple celebration of our 60th anniversary . . . to God be the glory! Let us look forward to see God's direction; let us be on our knees in prayer and as we stand, we march, crossing our Jordan Rivers in full obedience to God's leading. HAVE A PRAYER-FILLED AND HOPE-FILLED NEW YEAR TO ALL! Prayerfully, Rev. Arnel Tan