Prayer

STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART – May 18, 2013

Looking back, since we left the old church, we stepped into an exciting journey of waiting, watching wondering what God is unfolding! The journey brought a lot of inconveniences to all of us, and yet, it also opened the doors to an adventure of faith. My prayer for the coming days is that God’s grace will continue to stir a hunger for adventure in our hearts, and in prayer, we continue to wait and see God’s agenda . . . and expect that God will continue to subtract from our own agenda. If you find yourself praying for this church, I can honestly say that you have now become a part of this family minus the formalities of membership requirements. Please, do continue to pray for the church and the ministers, that together we will have a heart that seeks God! If there is one thing I truly wish to highlight in the life of the church in Acts 2:41-47, it’s the obvious testimony of delight in doing God’s agenda . . . meaning, there is no one in that church doing what they are obliged to do. Willingness to give; willingness to serve; willingness to participate; prevails among the believers. Honestly, there is no need to preach about giving, they are already doing it; no more need to preach about praying, they love praying; . . . here is a vibrant community that hungers for God and is totally enjoying being loved by God. No wonder people, priests, and a lot more are attracted-not to their programs or projects . . . they are attracted to the life of Christ that is present in the lives of the believers! My prayer is that the church which gathers here will not be known as nice people with impressive moralities, but rather, a people who are loving Jesus and enjoys being unconditionally loved by Christ . . . abounding in the grace of God; looking forward to communion with God; and through the love of God, makes a difference in the community! Let us be governed by the Holy Spirit in living out the life of Christ in us in full freedom! Enjoying freedom in Christ, REV. ARNEL C. TAN

Resurrection Hope

By Rev. Arnel Tan “Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance." John 20:1 Today, we look back on a past event called the resurrection. We look at it as something historical, and somehow, void of any sense of relevance for today. Perhaps, due to its familiarity to the Christian faith, many have concluded it as being an event of the past. It is not the denial of the resurrection that kills hope–it is the attitude of indifference towards it. Today, let us prayerfully see the resurrection of Jesus, not only through the lenses of theology and the Christian faith but rather through the lens of present hope and future glory! Let us ask God to restore the wonder of grace and hope in the light that we have a risen Lord! Our gathering today is not a memorial for someone who died…but it is about a Savior who is alive! Our gathering is not about what kind of life Jesus lived…rather, we celebrate the new life we have in Christ that makes us people of blazing hope rather than people knocked out by despair. The life of Christ alive in us guides our path as we tread the journey to becoming more desirous of knowing His power by giving up our addiction to ‘worldly’ power. Today, we savor the powerful truth that life in Christ is a series of wonders and hope. Yes, we are not exempted from the badness of life’s realities but the good news of the gospel and the truth of the resurrection have already defeated all bad news that may come our way. In other words, the resurrection hope is greater than any present-day hopelessness or future gloom. Yes, the body will still battle disease and go through deterioration, death, and decay…yet, the resurrection is our preview that those who believe in the Risen Lord will someday be raised with Him in glory! Let us greet each other with a vibrant greeting of hope. “THE LORD IS RISEN, THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED! Easter means to live in HOPE AGAIN!

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

STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN.... BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

By: Rev. Arnel Tan ". . . Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look on me, your High God. Above politics, above everything." Psalm 46: 10 The Message This psalm finds an emotional welcome in many hearts who are in the midst of the noise and complexity of life. So many take time to take notes and in agreement, many wanted to memorize Psalm 46:10. This is good because it will lead to a deeper realization that this Psalm is so impossible to apply without surrendering to God who, alone, can still us from within. To ‘be still and know that I am God’ requires us to ask God to activate the function of our sanctified imagination. Meaning, in prayer, ask God for an image in your mind that will remind you of His command to be still. One painter would picture God's peace in His painting of a terrible storm . . . and in the midst of it, a calm bird resting. What is your picture of ‘be still’. In my busy work in church and broadcast, ‘be still’ for me means being able to unhurriedly enjoy my brewed coffee amidst the demands and pressures of life and ministry. It is being able to set boundaries and accept my limitations. This would mean not taking a tasked that will disrupt the stillness of my heart in communing with God. Let stillness of heart be expressed in the language of prayer. I need to remind myself that my main job in church is to lead people to God, to pray and step out of the way, lest I cause traffic in their ‘stillness’ and pursuit of knowing God. As a redeemed community, we too must enjoy the use of our sanctified imagination and picture what it is to be still and know God. In the midst of our load of ministry, we can have a ‘still’ heart flowing with grace and in God's presence, touching lives of others . . . And those who we encounter are attracted to our unique peace. In quietness of heart, the Lord develops a godly confidence in facing our daily pressures. When we are in prayer as a congregation, it is here that we are most not in control . . . yet it is here that we are consciously close to the One who is in charge. Being still before God is an assault to our pride and busy lives. We would rather do something than be still . . . that's why God commands us to hush, cease striving and bow down to Him, exposing ourselves to His presence in worship and enjoying friendship with Him in prayer. Psalm 46:10 must not only be a therapy . . . it must be a lifestyle that slows us down that we may rest from performance and perfectionism. Being still before God is a royal invitation from God to see things from His perspective. Upon receiving the instruction from God's word, let us exercise a sanctified imagination to picture how this looks like and then let us avail of His grace to apply this into the mainstream of life where stress is overwhelming! Amen.

HEART REVEALING PRAYER

"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower with inner strength through His Spirit," Ephesians 3:16 Listen to a prayer and you can somehow glimpse what's inside the heart. Take the time to hear your own prayers, maybe you can write them down and then visit them again after sometime. It is here that you will discover your spiritual state. Your prayers unveil the depth of your heart. It is interesting to see that through our prayers we somehow see, not wrong prayers, but shallow prayers. Here we are made aware that the kind of requests we ask God are more often self-serving and not centered on seeking God's glory. If you find that your prayers are too shallow, don't be disappointed . . . we all start here. Keep praying, keep calling, keep enjoying the presence of God . . . soon you will see spiritual depth in your prayers. When prayers are no longer offered to serve our purposes; when praying for others aside from our close family circles are desired; when seeking God is our main preoccupation in prayer, then we are leaving the shallow waters. Paul prayed for inner strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. Honestly, I don't find this in my prayers. To be candid about it, only when I am in an emergency or in dire need do I realize the need for inner strength. A whole lot of my prayers reveal my concern for the external welfare rather than what's really happening inside. Thank God for His tolerance! I think the application to all of the lessons on prayer is to actually start PRAYING! Yes, shallow prayers at first . . . then we enter into God-centered prayers. Whenever we pray, God is doing something that only He can do. Remember, this happens every time you and I pray. God is relating to us, sustaining, cleansing, directing, convicting. Yes, prayer changes things . . . but more than that, God is changing the one who prays! Soon you and I will see some changes in our prayers. Instead of just asking things for ourselves, we now desire to want what God wants us to have! Let us all be fervent in prayers, for when we pray, God is doing a miracle of transformation. Listen to your prayers and see your heart! Prayerfully, Rev. Arnel Tan