I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow - Sovereign Grace Music

Finding Traces of Grace in the Twilight of Life

By REV. ARNEL TAN STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART "WE live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), and what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard" -- Psalm 90:10 AGEING is not a choice, ageing graciously is! Psalm 90 is also called the prayer of Moses. It is also the psalm that many people use to prepare themselves for a good exit or a good death.Death is not a popular topic these days. Either we are too numb due to the killing that happens, or, too scared. Well, today, instead of the horror of death, let us see the traces of grace surrounding it. Moses prayed an honest, humble prayer which also portrayed the helplessness of man without God. Life is not only difficult, it is also complex. Yes, endowed with a freedom to choose, but on the other side of it are the consequences brought about by the choices we made. When it comes to choosing, I am afraid I have made more wrong or not-so-wise choices in my life and will still make more... meaning, more consequences to pay and more regrets rather than rewards. Imagine, if one wrong choice is to be paid by 10 years of consequence, you cannot reach the year 70 wearing a smile! That is why Moses prayed... ”Oh teach us to live well, teach us to live wisely and well"(Psalm 90:12 MSG). Life itself, without the bad choices, is already trouble and toil and it is only by God's mercy that we can survive! In the twilight of life, do not fail to see or discover the traces of grace that God wants you to enjoy... the grace not to over-worry for the next generation. Here, we truly see that after all, it was not our effort that caused our survival... it was the faithfulness of God. God’s concerns are much greater than your concern over your children and grandchildren. This does not mean that we become lazy and dreamless, rather, it should make us trust the unlimited God while we humbly accept our limitations... the grace to expect redemption before the final chapter comes to an end. Redemption is not only our chance to make it to Heaven, but also our chance to right the wrongs we made. This, too, is grace... an undeserved opportunity to be a blessing again, and perhaps to leave a better legacy... where people will not have to debate any more if we are worthy to be buried at the "Libingan ng mga Bayani". More traces of grace ahead... like the grace to accept and live with the regrets of life by learning to surrender the scars of the past; to learn from the pain of the present; Godly courage to live with the consequences of our sins; and the wisdom to live life by the moment instead of by days, months and years; the grace to grieve and grow and move on (there is no authentic moving on if there is no grieving. The grace of grieving would mean accepting the fact that something precious has been lost); to humbly avail of the chance to change. In the twilight of life, demanding people add to the loneliness of this chapter. Wisdom during the twilight years would be an attitude like this... to relate more and demand less. At the end of the journey is a prayer to enjoy a closure of every wound with the stitches of mercy. It is hope-giving to know that life is not measured by its beginning but how it ends. Life is not about perfection but about devotion. So, from this point on up to before the curtains close... Live well, live wisely. Pray that we may learn to age graciously! Moses ended well, he said that God replaced those painful years with a last chance to smile, a last chance to make a difference, a last chance to be a blessing to others. Moses took God's offer of these graces and somehow ended well. Remember, it is God who buried Moses, his friend! Indeed, let it be our prayers too. Oh! teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well. Eugene Peterson said it excellently when he wrote these lines "We learn to live well when we learn to live wisely, and we learn to live wisely when we realize that our days on earth are numbered". Happy Ageing graciously!

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