On Tuesday I and some of my students who came from a mission trip to Cambodia will be coming back to work holding Bible college classes. Every now and then, our mother church schedules a mission trip to expose many of its members to missions, both local and international. The church’s members participate as givers or senders and as short term missionaries and is hoping that these trips would bear fruit not only in the places that are saturated with God’s word but also in the church – that those called would surrender to become missionaries.
Here is a picture of our team from Manila during the Breaking Point missions trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. This was taken in one of the beaches we went to after going to four schools and presenting the program to at least 1,300 students. We appreciate Pastor Dave Quiocson for being a great host during this missions trip.
(From left: Marissa, Rose Ann, Ted, Cely, Alex, Erwin, Pastor Lance, Pastor Alvin, Augie and yours truly)
Tomorrow, our local team of eleven plus the team from Houston, Texas will be leaving for our Breaking Point Palawan missions trip. Everyone included in the trip are busy with preparations like practicing dramas, running through classroom workshops and preparing the luggage. In fact, I had to purchase my own light weight luggage for this trip because of the many equipment we had to bring to Palawan – we had to keep our personal stuff in our hand carry luggage, and under 10 kilograms.
I could have used the services of ShopWiki.com and could have provided me different brand options before I bought, but it was too late when I found out about them. I saw brands like Travel Pro and Samsonite.
This site is a revolutionary resource for online shopping. They list all online stores on the web, not just those who pay to get their store on their list.
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by Pastor Jeff in Missions, Prayer
Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so are there spiritual laws which govern your relationship with God.
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1) God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your life.
God’s Love
“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).
God’s Plan
[Christ speaking] “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).
Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life?
Because…
2) Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life.
Man Is Sinful
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is an evidence of what the Bible calls sin.
Man Is Separated
“The wages of sin is death” [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).
The third law explains the only way to bridge the gulf between God and man…
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3) Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
He Died in Our Place
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
He Rose From the Dead
“Christ died for our sins…He was buried…He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures…He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
He Is the Only Way to God
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’” (John 14:6).
It is not enough just to know these three laws…
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4) We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.
We Must Receive Christ
“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12)
We Receive Christ Through Faith
“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth
(Read John 3:1-8.)
We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20).
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.
The following explains how you can receive Christ:
You Can Receive Christ Right Now by Faith Through Prayer (Prayer is talking to God)
God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?
If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
August 1, 2008 is the scheduled date for the program at Manggahan High School. God has opened this school up for Sold Out Live’s ministry and right now, the opportunities available there are just awesome. We hope that Sold Out Live will just be a blessing to that school and that its youth will be able to meet real needs there. Keep on, Sold Out Live!
Nowadays many ministries incorporate multimedia into their services. They utilize video, dynamic backgrounds for Power Point presentations of messages and songs. This is especially helpful for the modern church, tasked with reaching the unchurched in its generation. In these types of ministries, getting volunteers who are familiar with the equipment used, like video projectors, notebooks or laptops, CAT6 cable and firewire cables, is very important. We hope that those gifted in this area would contribute their skills and talents to help improve methods of reaching the next generation.
Last Tuesday, communication with the Pastor who is coordinating things for the Palawan missions trip has been established.We have communicated the other important details verbally and through e-mail and we are just waiting for the information we need about the schools to finalize the schedule.Pretty soon we will need to prepare our luggage and the other stuff for this missions trip because August 10 is fast approaching.
