Activities from September 15-23,2012

September 15, I again went to Palca to visit the brethren. This time, brother Jun, Robert and Denis are with me. We tried to practice the new songs in our hymnbook(not really new but because it is our first time to sing it that makes it new). We are at sister Valentina Mabborang’s house while the other brethren there came also. We have two visitors who attended, one is Mrs. Anog who is a Catholic and the other one is a Pentecostal Member(Oneness) but I forgot her name. Brother Jun shared a lesson about “How many shall be saved?” and the Pentecost Lady asked questions after the lesson about “Do we really need to be a member of the church of Christ or be a member of any church in order to be saved?”. And we all explained to her about it that made her silent for a moment. We just learned after the study that she wanted to come to the church but her husband who is a member of “Tabernacle of Joy”, a church which about 3kms away from our church building, would not allow her to join us because he wants that they will both go to their own church. She only got the time to join us because his husband is away. Hope and pray that the lesson she heard will be a way for them to understand the way to God.

September 16, in our Lord’s Day service here at Tuguegarao, brother Jun taught a lesson about “Whom shall I served?”, is it God or mammon. And in the sermon brother Rody preached about “What baptism doesn’t do?”.

At Palca, brother Abraham taught in our bible study about “Suffering” and in the sermon I preached about “The Wisdom that warns us from Sin”.

September 18, our preachers bible study was cancelled because our brother Albert Moodie(a fellow preacher) died and we all planned to go to his wake but I feel sad because even though I wanted to go, I failed because we needed to take our baby boy to the doctor due to fever and allergies.

September 19, in our midweek service., brother Rody taught “Proverbs 8”.

September 20, I went to Maddela, Quirino a together with other fellow preachers for a Gospel Meeting. The preacher there was brother Reneboy Maranion. We arrived a little bit late because of the traffics and how far we came from. It took us about 4 hours to arrived in the location. When we arrived, brother Edgar Licodini was already preaching. He preached about the “Mosaical Period”, the followed by brother Joeben Jacobo who preached about “Christian Period” and finally the last speaker in the morning is brother Denis Yuson who preached about “Church of Christ vs. Modern Churches”.

In the afternoon, brother Rody was the lone and last speaker. He preached about “Learn of Me”. After the lesson, invitation was extended and two precious souls came in front to confess their faith. They were baptized in the near river.

September 22, I again attended a Gospel Meeting. This time, it was in Sampaguita, Solana where brother Greg delos Reyes is preaching. This is the first time that I went to that congregation. Brother Geronimo Ganela was the first speaker and he preached about “Without Him” and last was brother Rody who preached about “God has Spoken”. Again invitation was extended and two young ladies went in front to confess their faith. They are not from Sampaguita but from a nearby congregation which is Nabialan.

In the evening, I went to Lingu, Solana because of the invitation of brother Robert Rances that I will teach in their bible study. We started about 6pm and I preached to them about “Heaven and Hell.

September 23, in our Lord’s day service here at Tuguegarao, brother Jun taught in our bible study about “Collection” and in the sermon, brother Rody preached about “Last days and last day”.

At Palca, I preached to them about “Whom should we resist?”, is it God or the Devil. Many resist God without knowing they are doing it, we need to always be aware that as a christian, we are to show that we are the light of the world.

In the evening, we were invited by brother Andy Aquino in their house here in Tuguegarao for a thanksgiving because it is his 62^nd birthday. We again sung spiritual songs and brother Rody shared good encouragements from the bible and to thankGod for all the years he had given to all of us.

Activities from September 5-13, 2012

September 5, in our midweek service, we studied “Proverbs 6” with the help of brother Jun. He gave good examples regarding the attitudes of man that God hates and that we should not follow.

September 6, I preached in the radio program about “What baptism does?” because one listener sent me a text message asking this question. The radio program is a great tool for us in answering spiritual matters and a good way also to help them know the truth. We all know that baptism does a lot of things for us. First, it will cleanse us of our sins through the blood of Jesus then through it, the Lord will add us to His church and also we will have the right to be called christians.

September 8, I went to Palca for another home bible study. This time, I invited brother Denis and his son Abraham to come with me. We where at sister Pacita Quines house but also some of the brethren came to study with us. I pray that we can continue on doing this with the Lord’s help and if I can afford to go financially. We again practice new songs from the hymnbook and Denis shared a very good lesson on Matthew 6:33.

September 9, in our Lord’s day here at Tuguegarao, brother Jun taught in our bible study about the “Acts of worship” but this time, it is not the regular way that we are teaching it. He gave the acts then compared it to how the denominations are doing it. In the sermon, brother Rody preached about “The Sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God.

In the afternoon, at Palca, brother Abraham taught in our bible study about “Today” Psalm 95:6-8. The time to work, time to preach, time to listen and the time to prepare to go to paradise is today.

In the sermon, I preached to them about “How can we show ourselves to others?” as christians. How can we show our faith to them, our forgiveness from those who sinned against us and how God forgives our own sins and our future with the hope of everlasting life is the main points of the lesson.

September 11, in our preachers bible study, brother Rogelio Esperanza preached to us in the morning about “Traditions of man versus the word of God”. He compared the doctrines of the Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons to the bible. In the afternoon, brother Luis Nalog preached to us on “Acts 6” which shows the preacher who stands for the truth even when persecution is behind him.

September 12, I preached in our midweek service on “Proverbs 7”. I gave the title “Beware of Dogs” that means a sign of warning to protect yourselves because in this chapter of the book, Solomon is instructing the youth to guard themselves from the harlot who is very cunning and ready to take you with him anytime you bite her bait. It is like the ox ready to be slaughtered when you go to her. So he said, remember my words in verse one, that we should never forget the instruction of our dear God so that in times of temptation, we are ready to battle and defeat it.

September 13, I preached in the radio program about “Claims of Jehovah’s Witnesses about the 144,000”. This is again a question from one of the listeners. I think he is a member of the denomination because of how he explains his question. In the bible, the 144,000 is only used as a symbolic expression of the totality of God’s people. The denomination make it literal and cause problems in interpreting the bible.

Activities for the whole month of August 2012

Avtivities from August 28- September 4, 2012

August 28, in our preachers bible study, brother Ronel Octoman from Apayao shared to us a lesson about “The Ways of God” from forgiving our sins, salvation even the blessings He bestowed. In the afternoon, brother Virgilio Bocarile from Kalinga shared to us on “Acts 4”.

August 29, in our midweek service, brother Jay taught to us the lesson on “Proverbs 5”. He showed that we need to be faithful to our partner in marriage and in our relationship to God.

August 30, I answered in the radio program the question “What are the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit?” It is stated in Galatians 5:22-23 that it is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The text says there is one fruit of the Spirit which has multiple traits, so in this text, there in only one “fruit of the spirit” not “9 fruits of the spirit”.

September 1, I went to Palca and invited my fellow preachers, Jerome, Jun Gumpad, Robert Rances and Denis to visit sister Angelina Santiago and her family, and some of the brethren that came to their house. We all sung spiritual songs including songs that the brethren of Palca don’t know. We tried to teach them new songs from the hymnbook. I asked brother Jerome to share an encouraging lesson and he did it well. 

More images: Palca Home Bible Study

September 2, in our Lord’s Day service here at Tuguegarao, brother Jun answered the question in our bible study about “When will God approve marriage?” specifying what age should one marry. There are much news about premarital sex and having babies in teen age not just here in the Philippines but in the whole world. The bible doesn’t state what age should one marry but it says on the right time (1 Cor. 7:36). In the  sermon, brother Rody preached to us about “Following Jesus”.

In the afternoon, at Palca, brother Abraham taught in our bible study about “No Comparison” from God in heaven, the bible, the church, the Christian life and heaven. In the sermon, I preached about “Something Better” that we are in a race and we need to finish the course to reach our goal and we will receive something better, not in this world but in the place where the Lord says He is preparing for the righteous.

September 4, in our preachers bible study, brother Cornelio Abig taught in the morning about “Disasters”. A right time to share it because of the many typhoons, floods and earthquakes that is happening now in our country. In the afternoon, brother Robert Pader taught to us on “Acts 5”, the Christians who lied and was struck dead in front of the disciples.

Activities from August 21-26, 2012

August 21, in our preachers bible study, brother Denis Yuson shared to us a good lesson about “Right Attitudes to Become an Effective preacher”. It is a good lesson that teaches us to continue on preaching the gospel of God. We should not be ashamed to share it because it is the power of God unto salvation. We also need to have long-suffering, learn to endure hardships of life and learn to serve others. Finally, as a preacher I learned in this lesson that we should become a good example to our family, to our fellow preachers, to the Christians and also to the unbelievers.

August 22, in our midweek service, brother Jerome explained to us the lesson we could learn on Proverbs 4. He gave the title “Security in Wisdom” because that writer calls his pupils and tells him how he was educated and specifies the teachings he received. He also exhorts his pupil to persevere in well-doing and to avoid evil.

August 23, I answered a text questioning “Does Baptism Save You, or just accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?” The bible not only says that we must believe on Him and we will be save but it is plainly teaches that we also need baptism for us to be save (1 Peter 3:21). We must understand that the scripture is telling us that in order to be saved from sins by the blood of Jesus, we must be willing to obey His commandments to be baptized in water (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38).

August 25, I went to Palca to visit the family of sister Maria Andrada. She is a very faithful sister but her husband is no longer active in the church. They were baptized before I became their preacher. I didn’t saw her husband in the house because he is in the field planting crops. I shared to her together with her granddaughter, who is also active and always attending in the children class, about spiritual growth. It is a burden to her that her husband became unfaithful but we all joined together in prayer that someday, he will realize that it is better to be with the Lord than to focus on worldly things. I pray that I can continually do the visitation to the brethren at Palca every Saturday if the Lord's will and if I have the financial capacity to do so, so that I can give them encouragements coming from the bible. I already made the whole schedule from September to January.

August 26, in our Lord’s day here at Metro Tuguegarao, brother Jun taught in our bible study about “Marriage and Divorce”. And in the sermon, he preached to us about “How many shall be saved?”

In the afternoon, at Palca, brother Abraham joined me and he taught in our bible study about “Things we must avoid?” We didn’t talk on the lessons that we will preached but it is just a coincidence that we almost have the same lesson. I preached to them about “How can we escape sin?” Hope and pray that the lessons we preached is a good way to remind them that God hated sin and we must have a change of heart through repentance when we are still doing it.

Activities from August 15-19, 2012

August 15, in our midweek service, we studied on “Proverbs 3” that brother Robert Rances shared. He showed the things that made our lives much closer to God and the things that might destroy our relationship with Him.

August 16, I preached in the radio program about a text question to me about “Capital Punishment” if it is allowed by God or not. In the Old Testament time, God allowed man to punish those who sinned same as in the New Testament time.  Civil government was ordained by God to protect the innocent and punish the criminals within the society. That is, the government has the right to execute God’s wrath upon the evil-doer (Rom. 13:5). The individual cannot take another’s life but the government does.

 

August 17, my family and I together with other fellow preachers traveled to Maddela, Quirino because my wife’s grandmother died on August 15. It is a long and tiring trip because it took us 3 and half hours. Upon arrival, we immediately have the service. Brother Sammy Graneta started the sermon at around 5PM and another sermon at night by brother Edgar Licodini at 8:30PM.

August 18, this is supposed to be the time to bury our grandmother but her siblings calls and told brother Rody(her son) that they will be coming and so they will do the burial on Sunday morning. But we continued on another study and brother Geronimo Ganela preached to us. After the service, we all have our lunch and traveled back to Tuguegarao.

August 19, in our Lord’s day service here at Metro Tuguegarao, brother Jun shared to us a study on the ”RH Bill (Reproductive Health Bill)”. A law that was passed in our congress regarding controlling the growth in our population in our country without killing or aborting a child by giving free contraceptives to those who are on the right age. Catholics disagree it this bill because they are saying that we will be disobeying the command of God to go forth and multiply and they say that you will kill the baby inside the womb but in fact, how can you kill a baby if it is not yet produce and on Gen. 1:28, it is true that God said to multiply but that does not end there, He also said to subdue it, meaning to control. For us, it is not a sin to follow the resolution because we don’t have any law from God to disobey. Any thought on this, I would love to hear and study. This is the information about the bill: http://rhbill.org/about/

In the sermon, brother Jerome preached to us about “Submitting to God’s judgment”. We don’t control everything in our lives, so we must submit to God on every judgment he is doing. Our lives is in His control and so is our death.

At Palca, brother Abraham joined me in going there but when we are near the church building, the road was block by a large crane that is putting large equipments for the construction on a new road. They are also making a road widening that we are worried because it might hit the chapel and they needed to destroy the front part of the building. Hope and pray that it will not do so because we don’t have enough funds to reconstruct the building.

We walk for about 100 meters to arrive in the church. Brother Abraham taught in our bible study about “Creation”. I preached in the sermon about “Listening to God”. Some people are truly listening to God, some do not and some are listening but not doing. James said, we should not be hearers only but doers of the word.

Activities from August 11-14, 2012

August 11, I went to a Gospel Meeting at Aquib, Piat where brother Denis Yuson is preaching and his sons Abraham and Melchizedek (they are the one's joining me in going to Palca every Sunday, a way to help him grow both in their faith and improve their preaching).

The place is well known to all Filipinos because it is where the catholic so-called "Our Lady of Piat" is located and many devoted catholics go there every first sunday of the month. I know it is hard to be preaching the truth there but they are doing their job well and the church is growing.

Brother Efren Respicio was the first speaker and he preached about "Repented but its too late" from the text located at Luke 16 where the rich man tried to repent on his sins but its too late becayse he is already in the place of torment.

I was the second speaker and I preached about "Whom among them?" from Luke 17:11-19, about the ten lepers who were cleansed and only one went back to Jesus to glorify and thank Him. As christians, who are we among the ten?

The third speaker in the morning was brother Rody and he preached the lesson concerning "The True Church of Christ".

We extended the invitation before taking a break and we are happy that two young man went infront to confess their faith (We baptized them after the afternoon session in a near river).

The first speaker in the afternoon was brother Geronimo Ganela and he preached about "Righteousness practice, application and service". And the last speaker was again brother Rody and he preached about "Taught of God".

More Images on the Gospel Meeting: Aquib, Piat

August 12, in our Lord's day service here at Metro Tuguegarao, brother Jun explained to us about "Euthansia" in our bible study. The question about mercy killing if it is a sin to do it or not. This is happening everywhere especially when there is no chance that a man will live, they will just cut his life to end his suffering, but in the bible, we don't have the right to do that. We don't have the right to take someone's life. Let God be the one to do it. So it is a sin.

In the sermon, brother Rody preached to us about "Expediency". In 1 Corithians 6:12 "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any".  There are things that seems right for us but it is not for God.

In the afternoon at Palca, brother Abraham joined me in going there and he taught in our bible study about "Angels". He talked about their works and their nature that they cannot save us and should not be serve by us.

In the sermon, I preached again about "Whom among them?". I like to share them this lesson because everyone of us should be thankful for the kindness, goodness and all blessings that God is giving everyday if our lives especially the salvation we gained when we obey Him.

August 13, I attended a wedding of our brother Paul John here at Metro Tuguegarao. He was married to a catholic and hopefully and I pray that someday she can also be a christian.

August 14, in our preachers bible study, brother Andy Dappas shared to us a lesson about "Answering Pharaoh's Question" about "who is God that I will follow Him?" He explained well about who is God that we should serve, fear and obey. It then followed another lesson shared by brother Denis on "Acts 2". It should be done in the afternoon but the news says typhoon is coming so we finished it all in the morning.  Brother Denis explained well the lesson and it is very encouraging as what Peter did to preach the gospel to whomever you face whether he is rich, poor, mayor, attorney, and etc. The gospel is power of God and we should not be ashamed to preach it.