Acts 4:10-12

¹⁰ Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 
¹¹ This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
¹² Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

I can still remember the first day I preached. Before that very day, I had been anxious and was worried how I would sound before the congregation. And my pastor told me to be the man for God. When the day came, it went well and it passed with tremendous blessing to me and to everybody else giving God the glory.

This morning as we go out to knock on doors and plead people to accept Jesus in their hearts and be at the church tomorrow, remember that it is not by our power we will go and we will plead. It is by the power of God for He should have the glory of it all.

Routine service and mechanical worship are so common in our churches today. People go to church because they were used to it. People tell others about Jesus because they are in a group. People give offerings and tithes because they are used to give and they don’t want others to see them not giving. This is the most weapon of the devil to deceive people in the church.

As Jeremiah preached, our lips are so near to God, but our hearts are very distant from God. This is the kind of service the devil wants. Instead of glorifying the Lord, we insult God’s power and glory.

Christians, think ye well. It is time to depart from the service and worship that do not involve the Lord. It is the best time to worship Him in truth.

Exodus 14:11-14

11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Amidst our problem, the prescription of the Lord is to “stand still”. There is no other remedy to the situation we are in, but just to stay where we are. We are not advised to work on things, to find solutions, or to look for people who can help us. God is telling us to stand still.

One day there was a young American boy who visited his friend in a remote village of Zambia. While he was roaming the hot desert of Zambia, he was lost. He got cornered by a big lion. He didn’t know what to do. And he remembered Exodus 14:13. He just stood still and waited for long. The lion did not move, so did the boy. And the lion fled.

Should have the boy run, the lion could have torn him into pieces. Like most of us, we try to run out of our problems. And the devil torn us into pieces.

Sometimes the “fear not” of God becomes our doubting phrase. We tend to put God in a can. He can do nothing. Probably, someone else can help us. Perhaps, God cannot stretch His arm anymore to help.

We are wrong!

Let us to back to that old trust and faith we had when we trusted our soul to Jesus Christ. And let us remember the “salvation of the Lord”. We can only see this great miracle when we “fear not” and “stand still”. Until then, we will still remain dreaming for big miracles of the Lord.

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair

⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

1 Corinthians 10:24-33

24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:

26 For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.

27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
28 But if any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Read this text reminded of an incident happened almost three years ago. I was visiting a newly-converted family with a young person from the church. When the two of us arrived there, it so happened that it was the birthday of her son. They cooked a simple meal, they killed chickens for the celebration.

Of course, out of hospitality, and I commend her for that Christian virtue, she invited us to eat some. I gladly obliged, but the young person who accompanied me did not eat. The host entreated her to try some, but to no avail.

I enjoyed the food. It’s seldom to eat native chickens, you know.

When we arrived at the church, I reprimanded that young person about her act of saying to the invitation. She reasoned that the innards with all the mess of the chicken were on the ground and it was really impossible to eat in that sight without vomiting.

Our passage this morning reminds me of how God works on whatever we eat to make us satisfied because the earth is His. Even if how lowly the meal is, we should glorify the Lord for that. We can’t choose when to thank the Lord for our meal. As long as it is not offered to idols, we should give God the utmost praise for that.

And of course, don’t forget to say thanks to your host.

Proverbs 16: 17

¹⁷ The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.

When I was still away from the Lord, I had lot of drunkard and drug addict friends, for I was one myself. Right now, I realized the road I formerly trod. It was a road of destruction, a big highway. Not only for the destruction of soul who is hindered from believing the gospel, but also the highway of destruction of the body.

Too much beers and booze caused chirossis of the liver. In fact, right now I have friends who had been confined in the hospital due to some failure of the intestinal tract and the liver. It is a highway of destruction.

Too much cigarettes caused decay of the lungs. Little by little, cigarettes burned tissues of the lungs. If my friends won’t amend their ways, I will find them in hospital beds gasping for air. It was a painful process. It is the highway of destruction.

Illegal drugs caused disorder of the mental capacity and health. I was agitated and I didn’t have the mental uprightness to think straight. Some of my friends are still walking in the highway of destruction.

Week upon week I would tell them about Jesus and invite them to church. I don’t know when, but I know God answers prayers, that my friends will take the highway of salvation – and not of destruction.

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

² And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 

³ Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 

 ⁴ And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 

⁵ So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 

⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 

⁷ And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 

⁸ And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 

⁹ Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 

2 Thessalonian 1: 2-5

² Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
³ We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.
⁴ So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 
⁵ Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

What is the manifestation of a growing faith?

In most churches, people are just talking about faith and not practicing it. In fact, Christians are becoming more like scholars than Christ-like. Real faith is now an extinct part of churches and Christians.

Paul talks about a growing faith and the abundance of love. Why? Because there is a direct link between the two. You cannot separate real faith from love. Faith produces love, and love produces faith. If you love the Lord, you will learn to have faith in Him; and while your faith grows, you will learn to love more.

So love is the manifestation of faith?

Yes, but love is a very broad term.

Loving the Lord is more than enough. Some would mistake love to the Lord as to their giving to the church. Some would even mistake it with their soulwinning efforts. And so on.
 
This should be the case. Loving the Lord is more than that. It involves the entirety of a person’s life. It involves the “everything” of a person.

If we want our faith to grow, we ought to learn to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, strength.

Exodus 2:23-25

²³ And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 

²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob

²⁵ And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Last week I had a big problem to consider. I was talking to my friend and he asked what was my problem. I couldn’t really talk about my problem that much. I am the kind of person who keeps the problem for myself only. I don’t want others to feel what I feel.

And he told me this: Sir, for every problem I had, you were there, and I can feel the pain you are suffering from. Just tell me for I am more ready to help you.

There I understand that someone cares for me aside from my God. I understand that someone hears my groaning other than my God. Yet, I know that my God’s ears are better and His words are more tender and comforting.

Often times, we tell others of what we feel and what we think, but we failed to tell our God. We miss the whole point of faith and life. Instead of giving God our praise  by telling Him our problems and groanings, we prefer to tell our friends, our neighbors or some other people. This is an insult to the Lord’s power.

It is the best time to reconsider our ways. Let us understand that God remembers the pain we are suffering from. Always bear in mind that He remembers His covenant He promised the day we accepted His dear Son.

Acts 5:40-42

⁴⁰ And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 

⁴¹ And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name<sup>.

42</sup> And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

During the revival of Wales, mission-minded Christians stretched forth their effort to India, which by then was a colony of England. Back in the 19th century, Welsh missionaries preached the glorious gospel of Christ to the people of Assam. Among those who got saved and converted to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ was a family who faithfully guarded the truth they had received from the Lord.

When the family was called before the village chieftain for the renouncement of their faith, the man defended the gospel of Christ and refused to renounce his faith.

While the archers aimed at his wife, the man faithfully and courageously said, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” His wife died in that instance. The persecutor proceeded to take his two boys’ life, but the man said, “The world behind me, the cross before me.” Now that was alone and the chieftain threatened to take his life, the faithful father answered his persecutors and sang, “Though no one joins me, still I will follow..”

Throughout the history of Christianity, believers were persecuted in countless horrible means. Some were beheaded for their faith; some were put in stake for keeping their trust on Christ; and some others were tortured for their belief on the gospel of Christ. Truly, there are millions who died for the preaching of the gospel.

Christians, let us labor till the Master comes without wavering and without doubt. It may not be today that our labor be rewarded, but someday, yonder, beyond the shore, we will meet our Lord, and our rewards are with Him. Let us not go weary in the works of love for we labor not in vain.

Be encouraged to serve the Lord. Do your ministry faithfully without fear. We can only be soldiers of Christ if we are not afraid to give our lives up for the One who died for us to translate us from darkness unto light.

Luke 21:1-4 

¹ And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.  

² And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 

³ And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 

⁴ For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

I know of a Christian who stopped going to church when the pastor preached on giving. Giving is a very hot topic in the church, and even tithing. People are not accustomed to such subject that they would do everything to avoid it.

But here in our text for the day, we see an example of giving. I will not dwell on the rich man’s gift, but on the widow’s mite.

The Bible says she casts all her living in to the offering box. And when the Bible says ALL, it means everything. Nothing’s left to the widow. Nothing for her to survive the next meal, and nothing for her to survive life. Everything was cast into the box.

Whatever happened to her, that we don’t know. Was she able to eat the next meal? Was she provided food?

 The Bible is silent.

Yet we see the most appealing example of giving. She gave her all.

Does Jesus care for her that she survives? Of course, Jesus is always concern about what we eat and what we wear, He is even concern over the hairs of our head. Certainly, Jesus wants the widow to have food the next meal.

But why the example of giving everything? It could have been that Jesus said that the widow gave one mite and have the other for her survival. Yet Jesus is more concern on what we give Him than what we have. It does not mean He is not caring for us. It only means He wants us to trust Him come what may. He wants us to give everything for us to trust him in anything. By then, God will be able to work on our lives.

I am certain the widow was able to eat, survive, and enjoy life. Why? Because she trusted the hand of the living God who fails not.

Deuteronomy 7:8-16 

⁸ But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lordbrought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 

⁹ Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations

¹⁰ And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. 

¹¹ Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them

¹² Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: 

¹³ And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee<sup>.

 14</sup> Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 

¹⁵ And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee

¹⁶ And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

How many times a person promised something to you and he or she failed to fulfill it?

Do not fret or get angry at the person. It’s just that human beings fail. We tend to forget what we promise because we are humans. We are never perfect, we are too far from that.

Yet, God promised to fulfill whatever He has promised to do with us because He will do what seemeth good to us. It is the everlasting promise of God to do the best in our lives. It is a promise of the future, a bright one and far brighter when we are in heaven.

But God laid down the condition of this promise. He just wanted us to do His commandments, His will, His very desire for our lives. If we do these things, surely God will bless and will fulfill whatever He planned for our lives.

The thing is: God’s promise may tarry, but it shall be fulfilled. We read that if it tarries, it will not tarry long for it to be fulfilled. While waiting for the wondrous work of the Lord, let us to labor and do His blessed will with the eternal hope that our God is not slack concerning His promises, but He is faithful to do what He has committed to us unto that day.

Acts 1:7-9

⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 

⁸ But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

This morning I received a message from a friend. In her message she quoted Keith Piper, and give me the liberty to quote that: “When we can’t reach souls on our feet, we can always reach them on our knees.”

It is a faithful reminder that our responsibility of being witnesses of the goodness and mercies of the Lord through the salvation in Jesus Christ does not stop on reaching the lost through our tongues and feet, but also on our knees. Oftentimes, we become victims of our own folly. How many times we go on soulwinning and witnessing others without the power of the Spirit? How many times we spoke of the gospel’s mercies to others without touching the hem of the Lord’s garment?

Of course, we reason that even if do the work of the Lord physically and mechanically, it will still accomplish something for the word of God is not bound. It will accomplish something even if others preach it in anger and malice. This reason is a far-out cry of foolish servant.

Why push the car when you can start the engine?

In our desire to reach souls of men and win them for and to Christ, let us be reminded that our engine is prayer. God does not require us to push the car, He just wants us to make use of the engine. When the engine is revving, the car will run smoothly, and we can’t undermine the glorious success of the Lord’s work.

This morning let us all be reminded that God’s work is not of the flesh. This is work of the Spirit.

2 Chronicles 9:1-8

¹And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.  

² And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.  

³ And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,  

⁴ And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.  

⁵ And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:  

⁶ Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.  

⁷ Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.  

⁸ Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

Have you ever felt homesick of place you’ve never been? Well, I am.

If there’s a place Christians should be excited of, that should be heaven. It would be great to be there, to sing the redemption story up there, and to see face to face with Christ my Savior. No other grand day could ever be compared with that day when I am stepping on shore and finding it heaven. A blissful moment.

Far and wide, the greatness of King Solomon’s kingdom has been spread abroad that it reached the Queen of Sheba’s ears. During a royal visit, the Queen of Sheba was astonished of she saw in the royal courts of King Solomon. Yes, she had heard good about his courts, but she never imagined it could be that grand and fabulous.

In amazement, the Queen of Sheba exclaimed that half of King Solomon’s greatness had not been told. It would be like heaven. We have read about the streets of gold, the mansions over the hilltop, and unspeakable majesty of that grand place we will be going to.And of course, our Savior is going to meet us there.

But what we have heard and read from the Bible is just half of heaven. The other half have never yet been told. And we we reach there, it would be the fulfillment of eternity, the unfolding of what we were homesick of.

Even John the Beloved wanted to be there so eagerly that he wrote, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

Last January 21, 2014, we hosted the Pastors' Fellowship (North). Pastors from North Cebu attended the fellowship. Pastor Kent Jesalva preached during the event.

On May 12, 2012, the local congregation was organized into an independent local church. It was a period of commitment to hold the rope of the ministry after being weaned from our sending church. On May 12, 2013, we celebrated our first church anniversary as an organized independent body (but it's already the 8th year of the ministry). Together with that, we also had our 2nd Missions Conference.

Aside from saving our souls, God also blessed us with the love of a family in the church. The communion among believers is a blessing from the Father. More so that we "love the thrill that [we] feel when [we] together with God's wonderful people."

The Children's Ministry has been part Bible Baptist Church - San Remigio since the beginning of the ministry here. This ministry allowed the church to extend its arm to the community. Teaching these little children with the Word of God is a great privilege.

The Church, the Body of Christ, was commanded to make known the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that the world may know the power of His salvation. The Great Commission is and will be the responsibility of the Church.

Acts 8:36- 39

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

From Touch of the Master's Hand, excerpt:

© voice-wilderness.org

When God opens a door, run in.

We have been praying for several months for an opportunity to start a ministry in Bogo City. Way back 2009 and 2010, we already had an informal Bible study with high school and college students of the city. Our venue was the public plaza amidst the noise and sometimes, the pouring rain. It was put to a halt for some reasons, but our hearts yearned to reach the souls of thousand students in Bogo City.

We had already gained momentum with our Bible study there last 2012 and 2013. We had it in the rented house of Bro. Rayche and Ma'am Nova, but since they had to move in to their own house which was away from the city, it was again put on hold. The rented house had become a shelter for the young people who got saved back in Bogo. Some were added to the church.

Last 2014, we had prayed for God to open doors in Bogo City again. We tried looking for a place where we could gather the young people and teach them the precious Word of God. We tried restaurants, houses, and even commercial spaces, but God did not allow us in. And then God opened the door. Why not use a place used by young people for their leisure?

That settled it. We had our first Bible Study in Nagano Pension House's function-videoke room. Sis Rica did brought in some of her friends: Christy Ponce and Leslie Catamco. Three souls got saved that night. That sure proved that God is and will be blessing the Bible study we opened in that room.

Every Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 in the evening, we are renting the function-videoke room to get souls to heaven.  When God opens the door, it is not a time to walk in, it is time to run in.