November 29: Bagbag church of Christ gospel meeting

It was another fruitful day for our Lord again. I got the chance to go to the gospel meeting at Bagbag church of Christ with some other brethren. The Bagbag church of Christ is located at Bagbag, Rizal, Kalinga and their preacher is brother Luis Nalog. They invited 5 speakers to preach for them and they were: FIRST SPEAKER: brother Gerald Ganela who preached "One True Church", SECOND SPEAKER: brother Ricky Ramirez with the lesson "Necessities for Church Growth", THIRD SPEAKER: brother Rody Gumpad who preached about "1 Peter 4:1-19", FOURTH SPEAKER: brother Rolando Agpoon with "The Importance of Baptism", and FIFTH SPEAKER: brother Denis Yuson with the topic "The Children of God". The first three speakers taught in the morning and after the third speaker we sang an invitation song and seven (7) souls came forward and confessed Christ. We paused for a short lunch and after that we immediately resumed the meeting. I was asked to lead the opening prayer and after that the fourth and fifth speakers taught us another wonderful lessons. After the last speaker we again extended the invitation and three (3) souls came forward, confessed Christ and expressed their desire to be baptized into Christ. All in all ten (10) souls were baptized and the Lord added them to His church.

November 28: Radio Preaching

Your humble servant was given a chance again to visit the radio station and preach on air the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The broadcast was done at Radyo DZCV 684kHz from 12:00 to 12:30 afternoon. On air we have discussed the topic "The Abode of the Dead", from the said title we were able to discuss Luke 16:19-31. With the help of the bible it was found out that after death we are to go to a place called "hades", that those found unable to repent will most likely end up with the rich man and those who will repent of their sins and serve God will be found comforted with Lazarus. We have also found out that between the place where the rich man went (place of torment) and the place where Lazarus went (paradise) is a great gulf wherein those in Lazarus' place will not be able to go to the place of torment and those in the place of torment will not be able to go to the place where Lazarus is.

Flood in Tuguegarao City

Tuguegarao City had experienced a week of rains which resulted to flood. Many residents that are living near the river were forced to evacuate due to the rise of water. Brethren from low lying areas were also affected by this flood as their crops are washed away or destroyed. Christians unite again in these times of crisis and join together in praying to our God of the safety of each brethren. Alibago church of Christ at this moment is under water and the brethren there needed our prayers for their safety. Your humble servant humbly ask each and every one of you to please pray for our brethren who were badly affected by this flooding. Your prayers are highly appreciated.

The Purpose of the Church

The church is from the Greek word "ekklesia" which means a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation: - assembly, church [Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries]. Different descriptions are also found in the bible regarding the church: it is also called 1) The Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23), 2) The Household of Christ ( 1 Timothy 3:15), 3) The Kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13), 4) The Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-9), and 5) The Temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:9, 16-17).

The bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ promised to build His church which was fulfilled at the baptism of the 3,000 souls on the first day of Pentecost (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:1-47); with these written truths we could clearly understand that the church has an important purpose in our lives. Let us then search and rightly divide the word of truth and understand more what it can teach us regarding the purpose of the church (John 5:39; 2 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 3:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope". (Romans 15:4)

The story of the ark that Noah built gives us a very good parallel concerning the purpose of the church today. We take a short trip back in time and visit Noah and the ark that he built. In those time, God saw the wickedness of men and how the earth became corrupted. God wanted to destroy the earth, thus, He planned to send a flood that will destroy the earth and every living things on it.

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (Genesis 6:11-13). "And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die" (Genesis 6:17).

But we can see that before the flood arrives Noah made an ark according to what God had commanded him to do, he made it according to God's pattern for it is an ark that will save those who will enter in it at the time of flood.

"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Genesis 7:23).

Now going back to our present time we can read a warning written by the apostle Paul, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). Because of these present wickedness our Heavenly Father sent His only beloved Son to build a church (John 3:16; Matthew 16:18). Many must have laughed at Jesus when He said that He will build His church same as many did laughed at Noah when he built the ark; but we understood that those who were outside the ark were destroyed when the flood came, they drowned and then they died. Those who loved the world more than our God must understand that the world will pass away and that it is not wise to be caught swimming in sin for the wages of sin is death but those who will listen and do the will of God will abide forever (1 John 2:15-17; Romans 6:23).

"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47). "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). God used the ark as a saving agency in Noah's time (...and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark - Genesis 7:23) -- today, the church was built by Christ for the same purpose; those who will remain faithful inside the Lord's church will receive the salvation of their souls (Acts 2:47; Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 2:10; Matthew 24:13).

November 15: Quirino church of Christ Bible lectureship

Quirino church of Christ is located at San Vicente, Quirino, Isabela about 2 hours travel from our place; it is about 1 hour travel by car in a long highway and another 1 hour through a rough terrain. This opportunity we had just proved that distance is not a hindrance for the advancement of the gospel of Christ. We listened to wonderful lessons presented by our brethren; we studied about “The Church and the Bible”, “Did Christ Build Many Churches?”, How is Christ’s Church Governed?”, The Purpose of the Church”, “Church and the State”, and these lessons taught us well, encouraged and strengthened us more. After the lessons, your humble servant was asked to receive questions and we all tried to answer them with the help of the bible according to what God teaches us. We then extended the invitation through an invitation song wherein three (3) souls came forward and confessed Christ and then baptized into Christ. After baptizing our new brethren we head home very happy and encouraged because we have done our obligation to God again this day and we know that God smiled at us for proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

Teach, Baptize, Continue Teaching

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).

The bible speaks of Jesus having all the authority in heaven and in earth. Jesus, for having all authority, delivers a command which is to be obeyed by those wanting to be His disciples. The command was to teach all nations the gospel and to baptize them who believe (Mark 16:15-16). According to Encarta Dictionary Tools, a command is an order or instruction given by somebody in authority and we must understand that all authority given to Christ in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18); thus, those who are under the authority of Christ must comply with His command. Every disciple must go out and preach the gospel, the only gospel which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). It is the responsibility of each individual Christian to preach the same gospel that they received from Christ, anyone found teaching another gospel are bound to be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9). By preaching the gospel, baptism in the authority of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is also preached; therefore, those who believed the gospel must be baptized for their salvation for baptism doth also now saves us (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21). After those who believed are baptized, they must continually listen to the words of God which He also clearly commanded in verse 20 of Matthew 28. Thus it is clearly seen that Jesus commanded each Christian to “teach His words, baptize in the authority of the Godhead, and continue teaching His words. Thus, written in the 20^th verse of the 28^th chapter of Matthew is the assurance of Jesus’ presence for every faithful Christian who diligently obey His commands: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:20).

November 9: Nine (9) Souls Baptized Into Christ

We give thanks to the Lord our God for this wonderful and fruitful day that we had. We had our morning worship at Metro Tuguegarao church wherein I prepared a lesson entitled "Work Out Your Own Salvation With Fear And Trembling (Philippians 2:12)" for our bible study and brother Rody Gumpad delivered a sermon about a lesson entitled "By Faith (Hebrews 11:3)". After the sermon we extended the invitation through an invitation song and nine (9) souls came forward; they heard the gospel, believed in Christ; repented of their sins; confessed Christ as the Son of God and our Savior, and they desired to be baptized for the remission of their sins and their salvation (Romans 10:17; John 14:1; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10; Mark 16:16). After the worship service we immediately baptized our new brethren in the church's baptistry. Our new brethren that were added by the Lord to His church (Acts 2:47) this day are 1) Jemmer Delos Santos (11), 2) Sheryl Murillo (13), 3) Jamae Villafuerte (12), 4) Rizalyn Joy Ignacio (11), 5) Muriel Arca (13), 6) Glenda Darauay (18), 7) Adrian Almaria (13), 8) Alyzza Almaria (16), and 9) Aladdin Bilanggo (33). After lunch I met our brethren at Alibago church for our service and preached to them the same lesson that I taught in the morning.

November 8: Bangag Church of Christ Gospel Meeting

We are invited to attend the gospel meeting at Bangag church of Christ and we are very happy that the Lord had given us good health that we were able to attend and study with our brethren. We had two faithful preachers who preached wonderful lessons that encouraged the listeners. Brother Jay Gumpad preached first with his lesson entitled "Responsibility"; he focused more on our responsibility as Christians. Included in the lesson was our responsibility in our family, responsibility in our relationships, responsibility in the church, and our responsibility in our relationship with God. Brother Rody Gumpad also taught us a lesson about "The Truth that were Taught by Christ (John 1:17; 8:32)". He taught us the truth concerning God, the truth concerning the Way, the truth concerning Life, the truth concerning the Doctrine of Christ, the truth concerning the Church, and the truth concerning our Hope. Two lessons that pricked the hearts of the listeners which resulted in 5 precious souls who came forward during the invitation song, they then confessed Christ as our Lord and Savior. They wanted to be saved and be baptized immediately so since we cannot find much water near their place we were forced to bring them to Metro Tuguegarao church to have them baptized in the baptistry. It is another wonderful day for the preaching of the gospel, 5 more precious souls added by Christ into His church (Acts 2:47). We continue to give thanks and praise our God for all the golden opportunities that He gives us so that we may be able to continually proclaim His gospel. Brethren and friends we redeem the time for the days are evil for our life is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (Ephesians 5:16; James 4:14). Today if we hear His voice let us not harden our hearts and obey the gospel of Christ for the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Hebrews 4:7; Romans 1:16).

November 1: Santa Felicitas Gospel Meeting

Distance has never been a factor for the word of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is Him who commanded us to preach the gospel to all creature (Mark 16:15-16). Our beloved brethren invited us to be with them in their gospel meeting last November 1 and we were very happy to cater to their invitation for it is another golden opportunity to proclaim the gospel to many. The travel to Santa Felicitas is not that easy for we have to travel by car for about 1 and a half hour and after that we have to walk 1 kilometer of dusty road in order to arrive at a river to cross it with a small boat and again walk another 1 to 1 and a half kilometers to arrive at the place to meet our beloved brethren. The ride in the small boat was a very exciting and thrilling ride, I never really had the chance of studying how to swim, so if ever the boat decides to turn upside down maybe it will be my opportunity to learn how to swim (^_^). Brother Florendo Respicio preached first with his lesson about "Salvation" then your humble servant followed him with the lesson "Why Must We Obey the Gospel of Christ Today?", brother Geronimo Ganela spoke about "Know God Better" and then brother Rody Gumpad preached about "It is a Fearful Thing to Fall Into the Hands of the Living God". The meeting proved to be very encouraging and fruitful to all who attended wherein two souls decided to obey the gospel of Christ and were baptized into Christ this same day. We all parted ways thanking God for the golden opportunity, we have planted His words in the hearts of our brethren and visitors and for this reason we believed that God smiled at us for obeying His commands. The road to salvation is not at all easy, it has it shares of ups and downs, but if believe Him who promised us and does the will of our Father in heaven we know we will be able to enter heaven; let us then hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (Matthew 7:21; Hebrew 10:23). The writer of Ecclesiastes did wrote:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)