Patterned after our First Sunday of the month services in the past, we had our first "First Saturday" service this past weekend.  There were three who shared their story about their experiences with the Small Group Fellowship.

  

Riley Charles' testimony is that learning the Basic 10 in the small group setting when he was 11 years old  was a very important "turning point in my life." This is where he learned who God is. There were other small groups he was a member of, including the LOL (Living out Loud) group which helped make him who he is today.

  

Hanging out with his peers, forming friendships, and even learning to go after his dreams were some of the benefits he enumerated that resulted from his attendance in small groups.  It was Ned Espiritu's personal invitation for him to join that got him interested in the first place.

  

Laurice Orense shared that small groups are a lot of fun to be in.  She said she had attended Basic 10 several times over, but still got something different in addition to what she has leaned previously. Having been born and raised in the Catholic faith her mother had a difficult time accepting her being born again experience.  She also mentioned that at first it was difficult for her to share the things she has learned but that changed as she continued to attend small group fellowships. She said that the relationships she developed was important because even when she was away for a while she stayed connected, and when she came back it was as if she had never left.

  

Ruby Dijamco indicated that attendance in small groups help her to live an inspired life.  There is always something for everyone in the small group-- things to cry about, laugh about and share. It is also a means of taking a break from the "busy-ness" of life. Whether the sessions or meetings she attends are repeat sessions or not, she continues to learn something, and they help adjust attitudes and behaviors.  She encourages everyone to invite people to a small group because there is no stop to growing in God.

  

Pastor Hansel announced that he will soon start a small group for young adults ("twenty something"). This will begin on Monday evening, February 11, at the GL office.

  

He cited Acts 2:42-47 as way for believers to live in fellowship listening to teaching, devoting themselves to prayer and to the breaking of bread together, doing miracles and wonders, praising God and their numbers increasing because of those who were saved daily.

  

After the Communion Service the congregants gathered around Pastors John and Jessie, to pray for them, to bless them and to give them words from the Lord as they prepare to leave for the Philippines on Thursday this week. 

Wrestling With God

Ding Dijamco exchanging pleasantries with Pastor John after Saturday's service. Tessa and Annie are in the background.

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The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. - Genesis 32:31

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Jacob was a man who was a controller. He connived and manipulated his way to get what he wanted. It was a generational stronghold passed down through his mother, who encouraged her son to play a trick on his father, Isaac, by pretending to be Esau. This trick led Isaac to give the family blessing to Jacob, which meant Jacob would eventually inherit the land God had promised to Abraham's seed. Jacob also learned control from his uncle Laban who caused Jacob to work for 14 years to take Rachel as his lifelong mate. One must ask which was more ugly in God's sight, the self-centered nature and worldliness of Esau, or the control and manipulation of Jacob?

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Control is a problem for men and women. Many women use sex to control their husbands. Many men use power and force to control their wives. Control is at the core of that which is opposite the cross-self-rule. What delivers us from this fleshly nature of control? A crisis. Jacob's crisis came when he was faced with the prospect of meeting a brother who said he would kill him the next time he saw him. Esau had built his own clan and was about to meet Jacob and his clan in the middle of the desert. Jacob was fearful, so he retreated. There he met a messenger from God who wrestled with him. Jacob clung to God and refused to let go of this angel. It is the place where Jacob was given a painful but necessary spiritual heart transplant. From that point on, Jacob would walk with a limp, because God had to dislocate his hip in order to overcome Jacob's strong will.

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For workplace believers, God often has to "dislocate our hip" through failure and disappointment. Sometimes it is the only way He can get our attention. Our nature to control and manipulate is so strong that it takes a catastrophic event to wake us up. Yet God did not reject Jacob for these character traits. In fact, God blessed him greatly because He saw something in Jacob that pleased Him. He saw a humble and contrite heart beneath the cold and manipulative exterior of Jacob's life, and it was that trait that God needed to develop. He did this by bringing about the crisis in Jacob's life that led to total consecration.

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This event was marked by Jacob getting a new name, Israel. For the first time, Jacob had a nature change, not just a habit change. What will God have to do in our lives to gain our complete consecration to His will and purposes?

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"Beware of the Christian leader who does not walk with a limp."

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Bob Mumford (Used by permission.) 
 

(Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.)

 
Every person who comes to Gospel Life is encouraged to become part of a small group fellowship.  Or you may want to start a group of your own, either as a host or as a leader, or both. But that's all it takes to be in a small group: start one.  This could be a teaching group, a fellowship or support group, or a specific ministry group.  If you want to host one but need someone to lead out, let the staff know and we will work something out to get you started.

  

The Gospel Life offices are open to you for your group's use at any unconflicted evening or day of the week. Two or three groups can meet here at any one time. Do not hesitate to avail yourself of its use, just let us know.

  

Let's all pray and encourage each other to talk with and listen to the Lord, and to spend more time in intimate fellowship with Him. Small groups is a means of doing so. Let's ask even more people to join the Intercessor's Group when they meet on Wednesday evenings. Realize that current members of this group have great joy and a sense of purpose as they minister through intercessory prayer.  Let's all ask God to provide abundantly for the needs of each intercessor.

Oftentimes we tend to forget that our leaders need our prayers, too.   They are still human, made of flesh and bones, blood, sweat and tears. Let's intercede for each one of them, those that are here in the mainland and those who go abroad to teach, and the pastors and leaders that are abroad leading their congregations.

  

Let's ask God to guide their ministry and cause it to bear much fruit. Intercede for all who are in our congregation so that they will feel led to submit themselves fully to the Lord and to work in unity to accomplish the work He has set for them to do.

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