Podcast: Calming the Storm

For the sake of a about 2 people who visits my blog, I’m going to post Sunday messages at Grace Place starting today. I hope this will be a blessing to all.

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April 15, 2007
Miracles 1: Calming the storm
Prudy Verzo

[audio:http://graceplace1.podomatic.com/enclosure/2007-04-29T04_40_38-07_00.mp3]
When there is a storm in our lives, we pray for God to remove it. But He wants to “improve it”. This is how He fulfills His purpose and leads us to greater faith. Begin to understand why, when faced with a trial or a storm, we should be joyful instead of fearful. He is building perseverance and bringing us blessings we cannot even imagine.

(Please press play button below to listen)

Passion

Passion is not just about sex — awrite? — as our society has managed to minimize the meaning of the word to anything sexual. Passion is that fire inside you that pushes you do radical things. Passion makes you think, dream and pursue. Passion drives you crazy. Passion gives you sleepless nights thinking about how to fulfill that burning desire in your heart.

Some have passion for cars — ever saw a guy who eat, drink and sleep in his car? That’s an exaggeration, of course. Some have passion for music. They can’t sleep when hearing a new tune for a fresh song — they need to write it down, they need their guitar or keyboard right away otherwise, they’ll burn. Some have passion for technology. Oh man, I know a lot of people like this. They’ll kill for the newest cellphone model. They hunger for new technologies. They know the new trends — Wifi, broadband, Twitter, MacBook, iPod nano — name it, they are up to date.

I have a passion for people. I want to see people come to Jesus and experience the same kind of love, peace and purpose that I, together with a bunch of others who have started a relationship with him, have come to experience. The Philippines is no-doubt a Christian nation. Most people have heard about Jesus. But how many have really had a chance to really listen? I doubt if there’s plenty. Several reasons why: first of, they thought Jesus is boring. From childhood, they were thought that Jesus gets angry very easily, that Jesus can only be pleased by you if you do something good. As we grow up, Jesus is being presented in churches as an irrelevant God. A person who doesn’t care about our personal lives. The Bible becomes the most boring book — because it is being presented as a book about doctrines and not as a medicine that cares for our daily concerns. TV becomes more relevant than Jesus. Why? Because, at least, we can identify with that newest telenovela characters!

We believe that Jesus is not the boring kind that we thought he is. That’s why it is my passion to make Jesus relevant in the lives of people around. He still cares about the people’s personal lives, he cares about our decisions, he cares about our hurts. It just have to come across clear to us. That’s why when Kuya Prudy and I, together with a dozen of volunteers launched Grace Place last year, we want it to be a place of excitement and relevance. We want to have a place where you will be comfortable being yourself, a place where messages can be spoken in a language you can understand. A place where everything is relevant to your daily lives. A place where you can share your spiritual gifts and talents. A place where you can be proud of being part of it. A place where music rocks and multimedia is used. And most specially, a place where you can meet God, the real Him. Not that angry, on-looker from above but that God of compassion, love and grace. That Jesus that is so involved in your personal life, that guy who’s so passionately in-love with you to the point of dying for your sins. That God.

This is my passion. This is the desire of my heart. Pray for me, please, as I am praying that God would not allow the enemy to snatch this passion away. I am under attack. My family is under attack. I will never allow him to win over me, he has been defeated 2000 years ago! But I’m still in this unglorified state we call human body. I can fail, and I hate it if that happens.

You’ve got to know

It’s this season in the year we call ‘lent’ where we’ll have a time to reflect on life, God and how the two connects. This coming Sunday, March 25, 2007, at 10:30 am, I would like to invite you to a special one hour and a half worship celebration at Grace Place that simply talks about that.

What to expect when you come to Grace Place this weekend?

• a message that inspires
• live worship music filled with energy
• a relaxed, casual and friendly place
• GraceVille for the kids

We will be happy to have you as our guest this Sunday. Bring your family and your friends with you. If you can come earlier please do so. We can sip a cup of coffee together at our Grace Place cafe.

Email (arnold.gamboa at graceplace.ph) me for more information. See you this Sunday!

How God looks at you

Look at the mirror. Do you like what you see? What do people say about you, do they call you names? For most of us self-worth is dependent on our appearance, achievement, other people’s approval, affluence; all of which are, needless to say, superficial and temporary. If we’ll judge ourselves by these, we’ll end up frustrated because we won’t measure up to that standard, the society’s ideals.

The Bible tells us of a story about a man named Zacchaeus (Luke 19 ), who by people’s morals can be considered a midget, a thief, a social eye sore. But despite all of these Jesus chose to speak to Him, amidst the throngs of people, on a first name basis. That is because our reputation as an individual does not affect the way God looks at us. In His eyes we are a prince, created in His own likeness and purchased by His Son’s blood.

There are 3 fundamental truths on which we should base our self-worth:

No matter how insignificant you feel, Jesus notices you. In this world full of important and famous people there may be times when you feel irrelevant. But just so you know, you are not an accident. The thought of creating you excites Him long before you were conceived by your parents. God planned the day you were born and how long you would live; He sculpted your face and the distinctiveness of your personality. Each one of us was created for a purpose and our own place under the sun. We are God’s masterpiece and he loves us so. He definitely takes notice.

No matter what others say about you, Jesus affirms you. People may have something to say about you, but who cares about bad rep, the Lord looks pass on who you are right now, rather He is thrilled on who you will become in the future. The bible says, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” Ps.27:10

No matter what you’ve done, Jesus wants you. You may have done something wrong in the past, countless times, but the bottom line is God still loves you. He never stop running after you. The proof of the matter is Jesus, who came not to condemn, but to bridge the gap between us and the Father. All of us is far from Mr. or Ms. Perfect but God doesn’t care. For Him our value does not depend on what we’ve done, but on what Jesus did for us. All He wants is a relationship with us.

Understanding this truth will free us from the lies of this world and from a rat race existence, this truth shall transform our lives. That is if you open your heart and see for yourself how Jesus looks at you. You are that person who’s picture is in His wallet, He thinks of you day and night. For Him you are one priceless jewel, and why wouldn’t you, your soul cost Him His Son.

The next time a wave of insignificance drives pass you, think about this:

I am not what other people say I am.
I am not what I think I am.
I am who God says I am.

(a cross-post from a lady who’s a better writer that I am. This one’s great, hon.)

Exciting 2007 for Grace Place

Grace Placers, are you ready for something great this year? Grace Place will ROCK this 2007. It’s going to an exciting year!

1. We’re going to start off with a new series next week entitled “Changing from Inside Out“. This 4 week series will give us insights on how to break the rut, how to change for the better and allow God to empower us to change from whatever habits, bad character or hang up that we long want to get away with.

2. Then on February, we’re going to launch a huge campaign we call “Thank God, it’s Monday“. It’s a series targeting the young urban professionals, specifically employees of Makati. It will talk about the workplace and how to enjoy their job. We’re going to talk with companies to allow us to invite their employees personally. We’re going to distribute flyers on Makati Business District and MRT stations. We’re going to have new small groups in offices that talks about these topics. This is going to be huge and we’ll be needing your help to make this campaign successful.

3. And after that, during the Lenten season, we’re going to have a 2 week series that will empower you to share Jesus to your friends and relatives. This is a passionate series about the sufferings of Jesus and what it meant to each one of us. There will be multimedia presentations and its going to be special.

That’s just for the first quarter. There’s a whole lot more for the rest of the year.

4. And lastly, we’re going to launch a ministry we call Gimik Groups. It’s not the same as our typical Grace Groups or Growth Groups. Gimik Groups will just be a venue for our friends to know the people at Grace Place. They need to know that we are fun to be with and not a bunch of religious fanatics (as most people think about *church*). At Gimik Groups, everyone of us can arrange a group that can watch a movie together, play basketball or bowling or Timezone. No *religious* stuff, just pure evangelistic fun.

Ride in this exciting train! 2007, here we come! Yeah!