Currently Browsing: Grace Place
Dec 19th 06
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place, the Life!
Let me be a little controversial as I start: I believe that Jesus WAS NOT born on Dec. 25. Do your research, dudes. Jesus could have not been born on a winter. Commemoration of Jesus’ birthday on Dec. 25 came only later during the time of Emperor Constantine.
No, I’m not trying to start a “Do we have to celebrate Christmas or not?” debate. The reason why I mentioned that controversial fact is for us to shift our focus from what this season, most liberals calls only as the “holidays”, has clouded our minds of — gifts, shopping, parties, santa, reindeer, lights — to the real essence of the celebration.
What’s so special about Christmas?
Well, what’s so special about July 20, 1969? It is the day where man landed the moon. President Nixon, overjoyed with this breakthrough, proclaimed, “This day marks the most important event in the history of mankind”.
The great evangelist Billy Graham corrected him, “With all due respect, Mr. President, but the day man landed the moon isn’t the most important event in the history of mankind, it is when GOD landed on earth in the form of a man in the person of Jesus Christ”.
That’s why Christmas is special, folks. Christmas, whatever day it is that we want to celebrate, marks the day when the creator stepped into our lives in the form of a creature. It is a day when he decided to “come out of his comfort zone” because of his love towards mankind — that includes you and me. It is the day when Jesus started his journey that will eventually lead to him sacrificing his life and pay for the sins that you and I had been committed, is committing and will commit.
If you’re doubting if God can ever understand you when you’re afraid, when you’re tempted, when you’re discouraged, when you have the biggest problem on your shoulders, think again. Christmas made it possible for God to understand your deepest struggles in life because he himself became man and dwelt among us like a normal baby, a normal kid, a normal teenager, a normal worker (he was a carpenter). He had problems with his staff — one betrayed him and one denied him. He had problems with his family members including his brothers — at the beginning of his ministry, they won’t believe him. Jesus knows how you feel because he went through the same struggles that you and I am undergoing through. That’s because of Christmas.
(Incidentally, Grace Place will have a special Christmas celebration this Sunday with a very special message entitled, yes you got it, “What’s So Special About Christmas?” This blog post is NOT the summary :D So, if you’re near Makati area, I’d like to invite you to be my guest)
All the other stuff are good, those are fun and can’t-celebrate-without. But understanding the real essence of Christmas can make you enjoy the season even without those, even without gifts and the lights and the fancy activities. Because you know that God has already given you the most precious gift you can imagine, in fact the most precious possession in heaven — Jesus Christ. Make him the love of your life. Your Lord. Your Savior.
Dec 10th 06
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place, Too Personal
Just like the other Saturday nights, I’m wide awake at 1 am preparing the multimedia materials for tomorrow’s service at Grace Place. I should say though that I’m more excited than ever before. Here are the reasons why:
1. We’re kicking off our new series for our Christmas month entitled “God’s Gift For You This Christmas”. And to keep the Christmas wind felt even more intensely, we invited a choir to sing for us. Now, for the church that I grew up with, choirs singing on worship services are normal. But for a contemporary, praise and worship type of church that Grace Place is, you can only hear choirs singing once in a blue moon. And with the help of a very good friend of mine, a room mate back in the college days, we are able to invite his group to sing for us.
Aside from seeing the choir sing tomorrow, one thing that excites me, too, is the awaken memories. You see, back in college, being in a singing group — or a choir — was my life. I was part of 2 singing groups — Rhesonic Harmony and Evangel Chorale. During breaks, we travel and sing in churches. We’ve traveled as far as Baguio in the north and Iloilo in the south. That was fun. And hearing the harmonies of acapella voices tomorrow will sure tickle those memories again.
2. I’m going to use for the second time in the service my new MacBook. Oh, yeah! God has answered my prayers last week. I better post a separate one for this.
3. We’re expecting guests to flood tomorrow. With God’s grace, people will be blessed. Grace Place, keep on inviting your friends and see how God does his job of changing lives.
Nov 29th 06
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place
When you were a child and was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, who did say, “I want to be a janitor” or “I want to be a side walk vendor”. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against these wonderful people who does the things we don’t want to do. In fact, I believe that our society will be messed up big time without these people who are willing to do the menial jobs. But that’s not my point. When we were asked as a child what we want to be when we grow up, we said, “I want to be a doctor”, or “… a nurse”, or “a lawyer”. We dream big things, even something we thought as adults as unreachable!
Grace Place is three months old. And just like a child, I’d like to paint you a dream that God has planted in our hearts. For those of you who have been with Grace Place during the pre-launch stage, you know our vision. We memorized it by heart. But today, I’d like to zoom in to one particular vision — NUMBERS!
It is a dream that Grace Place will become a vehicle that God will use in reaching not hundreds but thousands of young urban professionals in Makati and nearby cities. Right now, we’re meeting at a function room in Tiara Oriental Hotel. But I’m guaranteeing you that in God’s time, when we reach 80 very soon, we will leave that place and move to a bigger auditorium, and move to another as we grow to thousands. We will have multiple weekend services. We can even extend to Saturday night services if Sunday won’t be enough — and will specifically target the night shifters like the call center agents. We can even have multiple locations if one location won’t fit.
We will have hundreds and even thousands of grace groups and growth groups meeting at offices, coffee shops, fast foods, and even the parks at Glorietta. We will have hundreds of people attending 4-times-a-year Grace Place Weekends committing their lives to Jesus and being baptized. We will have hundreds of people attending weekly Life Development classes.
This dream might be too big, or may even sound arrogant. But let me just tell you why this will happen.
1. We think big because our God is big – if you think God can’t do it, maybe we’re thinking of a small God. Eph. 3:20 says “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”. He can do better things that what our mind can think of. But that’s not according to our own efforts, but by “his power that is at work within us”. We will become a megachurch of a MegaGod!
2. We think big because numbers matter to God — don’t ever feel comfortable with the current size that we have right now. God cares about the church reaching for people. Every number represents a soul that God so dearly care for. And if the number of people matter to God, it matters to us. We want to see as many people as possible meet Jesus.
3. We think big because A LOT of people need God — I’m thinking of Christ’s Commission Fellowship, Victory Christian Fellowship, Greenhills Christian Fellowhsip and other megachurches in the city, God has truly blessed these churches and I’m glad they’re reaching a lot of people. But, statistics says, only less than 10% of people in Metro Manila are evangelicals. More people are still hurting, living a purposeless life and are needing of a savior in Jesus. We’re here to bring the percentage higher for God’s glory.
If you’re thinking that this is not going to happen, just look at what God has been doing so far. In 3 months, God doubled our number from 20 to 40. That’s 100% increase! We are able to launch at 80 and these people who never came back are all potential guests in the future. And most specially, with the kind of testimonies we’re hearing — the changed lives, the appreciations of people who has started attending Grace Place since our launch last September, you’ll know that God is at work here.
God is not finished here yet — expect to see more of His power in the coming days, and yes, next year! We have an exciting year to come! So, continue inviting your friends who will later invite theirs. Join us in distributing invitation cards. Do whatever it takes to reach one more soul for Jesus.
The best is yet to come, so Grace Place, THINK BIG!
Nov 21st 06
Posted by Arnold in Family, Grace Place
This week, I’m attending 2 both extreme concerts.
The first, which will be today, is a praise and worship concert to be lead by Hillong’s youth group United. I initially felt that this one’s not for me. Reuben Morgan? Yes. But can my 31-year old eardrum carry Joel Houston and Marty Sampson?
Oh well, my worship team at Grace Place will be there to support me. Most of the team will be there, plus Kuya Prudy and Joy and Gayle and Je and Kuya Enjel — all of whom are way past our teeny years. I’m not going to be alone. Mwahhaaa!
Then on Saturday, I’m going to have a date with my Dad. We’ll see Bee Gees — Robin, the last guy alive of the 3 Gibb brothers will be in Araneta. Some of you reading this must be laughing. Go on and laugh, but just remember, The Bee Gees was the rock stars in my dad’s days. And remember this day when your kids will laugh at you 20 years from now for watching and shouting “Whooo, Hallelu-halleluia!” at Bamboo’s comeback concert. Mwahhaaa! :D
Plug: Ituloy Angsulong
Nov 16th 06
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place
A woman sent this email to her pastor. “Dear Pastor, I always seem to get trapped by the reality of my life, that it has not turned out as happy or as good as I’d planned or hoped for. I’m not thankful for my marriage. My husband left me for a prettier woman years ago and I battle constant loneliness. When I see couples together it hurts. And I’m not thankful for my job. I feel stuck in a dead-end job and I feel unappreciated. And while I watch other people move forward financially, I feel that I’m getting further and further behind. Now I’ve developed a host of health problems that constantly nag at me and in my moments of self-pity it just doesn’t seem that life or God is fair. Now I know I should feel thankful but the truth is what I really feel is resentful. I look around at other people who have it better than I do and I wonder out loud why God didn’t make my life different. I know that a lot of my problems I created but some of the things were just beyond my control. And I feel like I got a raw deal and I don’t feel very grateful to God. Please help me.”
Can you, in one way or the other, relate with this woman? Are you feeling resentful of somethings that happened in the past or even on what’s happening in your life right now?
Now, I’m not going tell you what the Bible says about resentment in this post :D But this Sunday at Grace Place, we are continuing with the series “How To Deal With How You Feel”, this time, we’re dealing with the feeling of resentment.
If you are attending Grace Place, dudes, this Sunday is the best time to bring a friend. We’re sure they’ll appreciate this timely and personal message. If you’re a lurker in this blog and lives just near Makati area, I’d like to invite you to be my guest. Shoot me an email if you’re not sure of the location.
Have a blessed week, everyone.
