Word Circular 2016 - October

WORD CIRCULAR OCT-NOV 2016

closer

OCT NOV UNILAB Bayanihan Center Open Life Groups 09:00 - 10:20 Coffee Fellowship 10:15-10:30

am

am

Worship Service & Kids Church 10:30-12:00 Youth Service 10:30-12:00

pm

pm (every 2nd & 4th Sunday)

Community Site Churches WORDCOMM ORANBO 5:00-6:30 pm Kid’s Church 4:00-5:00 pm Rizal and Metro Manila Public School Teachers Association Inc., Center, Oranbo, Pasig City

WORDCOMM CAINTA 10:00-12:00 am Dahlia St., Greenland Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal

WORDCOMM OLONGAPO 5:00-7:00 pm 1395 Rizal Avenue Corner 14th St. West Tapinac, Olongapo City

Follow us on social media @wordcommchurch

@wordcommunity

@wordcommunitychurch

H

ow come most Christians don’t have that fire to serve?

That desperation or excitement that we’re supposed to have is often confined to isolated moments of elation, mostly when we're the ones being pampered and soaked like in conferences or live worship. But deep down, we can never silence the voice crying out, "There's gotta be more to this Christian life!"

Here then is our proposition: Genuine encounters with God. No more telling people what to do (or just less?), but more of bringing us CLOSER to God. Heck, that's what we'll name our series. According to Ptr. Woolim, "We'll have communion every week; people will be called down from their seats; we'll be establishing our identity as a SENT people, not just a saved people."

It's a lot like dating—we end up being more fulfilled when it's giveand-take.

Here's your part.

While we go about the usual programming, we can all get more out of our time with the preached Word via the SOAP method. It works like this: 1. SCRIPTURE : Take some time reading about the character/ passages/ in focus. For your convenience, we've pre-selected excerpts from the Message translation.

2. OBSERVATION : Highlight the section which struck you most.

3. APPLICATION : Write down your thoughts on how you can apply the observation so that it affects your life today.

4. PRAYER : Write a brief prayer based on what you just learned and ask the Lord to help you apply this truth in your life.

That's it. We hope you get your "first hand revelation[s] of God," as Paolo Halili puts it, the next five weeks! //KS

#antiportrait

editor's note 3

e h t t u o b a l l a w “He kne s w o n k e H . d i d I s thing “ ! t u o d n a e d i s n i me

OCTOBER 16: Pastor Dave

Samaritan Woman

4 INTIMACY

Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so.

We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure.

He’s the Savior of the world!”

JOHN 4:39-42 MSG

O B S E R V A T I O N : Highlight the verse that struck you

S CRIP TURE

AP P LICATION

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ P RAYER

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 5

Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook? "

OCTOBER 23: Pastor Gus

Zacchaeus

6 INTIMACY

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?” Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned.

He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

LUKE 19:5-8 MSG

O B S E R V A T I O N : Highlight the verse that struck you

S CRIP TURE

AP P LICATION

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r u o y o t e m o h o G “ m e h t l l e T . e l p o own pe your story“

OCTOBER 30: Pastor Woolim

Possessed Man

8 INTIMACY

Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs.

At first they were in awe—and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along, but he wouldn’t let him. Jesus said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story—what the Master did, how he had mercy on you.”

MARK 5:16-20 MSG

O B S E R V A T I O N : Highlight the verse that struck you

S CRIP TURE

AP P LICATION

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ P RAYER

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“That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever.“

NOVEMBER 6: Pastor Gus

Blind Man

10 I N T I M A C Y

The man replied, “This is amazing!

You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

JOHN 9:30-33 MSG

O B S E R V A T I O N : Highlight the verse that struck you

S CRIP TURE

AP P LICATION

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“Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem!“

NOVEMBER 13: Pastor Dave

Paul

12 I N T I M A C Y

Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious.

Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.” But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”

ACTS 9:13-16 MSG

O B S E R V A T I O N : Highlight the verse that struck you

S CRIP TURE

AP P LICATION

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ P RAYER

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 13

why LIFE GROUPS

matter

Every other Wednesday after work, I go home later than usual, sometimes around 12:00am.

It’s not because I spend the night out watching a movie or going on a date—I don’t need to be told how too early it is in the week for that—but it’s because I go to a Life Group.

During these days, I give up the idea of battling (read: being stuck in) rush hour traffic, after a long day at the office (to get the most sleep I can in the next 7 hours before I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to do it all over again).

Instead, I meet up with ten others in a conference room at a deserted office building somewhere in Makati. We meet to talk about God—over what’s usually a choice of pizza or burrito and four bags of chips for dessert.

14 C O M M U N I T Y

It’s simple, really.

We start with the usual catching up: “How has your week been so far?” before jumping into next chapter of our book, 'The Good and Beautiful God.' (Parents, you’d be glad to know that most of our time is spent deep in discussion on how God continually and masterfully moves in our lives.) Finally, we close with prayer before calling it a night.

WORDS & PHOTOS

Miguel Gebaña

INTRODUCING LIFE'S NEWEST TREASURE

Baby Elijah Galak de Oca

Personally, it’s a blessing to know that anyone who attends a Life Group can experience God with others even outside of the church. The whole point of going to church is so we can be the “church” to those around us, but anyone who’s ever tried it will tell you how incredibly difficult that actually is to do. Life Groups allow us to refocus—to realign with our objective—while growing in an intimate relationship with God. When it comes to the relationships we’ve developed with one another. Let me put it this way: It’s enough to bring three young men—who just met a few months ago were strangers to each other—together on an early holiday morning, no less; on a semiimpulsive road trip of nearly a hundred kilometers to visit our pastor and Life Group leader’s newborn baby and his wife. Now I’m no relationship expert, but to me, it takes a solid bond to pull off something like that.

Now, I’m no relationship expert, but to me, it takes a solid bond to pull that off.

My prayer for Life Groups is that we all grow in our faith together—to grow enough that we can influence and build relationships with others, just as we are able to do as a group.

Through it all, maybe a Life Group’s effectiveness isn’t supposed to be measured by the number of other people we invite (especially not by the amount of pizza and burritos we eat), but rather, by the amount of “Life Group” we bring to other people—our friendship, love, understanding, and encouragement to know God more.

It’s not easy, definitely. But I also think that is the very reason we meet. After all, as a church, it is our vision to bring Christ to the world, no matter how hard or how long it takes us.

C O M M U N I T Y 17

servant LEADER IN FOCUS

"Whatever we do in the ministry or in church, whether it be very difficult or menial, do it for God’s glory."* *the most important thing to remember when we serve others

FULL NAME

Dennis T. Gebaña FATHER OF

MISSION/MINISTRY

Miggy and Jade

WordComm Foundation Philippines

HUSBAND TO

Joanne

YEARS IN VOLUNTEER SERVICE

more than 10 years

KINDLY SHARE WITH US A BRIEF STORY OF HOW YOU GOT INTO THE MISSION FIELD / MINISTRY. WHAT MADE YOU CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING?

My very first mission field/ ministry was with the late Ptr. Freddie Reyes who was also my first life group leader back then. He invited our life group (a.k.a. small group) to minister to the patients of the Philippine Orthopedic Center in Quezon City. It was with this first experience where I decided that I wanted to be a part of a ministry that caters to people who are in need. To share God’s goodness to others no matter how brief the moment is, gives me the opportunity to honor God in my life.

WHAT DO YOU MOST LOVE ABOUT SERVANTHOOD? / WHAT COULD MAKE A SERVANT LEADER'S HEART MELT?

Servanthood is my best expression of being like Christ.

I can’t be holy or sinless because of the sinful nature that I have, but by being a servant, for me, is the closest attribute to emulate Jesus Christ. To see through His eyes, to know how He touches and feels others, to hear their needs, to speak through their

hearts, and to love like only He can love—that is what it means to be like Christ; what it means to be a servant for others.

It melts my heart seeing how big the mission field is and there are only a few who step out of their comfort zones to really reach out and experience the beauty of serving others. Let us be like Christ… and serve like Christ.

TELL US ABOUT THE MOST CHALLENGING / MOST MEMORABLE PART OF MINISTRY WORK THAT YOU HAVE FACED / ARE FACING.

I’ve been with the mission

ministry for quite some time.

I’ve done a lot of work, have been to so many places, and experienced the worst situations in the field. But I’m always willing to go through all these things over and over again when the need arises. The challenge right now is to go beyond what I usually do, and this time, to share God and His saving grace to people that I meet. I believe that I’m wired to do His works in the ministry, yet a simple or additional re-wiring will help me not just do the tasks needed but to share His grace and salvation to others.

i n f l u e n c e 19

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