Happy Birthday P. Mau

We gave our beloved Pastor Maurice Adam Rivera (or P. Mau if he insist) a simple birthday surprise as he is celebrating his 27th birthday today. Praise God for another year!

We wish you well and may the Lord God bless you as you have always been a blessing to all of us in CONNECT.

13 Call Center People gathered today, with 4 Pastors; P. Mau, P. Jon, P. Euge and P. Art, and also with Teacher Carol Felipe joining in for the first time (seating in, as she'll speak to us next week).

God bless us all this week.

The Primary Contents of a Healthy Prayer

A second time-speaker P. Jon Las shared to Connect what prayers should content of.



The passage was taken from Psalm 8 - A psalm of David

"O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

The quality of this psalm has been observed by many- it's all about the praise and glory of God. For our purpose we shall consider it as a hymn of praise and, more particularly, a hymn of creation praise. The Lord is the object of praise (vv 1, 9). therefore the praise is not an expression of joy in creation apart from the Creator but looks at God as the good Creator, Ruler, and Sustainer of the world.

I. When We Pray we must ASCRIBE PRAISE to God (8:1a)

The name "our Lord addresses God as king (cf. 97:5)
The title LORD is important to the Hebrews and to Christians because it denotes a relationship (Ex 6:2-3, Ps 23)
the Redeemer-King of Israel is the Creator! His "name" ("LORD") is glorious over all the earth by virtue of his creative activities (Gen 1:1-31)
The word "majestic" is royal attribute denoting:
a. His victories (Ex 15:6), The idea of "King of kings"... Illustration, Troy (Agamemnon)
b. His might in judgement (1 Sa 4:8,Ps 76:4)
c. His law (Isa 42:21), and
d. His rule over creation (Ps 8:1, 9; 93:4)
All creation reveals the power and glory of God's name (Rom 1:20, Psalm 19)

II. When We Pray we ACKNOWLEDGE God's GLORY (8:1b-2)

Regardless of how the wicked assert themselves, they cannot outdo the evidence of God's glory on earth and in heaven.
a. God wants us to glorify Him.
- No matter what we're going through.
- In spite of our physical or emotional condition
b. God has ordained praise to prevail.
- People who know and have experienced God will never be silenced
- Even though the world will is of scandal, problems and bad news
- At the end of time, His praise will prevail.

III. When We Pray we must SEEK to UNDERSTAND His mind and will (8:3-4)

The verbs "mindful" and "care for" convey the care of God, who remembers positively by acting on behalf of the human race. Instead of "visiting" persons with judgement, as their sins deserve, God's goodness extends to all creatures in his care (Mt 5:45).
a. God wants us to enjoy all the good things in store for us (Ps 84:11, Ps 85:12, Ps 103:1-4)
b. God's attention is on us (Jn 3:16)
c. God wants to reveal Himself

IV. When We Pray we must RECOGNIZE who we are (8:5-8)

a. We are CARED for God Himself (v. 4)
b. We are CROWNED with God's glory and honor (v. 5)
c. We are GRANTED authority over all things (v. 6-8)

V. Our days must begin with praise, end in praise, and filled with praise in between (8:9)

APPLICATION:
1. Our lives (spirit, soul and body) must be filled with His praise.
2. God's glory is central to who we are as His creatures.
3. We must embrace our destiny as God's special and loved people of authority.

New Series for November

THE POWER OF PRAYER will be the theme of the month. To start November, a privilege to have again Mrs. Len Sabio as speaker for the morning fellowship. She shared a brief testimony on how God has been faithful to her and to her family and how their prayers were answered. She did something different today, she asked the group to be divided into five and have a small group discussions with facilitators assigned.

The passage was taken from Nehemiah 1:1-11

Nehemiah's Prayer

"The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:
"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
"Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'
"They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."

Here are the small group discussion questions:

1. Compare your response when you hear a news about "home" with Nehemiah's response to what he learned from Hamani.

2. What characteristics of God did Nehemiah mention in his prayer?

3. What character of Nehemiah can you glimpse from his prayer?

4. Verse 8 says "Remember..." what does it say about God? Does He forget that Nehemiah needs to remind?

5. What does Nehemiah say about Israel?

6. What was Nehemiah's request?

7. If you were to rate Nehemiah's prayer, what percent is his request?

8. Compare your prayers with that of Nehemiah? Do you think there are areas you need to work on?

After the group discussion, one representative from each group came in front to explain what was discussed. Something new indeed for CONNECT!


Let us WELCOME our first time guests, Jena from ICT Group-Ortigas, Sir Jay from Teleperformance-Tektite and Claire from iSourcing-Libis. And KUDOS to Marc, Venus and Ruben, our early bird of the day! Hope to see you all next week as we enjoy our time together in devotion and fellowship.

Biblical Principles of Stewardship

For the final message on Stewardship, Mr. Barry Marshall, Operations Director for Card Services of JP Morgan Chase Bank N. A., Manila Site and Elder of Union Church of Manila, shared to the people of Connect the BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES OF STEWARDSHIP.

"Steward" defined -one who manages a property; finances, or other affairs.

5 Biblical Principles of Stewardship

1. Everything belongs to God
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

-stewardship is a lifestyle, "He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'

"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." Luke 20:9-15

2. Time belongs to God
-breeds a dangerous self-importance if we allow ourselves to be mastered by time.
-we should ask ourselves, "what is telling me to do with my time?"
-time is a gift, a special gift that once lost we can never get back.

3. Our "call" belongs to God
-anything you do between Sundays.
-statistics showed that:
122 of 132 public appearance of Jesus were in the marketplace
45 out of 52 parables Jesus told had a workplace context
39 out of 40 miracles in Acts were in the marketplace
Jesus worked as a carpenter for 3 years
Jesus called 12 workplace individuals to build His church

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."1 Corinthians 10:31

-The workplace is where Christians have the greatest opportunity to fulfil the Great Commission.
-Be different... Be Godly in the workplace.

4. Our possession belongs to God
a. What I have belong to Him
"The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty." Haggai 2:8

"I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." Psalm 50:9-10

b. What I got came from Him
"But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." Deuteronomy 8:18

"For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

c. We are stewards not owner of God's resources
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" Matthew 25:21

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." 1 Corinthians 4:2

5. Money belongs to God
"A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." Leviticus 27:30

-on first fruits
"We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the LORD each year the first fruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.

As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there." Nehemiah 10:34-36

-a tenth
"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year." Deuteronomy 14:22

"Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Matthew 22:19-21

-giving back to God regularly, sacrificially and with priority

PRACTICAL THINGS TO DO:
Pray - ask God to challenge you
Assess - how much can you give?
Give - with sacrifice and regularity

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." James 1:19-25