Baliwag Bible Christian Church [sermons]

Mahalagang alam natin kung ano ba yung biblical gospel. So we must also be aware kung ano naman yung mga distorted versions nito.

Nagbigay si D. A. Carson ng five reasons kung bakit maraming mga Christians ang nagiging tulad din ng mga non-Christian in responding to sufferings.

Kahit nakakulong sa bahay ang mga Christians, lalo na yung mga pastors and preachers, dahil sa coronavirus, di pa rin mapipigilan ang advancement of the gospel. Nangyari 'to sa life of the early church because of persecution. At pati ngayon, mangyayari pa rin because of God's commitment to fulfill his purposes in the preaching of his Word. Ang tanong, ano naman ang part natin dun?

Ano ang promise ni Lord pag nag-pray tayo? “Call on me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you…” (Psa. 50:15 CSB). Ano ang ibig sabihin ng “rescue”? Ibig sabihin ba malalagpasan natin itong mga troubles na ‘to, o mawawala na, o kung magkasakit tayo gagaling tayo? Ganyan kasi ang promise according to those so-called prosperity gospel preachers. Pwede ngang pahintuin na ng Diyos itong paglaganap ng virus sa isang salita lang niya, pwedeng protected ka ni Lord at di ka magkakasakit. Pwedeng pag nagkasakit ka, pagagalingin ka niya. Pero hindi niya promise na ‘yan ang gagawin niya everytime na nagpray tayo. But he promised to rescue us in ways na higit pa dun sa sarili nating definition ng rescue. Full notes of this episode is available here - https://wp.me/po4gZ-68r.

Gaano man kahirap sa ngayon to make a stand about this issue on male headship and female submission, we must make sure na hindi tayo driven by our emotions, or influenced by secular culture, or mag-adjust to gain acceptance sa society. We must be driven and shaped by the Word of God.

Paano kung dumadaan ka sa “valley of the shadow of death” (Psa. 23:4 ESV), “darkest valley” (CSB) ng buhay mo, paano ka nga naman makakaawit tulad ni David? Paano kung nangingibabaw ang takot? Yung sense of loss dahil namatayan ka o naloko sa negosyo? Paano kung dumadaan ka sa financial difficulties o problema sa relasyong mag-asawa o sa pagrerebelde ng anak mo? Paano kung malalim ang struggle mo sa kasalanan ngayon?

According to Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19, ang congregational singing ay indispensable part ng pagiging Christian at mahalaga if we are to grow into maturity as a body of Christ. Multi-dimensional, vertical (we sing to God and God speaks to us) and horizontal (we sing to one another). And these truths have implications for how we sing every Sunday morning

Meron tayong singing problem, kasi meron tayong worship problem. At kung meron tayong worship problem, meron tayong heart problem. The whole Story of God is the story of God redeeming his people - to be a singing people for him.

We have to spend time to talk about congregational singing. We spend about 25-30 minutes of our worship service in singing. The rest is prayer, Scripture reading, and sermon. But we seldom take time to reflect why we sing and why it matters.

The gospel is “of first importance.” It is our church’s central message and primary motivation. Why do we need to have greater confidence in the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of what he has done on the cross? In light of contemporary trends that diminish the importance of gospel preaching, how are we to continue embracing the foolishness of the cross? What must change in how we preach and minister to our people? What should we expect from God if we will continue to be faithful in gospel ministry, even when we don’t see immediate and quantifiable results?