October 2, 2022 - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE HEART

By Amor Abad

Let Us Journey Together

A little over a decade ago, our church, which was then called FFAC, embarked on a 40-day journey of studying Pastor Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life. The big question that we had to answer on the first day was, “What On Earth Am I Here For?” In this book, we learned about Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Mission or Evangelism. And about three years later, in our Adult Sunday School, we studied Westminster Shorter Catechism. The first question to answer was, "What is the chief end of man?" We gave many different answers but ultimately, it boiled down to one and that is, “To glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever.” We all need to start with God for he created us for a purpose.

Last year, our church CEAC, also embarked on a 40-day journey of reading and studying Pastor Zach Zender's book, the Red Letter Challenge. This book guided us through the words of Jesus in the Bible into five main principles of “Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving and Going.” Many churches that joined in this challenge saw a growth in their membership as per survey. This month, for a period of another 40 consecutive days, we will study a new book of Pastor Zach, the BEING CHALLENGE. We know that this challenge is about our personal relationship with Christ Jesus which would result in whom we are and who we become when we spend time with him. According to Pastor Zach during a zoom meeting with our pastoral staff, we should devote our energies and time to study the lessons on this “Being Challenge” principle because all the others will follow through afterwards easily.

Our Bible studies coupled with these study books written by good pastors are all avenues for the development of our Christian life. They help us to grow in our faith and to know what we ought to do and why we must. Allow me therefore to encourage everyone to participate in this endeavor so that as one big family of God, we grow in our faith and do things together that Jesus modeled for us. This could be another transformation experience for many of us because this is the end result that we envision to achieve. But, again, it all depends on our commitment to follow him. So, join a group or find a partner in this journey. As a way of encouragement, let me quote what King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.” Brothers and sisters, I believe that this journey will lead us closer to Jesus and all for His glory.