No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24. {OHC 79.1}
Many are on the enchanted ground of the enemy. Things of the least importance--foolish social parties, singing, jesting, joking-- engross their minds and they serve God with a divided heart. . . . The declaration of Christ, "No man can serve two masters," is unheeded. {OHC 79.2}
One of the most marked features of the earth's inhabitants in the days of Noah was their intense worldliness. They made eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, the supreme objects of life. It is not sinful, but the fulfillment of a duty, to eat and drink, if that which is lawful is not carried to excess. . . . God Himself instituted marriage when He gave Eve to Adam. All God's laws are marvelously adapted to meet the nature of man. The sin of the antediluvians was in perverting that which in itself was lawful. They corrupted God's gifts by using them to minister to their selfish desires. . . . {OHC 79.3}
Excessive love and devotion to that which in itself is lawful, proves the ruination of thousands upon thousands of souls. To matters of minor importance is often given the strength of intellect that should be wholly devoted to God. We need always to be guarded against carrying to excess that which, rightly used, is lawful. Many, many souls are lost by engaging in those things which, properly managed, are harmless, but which, perverted and misapplied, become sinful and demoralizing. {OHC 79.4}
If we are constantly thinking of and struggling for the things that pertain to this life, we cannot keep our thoughts fixed on the things of heaven. Satan is seeking to lead our minds away from God, and to center them on the fashions, the customs, and the demands of the world, which bring disease and death. . . . {OHC 79.5}
In this world we are to obtain a fitness for the higher world. God has left a trust with us, and He expects us to use all our faculties in helping and blessing our fellow men. He calls for our best affections, our highest powers. {OHC 79.6}
-Our High Calling
Ellen G. White
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
what we will be busy with in the coming days and months
In the coming months, we will be busy with church visitations to Malita, Davao del Sur and Tagum City. We have been visiting Malita once a month over several months and have installed workers there in the person of Bro. and Sis. Benhur Negre. In Tagum City is sprouting a revival for an extended family and a few of their friends. We have decided to visit them for two Sabbaths each month, holding a home division church service for them. The remaining Sabbaths of the month, they make the two-hour trip to worship with us at the Royal Valley Free SDA Church.
This month, we'll be holding our second year anniversary celebration at the Ray of Hope Village, the female division of the Davao City Jail where we hold Bible Study sessions with the inmates every other week. This particular field of ministry has been very special to us, especially for the women in the congregation who felt it their duty to reach out to their sisters and help them find a way to Jesus, our Saviour.
On April will be the annual Summer Camp Meeting. As a refreshing change, we will hold the meeting in the church Campsite up in the mountains instead of the usual school grounds of the Royal Valley Academy - a way of breaking away from the summer heat of the city during this holy convocation. Preparations are already underway at the church campsite. More on the upcoming camp meeting will be posted here in the coming days. Also on April, we will be strengthening our personal labor programs so each of the church members can be equipped to labor personally and efficiently with God.
On May, two years after we held our last Vacation Bible School, we are revitalizing our Children's Ministry and holding a one-week program for kids and teens in a community in suburban Talomo, Davao City. It will be a simple program but will be filled with wonderful Bible lessons and praise songs and fun activities for children. Best of all, the youth from church will be the ones teaching and leading out in the VBS - making it a fun learning experience for all. As this is sure to be a challenging activity, we ask you to join us in prayer for the success of this program and every other endeavor put forward for God's glory all the world over.
We'll keep you posted. God bless you. :)
You might also want to visit our Church Building Project page. The church has been working and praying hard for this project to be fully realized and every day God brings us closer and closer to the mark. With the help of friends and brethren, we have almost reached the goal amount we need to make the initial payment for the land on which to erect the church.
This month, we'll be holding our second year anniversary celebration at the Ray of Hope Village, the female division of the Davao City Jail where we hold Bible Study sessions with the inmates every other week. This particular field of ministry has been very special to us, especially for the women in the congregation who felt it their duty to reach out to their sisters and help them find a way to Jesus, our Saviour.
On April will be the annual Summer Camp Meeting. As a refreshing change, we will hold the meeting in the church Campsite up in the mountains instead of the usual school grounds of the Royal Valley Academy - a way of breaking away from the summer heat of the city during this holy convocation. Preparations are already underway at the church campsite. More on the upcoming camp meeting will be posted here in the coming days. Also on April, we will be strengthening our personal labor programs so each of the church members can be equipped to labor personally and efficiently with God.
On May, two years after we held our last Vacation Bible School, we are revitalizing our Children's Ministry and holding a one-week program for kids and teens in a community in suburban Talomo, Davao City. It will be a simple program but will be filled with wonderful Bible lessons and praise songs and fun activities for children. Best of all, the youth from church will be the ones teaching and leading out in the VBS - making it a fun learning experience for all. As this is sure to be a challenging activity, we ask you to join us in prayer for the success of this program and every other endeavor put forward for God's glory all the world over.
We'll keep you posted. God bless you. :)
You might also want to visit our Church Building Project page. The church has been working and praying hard for this project to be fully realized and every day God brings us closer and closer to the mark. With the help of friends and brethren, we have almost reached the goal amount we need to make the initial payment for the land on which to erect the church.
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