See you at Talk 10 & 11 Tomorrow!

After Typhoon Pedring, we’re all set for the home stretch! See you tomorrow at Shell House!

Talk 10 is next

 

After after a powerful night of baptism last week, learn how to grow in our faith with the Holy Spirit.

See you at the SPORTSFIESTA!

Inviting all SFC Makati members and CLP participants. Flex your muscles for a day of FUN!

 

See you this Wednesday!

Shell CLP Recap : Talk 3 and 4

TALK 3 : What It Means to Be A Christian

The first person was considered a traitor because he worked for the government. He served the cruel and unjust government, rather than help the poor and abused people of his country. The laws that he put into action would make the lives of people even more miserable. The next person was just as sinful. He committed many unforgivable crimes against a great number of people. He had no guilt or conscience and he caused so much pain and suffering.

These two persons are not imaginary or fictional villains or kontrabidas in movies or telenovelas. They were actually real people that once walked the earth. They were two of the first followers of Christ. They had faults and shortcomings. They made mistakes that could not be easily forgiven or forgotten. In spite of this, they were considered Christians. They even became instruments in writing books of the Holy Bible.

It is a common misconception that Christians are perfect. However, even in the Holy Bible, we are told that Jesus had friends and disciples that led sinful lives. They were not called Christians because they were good, kind or blameless. They were called Christians because they turned their backs on their dark past to follow Jesus. An example of a Christian that has been renewed by the love of Christ is our speaker for Talk 3, Gaile Caraan.

As a long-time member of SFC, Gaile knows what it means to be a Christian. He is just as weak and vulnerable as any other person, but he is strengthened by the grace of God. This same strength has helped him resist temptation and embody the virtues of the Christian faith. He even shares that he has been practicing the tradition of Visita Iglesia, the custom of praying in at least 7 churches of Maundy Thursday, for more than 10 years. On the last Maundy Thursday, he even prayed in over 50 churches, without his own car. He took a tricycle or jeep, or walked to every single one.

Wendy Maningas, another member of SFC shared her experiences as a Christian. An obedient daughter, trustworthy sister, reliable friend and loving aunt, her faith in God was put to the test when her beloved nephew fell ill. The sickness drained their family’s physical, emotional and financial resources but instead of doubting, questioning or cursing God, they continued to trust in Him. They found comfort in His word, solace in His promises and refuge in His love. While God eventually took her nephew back into His arms in heaven, their faith still remained.

Christians do not have to be perfect, we only have to be repentant and ready to accept His overflowing grace. Once we have found new life in Christ, we will still have the same flaws and imperfections, surrounded by the same flawed and imperfect people in a flawed and imperfect world. We will still face trials, tibulations and temptations. We will still deal with despair, disappointment and depression. However, we are assured that we are saved and redeemed by the power of His healing love. We fall down because we are human, we rise again because He is God.

TALK 4 : Repentance and Faith

To repent is not just to ask for forgiveness, but to live a life worthy of forgiveness. After all, it is said in Acts 26:20, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Not only do we have to apologize, our actions must also reflect our change as a person. It goes without saying that repentance can be painful, even heart breaking. There are those that feel trapped in their lives of sin. Some are in unhealthy and unhappy relationships that do not bring them closer to God. Others engage in questionable activities that such as “idle gossip” that can hurt another person’s name and reputation. There are those that continue to hold on to harmful people, things and events that they should actually let go of.

Last August 18, former SFC unit head Rommel Briones facilitated talk 4 of the CLP entitled “Repentance and Faith”. He talked not just about the importance, but the difficulty of repenting and putting one’s faith in God. Repentance and faith did not come without a hefty price for sharer A.M. Sibayan, another member of the SFC community. For her, it was a result of prayers, patience and active service in the community. A.M. talked about her personal experiences as a single mom. She told the CLP participants about her “secret” relationship that became the topic of office gossip. She also told them about how her parents separation after more than 20 years of marriage. More importantly, she  talked about how the difficulty of repentance and faith bears great reward.

Talk 6 is Next!

See you guys tomorrow, 31 August 2011, for the 6th session of Shell Christian Life Program.

Talk 5 Happens Tomorrow!

We hope to see you guys tomorrow for our 5th installment of our Christian Life Program.

Shell CLP : Talk 1 and 2

Since we had to cancel the first talk to keep the facilitators and participants safe from the storm that hit
the country, Talk 1 and Talk 2, “God’s Love” and “Who is Jesus Christ?” of our “Fueled by Passion” CLP
was combined into a two-in-one talk last Wednesday, August 3, 2011. Here’s how the evening went,

Our registration team hard at work.

Some of the participants sharing a meal.

Laarni Madlangbayan, from Shell and part of the CLP team, Teaching everyone about the safety procedures at Shell House.

Carlo Cecilio, co-team leader for the CLP, welcoming the participants.

Nestle Jeturian, a long-time member of the SFC community, talked about the wonders of God’s love
and Jesus Christ. God’s love is present in the company of family and friends. It manifests itself in the
most important people, things and events in your life, down to the tiniest detail of your existence. It can
be found in the job that keeps the clothes on your back, the food on your table and the roof over your
head. Whatever your circumstance and situation, if you keep your heart open, God will make you feel
His redeeming love.

Juan “Dickoy” Magdaraog shares his inspiring story as he experiences the love of God in the face of
struggles and difficulties. Dickoy was diagnosed with Pompe disease, “a rare, and often fatal disorder
that disables the heart and muscles. The primary symptom is muscle weakness, progressing to
respiratory weakness and death from respiratory failure. There is no cure and no hope of remission.”
In spite of the challenges that he has to overcome, he feels the love of God because of the care and
concern of family, friends, and in some cases, complete strangers.

Participants sharing a laugh with Dickoy.

After Nestle and Dickoy’s talk. We broke the participants into smaller groups to discuss the topic.

Like Dickoy and the rest of us, Jesus Christ knows the sting of failure and the bitterness of defeat. If we
want to know who He is, we have to understand that He suffered betrayal, denial and abandonment at
the hands of the people that He loved and trusted the most. He endured emotional and physical torture
for sins that He did not commit. He was born, He lived and He died and in between, He went through
the same things that we also go through now. He was sad, lonely, miserable and heartbroken, too. The
only difference is that He was resurrected to ensure that the worries, troubles and pains that we go
through in this life will lead us to our eternal one.

Thank you again Dickoy, Nestle and Trina (wife of Nestle)!

Written by Therese Dehesa

We’re Having a New Christian Life Program at Shell House!

TALK 3: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN (March 19, 2010)

Many times, being a Christian daunts people because it brings with it many duties and obligations: reading the Bible, going to Mass, praying the Rosary. In this busy world where people barely have time to finish all the things they need to do, taking on other things to do does not seem all that practical.

In Talk 3, Nemboy turns the argument on its head. Being a Christian does not mean reading the Bible and doing all those onerous responsibilities. Being a Christian means loving Christ and doing those “other things” to get to know him, to be with him and to please him.  When a person loves someone, he wants to know everything about the object of his love. This is no different for the person in love with Christ who wants to know him well; the primary source is the Bible, hence, Christians read the Holy Book.  A helpful analogy would be visiting the Facebook site of someone we like: we are interested in seeing all the pictures, finding out what groups they are into, keeping track of  their status changes and shoutouts. In the same manner, all the other Christian “duties” are manifestations of this longing to be with the person we love. Prayer is hanging out with Christ. Praying the Rosary is getting to know his mother to get on his good side. Going to Mass is a real and sacramental “date” with him. Going to confession is apologizing to him because we want to keep the relationship honest and open. Obeying his commandments is doing things just because it will please him (it must be mentioned here that the commandments for Christians are binding to all people, because they relate to human nature per se and not to religious membership, but that is for another treatise).  Spending time  helping others is taking care of Christ’s family and friends.  All these are within the bounds of normal  behavior of someone who is into someone. We can do no less for Christ.

At one point of the talk, Nemboy gave the floor to Jonah and Ben John who shared with the audience what being a Christian  means for them.  Jonah gave up a high flying career in corporate New York to do Gawad Kalinga in Manila. Ben John turned away from a  self-involved existence to reach out to others and take care of them.