• We will be celebrating MISSIONS MONTH this November. Please come and join us for our MISSIONS NIGHT on Nov. 7 at 6:30 pm here at CCD!  This is a LOVEFEAST (potluck) affair.

• We will have a 2nd COUNSELORS TRAINING this  Saturday, Nov. 6 at 9:00 am here at CCD.  So please mark your calendar and don’t miss this one.

• H4U USHERING TEAM ORIENTATION on Nov. 13, Saturday, at 9 am till 11:30l 11:30
  English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
  30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.  
  
  WP-Bible plugin am here at CCD. We still need more ushers for our 25th Anniversary Celebration and H4U Concert. Sign up sheets are at the back.

• Continue to pray for our 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION and H4U DUMAGUETE CONCERT on Nov. 28 at the Lamberto Macias Sports Complex.

I know it sounds like those zombie movies that attack a town or a city due to some kind of infection that went out of control. Well, it’s not. It’s the eve of Halloween and most of the world, strangely but excitedly look forward to this evening for some costume and “trick or treat” party. It’s a night when ghosts and goblins, vampires and monsters are celebrated – even TV shows are full of horror movies!

How did all this begin in the first place? Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the Celts, inhabitants of Britain and Ireland, observed a festival on October 31st. The Celts and their priests, the Druids, celebrated Samhain, a festival that marked the eve of the Celtic New Year, which began on November 1. The fall harvest was complete and winter came into view. The Celts believed the power of the sun was fading. For the next several months, they thought, darkness would prevail.

It’s a night when ghosts and goblins, vampires and monsters are celebrated...

The Celts believed that during Samhain the living and the dead were as close together as they would ever be. They believed that on the night of October 31, evil spirits and the souls of the dead would pass through the barrier and enter into the world of the living and that when this happened, deceased family members would be able to revisit their earthly homes. The thought was frightening, but exciting. The Celts also believed that these spirits and dead souls could torment the living. These souls might destroy crops, kill farm animals, or even steal babies. But this was also an opportunity to commune with the spirits and find out what the future would hold. The Devil, the lord of darkness, was ordinarily feared, but during Samhain, his power would be called on to foretell the future.

In the 700’s AD, the Church decided to combat this festival by replacing it with a celebration of the Lord of life. Instead of honoring evil spirits and the souls of the dead, the Church chose to recognize the saints, or hallowed ones, who had lived godly lives. The Church seemed to be saying, “All right, if you must have a day to celebrate the dead, then celebrate those who died and are now with the Lord.”  So November 1st was then called All Saints’ Day, also called All Hallow’s Day. The evening before was called All Hallow’s Evening. From that we get the modern name of Halloween. But pagan customs continued. And with the growth of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, additional symbols became associated with Halloween: black cats, witches, bats, skulls, etc. Hence, we have Halloween.

Christians are in the light and obviously we’re to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them..."

So, very clearly, it’s a pagan holiday that honors those who are on the side of darkness. Christians are in the light and obviously we’re to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph.5:11).”  “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” (Eph.5:8-10)

• ATTN ELDERS & MINISTRY LEADERS MEETING tomorrow, Oct. 25  at 7:00 pm here at CCD.

• The BEREAN GETTING DEEPER class resumes this Tuesday, Oct. 26.

• MISSIONS FELLOWSHIP this Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 pm here at CCD.

• Next month our church will be celebrating MISSIONS MONTH. Please come and join us for our MISSIONS NIGHT on Nov. 7 at 6:30 pm here at CCD!

• We will have a 2nd COUNSELORS TRAINING on Nov. 6, (Saturday) at 9:00 am here at CCD.  So please mark your calendar and don’t miss this one.

• H4U USHERING TEAM ORIENTATION on Nov. 13, Saturday, at 9 am till 11:30l 11:30
  English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
  30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.  
  
  WP-Bible plugin am here at CCD. We still need more ushers for our 25th Anniversary Celebration and H4U Concert. Sign up sheets are at the back.

• Continue to pray for our 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION and H4U DUMAGUETE CONCERT on Nov. 28 at the Lamberto Macias Sports Complex.

This was the theme of the recently concluded Calvary Chapel Workers and Pastors Regional Conference held in Cebu. It was a very refreshing, instructive, challenging and encouraging two and a half days indeed. I could say the best so far… and very timely too, as so many are falling away and are tempted to quit the race. Are you among them? Are you in a situation that seems so hopeless you want to give up? Are you one serving the Lord for years and have become weary of life’s battles you want to hang your sword and lay down your shield?

He does not and will not quit on you! So why quit on yourself?

Read this: “Being confident of this, that He who has began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil.1:6).” That’s good news! He does not and will not quit on you! So why quit on yourself? Precious people, God had a purpose in view when He began His saving work in us, and that purpose will neither be abandoned nor unrealized. In other words, you can count upon God to consummate whatever He intends for you. He is going to see it through. I don’t know what your circumstances are, but if you are a child of God, I am sure you can testify that God has brought you up to the present moment, hasn’t He?  Can’t you look back over your life and see how He has led you and provided for you…especially when you thought there’s no way out? Then why should you be concerned about tomorrow? Do you think He is going to let you down now? I don’t think so.

Notice three truths here: 1) Jesus is the one who started a work in us. Heb.12:2 –‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.’ This is where Paul and where we can base our confidence that the work in us will be finished – on the character of God himself. God never starts a work and leaves it unfinished! That would be a contradiction of His character. Thank God that my hope in Christ does not rest upon my will power. It rests upon the fact that God would never have started the work in me if he had not decided to finish it. The character of God guarantees the completion of the work.

2^nd, notice the kind of work He started in us – It’s a GOOD WORK! Not a bad work. God never does something bad. If there’s bad in the world today, it’s because of sin in the world. But even the seemingly bad situations we face that God allows are designed for our good – for God does something good out of bad circumstances.

How many times, when we pray for God to change something, do we later discover that we are the ones He wanted to change all along?

The 3^rd point: Notice where the work is done: IN YOU. The work is within. Change takes place from the inside out. How many times, when we pray for God to change something, do we later discover that we are the ones He wanted to change all along? You see, He’s more interested with our character than our circumstances!

So beloved, Jesus is faithful through and through and He’s faithfulness enables us to be faithful unto the end!

• ATTN ELDERS & MINISTRY LEADERS: We will move the Elders & Ministry Leaders Meeting on Oct. 25 instead of Oct. 18. It will still be at 7:00 pm here at CCD.

• Continue to pray for our 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION and H4U DUMAGUETE CONCERT on Nov. 28 at the Lamberto Macias Sports Complex.

• For those who missed the Counselors Training held last Oct. 9, we will have a 2^nd Counselors’ Training on Nov. 6, (Saturday) at 9:00 am here at CCD.  So please mark your calendar and don’t miss this one.

It captured the world’s attention. The world heard. The world watched. The world waited…and waited. And the world celebrated!  I’m referring to the 33 miners rescued after being trapped underground for 69 harrowing days. My hats off to the rescuers but it’s by God’s mercy and grace that they have been freed.

Have you been in a pit? I have not been in a pit, or trapped inside it, and I wonder what it must be like buried down there. It must be horrible. Now you may not be in a literal pit but you may be in a situation like you’re in a pit. David felt that way. He wrote in Psalm 40:1-2Psalm 40:1-2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
40 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. ¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. I waited...: Heb. In waiting I waited ² He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. an...: Heb. a pit of noise  

WP-Bible plugin – “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

Anything that causes a sense of helplessness and desperation and threatens to ruin life or take it away - that is the pit.

Are you today in a pit of despair, disappointment and discouragement?  Anything that causes a sense of helplessness and desperation and threatens to ruin life or take it away – that is the pit.  You scratch and claw to try to get out and get some air and relief, but you keep falling back into the pit and there seems to be no hope of improvement.  That is what being in a pit feels like. A sense of desperation and futility settles in.  David felt like that. But what did he do in the pit? David cried out to God for help! Regardless of how HOPELESS David’s situation seemed, he knew what SOURCE to turn to find COMFORT and MERCY!

Now David not only cried out to the Lord but he waited patiently for the Lord to deliver him (vs.1). Having cried out to God for help, we then need to wait. And wait patiently. I know it’s not easy. We rather have things instantly, we rather be helped now. The flesh does not like to wait. It is so impatient. And the funny thing is that most of us when we call out to God for help don’t wait long enough for God to act. After a short while, we start to do things on our own again instead of continuing to ask God and wait for Him to act.

Waiting patiently for the Lord means to actively seek Him. It means continuous praying to God for help.

Now, waiting patiently for the Lord does NOT mean just saying, “OK, Lord, I’m just going to sit here and wait for something to happen.” No. Waiting patiently for the Lord means to actively seek Him. It means continuous praying to God for help. It means continual obedience to God even as we wait for Him to solve our problems. It means considering and reflecting on God’s Word. It means to focus all of our energy on Him. It is not neglecting God and denying the problem, but it is actively waiting and hoping in God.

And how long will it take for God to answer our prayers? We don’t know for sure. We don’t know how long it will take for our situation to be changed, but our responsibility and our comfort is to wait patiently for God to act. And ultimately as we wait, hoping for our situation to change, it is our heart that is being changed! And that is what God is most after…our heart.

You could hear it coming. My wife Lolit went to our room’s window wondering what she was hearing. I heard it too. It sounded like an old air-condition engine, according to her. Coming from afar slowly approaching, my wife standing in front of the window, feels the coolness of the air, until it fell…and it fell hard! The rain came down hard! Yes, at the time of this writing it was raining. And I heard from the news that some parts of our country are experiencing a storm.

“Storms have a way of revealing what is real and lasting…”

I remember watching many great storms that hit Metro Manila. I watched those storms peel shingles from roofs and send them flying through the air like feathers, I thought, storms have a way of revealing what is real and lasting. In times of our deepest crisis, we gain wisdom that enables us to discover who we really are, of what we are truly made, and what life is seriously about. I’ve seen storms uproot trees and wondered how deeply rooted am I in the Lord. It is not the storm without, but the enemy within that poses our greatest threat.

There’s a story of a ship that was caught in a storm. The frightened crew hears a terrible crashing sound below. Immediately the men know what it is: a cannon has broken loose and is crashing into the ship’s side with every smashing blow of the sea! Two men, at the risk of their lives, manage to fasten it down again, for they know that the unfastened cannon is more dangerous than the raging storm.

“How does one weather the storms of life?”

Many people are like that ship—their greatest danger areas lie within their own lives. How does one weather the storms of life? An old seaman said, “In fierce storms we can do but one thing. There is only one way to survive; we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there.”

Beloved, this is what we must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you. Reason cannot help you. Past experiences give you no light. Only a single course is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep it there. You must stay upon the Lord, fix your eyes on Him and, come what may— winds, waves, seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers—no matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm and hold fast your confidence in God’s faithfulness and His everlasting love in Christ Jesus!

“Fix your eyes on Him… come what may… no matter what… hold fast your confidence in God’s faithfulness and His everlasting love in Christ Jesus!”

“Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…..No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us…nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.8:35-39)!” That’s the best position you can be most secure – in His love! The rain may fall down hard but His love is your everlasting shelter from the storm.

Heart trouble is the most common thing in the world. In fact one of the contributors to a physical heart disease is a heart trouble – spiritually and emotionally! No rank, or class, or condition is exempt from it. No bars, or bolts or locks can keep it out. Partly from inward causes and partly from outward – partly from the body and partly from the mind – partly from what we love and partly from what we fear, the journey of life is full of trouble! Even the best of Christians have many bitter cups to drink between grace and glory. Even the holiest of saints find the world a place of fears.

...heart trouble – spiritually and emotionally: no rank, or class, or condition is exempt from it. No bars, or bolts or locks can keep it out.

Jesus had already said He’s going away and they thought that Jesus is going somewhere else – to a different location. The disciples didn’t know that He’s going back to the Father, after He resurrects from the dead. So their hearts were troubled (see John 14:1-3John 14:1-3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 ¹ Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  

WP-Bible plugin). They could bear to die with Him, they could not bear to live or die without Him. Jesus knew what was going on in their minds and hearts. He knew how disturbed and upset they were, and knew what was causing it. He knew the remedy for it, as well. Perhaps there are many among us here who are suffering from the same affliction as these disciples – troubled hearts, fearful hearts, upset, disturbed, agitated hearts because of what was going on. Our Lord knew that these men were afraid – afraid of what was coming. And even as believers we go through times when our hearts were trembling; and our hearts do have fear – and we are concerned about the future, we’re concerned about our circumstances, we’re worried about different things that are in our lives. And here Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”

…even as believers we go through times when our hearts were trembling; and our hearts do have fear – and we are concerned about the future…

Trusting in God is the cure for troubled hearts! Not fretting, murmuring, nor grumbling, but trust in God! So the cure for heart trouble is trusting God! What we believe determines how we respond when our hearts are troubled. Why, “Trust in God?” Well, trust in God who is in control, who knows what He is doing, who is capable of exercising infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite love. Trust the One who is too kind to do anything cruel, too wise to make a mistake, too deep to explain Himself. And Jesus said, “trust also in Me,” Jesus who is the means by which all that wisdom and resource and power of God is made available to us! That is the secret.  When we’re in trouble get hold of His promises, His truths revealed in His Word and entrust everything to Him. Let go! But you say, “It’s easier said than done!” That’s true but what’s the alternative? What’s the other option? Is there any other solution you know? When Jesus says, “Trust in God” He’s giving us the only solution to troubled hearts! You can choose to believe it or not!

Let go! When Jesus says, “Trust in God” He’s giving us the only solution to troubled hearts! You can choose to believe it or not!

So hush dear troubled heart…trust Him today, tomorrow and the rest of your life, for He knows what’s best for you and let Him work things out according to His glorious purpose and plan.