This is the theme of our recently concluded Pastors and Wives Conference. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12Matthew 5:3-12
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. falsely: Gr. lying ¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.  

WP-Bible plugin)

Just about every time I pray for someone, for anyone, I pray that God may richly bless them… But what do I mean with that?

BLESSING. We like that word. Besides God is God of blessing. He does want to bless His people. Just about every time I pray for someone, for anyone, I pray that God may richly bless them. But what do I mean with that? Depending on what our understanding of blessing is, it can mean very different things. So in the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus gives us a whole other meaning to the word “blessing”. There are two basic measures of blessing. There are worldly measures, and there is a Godly measure. Jesus only has one measure. But the world has many. The Jews of Jesus’ time used worldly measures of their blessings. By the world’s measure, if you are rich, successful, happy and popular, that means you are blessed by God. By the same token, the world says that if you are poor, miserable, ugly and rejected, you have a disability, then you or someone in your family has done something to displease God.

Blessings, by worldly standards, are understood as circumstances. There are possessions, independence, fame, power. All those things are located in the realm of this world. Now don’t misunderstand, of course, God blesses us materially or financially too but that’s only a part of a greater blessing that cannot be measured by what we see nor touch. It’s within. It’s an attitude. This we see from the Beatitudes. Notice it’s a BE-attitude not a DO-attitude. It’s not a means to salvation but rather characteristics of those who have received salvation; those who are subjects of God’s kingdom, those who have submitted their lives to the King, Jesus!

The word “blessed” means “How satisfied, how fulfilled, how truly happy you are.” However, we must be careful not to reduce blessedness to merely being happy. To be “blessed” means to be approved or to find approval. In this case approved of God. And there can be no higher “blessing” than to have God’s approval, God’s favour, undeserved favour! The fundamental question is, who’s approval will you seek? Will you seek man’s approval, or God’s approval? And in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus describes the characteristics of one who has God’s approval. How? By trusting in Christ as one’s saviour and totally submitting to His lordship over our lives. That produces in us the characteristics of blessedness. Are you blessed?

Few days ago the Thai government put the nation under state of emergency due to the protesters briefly forcing their way into the parliament compound wherein Lawmakers fled and several senior government figures were airlifted by military helicopter to safety. You see, in a spiritual sense, being Christians in a hostile world we are always in a “state of emergency.” We cannot put our guard down for our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pet.5:8). Eph.5:15-16 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

"Be very careful"…

“Be very careful” - These are words which are very familiar to all of us. In fact, we use these words to exhort one another quite often. When our children leave the house, we often say, “Be careful.” If one is driving the car, we might say, “Be careful, drive safely.” What we are saying is “Watch out! Don’t do something foolish! Look out for the other guy! Watch your step!” You see the words “Be careful” comes from two Latin words which mean “Looking around” which literally means, “exactly, uprightly.” It’s to keep our eyes wide open, looking around, and discerning the times. The Christian’s walk is to be one that is given careful consideration. It is one that is to be the outgrowth of thought, of purpose, of deliberate and disciplined action. The opposite would be walking carelessly and without proper guidance and forethought.

I read of a news about the senseless injuries and deaths of men and women soldiers after the Persian Gulf War ended. It happened because these soldiers were lulled into a false sense of safety and security. Sometimes in the course of duty, and other times in the pursuit of souvenirs, soldiers carelessly went about in places where mines and booby traps had been placed by the enemy. And this carelessness led to injury and death for some. Now how would you walk when you know that there are booby traps and mines buried somewhere in the ground? You would walk very carefully not carelessly. Christians live in a fallen world, in a hostile and dangerous world. We dare not live our lives in a haphazard fashion. We must give careful thought to our attitudes and actions and decisions. This is what God’s Spirit calls for, nothing less.

Think! Be wise! Look out for detours that take us away from God - and keep your guard up!

With these words Paul is telling us to look down the road before we make our choices, to consider the consequences of our actions before we act. We all know how easy it is to become distracted. We also know what can happen when we are distracted. Think of driving a car. It’s dangerous when you’re driving and you allow yourself to be distracted by anything. Our walk with God should be one that is given great care. We need to watch what we are doing. We need to watch our steps, giving attention to circumstances and consequences, by guarding against everything improper and unbecoming for a Christian. Look first, consider the situation before you take a step! So Paul says, “Don’t be unthinking when you make those choices. Think! Be wise! Look out for detours that take us away from God – and keep your guard up!

 Vision:

To be an extension ministry of the church committed to equip and challenge our young people to be living examples of the Great Commandment and Great Commission.

Mission Statement:

• Devoting ourselves to Christ
• Connecting our lives with the truth
• Building up and Serving one another
• Reaching out in Love

Purpose:

DEVOTING…We desire to know Jesus in a deep, personal way. Because we believe all that the Bible says about God’s love for us, we want to love Him back by worshiping Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

CONNECTING…We desire to stay strong in this new relationship with Jesus by studying His Word verse by verse. The Bible is God’s love letter to us and it teaches us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

BUILDING…We desire to build unity among the youth. Jesus said that people would know you are my disciples by your love for one another. God not only wants us to connect with Him, but also with our peers. We do this by giving special time for fellowship at all our gatherings.

SERVING….We desire to follow the example of Jesus…He did not come to this earth to be served but to serve and to give His life for others. God has given each of us a special gift/talent to serve others with and we desire to develop these gifts among the youth for the glory of God.

REACHING… We desire to tell the world of God’s great love. Jesus told us to go out and share the Good News. We do this by encouraging the youth to reach out to their friends, teaching them how to share their faith and giving them opportunities to minister through outreaches and missions trips.

Leadership:

Youth Pastor: Jerry Camacho
Assistant Leaders: Glen & Abba Tantio

Leaders:
Marisa Camacho
Izzy Maxino
Karen Moleta
Aaron Yost

Areas of Ministry:

• The Core -
  This ministry is devoted to building up college students who desire to have a deeper relationship with God and to live a life centered on Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:111 Cor 3:11
  English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
  11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  
  
  WP-Bible plugin) Our Bibles studies are interactive as we focus on being doers of God’s word not just hearers. We meet at the Moleta’s Residence Wednesdays at 7pm.

CORE Casaroro Falls Outing

The CORE College Group

• Living Stones -
  This ministry is devoted to building up the next generation for Jesus. This is a fellowship night open to ALL high school and college students. We worship the Lord, learn from His Word and hang out with other youth from different schools. We have a full calendar of events that include, game nights, movie nights, prayer nights, birthday celebrations and a lot more! We meet at the CCD Fridays at 7pm.

Living Stones Friday NIght Fellowship

Living Stones Planning Committee

Living Stones Youth Group

Pastor Jerry teaching the Living Stones Friday Night Fellowship

• BATTLEzONE…
  A student led prayer meeting where students from ALL schools are invited to intercede in prayer for their campus, teachers, classmates and friends. We meet Monday nights 7-8pm at the Chapel next to CBA building.
• PRAY for the NATIONS - Student-led ministry of prayer for the unreached nations around the world. Each month we feature a different country or people group by sharing their situation and specific prayer needs. The goal is to build missions awareness among the youth and develop a heart for missions through intercessory prayer.
• MC2I (Men Committed to Integrity) - Men’s small group discipleship for college students. We meet weekly to study God’s Word and equip ourselves to be godly men committed to living a life of integrity. We meet Thursdays 11:00am at Miracle Mile.
• W.A.G.O.H.(Women After God’s Own Heart) - Ladies small group discipleship for college students. We meet weekly to study God’s Word, pray for one another, and pursue a heart after God’s own heart. We meet Saturdays 1:30pm at Café Antonio.

EMAIL: livingstones07@yahoo.com

Manila Outreach

Test Post

Youth Camp 2008

COME, FOLLOW ME

“Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:61 John 2:6
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.  

WP-Bible plugin

VISION:

Jesus came and walked on this earth leaving us a shining example of absolute obedience to God the Father. Our desire is that the youth would understand the crucial truth that those who profess to be His followers and to abide with Him must walk with Him, following His pattern and example. Jesus lived a victorious life on earth and promised that if we accept His invitation to follow Him in obedience, we too will live victoriously!

PRAISE:

After more than 7 years of opening our youth camps to other Calvary Chapel churches, the Lord impressed on our hearts that this year needed to be different. Our youth group was going through a rebuilding stage and we felt strongly that the Lord was moving us to focus on the young people in our own church. We were excited to have a smaller group that would allow for the opportunity to break down barriers and build unity among our youth. That was our hearts desire and the Lord granted us that and so much more.

We learned to follow the footsteps of Jesus through 6 powerful sessions entitled:

• The Invitation
• Carry Your Cross
• Press On
• Saved to Serve
• Forgiveness, and
• Called to Love

We also enjoyed an exciting two-day Sports Fest and Relay Obstacle Course, sweet worship, interactive workshops and Purity sessions, bonfire fellowships, and so much more.

On the last day of camp, we were blessed and moved by the heartfelt testimonies of the youth who stood up to praise God for what He had showed them and to encourage each other to keep following Jesus no matter what! Every camp is an awesome experience with Lord and the youth go home on fire and excited.

But, after a few weeks or months the ‘experience’ can be pushed into the past by problems, pressures, friends, etc. That is why our camps are planned out to be more than just an experience with God but to be a life-changing encounter that would be a turning point in their lives.

We praise the Lord for the awesome work He did through this camp and we give Him all the glory and honor!