Mario Rubio

March 7, 1965-August 16, 2010

The Memorial Service will be held at

Oasis RV Resort

2711 W. Windmill Lane

Las Vegas, NV 89178

on

August 18, 2010

6:00 PM

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.“

- Jesus, John 11:25-26

Oasis Church

______________________

www.SaintsInSinCity.org

Not perfect. Just Thriving.

Mario Rubio, Oasis Church guitarist/vocalist and Papuri singer/songwriter (“Kay Sayang Tunay”) suffered a stroke last Monday, August 9 and was taken by an ambulance to Spring Valley Hospital. The stroke was so damaging that the physicians gave up on him. But because he was not brain dead, the Oasis Church family and Mario’s loved ones prayed for a miracle while recognizing God’s sovereign will. Four days later, Friday, he was pronounced brain dead. Mario was 45 years of age. He is survived by his wife Susan, and his three boys: Paolo, Yoel, and Daniel. As a tribute to Mario, we are going to have a special service for him at Oasis this Sunday, August 15, 10:00 AM. Please join us.

]]> http://www.saintsinsincity.org/?feed=rss2&p=3159 0 http://www.saintsinsincity.org/?p=3147 http://www.saintsinsincity.org/?p=3147#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:33:08 +0000 Ed http://www.saintsinsincity.org/?p=3147

We’re All In The Same Boat

…That’s the bad news. What’s the good news?

by Ed Fernandez

Luke 8:22-25 (New International Version)

Jesus Calms the Storm

²²One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. ²³As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
²⁴The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ²⁵“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Click picture below to watch the scene in The Jesus Film. (You may begin at 46:00 in English version).

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I’ve seen The Jesus Film many times and the one you’ve just seen is one of my favorite scenes. This scene is a complete story in itself. It can stand alone as a short film. It has a beginning, middle—an action-packed middle!—and an end.

The story begins with Jesus saying to his disciples, “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.” The Christian life is like a journey. As we put our faith in Jesus and begin to follow him, we embark on a new journey in life. To get to a destination we may have to go through some rough ride across some “stormy lake.” The question is, Can we successfully “go to the other side”? Can we accomplish our mission? Can we succeed?

“Let’s go!”

Let’s go! I like how that sounds. I like the excitement of a journey, especially one that includes travel across a body of water. I was born and raised in a small town in southern Philippines and one of the places I wanted to visit was the biggest city in the country: Manila. So when I got myself a job at age 18, I saved some money, and bought myself a boat ticket for the journey across the seas. That boat trip lasted almost a week and it was a very memorable one!

When I was starting as a new believer in Christ, I was full of joy and hope. I was excited about everything. I felt God was leading me every step of the way. I was excited about where God would show me next.  Of course, there were some challenges but overall it was a great experience. My parents who were die-hard Catholics were not happy about what happened to me. They thought that I had gone crazy because I who went to a Catholic seminary had now become a Protestant! A no-no in a Catholic dominated small town.

I did not look at it that way though. I never thought of my experience as a conversion to Protestantism. I was very religious so I knew deep inside me that something deeper than religion had taken place. I knew in my heart that I had become a true follower of Jesus Christ. I knew in my heart that in Jesus I had received eternal life. I knew in my heart that I was going to heaven. I knew in my heart that I was a brand new person. I knew in my heart that God had a wonderful plan for me. And I was a very happy person. I relished every moment of the wonderful life I had in Christ.  So, to me, that’s all that really mattered. If it was a conversion, it was not a conversion from one religion to another but from an old selfish and hopeless way of living to a new way of living in Christ through whom I received the gift of eternal life. It was a grand experience!

If you believe, you too might have a similar experience. But if you have not yet believed in Jesus as Savior and Lord, then I would encourage you to check out Jesus. If you say you believe in Jesus but you’re not sure, or you haven’t experienced the joy and don’t have the hope I’m talking about, then I would ask you to take a good look at your faith. If you find that what you have is a questionable faith, then get it right. Believe in Jesus today and commit your life to him.

But if you already believe in Jesus and know it for sure, then you may have experienced the same things I have experienced. If you have believed in Christ you, too, have a story to tell. You, too, have embarked the “boat,” so-to-speak, and have begun your journey with Jesus to “go across the lake,” wherever or whatever that might be. As Jesus and his disciples took the boat across the lake, we too take that figurative boat with Jesus. And as Jesus took them across the lake to a certain place for a certain mission we, too, are going across for a mission.

What is our mission? I think it is important that we have a clear knowledge of our mission at the very outset.  It is important that we have a clear view of our vision. When Jesus called his disciples and they followed him they knew that Jesus’ mission had become their mission. At one time Jesus called them and said, “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).  The mission of Jesus is to “catch” people—not to make slaves out of them but to set them free!  That’s why after Jesus and his disciples had gone across the lake to a region called Gerasenes, he exorcised a man who was possessed by a legion of evil spirits and set him free! We have the same mission in the world today: to proclaim the good news of freedom in Christ. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15 NLT).

As a community of believers, we have been commissioned by Christ to proclaim the Good News.

The question is, Can we successfully “go to the other side of the lake”? Can we succeed?

“We’re going to drown!”

As we consider the question “Can we succeed?” we need to look at what happens next as Jesus and his disciples set out in a boat. And here’s what happened: Jesus fell asleep, a storm threatened to sink the boat, and the disciples were terrified!

In this situation, who do you normally expect to be afraid…the fishermen or the carpenter?  For some reason the disciples some of whom were fishermen were afraid! The storm must have been a big one. But what’s wrong with the picture? We may point our finger to Jesus and say, How can Jesus sleep during these dangerous moments? Does he care? Are there times in your life that you feel the Lord does not care? Are there times in your life that you feel like the Lord seems asleep while you are having a very hard time? Well, that’s how the disciples felt! They frantically yelled to Jesus and woke him up, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” In the Gospel of Mark they said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Does Jesus care? He does! There’s no question about. The fact that Jesus, the God who came down to earth and became flesh, went through all the hassles of living as a human being shows clearly that he does care!

The reason why the disciples were afraid was because at these dangerous moments the Jesus they saw was not the Lord of heaven and earth, but just another man, sleeping and who was too tired to care! They did not realize that this man who was sleeping in the same boat was the very God through whom everything was created, including the lake on which their boat was floating and the wind that caused all the rocking! So what’s wrong with the picture? What’s wrong with the picture is not Jesus sleeping. What’s wrong with the picture is the terrified disciples screaming, “We’re going to drown!” when  Jesus was with them!

Let’s take a closer look at the disciples’ statement: “We’re going to drown!” What does it express? Hopelessness. Pessimism. I’m afraid that some of Jesus’ followers today have the same feeling of hopelessness. They are pessimistic and negative about so many things. Proof of this is the fact that when a believer goes out in the open and enthusiastically talks about success or how to accomplish goals, some “pessimistic believers” (a contradiction of terms, by the way) will begin to shoot that guy down. How? By using proof texts that make their arguments appear biblical and them more spiritual! I think some of them over-react to the so-called “prosperity theology” propagated by some shallow preachers. That’s why they have become allergic to terms like “success” and in the process shortchanged themselves and the people they have influence on. Some are just plain pessimists.

“Where is your faith?”

Why is it that some followers of Christ are so pessimistic…so negative? It may be that some who consider themselves believers are really mere followers who have not really formed strong personal and sound biblical and theological beliefs that help build a genuine faith in Jesus. Like the disciples of Jesus, they may be following Jesus but their faith in Jesus is suspect.

At this point the disciples did not really know who Jesus really was. Or perhaps their faith was still in its infancy—they were like crybabies as far as their faith in Jesus was concerned. That’s why after Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, he asked them the soul-searching question, “Where is your faith?” Obviously, their faith wasn’t really there yet.  But what the Gospel writer says about them next shows some glimmer of hope: “In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him’” (bold mine).  Knowledge begins by asking then right questions and the disciples asked the right one.

I wonder how many of you who say you follow Christ is like the disciples—your faith is not really there yet. When the storm of life comes, you’re terrified. Here are some comforting words for you: If you find yourself terrified, you’re not alone. And there is hope for you. What you need to do is ask yourself the question, Who is Jesus Christ? And if your answer is Jesus is God who came in the flesh to be my Savior and that he is the Sovereign Lord of the universe who can calm any storm that may come along my path, then you’re on the right track. With that belief, a faith that can move mountains (Matthew 17:20) can develop in you so that with God’s help you can be the person that God wants you to be and you can do  what God’s wants you to do. Now that’s the kind of faith in Jesus that can get you across a stormy lake! The bottom line of this message is a principle for success: to accomplish our special mission in the world and be a success we’ve got to put our faith in Jesus Christ, the one that the Bible presents.

We have a mission as a church. God has called us as a community to bear witness for Christ and to proclaim the Gospel. As we gather together, we are God’s collective light in the world. But as we scatter, we serve as God’s individual lights in the world. Here are some of the questions you need to answer: What can you do so that your life will become truly a light that leads people to the Savior? How can you exhibit the freedom you have in Christ? How does your faith show in a world where people are pessimistic and feel hopeless? Do you drown with them in the stormy lake of pessimism or do you offer them a ride to our “boat,” which is a way of life—where Christ is present? As they say, “action speaks louder than words.” What kind of actions do you display? Are they actions of pessimism or actions of faith? In this bad economy in which people are depressed, are you a help? Are you an encourager?  Do you ride the boat of discouragement, fear and despair or the boat where Christ is present?

But let’s be realistic, you say. OK, let’s be. Are there non-Christians (or “unbelievers” as some of us call them) who believe they can weather the storm? Oh yes! Plenty of them! And are they going to make it? Oh yes! Many of them! So what’s the problem? What’s the reason why you, a believer, can’t make it? You should be able to make it even better than unbelievers. Why? Because you can be more than just a positive person. You can be a true believer! You can believe in an all-powerful God who can save you and help you overcome the storms that may come along your way!

When you set out with Christ to do something, you are in a special mission. Your occupation may be in business or finance but your goal is not just to be prosperous or to help people become prosperous. Your goal is to proclaim freedom in Christ! If this is your goal, do you think the Lord will help you? Isn’t the answer quite obvious? So what do we need to have? We need faith in him who can save us. We need faith in him who can get us across the stormy way to our destination. We need faith in him who can set people free! We need faith in Christ!

Let me end this message with a success story of a poor girl who’s found freedom and life and success in Christ. If you’re from the Philippines you may have heard about the story of a girl named Sarah. Out of her story Viva Films made a movie. Viva actually hired me in the mid 90s to research her story. Sarah was a poor Muslim girl went to United Arab Emirates to work as a maid and to help her family survive. She was below 18 and so she was really just a child. Her boss attempted to rape her but Sarah went to prison for defending herself. I’ll let Sarah tell you the rest of the story because she will be with us on Freedom Day, 4th of July. All I want to tell you about her is that she was a young Muslim girl who had a terrible experience in life but who found freedom, hope, joy and success in Christ! Now Sarah tours America to share her wonderful testimony.  Sarah is a success story. You, too, can be!

This Is My Father’s World

Exercising Our Right As Children of God

By Ed Fernandez

John 1:10-13

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

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The beginning of our text is one of the saddest statements you can read in Scripture. It’s like hearing the sad voice of a parent whose feelings have been hurt because her child has disowned her. I actually heard a story about a Filipino mother who made every sacrifice to put her daughter to college. She worked as a labandera (a laundry woman). Washing clothes was not easy—she did it manually! With her blistered hands, she worked herself to death. She denied herself of things she herself needed and gave almost all of her earnings to her daughter. But something happened that deeply hurt her feelings. On her daughter’s graduation day, she went as proud parent expecting to share the joy of their accomplishment.  But because she didn’t look as nice as other parents, her daughter disowned her in front of her friends saying “I don’t know her” and then pushed her away.

If you were this mother, what would you do? Well, what could you really do other than cry? But what if the story goes on… that one day this mother found out that she is actually an heir to a huge fortune? If you were the mother, what would you do? Disinherit the daughter? Not give her any right to your new-found wealth? Disown her and tell her she’s no longer your daughter? If you say yes, I’ll understand.

Here’s another story. A man came in a poor neighborhood. Many reject him. But some welcome him and receive him. Then people discovered that this man is a very wealthy man. Those who receive him have been adopted to his family. So now they enjoy the lifestyle of the rich because they have become a part of this rich man’s family. This story is really the story of the human race. Those who reject Jesus are those who do not believe in him as “God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side” (John 1:8). But those who receive him are those who believe in his name, Jesus, which means “God is salvation.” And to those who receive him, Jesus gives “the right to become children of God.”

I would like to believe that we are here worshiping this morning because we have received Jesus as who he really is: the Son of God through whom the world was made. And we believe in him as the One God sent to be our Savior.  We believe that Jesus was made flesh to save us from sin and death and to make us alive in him. If what I’m saying is true, that we have truly received Jesus and believe in him, then according to our Scripture text, we’ve been given “the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Let’s parse that statement. To have been given the right to become God’s children implies that before we received and believed in Jesus we were not children of God. It was when we received and believed in him that the right to become children of God was given to us. The concept is that of adoption. Before we received Christ and believed in him, we were not God’s children. But when we received and believed in Christ, the right to become children of God was given to us. Now that right conveys not just the fact that we are God’s children but also that as God’s children we now have certain privileges that only rightful children of God can enjoy. What are those privileges?

Because the Christian life is believed to be a spiritual life, Christians normally think that whatever privileges they have must all be spiritual. Indeed, the Bible says that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3b). What we need to understand, however, is that when the Apostle Paul said it, it is likely that he believed that these blessings in the heavenly realms actually affect earthly living. The Jews believed that whatever happens in heaven affects life on earth. The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, also known as “The Lord’s Prayer,” conveys such idea: “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10b). Now the strange thing is that although it’s easy for us to believe that whatever is done in heaven is done on earth, yet we often think only in terms of the spiritual, perhaps because we don’t want to be regarded as “materialistic.” And so when we think of our privileges as children of God what comes to mind are only spiritual or heavenly things and we tend to regard material things as another part of life and separate from our “spiritual” life. But I think that whenever the Bible talks about “spiritual” or “heavenly” things that it does not necessarily mean that these “things” have nothing to do with material things or earthly living.

For some reason I don’t really understand some Christians have a low view of earthly life. If you really think of it, that type of thinking is quite strange. Why? Take note the Gospel of John begins with God’s act of creation through Jesus. Now what is creation all about? Is it the creation of spiritual things? No! It’s about the creation of the material world and everything in it! In this scripture text, God did not create some spiritual world where he put some spiritual beings. What God created was a material world, the world we live in! And when Jesus came to save us in this fallen world, he came in the flesh! Now that tells me that our God values the material and physical creation so much so that even God’s way of saving us was done through the Word–Jesus, who was made flesh–through whom the material world was created!

Having pointed that out, we can say for sure that earthly life is not to be regarded as “low” life. It’s not OK to say it’s OK to live a not so OK life in this world for anyway we’re going to heaven when we die. If earthly, physical life is not that important, why did God create us physical? Why didn’t God just create us spiritual and placed us immediately in heaven? Why bother creating the physical when after all it’s not that good? The fact that God created the world and said that it was “good” tells us that life on earth is of great value to God and, therefore, we must value it as much! Since earthly life is good, then we must live life to the full and live a great life! And that my brothers and sisters is the challenge. And it’s quite a challenge because there are forces in this fallen world that oppose us and try to pull us down.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). The life that we are to live to the full is to be lived in a world where there are “thieves.” These thieves might be people who, for some reason, try to steal our dreams. In the past I warned of greed and selfish ambition. I still do. But that does not mean we are to be content with “ordinary” life. Jesus came not so that we may have ordinary life. He came that we may have life to the full! And where do you think we are to live this life? In some place out there in space? No! We are to live life down here on earth! I know we’ll ultimately go to heaven where some of us say we have a “mansion” (which, by the way, sounds like a materialistic heaven to me). But for now, we are to live life on earth. What kind of life? A full life! So please, don’t wait till you get to heaven before you live life to the full. We are to live a full life right here and now! The challenge is, How?

I think one of the biggest hurdles for living a full life is conquering our way of thinking that may have been shaped by some theology that tells us that life on earth is something that we have to tolerate until we get to heaven. And until we overcome this, we cannot really begin to do things that may help us reach the goal of living a full life. As we have said earlier, life on earth is of great value to God. That is why God sent Jesus who came in flesh to save us from sin and death and to make us alive in him. You see, God has already made us alive in Christ as we learned in Ephesians 2:4.

But why is it that some still live a life that lacks the abundance and joy? There may be other situational reasons that are beyond our control and we cannot really do anything about them. But here’s my observation as far as believers are concerned:  although God has already made us alive, for some reason some are not really doing something about the life in Christ that they have now. So they live like dead people! We need to remind ourselves that God saved us in Christ for a purpose. And what is the purpose? Ephesians 2:10 clearly spells it out: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” True, works cannot save us. And indeed the previous verses say, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (vv. 9-10). We are not saved by works but we’ve been saved to do good works!

Now doing good works is what we need to do to live a full life. But why is it that many of us are not successful? Well, perhaps the reason is because we easily forget that we who have received Christ  and believed in him have been given the right to become God’s children. But why is it that many of us do not really exercise our right as children of God! Because we think that we are “not of this world.” In a sense that’s true. But when we say that, remember that we simply mean is that we are not living in a realm that is influenced or controlled by the evil one. Sometimes people refer to it simply as “the world” when speaking of “the world of the evil one.” The devil may have some influence in the world, but the physical world does not really belong to the evil one.

The truth is that the world was created by God through Christ. It is Christ’s world. That’s why we are told that Christ “came to that which was his own.” This world is God’s world! It is our Father’s world! And because we have become God’s children, we have inherited the world! As Jesus said of those who listen to him and follow him like a meek lamb that follows a shepherd, “ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5, bold mine). So as God’s children, we’ve been empowered so that we can live a victorious and full life in our Father’s world!

So here’s the bottom line: This is our Father’s world. Therefore, as God’s children we are to exercise our right in this world. Like the Apostle Paul and his company of evangelists we are not only “servants of the Most High God” (Acts 16:17), we are also children of the Most High God. We are not ordinary people. We are a special people. As a people who have been made alive in Christ, we are God’s masterpiece. As such we are meant to live a beautiful life. But we have to get to work! As God’s masterpiece we are not to be like static statues. We are a people who have been empowered by God in Christ to accomplish our special missions in the world. But can we succeed? Yes! Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Let me end this message with an inspiring video called “Noah – Stepping out on Faith” with Chris Seay. Please click pic below to watch the video.

Dad’s Day Celebration…

this Sunday, June 13, 10:00 AM

at Oasis

…a week ahead of the US celebration.

The reason is not because we want to follow Austrians and Belgians who celebrate

it on second Sunday of June but because more of the fathers at our church will be

there on Sunday than the next. And you’re all invited to join us!

Click logo below for more info on Oasis:

“Let me tell your fortune…”

The Day that Determines Your Divinely Appointed Destiny

An expansion of “Know that Jesus Can Set You Free” (Truth 1 of 3 in Message 1, “From Prison to Freedom”)

Acts 16:16-18 NIV

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

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Who among you wants to be a loser? Nobody! Who wants to be a winner? Everybody! Everybody wants to be a winner. Everybody wants to be a success. The question is How?

Before I answer that question, let me give you my simple definition for success. For me, as a Christian, success simply means becoming what God wants me to be and doing what God wants me to do. Don’t get me wrong, I am not preaching a certain theology that says, “Believe in Jesus and you will automatically become rich.”  The formula for financial success is more complex than that. I also believe that there are those few whom God calls to a certain kind of life, like the one Mother Theresa and those saints like her lived. So, as far as my definition for success is concerned, a person can take a vow of “poverty” and still become successful.  And, by the way, those who take a vow of poverty aren’t really poor the way we imagined them to be—all their basic needs are provided. Mother Theresa did not live on food stamps! And if poverty is so desirable, why is it that some of those who have taken such vow try to help people get out of it? Mother Theresa actually raised a great sum of money to help the poor! For what she had accomplished, she was successful!

Furthermore, I don’t believe in unnecessary suffering. Why? Obviously because it’s un-necessary! I also don’t think we should encourage laziness and dependency which may be the reason why some people are poor. Heard of “Yo Mama” jokes? Well, here’s one: “Yo mama’s so poor, when she heard about the last supper, she thought she ran out of food stamps.” Food stamps are there help people in need. But they’re not meant to be a permanent source of provision. I think that there are people, especially believers, whose lives can be a lot better if they know how to make money or if they are willing to work for it. But some people, for some reason, are not living to their full potential. Why? Perhaps because they’re not taking advantage of their freedom. Perhaps because they’re lazy. Laziness can be masked by false contentment. Laziness can be a reason for lack of ambition or vision. Or, maybe, people are just in a situation that renders them powerless. And that’s an issue we hope to tackle.

In this series of messages I talked about some biblical principles for success. Instead of moving to the next message, I feel the need to talk more about those principles. So today, please allow me to backtrack and go back to the first principle I shared in the first message (entitled “From Prison to Freedom”) which is, Know that Jesus can set you free. It is important to know that Jesus can set us free, but more important than knowing is actually experiencing freedom in Jesus. I talked about that slave girl who was set free from the malignant spirit of divination that controlled her as well as from her greedy owners that exploited her. Today, let us re-visit the girl’s story. Let us revisit especially that day that may have changed her life for the better forever!

The day she heard the good news

The story in Acts 16 begins on the day the slave girl encountered Paul and his company of evangelists. Evangelists are preachers of the evangel or gospel or good news. I assume that on the day the girl encountered the evangelists was the day she heard the good news.  It’s possible that she may have heard about it before, but that’s just a conjecture. The day that she encountered the evangelists is the day we know for sure she heard the good news. But what was the good news all about?

The good news the evangelists proclaimed and the girl heard was about “the way to be saved.” How do we know that this is the good news she actually heard? We know because the source of information is the girl herself. As she followed Paul and the evangelists she kept shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” Previously, I talked about her not being a good source of this information because she had this spirit that is not of God. But here’s an insight: Despite the fact that an oppressive and manipulative spirit controlled her, she was not at all impenetrable as far as far as the good news was concerned. In other words, even in her enslaved and exploited condition she heard the good news! And, to me, this is very encouraging. For this tells me that no matter how dark the prison a person may be in, the light of the good news of salvation and freedom can shine through and overcome the darkness!

The good news is about “the way to be saved.” It doesn’t say a way. It’s not one of the ways out of many ways. It is simply the way. Such is the exclusivity of the good news that Paul and the evangelists preached.  There is only one way by which we can be saved from Sin and live a new and free life. The way is through Jesus Christ and him alone. There is no other way. In his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul wrote, “⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men (or people), the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6 ESV). There is only one way to be saved. And that one way is Jesus. We respect those who believe otherwise but according to the Bible God’s way of salvation is only through Christ who gave his life on the cross to save us and to set us free.

This is the good news that the slave girl heard again and again as she continued to follow Paul and the evangelists. This is the same good news that she kept on announcing—no, not just announcing but shouting!—and “kept…up for many days.” You can just imagine the effect of what she had been announcing to those who heard her and especially to her.  To what extent the Gospel sank into her soul, we really don’t know. But as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (10:17 ESV). So the seed of the gospel may have actually begun to germinate in her heart. Nevertheless, she still was a slave… she still was not free. None of those days was the day that may have determined her divinely appointed destiny. That day was still to come. So now let’s talk about that day.

The day she experienced the good news

The day that may have determined her final destiny was the day when she did not just hear the good news… she experienced it! I say “may have determined” because we don’t know what happened after that day. We don’t know if she took advantage of her freedom. We don’t know if she became the person God wanted her to be. We don’t know if she did what God wanted her to do. What we do know is that through the Apostle Paul she was set free that day! She was set free from the spirit of divination. She was set free from those who exploited her. And because she was set free, she had a clean slate in life… a new beginning!

I don’t know about you but I, too, had a similar experience. I was not possessed by some spirit nor was I exploited by some people but I, too, was a slave to Sin and selfishness. I was religious and often went to church. I even went to a seminary to get trained for priesthood. But I knew that it was hard for me to resist sin. On the outside I may have appeared like a saint but inside I was a sinner. The thought of death scared me because I did not know where I was going if I were to die. But one day in May 1976 Jesus set me free! I read a booklet entitled “How You Can Be Sure You Are a Christian.” I was a teen-ager and lived Mindanao, an island in southern Philippines where there were Muslims. Since I was not a Muslim I thought I was a Christian. But through that booklet I learned that real Christians are those who have received Christ—those who believe in Christ, those who follow Christ and live a Christ-like life.

So on that fateful day, I opened my heart to Jesus Christ and received him as Savior and Lord. And according to the Bible I became a child of God.  John 1:12 says, “…to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God….” As a child of God I became an heir. Heir of what? Heir of eternal life. How do I know for sure I have eternal life? The Bible says, in 1 John 5:12, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” So on that day in May 1976, my journey to success as a Christian began.

Again, for me success means becoming a person God wants me to be and doing what God wants me to do. By becoming a child of God and living life as a child of God is already success. But we should not stop here.  As people who have become children of God and heir of eternal life we have been given a great opportunity to become better persons and accomplish greater things. For Christians, mediocrity should not be the norm. Excellence should be. If the girl who used to be a slave took the opportunity and lived life to the full, she could still have made a lot of money. The difference is that this time she could have made money not for those greedy exploiters but for her and for the people she loved and freely served and by doing God’s will!

A child of God is not one who has already been transported to another world. We may not be of the world but we are still in the world and it is in this world that we begin to live life eternal—“he who has the son has life.” Now what does eternal life look like? Eternal life can be seen in the way we do and accomplish God’s purposes for us. All things being equal, we who believe should be able to succeed as well as those who are successful in life! But even if all things are not equal, we should still be able to not just survive but to be successful. Why? Because in all things, either good or bad, God is working for the good of those who love God (Roman’s 8:28).

I think success should also show in how way we make or raise money to fulfill God’s purposes. Poverty in spirit may be a virtue, but it would be a strange thing to give thanks for poverty. What’s the normal cause for our thanksgiving? God’s abundant blessings! The sad thing is that although God has already set us free, many of us still live like slaves. Many of us are content with working for others or, worse, for exploiters when we can work for God, for ourselves, and for the people we love and love to serve. People blame the economy for their lack. The truth, however, is that despite the economic downturn, opportunities abound here in the United States and, I believe, also elsewhere.  But you need a new set of eyes to see those opportunities that are always there. Yes, they’re there even in times of crisis! But to see them, you need to have the eyes of a believer!

For those of you who work a job, Do you love what you do? Do you find joy in doing your job? Does your job enable you to express who you really are? If your answer is yes, good for you! But if you feel exploited in your job, if you hate your job, why do you keep on doing it? Because it’s the only work available for you? And that if you don’t do it, you wonder how you can survive? You see, surviving is not living. I know it’s neither practical nor smart to just quit your job. But are you doing something today so that one day you can be free and be in a desirable situation? Perhaps you don’t want to leave your job because you feel secure in it. The truth of the matter is that there is really no security in a job. There is always that possibility that you may lose it! So why is it that you’re so committed to such job that perhaps you work even on Sundays, don’t ask for a Sunday off, when you’re supposed to be in church seeking first the kingdom of God so you can claim God’s promise to provide your needs? Or, maybe, you stick to your job because, although “it sucks,” you think that it’s the only way for you to earn a living.

Well, that type of thinking is slave-thinking, not free-thinking. A child of God who is free thinks this way: I am a unique and special person. I am not a slave. I am free. I am a child of God. God has given me the power to be what God wants me to be and the ability to do what God really wants me to do. Now, isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that the way to really live? If you say you have eternal life, then live it! Eternal life is abundant life… a life filled with meaning and joy. As a child of God, your heavenly Father will help you do and accomplish your special mission in the world even if it looks like “mission impossible.” With God you can dream the “impossible dream.” You can go where the average folks would say, No way! Why? Because indeed, as a song goes, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way.” Remember the Wright brothers? Well, people laughed at them but they did not waver in their belief that they could fly. And we who believe can fly!

My question to you now and the bottom line of this message is, Have you been set free so that you can fly? Have you been set free so that you can live your dream? Have you not only heard the good news of salvation but have actually experienced it? Have you received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? If your answer is Yes, then good for you. If No, then let this be the Day that would determine your great and divinely appointed destiny. Let this be the Day to let God set you free from Sin and anything else that may enslave you and hinder you from living life to the full. Let today be the Day that you begin living eternal life. How? Receive Jesus, the Christ, the Savior and Lord. Believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, you have life…eternal life…abundant life…meaningful life…joyful life! If you believe, you can fly!