SFC CLP Talk No1:God's Love, A Reflection (Part 1)

The Singles for Christ (SFC), Passi City Chapter's, Christian Life Program (CLP) is conducted at PICS-SOF every
Sunday, 9:00 to 12:00 AM.
Last May 22, 2011 was the first talk of the first Module of the training. We had God's love as our topic.
Right after learning Worship Songs, and answering Bible Trivia, the first talk, with Sis. Love, Unit Head of the
Singles for Christ, Duenas Chapter, began.
I probably was not paying too much attention at first because I was sort of taken with the Bible Quiz/Trivia which
was thrown at us before the Talk began. It was fun. I used to study the Old Testament as a sort of hobby (though I
never did finish The Book of Chronicles (or was it Kings?)...and I was never that good with the New Testament
since I kept repeating the Book of Matthew everytime I want to study the NT...so, I did not catch Sis Love's last
name....
But that seemed to be okay with SFC. When I shared that news with a member who was not there that Sunday, he
knew to whom I was referring to. It seems as if we want back to Biblical times wherein persons were known for
their names and places of origin alone...like Jesus of Nazareth...odd, come to think of it, I am quite lucky since I
have a unique name...Heaven of Passi (still odd...)
I also felt weird calling my former teacher and mentor as Sister...I mean,it implies a closer and more intimate
relationship than merely being friends or colleagues with someone.Now, I have sisters and brothers in Christ...and it
feels good...
Anyway, I could not seem to get the highlight of Sis Love's talk. I got distracted easily..but she started with several
truths and proofs of God's love for us.
1. God created us and provides for us.
First, she mentioned the story of creation, of how God created us and everything on earth because of His great love.
Sis. Love quoted a verse from the Bible which said that Man is meant for friendship with God.
And then, she went on to ask what we have done to make God feel that we love Him? To be honest, I never did
anything for God. I took Him for granted almost all the time. In this day and age, it is very easy to be distracted and
loose sight of God's glorious love.
2. God has a plan for us.
Sis. Love also mentioned that God has a definite plan for us. And because of what happened to Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden, we placed the "human" limitation upon ourselves. Everytime we sin, we say, "I was just being
human".
Sis. Love also said that God would not leave man alone to his own fate. She said that God gave us freewill to think
for ourselves. He wants to bring us to Him at the end of our days and to restore our fellowship and intimacy with
him.
That is God's plan for us, nothing more, nothing less. She even mentioned about how one girl would say that God
does not love her and all because God supposedly allowed her boyfriend to cheat on her.
I guess such outpourings are inappropriate for us Christians. God's love has nothing to do with such worldly matters.
We got hurt because we "desired" something when we should have only desired a communion with God.
I felt a little petty about my won worldly longings and dreams. This made me realize how "foolish" my life has been.
Others would say I have lived a meaningful life. But after the first talk on this CLP, I realized I have not lived at all.

I have been vain, selfish, lustful, proud, and totally uncaring of others beyond my family circle. I have played it safe
for so long. I have worked so hard and I have forgotten God.
I would like to make God the center of everything in my life starting now. And yes, I am a work in progress...I still
have those deeply embedded sins within me but I hope to be blessed by God's gracious love so that I may realize His
purpose for me.
This post is already too long for now so I guess I'll just post the second part of Sis. Love's lecture in another entry.
It talks about the pitfalls of the modern world and what we should do, as Christians, to avoid them.
I am always your Father and will always be your Father, the question is will you be My child? God
Tito Rudy Dimayacyac gave the first talk which was attended by 52 CLP participants. Talk 1 is about God's love and
how He has shown time and again His unconditional love for mankind. Below are the highlights of Talk 1.

Gods creation is all good. He created man in His image and likeness. He created man in the beauty of His
heart.
God loves us so much that He lets us make our own decisions. The decisions that we make affect ourselves and the
world we live in. When we take away God in every action we make, evil happens.
Despite all the sin we have committed, God never abandoned us. He has always been forgiving and loving towards
man since the beginning.
And ultimately, in Jesus, we experience Gods love. God sent His son and made it a very humble experience to
show how much He loves us.
We should all turn to Gods wisdom. Let go and Let God. We should recognize the reality of Satan and how he
orchestrates evil around us. We may not see Satan physically but we see Satan all around us the sinfulness, the
temptations. We should always seek Gods point of view for our human efforts apart from Him will prove useless.
Sis. Jomai Garcia also shared how she experiences Gods love and how SFC can be a really good tool to experience
Gods love. She said Yes to Gods love through the following.

open and constant communication go to confession regularly, have a constant prayer time

through her trials allow God to wow us, amaze us

through her dreams believe that God will make our dreams happen

seeing God in all things good and bad

God has never stopped showing us how much He loves us. He has done His part, what will be your response? Will
you accept Christ as Lord and Saviour? The choice is yours. Continue listening or walk away.
We hope you would continue listening. See you next Sunday (April 15), 2 PM @ Church of St. Vincent de Paul.
A. SESSION No. 1 - GOD'S LOVE
1.

Goals.
a

To help people understand that man by himself cannot solve the problems and evil in the world, but
that salvation is necessary through Jesus Christ.

b
c
2.

Main points.
a
b
c

To present the reality of sin and Satan, the spiritual powers trying to destroy humanity.
To communicate the truth that God loves us and has a plan for our welfare.

God's original and final intention for creation: the kingdom of God.
The reality of sin and Satan.
The victory of Christ for us over sin and Satan.

Discussion guides (see note below).

a
b

Ask each individual to give a brief account of their personal history, including their Christian
background, and also why they decided to come to the CLP. This question enables you to sound out
everyone's position on Christianity, the Lord and the program.
"What have you thought in the past about evil and its cause, and how does that compare with the
Christian view of evil expressed in the talk?"

NOTE: A discussion starter has already been provided in the participant's handout. These discussion guides are
given for your optional use. They may be in addition to or in lieu of the discussion starter. Use your
own judgment, considering where your group members are, or what you are more comfortable with.