Are You One Of Us?

My thoughts:

Last Saturday, January 20, 2007, we had our first ever YoungPro Joint Fellowship among the five churches in the Manila area that are included the Association of Zhenghua Churches of the Philippines namely UECM, UECPasay, UECP, UECG, Jubilee. The event entitled "Are You One Of Us?" aimed to have brothers and sisters in Christ interact with other Christians in other churches. It started out as something simple, but ended with something greater planned in mind and a challenge.

The night started out by the buffet table awaiting us - but there's a catch, we should sit next to someone from another church! Of course at first, people tend to group together with friends but as the night grew, we slowly got comfortable being with other people. We started to greet each other and just took the time to get to know one another by asking them where they work or which church they are from. After a good dinner, we went it to worship the Lord through songs of praise and adoration. Many people sang their hearts praising Jesus through songs such as "Worthy is the Lamb", "Redeemer, Savior, Friend" and many more! Right after that, we were finally enlightened as to the true purpose of the AZCOP and why they held such an event especially for YoungPros. Remember guys: finding a girlfriend is only a BONUS, not the ultimate goal of AZCOP! Then came the fun part - the games! Our ID's were shaped differently to match which team we should join for example "Team Kisses"! The games tested team spirit, team coordination and team oneness as called forth by games like "Team Name and Cheer", "Happy Feet" and "Melody Chain"

The night ended with the most important program - the message. The passage was taken from Joshua 5:13-15 which stresses the question, "Are you for us or against us?" I agree with the pastor who said that this is a very selfish question. If you are the one asking this question, then it leaves the one who will answer in a spot wherein he needs to choose if he will be for you or against you. But unlike our society's notion of this question, we Christians interpret this differently. "Are you one of us?" is a question that challenges us to think about the people in our area, people who we interact daily with, people who we see, people who we do business with. Are they one of us? Do they know the love of God? These question cannot possibly come from someone selfish becaue these are the same questions that show true care and concern for the individual. This is the lesson that Joshua learned as he immediately fell on his knees and removed his sandals.

Another lesson that can be learned from the passage is through observing Joshua's response to what has been said - he removed his sandals. We must remember that during this time, Joshua was at war and removing his sandals may prove fatal in the battlefield. But he bowed before God barefooted not with swords and shields and this he did before battle. In our lives, we may not bring swords and shields to work but these may be represented by our laptops or palms or notebooks. But as Joshua, let us learn to set a time for God before going into the workplace's battle and win souls for His kingdom.

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My prayer:

My God, You have shown me again and again of your wondrous blessings. I pray that you are the One who was most pleased with the gathering of believers in this event. I hope that what has been started here will be faithfully and truthfully carried on so that more and more people will be blessed by You, so that more and more people will come to know you and praise you even more. Let me be like Joshua who came prepared to the battlefield not with laptops and stylus, but with your presence and blessing. I thank you for your love for us that even though we are separate small churches, in You, we are one big Church. Continue to guide eahc and everyone of us, the churches, AZCOP. All these we ask in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.