Talk INTRODUCTION
BRO. BO SANCHEZ:
Tell that person beside you, “God is doing something new. God is doing something beautiful.”
I just flew in from Butuan this morning. We had a huge Feast there yesterday.
We have three Feasts in one city in Butuan. Here are some photos of our visit:
John Levy’s Life
The guy who leads one of the Feasts in Butuan, his name is John Levy.
His life is amazing. He was swallowed up by drugs– and he ended up in prison. But God touched him and changed him. Today, he’s leading
The Feast in Butuan.
If God can work with someone who was in prison, and society has condemned… if God can work with a man where people around him already said he’s a basket case, he’s hopeless, he can never change… if God can work with that person and make him today lead a Feast that is changing people’s lives and blessing generations… so many young people go to that Feast in Butuan… now there are three Feasts there… if God can use someone like John Levy,
I’m announcing to you there is no such thing as a basket case in God’s Kingdom.
There is no one hopeless in God’s Kingdom.
Last week, I was not here because I was in Baguio where we had a big Feast.
God is moving. We are in hundreds of cities all over the world. We are in 30 countries. God is moving, God is touching
My friends, God can do all things. God is a God of Possibilities. You are in the Presence of a God who can do amazing things in your life.
Please know that whatever situation you are in, God is there. He can save you.
He can lift you. He can bring light in the darkness. He can give hope to despair. He can just bless you.
Are you excited that we follow a God who does not know what impossible means?
John Levy was there. He was in the pit. He said, “Lord God, rescue me.”
And God did. The God of John Levy is your God. He’s going to do amazing things in your life if you say Yes!
Audee Villaraza, give us the Word..
BRO. AUDIE VILLARAZA:
Everybody, join me and sing:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.
We’re taking a page from the Book of Genesis.
Most of you have probably heard this passage– it’s pretty famous. From Genesis 1: 27:
Three lessons we can learn from this passage:
- There is a Creator;
- There is a We are His creation; and
- He is creative
Quick sharing. Whenever I get together with my old college buddy– his name is Noel– we always somehow get into a heated friendly debate because we’re so different from one another. He likes the Cleveland Cavaliers and I like the Golden State Warriors. He loves the car brand, Toyota. I love the car brand, Honda and Ford. He likes the cool weather, and I like it when it’s warm. I’m very sensitive to the cold weather. He thinks that he’s more good-looking than I am and I think that he’s delusional. So, you know we’ve got differences.
I believe that we need to be okay with differences. Why? Because if there’s one Person who knew that and who showed us that it’s okay to be different from the person standing next to you, it is Jesus.
Jesus Loves Everybody
1 Timothy 2:6 says:
Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all. Not just for you, not just for me, but for all.
That’s the way that Jesus lived His life. He dined with sinners. He befriended prostitutes. He dined with the tax collectors. He even loved His enemy.
To every Christ follower, this is the challenge: Whenever you see people who are different from you, the challenge is for you to accept and not to alienate. It’s a challenge for you to respect and not to reject.
That’s why here at The Feast, we believe that everybody who comes in through these doors, they’re welcome. If you’re a sinner, come on in. You’re welcome in this place. You got some problems with money, come on in. You’re welcome in this place. You’re struggling with some sins, come on in. Our doors are wide open because this place is God’s place and God loves all.
I’m excited to preach this message to everybody here. Can we all put our hands over our chest and say this with me:
Dear Lord. I’m right here and I’m completely open. Whatever word or message that you have for me, I pray that it lands on fertile ground. Speak. Your servant is listening. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
One more time, Everybody, lift those hands and sing:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.
Here’s the message I want to preach to everyone:
God made us different. God made us one.
It’s a very deep message. We are in our series called Under One Roof.
We’re talking about the value of family.
How many of you believe that your family is your real wealth? It’s your real treasure. You can be the richest person materially and financially but if you’ve got a poor family life, you can also feel like you’re the poorest person in the world. But how many of you also believe that even if your family is your wealth, you also go through conflicts in your family? Some of you might even be going through conflicts right now in your family. That’s the truth. We all go through conflicts– whether big or small.
Even among Filipinos, sometimes families can be terrific but also sometimes they can be toxic. Do you know one toxic family culture here in the Philippines?
I’ll tell you:
They already know that you’re on a diet, but they still fry the already-stir-fried garlic rice in the oil used to fry tocino (bacon made from pork belly).
But why do we go through conflicts?
I think that’s a good question. Here’s a little theory: The reason we go through conflicts is families have expectations and when these expectations are not met, sometimes conflicts arise.
Parents, agree or disagree with me: You have expectations for your children.
Parents expect their children to study hard, get good grades, get a good job, and one day in God’s time, get married and have children.
But here’s the truth: sometimes those expectations are not met. Instead of getting good grades, your child gets bad report cards. How many of you are like me who gets colorful report cards– bleeding red? How many of you instead of going into a professional career such as Law, Architecture, or being a pilot, you go into business? Some expect their children to take Architecture, Law, or Medicine but instead, they become vloggers. That’s the modern career now, right? Sometimes, they earn more than you. That’s the truth.
Parents have expectations of their children that one day, they would have their own family and have their own kids. But some of them, for some reason, don’t want to get married. They want to be celibate for life and they’re happy.
Parents have expectations that they will have grandkids, but they don’t– and that’s when the famous “apostolate” happens. Do you know what apostolate means? It’s when the grandparents run after their grandchildren wherever they go.
Toxic Culture
Sometimes, the families are so strong-willed and aggressive that everybody has an opinion about your life. Daddy and Mommy have an opinion about your career. Lolo and Lola have an opinion about your relationship. Tito and Tita have an opinion about your health.
For example, health issues. They will tell you, “You’re getting fat. You drink too much milk tea!”
They have opinions about your relationship: “How come you don’t have a boyfriend yet?”
You get a boyfriend, and they are like, “Until now you don’t know how to choose the right boyfriend.”
When it comes to your job, they will tell you: “Don’t take that course. There’s no money in that course. Take nursing. Take tourism. There’s money there.
Sometimes even with fashion: “Stop wearing the color brown. You look like a tree trunk.”
Everybody has an opinion about you.
There’s a toxic culture among Filipinos and I don’t know if this happens in other countries: Parents somehow expect their eldest child, if they’ve graduated already from school, to put up the rest of the siblings through school.
You feel like you’re treated like an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). They even ask for money from you so they can give a birthday gift to your neighbor.
An even more toxic trait is sometimes when parents get old and they retire, some of them expect their children to also take care of them. There’s nothing wrong with that– except that when the parents become too toxic that’s when the conflicts arise. So, the children don’t have a choice. They build a Great Wall of China between them and their parents–because it’s too toxic to be with them.
But let’s face it. Let me repeat that conflicts are normal. I mean imagine putting under one roof people with different ideas, different belief systems, different customs, different proclivities, different preferences. Of course, there will be conflicts.
But here’s the thing: I believe that we need to see conflicts from a different perspective. I believe that if you don’t go through conflicts in your life, you will grow up to have a very soft life. It’s the people who go through conflicts in their relationship that have a deeper, stronger, and tougher perspective about their relationship.
That’s why some grandparents would spend six months abroad to take care of their grandchildren– and it’s great.
I believe that we are a close-knit family. That’s our culture. But there is an advantage to that– and a disadvantage too.
What is the advantage? We’re never alone. What is the disadvantage? We’re never alone. Our family goes with us wherever we go.
Let me teach you four lessons that we can derive from Genesis 1:27: God created mankind in His image: in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.
Here is the first lesson:
God created us differently. Imagine for a moment that
God created male and female but He gave only one face and one look to every male and female that He ever created.
Imagine the person at your left looks like you and the person at your right looks like you. Wouldn’t that be boring? We would all look like those “oompa loompa” from that Hollywood movie. They all looked alike. They were all the same height. That’s so boring.
But thank God that He is creative. We all have different ideas and different personalities.
My son’s best friends in school are triplets.
Their names are Faith, Hope, and Love. Whenever I see them, I cannot tell them apart, no matter how many times I’ve seen them. For some reason, my son could easily tell them apart.
How? Through each one’s personality. They act differently. Their mannerisms are different.
I thank God that He made all of us to be different and that’s the lesson there: that God created you and designed you to be different from the person sitting next to you.
There’s a lot of debate going around. I think it’s still happening today that people are saying, “God’s image is male. God is a man.” But some people are saying, “God’s image is female.” But if we look at the Biblical text, it’s clear that
God created them in His image and likeness.
God’s image is not only reflected by seeing male only or female only but it’s male and female together. Here’s where it gets interesting. The next verse says:
It seems to me that when a man and a woman get together, there is a blessing from the Lord.
“But Brother Audee, what about me? I’m single. I’m choosing to be single for life. God has called me for single blessedness. Does it mean I don’t reflect God’s image?”
Not true. How do you reflect God’s image? When you serve side by side with other people. When you worship the Lord together… the Bible says that Jesus sent His disciples two by two. That’s the way it was made to be– so that they can reflect God’s image together.
How many of you believe that miracles happen at The Feast? Amen. The greatest miracle that happens here in our Community– and you probably don’t even notice it– whenever I look at everybody here, you can come from different races, different backgrounds, and different upbringings– but for me, the greatest miracle that happens here every Sunday is the fact that you’re able to sit down for two hours with a random person sitting next to you.
You can sit in harmony and peace.
Take this: Where in the world will you ever see a Leni supporter, a Duterte follower, and a Marcos loyalist serve side by side every week?
There is a miracle that happens here at The Feast. We believe that we’re more than just our political affiliations. We believe that we’re more than just our political views. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we come together under the banner of Lord Jesus.
There is a blessing in unity, my friend. The Book of Psalms says that when there is unity, there is life forever more. I believe that when we unite ourselves with Jesus as our Lord, there will be a blessing for all of us.
People would say that the reason there was conflict in the Creation story was that Adam and Eve bit the forbidden fruit.
But honestly, here is the message: Catastrophes didn’t happen because they bit the forbidden fruit– but because of the way they responded after they bit the forbidden fruit.
Catastrophes don’t happen because they’re caused by conflicts. Catastrophes happen because we don’t know how to resolve and respond when conflict arises.
If you look at the text, there were two mistakes that Adam and Eve made when they bit the forbidden fruit.
First response was hiding.
And the second was blaming.
A lot of you need to understand that if you want to be able to resolve the conflicts in your relationships or your family:
- Don’t hide from God. Don’t take matters into your own hands. When you’ve got a conflict, go to God for He wants to help you. He’s there to help you.
- Stop blaming Take accountability. If you fault another person, ask for forgiveness for that thing that you did. The problem with Adam and Eve was that they started pointing. Adam pointed to Eve. Eve pointed to the serpent. The serpent could not point to anybody because it didn’t have fingers.
Stop blaming others.
I’m standing here before you today and I cannot tell you that conflicts will not happen in your family. But I think that I can teach you–as your shepherd and as your pastor– how to resolve conflicts when they happen.
Just four steps…
If you go through the Gospels written by the saints, Jesus always had this funny thing of asking questions that we all know Jesus knew the answers to.
Did you ever notice that? If you look at the entire Gospels, you’ll note Jesus asked questions 307 times. That’s a lot of questions for somebody who holds all the wisdom in the world, right? But why was Jesus asking questions?
Simple: Because He loved to listen. He loved to hear the opinions and the inputs of His disciples He loved. He loved listening to His friends and the people that He loved.
One of the marks of a maturing Christian is this: When you focus more on listening rather than talking.
When you’re more comfortable that you’re the one listening instead of the one just yapping and gabbing– that’s when you know that you’re becoming a true Jesus to somebody in your life.
As a family member, you need to be able to listen before you speak or give your opinion.
St. James said: “Be slow to speak. Be quick to listen.”
One time, I asked my wife if she had a favorite between our two kids – Ethan and Ellie. I was afraid for a moment that she would say, “Yeah. I have a favorite child.
It’s you.”
Thankfully, she didn’t say that. She said, “I love our children equally.”
It’s Biblical to love your children equally.
That’s what God does in the Book of Matthew:
Love your children equally. If you’re a parent, don’t have favorites.
To children whose parents are still alive, love your parents equally as well. Don’t have favorites with your parents. Celebrate their differences.
My son and my daughter have many differences, not just physically.
They’ve got different strengths and different skills– and we treat them equally because that’s what God calls us to do.
Every person has a boundary.
Our daughter Ellie is gifted in many ways. But I’ll share with you why I had to share this picture.>
By the age of 10 months, she was already speaking words. By the age of 12 months, she was already talking in sentences. By the age of 18 months, she could already read. Now, she’s three years old and she’s reading books by herself, self-taught.
She’s gifted and she reminds me of somebody I know. Me.
One time, I saw a scratch on a glass in our home. I asked my wife who did that. She replied, “Ewan ko sa mga anak mo! I don’t know who of your children.” When the child does something bad, it’s “Anak mo. Your child.”
When the child is good and brilliant, it’s “Anak ko. My child.”
Our daughter is now in Nursery 1. She started last week. It’s been terrible–because she has this withdrawal anxiety from her parents. We brought her to school, and she started screaming.
This is how brilliant she is in thinking. Last Wednesday, she was negotiating with us and she started crying. You know, children manipulate their way of not doing what you want them to do by crying.
She started crying in the morning and she said, “I don’t want to go to school.” But as a father and as the head of the house, I said, “No. You’re going to school.
We have to keep the momentum of you doing the habit of going to school.” Let me show this picture of her as I was driving her to school. >
She looked like this when she started telling me, “Dad, I’m tired. Dad, I’m sleepy. Dad, I’m hungry. Dad, my eye is red. Dad, I don’t want to go to school.”
She kept on negotiating with me until we arrived at school. When I opened the car door, her countenance changed. She started smiling.
To me, that was a lesson already. That was a message that she had already accepted defeat.
She was already surrendering: “I’m in school.” And that she had no choice.
My point is simple: You need to set boundaries. As parents, you need to recognize the boundaries. I cannot let my three-year-old decide when she wants to go to school or when she will not go to school.
There are boundaries in life. You cannot allow your children– if they’re not of age yet– to decide what they’re going to eat. Otherwise, they’re going to start eating just hotdogs the whole day and the whole week.
When they get older, there are boundaries also that you cannot cross. When they have matured, you shift hats. You’re no longer a parent. You’re now a coach and you’re watching from among the cheering squad. You’re supporting them. You respect each other’s boundaries.
Here’s the last step: You are on the same team.
The family is one team– but sometimes we forget that. Again, parents, don’t ever try to win the affection of your child at the expense of the other parent.
What do I mean by that?
When your child comes up to you, and she’s like, “Mommy, Daddy will not allow me to use the iPad. He won’t allow me to play Roblox. He won’t allow me to watch TV.”
Then, Mommy is like, “Okay, wait for 15 minutes because Daddy’s going to be sleeping. Wait for 15 minutes. Daddy is going to work soon.”
Don’t say that– not even in jest. Don’t let them see that the other parent is the bad guy– because you’re on the same team.
Are there teachers here? Here’s my advice to you also: You’re on the same team. Teachers, don’t ever say to the child, “Is that what you’re taught at home?” Parents, don’t ever say to your kid, “Is that what they teach you in school?” Collaborate! Both of you have influence over the child. You’re on the same team.
It’s our responsibility to raise our children. The family is one team. You’re not at war with one another. You might be in conflict sometimes but you’re on the same team.
God is also with us on that same team.
God’s Temple
As I close this, let me read one Gospel story from the New Testament.
I love this story of how Jesus turned the tables, and He cleared the Temple.
I believe that Jesus is still doing that today. He’s still clearing temples and He’s still turning over the tables.
Here’s my point: The reason I needed to tell you that story is simple.
It’s because, you know, Jesus says in His own words: “You have turned the temple into something that it was not designed for.”
The Scripture says: “My Temple.”
Did you know that you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit? If you follow that perspective, you are also God’s Temple.
I believe that we sometimes go through conflicts in life– why we behave badly and aren’t able to respond well– because we’ve used this Temple of God for our selfish ways.
We’ve turned the family into something that it’s not. That’s why, sometimes there’s bitterness, anger, and resentment.
But I believe that today, Jesus is clearing the Temple and He’s setting it back to its original design.
He says: “This is My Temple. This is My Family.” Your family is supposed to be God’s territory.
My friends, God is the Head of your household. And I want you to think that when God created you, He created you to be unique. He created you to be different– but different in a way that you’re also set apart. You’re set apart for God you were created for a design and that design God is going to use for His glory and for His good.
God made us different, but God also made us one. If there’s something that has taken hold of your family right now– that the Lord has not intended it to be–
I pray and I rebuke that in Jesus’ Name.
Everybody, lift your hands and pray:
God, if there’s anything that has taken hold of our family, we rebuke that in Your Name. We rebuke the spirit of anger in our families. In Jesus’ Name.
We rebuke the spirit of greed in our families. In Jesus’ Name. We rebuke the spirit of indifference. In Jesus’ Name.
We rebuke the spirit of complacency. In Jesus’ Name. We rebuke the spirit of addiction. In Jesus’ Name.
Father, we profess, and we proclaim that Your Spirit of Love is flowing in our families right now. We profess Your Spirit of Joy, Hope, Peace, Clarity, and Life.
Clear the tables of what does not belong to You. Clear our Temple if there is anything that does not belong to You that we put there on the throne of our life. Lord, turn that over. Turn it around. We want You in that space. Remold us today. Remake our families and turn us into one. We may be different, but we’re set apart for You. Thank You, Jesus. We love You and we worship You.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
SURRENDER
Father, our prayer today is that You would mark our families with Your Presence. That we would be a place, a Family where You would delight to dwell in day by day. But we cannot be a family if we are not open.
So, today, Father, we are opening our life to You. To have that mark– that mark of Love that only You can give. That we would bear fruit– the fruit of Love. And that there would be peace reigning in all our families. And understanding, ruling our household. Oh God, make us Your Family. Our family is Your territory, Oh God.
If you believe that’s a prayer you want, put your hands over your chest and say:
Jesus, I am a sinner in need of a savior. And right now, I need You to rescue me, to reclaim what the enemy has taken away from me, to rescue me, Lord.
Thank You for this rescue mission that You are restoring my family, starting with me, to that place of peace. Bring me to that place of peace and make me Your vessel in this world. Thank You, Jesus. You are mine and I am Yours.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
