NARNIA Themed SERMON

by Trixie for YX Friday Nights

TURKISH DELIGHT: AVOIDING A PITFALL
TALK WITH ASLAN: ARISING FROM YOUR PAST

TURKISH DELIGHT - A DANGEROUS ENCOUNTER WITH THE WHITE WITCH

At the Lampost

The White Witch suddenly changes her tone with Edmund and represents herself as a friend.

(2 Cor 11:14-15 - Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light...his servants masquerade

as servants of righteousness.)
(2 Peter 2:18 - By appealing to the lustful desires of sinful nature, they entice people.)
(Romans 16:18b - By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people.)

Edmund who was mean-spirited, selfish and unkind fell into the trap. She made a secret and dangerous alliance with the witch. (He was commanded to bring to the witch his other siblings and she promised to make him prince of Narnia.)

At the Witch’s House

Although deep down he knows better than to trust the White Witch, Edmund cannot resist the lure of Turkish Delight.

(2 Peter 2:19 - A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.)

One of the problems of sin is that - like the enchanted Turkish Delight - it’s addictive, and it separates us from God.

Edmund has the opportunity to turn back but instead he hardens his heart and plunges deeper into sin.

(Proverbs 28:14 - Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his

heart falls into trouble.)
(Romans 2:5 - But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are

storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous

judgment will be revealed.)

The Chief of the Witch’s Secret Police refers to Edmund as the “fortunate favorite of the Queen - or else not so fortunate”. There is no safety or security for those who make deals with the devil.
The Witch did not fulfill her promise to make Edmund prince; it was an empty promise in the first place because she was not even the rightful ruler of Narnia.

(John 8:44 - he (the devil) is a liar and the father of lies.)

He promises the world...

(Matthew 4:8-9 - … All this I will give you...if you will bow down and worship me.)

...but he devours all who fall into his trap.

(1 Peter 5:8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.)

How to Avoid a Pitfall:

1. Recognize the Turkish delight (temptation)

What Is Temptation

Temptation means being enticed to have genuine needs met through the world, the flesh and the world, the flesh and the devil instead of through Christ. Every temptation is an invitation to do things our own way instead of God’s way.

Difference Between Temptation and Sin

Temptation is not the same as sin. Even Jesus was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). As long a we are in the world, we are exposed to temptation just like Jesus was. But He didn’t sin, and we don’t have to sin either. Temptation is like seeing Satan’s face through the window; sin is like unlocking and opening the door, making it possible for him to come in.

Most of us won’t often be tempted to commit obvious sins like armed robbery, murder of rape. Satan is too clever and sneaky for that. He knows that we will recognize obvious wrong and refuse to act on it. Instead he likes to entice us to push something good beyond the boundary of the will of God until it becomes sin. Eating for example is necessary and right, but eating too much, eating the wrong kind of foods, and allowing food to rule over our lives is wrong. God intended sex to be beautiful and good. But sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, and selfish sex are out-of-bounds and lead to bondage.

2. Run toward the Way of Escape

1 Corinthians 10:13 (LB) - But remember this - the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and he will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.

2 Timothy 2:22 - Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts.

3. Resist the Tempter

James 4:7-8a - So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you.

Matthew 16:23 - Jesus turned on Peter and said, “Get away from me, you Satan! You are a
dangerous trap to me. You are thinking merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.”

4. Resort to Pure Delight

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Isaiah 61:10 - I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.

Our moments of greatest conquests over the devil result from our moments of deepest intimacy
with the Lord.

What if sometime in your past, you fell BIGTIME into a pit and you have stayed there until now?

TALK WITH ASLAN - A DIFFERENT ENCOUNTER

How to Arise from Your Past:

James 4:8 - And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone and make them pure and true to him. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.

After the heart to heart talk between Aslan and Edmund, Aslan says to Peter, Susan and Lucy that there is no need to speak of Edmund’s earlier behavior. He has been forgiven.

(Isaiah 43:18 - Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.)
(Isaiah 43:25 - I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions...and remembers your sins no more.)

During the next encounter with the white witch … Edmund kept his eyes on Aslan. (Psalm 105:4) “Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.”
Psalm 34:5 “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”


A Real Encounter with Jesus will results to change in your life:

1. Conversion of the heart (inward change)
2. Calling (change of direction/purpose)

January 15 is Communion SUNDAY

Our First Communion Sunday for the year 2006 will also be a Sunday in which I will be calling people, cell groups and ministry groups to share their resources, time and gifts to plant MULTI-SITE Churches outside the 4 walls of Robinsons -- HLM Central next month.

Excitement is building up as we bring God's Purposes to the different nearby cities here in Negros. We will have church plants at Silay, Victorias, Bago, La Carlota and other places.

On February 26, as we celebrate our 13th Anniversary ... I believe that many will be ready to be found at DIFFERENT Sites bringing the Gospel of Jesus and the careful making of Disciples by teaching them the 5 Purposes of the New Testament Church. Encounters and other programs will follow. At His Life, we program our VISION ... not just having a Program for the sake of activities. Pray with us. I know you will be hearing many powerful and glorious stories within these next 6 months.

NARNIA Sunday at - HLM-Central

Its NARNIA Sunday here at HLM-Central. This will also be a time for us to BLESS our children and develop the His Lambs Children's Ministry into a full-blown Graded ministry for kids. Pray for us as we do this carefully, discipilng our children for the LORD. We will have an OPEN Recruitement, Orientation and Training for Children's Workers next week. NARNIA Series Kids Course begins next week till February 12. Long LIVE "His LAMBS" -- the Children's Church of His Life Ministries!

Praise, Prayer, Purity and POWER!

The Call for a BIG MOVE in 2006 was released today in our SUNDAY Morning Celebration at Cinema 4 of Robinsons Place - Bacolod. We can do it as we depend totally on God's power this year 2006. This year is the YEAR for 20-Congregations to be started (NEW) with a 06-months program (which includes ENCOUNTERS, SMALL GROUPS, MINISTRY AND MISSIONS Sunday PLUS YX Summer-Salt Missions Tour 2006!

These can be done as we have a READY Praise for God's Name; a PASSIONATE Prayer Discipline; a PURSUIT for PERSONAL Purity and POWER from on High - the baptism of the Holy Spirit..

2006 will truly be a remarkable year for God's Purposes here at HIS LIFE :-)

The Month for Morcon

This is apprentiship by the book! He he he ... Trina is learning from Mama. As early as November this year - they were already preparing for the Morcon Home Industry. Trix would rise up very early in the morning to buy and stock raw materials needed for their Morcon project (for Christmas). You see Trina washing the "consensar". I don't know if I spelled that right. Then nagaintra man si Trin peeling the eggs and doing the stuff. As of this writing they had already more than 100 BASTONS of Morcons made! Wow!

According to the principle of HARDWORK ... they will surely prosper as they put their hands and mind doing these with joy and blessing the people with this delicious recipie :-)

A Christmas Message from Trix and Me

People Around the Christmas Story
By Joebert and Trixie Ramos

The first Christmas story contains valuable life-changing lessons that we can learn from its casts of characters. Their examples of submission, commitment, wisdom and humility are worth remembering.

MARY—A Character of Submission
Although the Blessed Mary got afraid when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her on that one fateful day of her life, and even though she became perplexed at the thought of becoming pregnant without a husband yet, she entrusted herself to God and His plan. Out of a willing and trusting heart, she told the angel “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!”
God has always been in the business of changing the ordinary to extra ordinary. He did this in the life of Mary. She was known for a heart of submission to God and because of this, He was able to use her significantly. God can do this to anyone of us. He wants to change us for His glory and purposes. What it takes is a submissive heart.

JOSEPH—A Character of Commitment
For Joseph, it was tough to make the decision to marry a woman who was already pregnant, and tougher still to father a child not his own. But after the Lord appeared to him in a dream and revealed His purpose for the child who was to be the Savior of the world, Joseph surrendered with no more hesitation.
Joseph was an example of commitment to God and His purposes. He paid the cost of such commitment, no matter how high it was. How many of us can follow the example of such an obedient, righteous, responsible, caring, loyal, and a morally protective man as Joseph? We can, if we just let Him do it in us.

The SHEPHERDS—Characters of Gratitude
The Shepherds, after hearing the choral from heaven, knew how to respond properly to Good News! They did so by rejoicing as well as thanking and praising the Lord. Let us not forget that the day Jesus came to earth was the day that changed the world. Christmas time then ought to be celebrated joyfully and meaningfully. Of more significant matter now is - has Jesus come to your heart already? If He has, thank Him, praise Him, rejoice for no matter what circumstances you are facing in your life right now, having Him in your heart is all that really matters.

The MAGI—Characters of Wisdom
We believe that God gives enough men enough light that they may search for more. This happened to the Magi. Others think that the only place God can speak to people is in “church”. It was quite different for these Wise Men. God works through the many circumstances of our lives to direct our attention to him. In the case to the Magi, they were led to the Savior through the study of the stars. They then traveled up to 1000 miles on trek as that 1st star appeared - - it took them almost 2 years to locate where the Savior was. As they entered the house where Jesus and his mother Mary were, they were led to fall down before him and worshiped him. They excitedly opened their treasure chests and gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. He is their King, God and Savior.
The Wise Men’s greatest act was Worship – and it is still the highest form of human expression. Worship is devotion to something bigger than you, something that is eternal, powerful and trustworthy. Worship is something that belongs to God and God alone.
God does not have your treasure, time, talents although He was the one who gave them to you … He does not have them to use in this world UNLESS you give them back to Him. As we give everything back to God — Worship begins. Like the Magi, let us be wise by giving ourselves to God in worship and acknowledging that the source of our every blessing is Him.

JESUS—The Character of Humility
Our Christmas Story will not be complete unless we point you to the most important character of Christmas. No, it is not Joseph nor Mary, although both of them played significant roles. It’s not the angels, nor the shepherds, nor the Magi, though their part in the greatest love story ever told taught us lessons of value. It’s not even Santa Claus, he was not even there in the Christmas scene. Let us now point you to the center of our Celebration — our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” (The Prophet ISAIAH)

Jesus was God, mighty and powerful, and yet He chose to become a baby who needed to be nursed. He was reigning in heaven and yet he chose to suffer on earth. All this is because of you and me. His was a perfect example of humility. Will you follow His example? It takes humility to admit that you are a sinner. It takes humility to admit that your cannot save yourself. It takes humility to admit that you need Jesus to be your Savior. If you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, now is your opportunity to do so. You can receive Him into your life by praying the following sincerely from your heart:
“Dear Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Forgive me for my sins. Let me be the person that you meant me to be. With you in my heart, I will obey your will and purpose for my life. Thank you, thank you for coming to save me. In your name I pray, Amen.”
“We often hear it said, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” True, but of equal truth is the realization that in his perspective, WE ARE HIS REASON for bringing this Season.”

Flying Home from Cebu - Cagayan AT THE AIRPORT

Joshua at the MACTAN Airport, Cebu. Coming home from CAGAYAN de ORO and a side trip to MARAWI and ILIGAN. We had an overnight stay at Cebu City as well. We visited his cousins both from Trixie's family and mine. He enjoyed his cousins as well as the big Metro Cebu -- although we were there for only a few hours. I'm sure we will be back through these same routes in the future. We definitely will go back to Cagayan and Mindanao and Cebu :-) He is being trained as a missionary!

Class 101

Class 101 - The Purpose of His Life was held at the Bob's Brick Pit Restaurant last month. You see here the Small Groups in action. You also see here the restaurant's excellent ambience and service. More than 35 people came to attend this FREE Seminar given to all our friends and contacts at HLM. Organized well by Sister Gigi Diosana (she is new to the Staff at HLM), we had a successful day at this Class 101. The uniqueness of this Seminar was that, more and more sharers were taking turns to explain and discuss HLM's values, philosophy, doctrine, history and etc. It was a great afternoon. Class 101's are given usually every 3 months. In the coming year 2006, we might give it as often as monthly. Why not?

Josh and Trina Attends Birthday Party of JUD

Jud, the son of our brother Ranty and sister Faith turned 1 year old. It was also his Dedication Day to the Lord Jesus. Attended by family and friends, we all had a great time celebrating and fellowshipping with one another. These pictures were taken at the 2nd Floor of the newly renovated McDonalds at 6th Street Bacolod City. For your information this McDo branch is the 1st to have a McCafe shop outside Metro Manila.

His Life - Cagayan De Oro ABLAZED

Pastor Dante and Sister Pearls shared these pictures to me this week. His Life Cagayan is growing powerfully in their Sunday Celebrations through relationship building in Small Groups. They have 5 SMALL Groups formed in just 4 WEEKS! Isn't that amazing. Whenever you are at CAGAYAN ... just go to KFC, Divisoria Branch, Sundays 530 pm to see the group in ACTION. I believe in you guys! -- pastor jr here

Getting READY for THANKS ALLOT!

Here's a READING to begin with ... I borrowed this from "Our Daily Bread" Daily Reading Devotional Guide.

Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. —Hebrews 13:15

Throughout history, many cultures have set aside a time for expressing their thankfulness. In the United States, Thanksgiving Day originated with the pilgrims.

In the midst of extreme hardship, loss of loved ones, and meager supplies, they still believed they were blessed. They chose to celebrate God's blessings by sharing a meal with Native Americans who had helped them survive.

We know we've lost the spirit of that original celebration when we catch ourselves complaining that our Thanksgiving Day has been "spoiled" by bad weather, disappointing food, or a bad cold. It's we who are spoiled—spoiled by the very blessings that should make every day a day of thanksgiving, whatever our circumstances.
Billy Graham wrote, "Ingratitude is a sin, just as surely as is lying or stealing or immorality or any other sin condemned by the Bible." He then quoted Romans 1:21, one of the Bible's indictments against rebellious humanity. Then Dr. Graham added, "Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness."
Which condition describes you? — contributed by Joanie Yoder

A grumbling mood of discontent, Gives way to thankfulness, When we consider all God's gifts, And all that we possess. —Sper

Remembering MAMA "Nonoy" Remy Together

The following pictures were taken last November 1 at the Bacolod Memorial Park. Hundreds of people were there remembering their departed loved ones. For us -- it was Mama Nonoy. We not only had a meaningful reunion ... we also had food, fun with the kids, chats with each other and picture taking. PRAISE the LORD for the Hope we have in Christ Jesus -- our loved ones are in His side and a GREAT Reunion of Saints will happen in the future.

A collection of photos of the 1st Missonary Trip of Joshua to Mindanao! He visited Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Marawi City (an Islamic City) in the South of the Philippines. He enjoyed the trip ... he helped started our HLM Church Plant in the great, beautiful island of Mindanao.

JOSHUA's Cousins

After CAGAYAN ... we went to CEBU City! These pictures were taken at the house of Nong Charles and Manang Mera. Look how the kids have grown. Another set of pictures will be posted soon .... this time it will be Joshua's cousins -- the Larrazabals :-)