Gospel Meeting with New Congregation in Pasay

Today’s schedule was a one-day gospel meeting with the new congregation in Pasay. Brother Rody Gumpad and numerous brethren in the Manila area have wanted a congregation to be started in this vital area because it is easily accessible to central Manila and the business district. Literally millions of people live and work in this area. Rody has found a very accessible and functional place with room to accommodate about 70 to 80 people for services and at a very good rate for that area. Today’s attendance was 43 people.

After several songs and a prayer, I preached on “God’s Use of the Prophets to Speak His Word,” a lesson on the verbal inspiration of the Scripture and its implications. Lordy Salunga joined us in the work, teaching on the “Restoration of the New Testament Church.” Both lessons were received well by the audience with good interest and attention demonstrated by all. After lunch, I gave a final sermon on “Salvation and Saul” which focused on the place of water baptism in the gospel plan of salvation. An invitation was extended at the close of the service, but there were no visible responses.

There was a question/answer period after the lessons where one man who had previously “been baptized” again demonstrated his growing doubts due to a failure to grow in God’s word and an over-dependence on his own ideas (mostly in conflict with clearly revealed truth). We continue to pray that he will humble himself and return to a reverence of God and respect for His revealed will. His argumentative questions did make it evident how clear God’s word is in answering the doubts coming from a lack of faith and a rejection of God’s simple truth in favor of human speculation and compromise. In an odd way, his growing lack of faith spurred a greater faith in God’s truth on the part of those opening their hearts to the simplicity of truth. We trust God’s word will have its intended effect and not return unto Him void.