August 9: The Good Samaritan

August 23: The Prodigal Son

September 6: The Ten Virgins

September 20: Parables of the Kingdom and “The Kingdom in Our Eyes” exhibit

Insightful talks and fun activities abound!

Alpha & Omega Prayer and Praise Team

The Supper Episode

Team >2

Icthus

Bambang Prayer and Praise Team

Rich of Glory

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By Jed Gregorio

It was in the fifth century when Augustine said “Those who sing pray twice.” If that were the case, IEMELIF’s youth could well have prayed ten hours non-stop last July 12 in >2’s Worship concert.

This was an occasion of more than five hours of unprecedented worship through roughly a lineup of 30 songs, participated by youths, pastors, and members of the IEMELIF community—from host Katedral and other congregations including Bambang, Malate, Novaliches and Alpha & Omega.

The concert was held in celebration of >2’s first anniversary and Katedral’s Kabanatang Ilaw’s (KI) 79^th. Worship is third in >2’s “4 W’s” series.

At 3 p.m. the Morga Worship Hall was jampacked with more than thrice the regular KI attendees, clearly surpassing Matthew’s “more than two” standard, that where two or three are gathered in the Lord’s name, He is there with them. (Matthew 18:20)

Along with the opening melodies carried out by home band Icthus, we professed through song that our redeemer lives, that all of our days we will sing of his greatness and speak of his grace, that there is power here for a miracle—words that may now seem alien when not sung!

Clear in this instance is what John Calvin, a pastor during the Protestant Reformation, meant when he talked about the psalms of David. When we sing, “we are certain that God puts in our mouths these, as if he himself were singing in us to exalt his glory.” If the KI organizers were to borrow from Calvin’s reflection, the fructification of the Worship experience, like every time music and song are present in our fellowships, was when we spoke to God using His own words.

It was more than fitting that General Superintendent Bishop El Lazaro asked: Are our songs enough for the level of praise that is for God? (Don’t worry Bishop El, in due time the speakers will be booming!) Bishop El also burrowed into the significance of having music played and songs sung in our local congregations be rooted from uniquely Filipino perspectives.

In fact, IEMELIF band Supper Episode, who played second in the lineup, answered to this right away by churning out an original song, Binhi (Seed). Guest band Rich of Glory, who played last, did the same while lifting from the book of Psalms: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” (Psalm 98:1) They played songs like Wala Akong Masabi (I’m Speechless), fresh from their new, independently produced album.

Mostly youth-composed bands Alpha & Omega and Bambang Prayer and Praise Teams and Katedral home bands Ichthus and Team >2 played a musically diverse selection, getting us to either sway steadily on our seats—like when we sang, “All for love a Father gave,  for only love could make a way… All for love the heavens cried, for love was crucified…”—or clap while on our feet: “We are the redeemed, we are the ones who are free, and we belong to Jesus!”

There were times when amid the songs, in internal solitude, we prayed. Some of us shared, in consolation, with our friends the moment when they were consumed in blessed emotion that brought them to tears. “I’m happy to be in the truth and I will daily lift my hands, for I will always sing of when your love came down. I could sing of your love forever,” Icthus sang.

“Sama-sama”, co-composed by Icthus and KI President Noemi Mayor, couldn’t have better encapsulated the night that was: “Kaya’t kami ngayo’y naririto, sama-samang nagpupuri’t sumasamba, nagsasabing Panginoon, dakila ka! Iisang damdamin, iisang hangarin, ang ngalan mo Hesus itataas namin! (We are here now, together, praising and worshiping you, Lord, with one goal in mind: to glorify your name!)”

This we all did, sama-sama, to do just as it was written, to “sing for joy to God our strength, shout aloud to the God of Jacob!” (Psalm 81:1-2)

KEEP COMING BACK, GOD IS HERE WITH US!

If you have questions, suggestions, comments about >2: More Than Two, send us love at: ki.morethantwo@gmail.com or text us here: (0915) 985-2910. We’d love to hear from you!

(Click here for more photos)

The second to the last topic of our Blueprints series was a topic that is, let’s say, a crowd favorite. This is the topic that most teenagers (not only teenagers, actually) nowadays look forward to: Relationships. For when you speak of this word, the boy-girl relationship first comes to mind. But in this More Than Two episode, we tackled God’s will in not only this kind of relationship but also the ones we have with our parents/family, peers and friends and, ofcourse, with our Savior.

Our speaker for this episode is someone who is knowledgable and is someone who actually talks about the said topic for a living, is none other than Tita Malyn Cristobal. First, we were asked, “How do we find God’s will?” We simply have to consult the Bible for it gives us values and guidlines for life. The Spiritual Disciplines we know will also help us in knowing what really is the will of God for us.

The burning question was asked: What is Love? and the answer that we got was “Love is not a feeling, it’s hardwork.” It’s true, when you love someone, you work hard to keep that relationship going on. It’s something you have to do every single day.

It was said that falling in love is not love, it is consciously and unconsciously sexually motivated; only an attraction. It may be followed by falling out of love. Sometimes, we may not be in love, we are in need. Falling in love is an ecstatic feeling while Loving is an action to be done. Keep in mind that true love starts with yourself. We cannot give something we don’t have.

Another answer to the “What is Love?” question was, God is Love. No matter what, keep seeking Him. Release, and trust only in God totally. This is something we hear all the time, though we think of it as a cliche, this episode gave us the opportunity to think about this saying more deeply.

KEEP COMING BACK, GOD IS HERE WITH US!

If you have questions, suggestions, comments about >2: More Than Two, send us love at: ki.morethantwo@gmail.com or text us at these numbers: (0915) 985-2910 / (0921) 252-1888. We’d love to hear from you!