VIDEO (What’s it all about, Alfie?)
This song comes from the movie of the same title, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” It’s the story of a womanizer who thinks that life revolves around him. Until he gradually realizes the consequences of his actions. Now, I’m not recommending that you watch this movie. I haven’t seen it myself and don’t intend to but the lyrics of the song talk about many people’s situation.
“What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
then I guess it’s wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
what will you lend on an old golden rule?
As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there’s something much more,
something even non-believers can believe in.”
Sounds even like a Christian song.
There are many Alfies in this world. And I’m not talking about the womanizers only.
Alfies are those who think that life revolves around them because they live in the present only. They believe that life’s all there is and, therefore, behave in a way that would satisfy their own desires and ambitions only. In short, they have this misguided notion that life is all about them.
Since the beginning of time, people have acted selfishly. In fact, for a long time people believed that man is the center of the universe because they observed that the earth seemed to be stationary while the sun and moon and stars revolve around it. This is what the ancient Greeks believed and this was the prevailing belief also during the middle ages. People who said otherwise were persecuted like Galileo Galilei. It was total heresy to say that the earth revolve around the sun. It’s like saying that man is not important. That he is just a speck of dust in the universe. That he is not the center of attention but a mere observer.
Now, it is not so hard to understand why people think this way. This is a carry-over of our attitude since we came into this world. Notice young children, they say “mine” all the time. Then, they act as if the universe revolves around them. They are impatient, they want all their desires and needs to be met right away. If not, they cry or throw temper tantrums just to get attention.
Some people still act like little children. They want things in a hurry, they bulldoze other people in trying to get their way, they don’t share their stuff, they brag about themselves, they are just always looking out for # 1 and that #1 is them. In short, they think that life is all about them.
The Bible says otherwise. It says,
I. It’s Not About You
Those are the first four words in Rick Warren’s popular book, “The Purpose-Driven Life.” The book gives reasons why it’s not about you. You see, when we look at the Bible, we can get a better perspective about our place in the universe. Moses wrote a psalm, Psalm 90, and says to God, “You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.”
Moses says we’re not the center of the universe and so stop acting like one. We have to realize that we’re not the boss and we cannot order people around. We’re here not to be served. We’re not to do things without thinking of others.
There’s this joke about a pilot, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, the Pope, and a pizza delivery man who were all in a plane together traveling through stormy conditions.
Suddenly, the pilot came running back to the passengers and announced that lightning had hit the plane, and they were going to crash in a matter of minutes. "There are only enough parachutes for four of the five of us," he announced. "Since I’m the pilot, I get one!" After saying this, the pilot grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the plane.
"I’m the world’s greatest athlete," proclaimed Michael Jordan. "This world needs great athletes, so I must live." Michael Jordan then grabbed a parachute and leaped out of the plane.
"I’m the smartest man in the world," bragged Bill Gates. "The world needs smart men, so I must also live!" Bill Gates grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the plane.
At this point, the Pope began to speak and said to the pizza delivery man. "I have lived a long life compared to you, and you may take the last parachute. I will go down with the plane."
"You don’t have to stay here!” the pizza man said. “The world’s smartest man jumped out of the plane with my backpack."
When you think only of yourself, when you are self-centered, more often than not, disaster awaits you. We see this happening in our careers, in our relationships, in our finances, in our health, and so on.
For example, one of the reasons why some relationships break down is because there is no give and take. We think only of what we can get out of the relationship and not what we can put into it. We want other people to serve us. We try to avoid serving them. This can happen with your spouse, with your children, with your friends, with co-workers, even with churchmates.
And then also, the reason why some people are in deep debt is because they want to accumulate things they don’t even need. They have an iPhone, an iPod, an iPad, a tablet, a macbook, a desktop, a laptop, a netbook, a smartphone, a not-so-smartphone, a TV, an HDTV, a 3D TV, a car, another car, still another car. We just can’t get enough of anything. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having all those things. If you really need them. But if those things are just extras, and cause you to have headaches because your credit cards are already maxed out, then something’s wrong. Something’s wrong when you’re a slave to possessions instead of possessions being slaves to you.
Another thing, the reason why some people have poor health is because they like to indulge in junk food and in high-cholesterol food, and in fatty foods and all that. They taste great but the results for one’s health are not that great. I know we have lechon today but in the spirit of celebration, today is an exception. Just repent afterwards.
But you know what, I myself have not been careful about my health. Do you know that, altho’ I’m skinny I had a high cholesterol level? 260! Way above the normal level of less than 200. I was a candidate for a heart attack. In the middle of this year, my doctor told me to go on a low-cholesterol diet.
And so, I avoided all the foods I liked—chicharon, leche flan, boiled eggs, steak, lechon kawali, crispy pata, and so on. And instead, I forced myself to eat food that didn’t taste good to me like oatmeal, wheat bread, walnuts, almonds, and so on. After three months of torture, my food discipline bore fruit, my cholesterol level went down to 220. In December, my doctor is going to check me again. And hopefully, it will go down below 200 and I can celebrate. And I can go back to eating my favorite chicharon snack! Some of you are thinking, “I want to know who his doctor is. I have to avoid that doctor.”
Folks, when we think that it’s about us, we tend to be careless, controlling and materialistic. I do things based on what will make me more happy, secure, and important. I don’t care what your need is, I care only about what I need. I don’t even care whether it’s good for me or not. All I care is what satisfies and gratifies me at the moment.
And that is the key word: SATISFACTION.
We all are longing for something. Sadly, many people can’t identify it. Because of this longing and this unidentified need in their hearts, they resort to various means in order to fulfill this longing, to fill this need. They buy things they don’t need, they drink the night away, they party, they go to Disneyland, they enter relationships, they surf the net and enter forbidden web sites, they bully others. But all these are just temporary fixes.
Alfie, the womanizer in the movie, doesn’t realize that he is longing for real love that’s why he goes from one woman to another. The last verse of the song goes like this:
“I believe in love, Alfie. Without true love we just exist, Alfie. Until you find the love you’ve missed you’re nothing, Alfie. When you walk let your heart lead the way and you’ll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.”
Folks, love is the answer. Love is all what we’re looking for. And where do we find true love? In God! St. Augustine once said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
So, it’s not about you. It’s not about others. It’s not about possessions. It’s not about human relationships.
II. It’s All About Him
Until we realize that it’s not about us, but about God, we’ll continue to connect to things that really don’t matter. The Bible tells us that the reason we feel so empty, so powerless, so meaningless – is because we’re connecting to things that have no power. They don’t really do anything. It’s like plugging your television into a tomato – you can do it – but it’s not going to do anything.
We have to connect to the real source of power and that is God. The truth is, God is not hard to find. Paul writes in the book of Acts (17:24-28), “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
It is from God that the power flows. It’s when we’re connected to him that all these other things which we’ve tried to plug into have actual value. When we’re connected to God the energy flows from Him, through us into our relationships – and they become real. And when we’re connected to Him the power goes into our service, our causes, the things we want to change and transform in this world – and they mean something.
In this church, many have already realized that God is all that matters. They have put aside their own desires, ambitions, whims and caprices in order to put God above everything else. Starting from Pastor Romy to Tita Kaye to Tita Annie and to all others who followed after them, all focus has been on God in this church. We know that if God is not first place, all our efforts would be in vain.
Today we are celebrating the anniversary of the church. We want to give glory to God. And the verse we’re talking about gives two reasons why we need to glorify God for the things he has done. These two reasons are two main characteristics of God.
First, we’re glorifying him because of his love. The Bible says “God is love.” (1 John 4:8). That is his nature. It is this love of God that established this church. He filled this church with his love so that right at the start people could find a place where to experience his love. And this love continues today. The reason I came to this church two years ago, and we were still meeting at CRBC back then, is not because of the soft, comfortable pews but because of the love I felt from people who welcomed me and offered me their love. And I’m sure those who are coming today feel the same way too, Amen?
The Bible boldly proclaims there is only one love in the universe that has what it takes to meet this love-starved world. And it’s God’s love. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord said ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with loving kindness.’”
Some of you wonder why you’re at Fil-Am. You wonder why you came today. It’s because God’s love is drawing you to him. God loves you very deeply and he wants you to know it today.
There are a lot of deep needs that we have but to be loved hits at a very basic human need. Your greatest need is not money. Your greatest need is not success. Your greatest need is not fame. Your greatest need is not another job. Your greatest need is to be loved. Not sentimental love, not sexual love, but God’s love. And because we so desperately want to be loved, we’re willing to do desperate things to get love. Like the son who wants to achieve something great, like graduate at the top of his class because he wants to get his dad’s approval. Or like the girl who puts on make-up in order to get the attention of her crush. We do desperate things to get love. But they all for short.
That’s where God’s love is so different. God’s love says, “There is no limit.” Ephesians 3, Paul says, “I pray that you may be able to feel and understand how long, how wide, how deep and how high His love really is and to experience this love for yourself.”
The other reason why we’re glorifying God today is because of his faithfulness. Over and over again, the Bible says that God is faithful. He consistently provides, protects, and keeps his promises. He makes sure that he is alongside his children, guiding them along the way. He says in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Through the years, the folks at Fil-Am have seen how God has been faithful. We cannot deny the fact that in the past the church faced great challenges in the areas of money, relationships, and what-not. But through it all, God helped the church through those obstacles and that’s why the church is still here. And we’re confident that God will continue to keep us under his wings as we face the challenges today and in the future. Amen?
Folks, it’s all about Him. And I want us to keep our focus on God as we enter the new year in about a month’s time. And so, I thought that we’re going to extend this theme to next year. But, we’re going to make it more specific and special. The theme for next year will then be, “It’s All About Jesus”. The supporting verse will not be Psalm 115:1 but John 3:30 where John the Baptist, referring to Jesus, says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
I envision for us putting our focus more and more on Jesus. We’ll lift his name, we’ll magnify his name. In the sermons preached, in our Bible studies, in our classes, as much as possible, we’ll focus on who Jesus is to get much closer to him in order to know him better as our Lord, Teacher, Master, and Savior. Sounds good to you?
To complement this, we’re going to a slogan that go like this “See the Change. Feel the Change. Be the Change.” Thanks to Pastor Dave for suggesting this. I thought this was good. You see, as we look to Jesus, the Word of God and his Word, the Bible, we’ll see the kind of change or changes he commands as to make, then as we go deeper in our study of God and apply his principles in our lives through our IMPACT class and home groups, we will feel the change and then, we ourselves become the change agents who will make a difference in other people’s lives. Sounds good to you too?
Ok, we’re not finished yet. One more point. So, we learned already that it’s not about you. It’s all about him. And as soon as we turn our eyes from ourselves to Jesus, we then discover that
III. It’s Going to Happen
What’s going to happen? The miracles in your life. The blessings he will give you. You will receive blessings from God. Things you never thought possible. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
If you put God first place in your life, if you honor him with all your being, he will honor you back. He says in 1 Samuel 2:30, “Those who honor me I will honor.”
Folks, this church has honored Jesus through the years. And God has honored this church by way of blessing it with many things. One of the blessings are the lives that have changed and are being changed by the power of his love. And in this anniversary celebration, I believe God is going to bless it some more. With what? You’ve got stick around after the service to know what it is.
How many of you follow football? Now, there’s a new word coined in football language called “Tebowing”. It’s being in a posture like this. If you google it, you’ll see pictures of people tebowing. Obviously, they do it for fun. Tebowing was coined after Tim Tebow, the second-year quarterback of the Denver Broncos. You see, every time his team scores a touchdown, he will go down on his knees like that. That’s Tim Tebow himself. What do you think he’s doing? He is praying, giving praises to God. It’s no secret to football fans that that’s what he’s actually doing. You see, this young quarterback doesn’t hide the fact he is a Christian. In college, he even painted his face with a Bible verse like that. He is not ashamed of Jesus. People know it. They even say that he is the guy that you would like your daughter to marry because he lives a squeaky-clean life. And this guy is a winner. He has won championships in college and was also awarded the prestigious Heisman Trophy because of his achievements.
Tebow entered the professional league last year, the NFL. Many football coaches and owners however doubted his abilities because of his unorthodox style. They thought that he wouldn’t be able to compete in the more aggressive and competitive style of football in the NFL. The Broncos, however, took a chance on him. Last year, he wasn’t used much by his team. This year, they didn’t use him again. They used another quarterback but the team, after five games, had won only one. So, they gambled on Tebow.
And in the next five games, they had only one loss. Tebow won four games in miraculous fashion according to sports commentators. They won against stronger teams. Suddenly, he is the toast of the football world. People are starting to believe in him. Last Thursday night, I watched how he pulled out a miracle win again for his team.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I believe that God is honoring him because he honors God in his life, in his actions, in his words.
Tebow was born in Makati City in the Philippines, the son of Pamela Pemberton Tebow, daughter of a U.S. Army colonel, and Robert Ramsey Tebow, a pastor, who were serving as Baptist missionaries at the time. While pregnant, his mother suffered a life-threatening infection with a pathogenic amoeba. Because of the drugs used to rouse her from a coma and to treat her dysentery, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors had expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion to protect her life, but she remained undaunted and refused having an abortion. Now, Tim Tebow is strong and healthy. Every now and then,he goes to the Philippines for missionary work.
So, Tebow’s mother honored God and because of that, God honored her by giving her a child that would bring honor to his family and God.
Friend, I would like you to focus on that verse on Tebow’s face. John 3:16. That’s a very important verse. A life-changing verse. This verse goes like this, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Friend, maybe you’re tired of running after things to satisfy your desires. Maybe, you’re doing something that you’re ashamed of and you know deep in your heart that it’s wrong. Maybe, you’ve hurt people in your pursuit of your goals. Maybe, your focus has always been on yourself that you indulge in things that are not really important. And you want to change. But you don’t know how.
Friend, this morning, God is giving you the opportunity to change. You see, he loves you more than you could ever know. He loves you enough to sacrifice his own Son Jesus on the cross. You see, Jesus came to earth to die for your sins. You may even think that you’ve committed the worst sin. But God’s grace is more than enough to cover that sin. Jesus died on the cross to forgive you of your sins. As the Bible says, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22).
All you need to do is to humble yourself, admit you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You do it by faith. Because your good works cannot save you. Your being religious cannot save you. Only Jesus can save you. The Bible says in Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
As the Praise and Worship Team comes to the front, I want everybody to please bow your heads and close your eyes.
(To request the video in the introduction and PowerPoint slides, please email rollye830@yahoo.com)
