CHRISTMAS 2009 will be a grand and different celebration at Baclaran Unida Church – it will run for ten days. From December 16 up to December 25, 2009 BUC will literally glow with the spirit of Advent. The theme will run through one Spanish word: S A L V A C I ON and it will be storytelling time from the start of Simbang Gabi. Storytelling of the Christmas Story in songs, prose and dance.
Christmas is a celebration of God’s Love. In the beginning was the Word and He created the whole universe making man as the center of all His creations. Why did it become necessary that God has to give His only begotten son so that Salvation may come? If it be our wish to know of this, we must go back to the beginning and hear the whole story from day one like a Christmas Teleserye.
December 16, Mierkules - Tesalonica at Young Adults “Ang Pasimula at Paglikha” Patnugot: Michelle Vizcarra Storyteller: Abi David December 17, Huwebes - Efeso at Kalalakihan “Si Rahab at ang 2 Espiya” Patnugot: Arnold Limpin Storyteller: Billy Limpin December 18, Biernes – Antioch at Kabataan - “Bakit Bethlehem?” (Boaz, Ruth at Noemi) Patnugot: Elba David Storyteller: Asher Pascua December 19, Sabado – Colosas at Kababaihan “Si Samuel, David, at Goliath” Patnugot: Baby Padilla Storyteller: Ira David December 20, Linggo – Filipos at Koro “Juan Bautista, Elizabeth at Zacarias” Patnugot: Mecce Espiritu Storyteller: Nash Limpin December 21, Lunes – Galacia at Mga Diakonisa “Si Jose, ang kaniyang lahi, at ang Anghel” Patnugot: Pining Bederico Storyteller: Genesis Luz December 22, Martes – Corinto at Mga Elders “Si Maria, ang tala, at ang Tatlong Hari” Patnugot: Miriam Pascua Storyteller: JP Manuel December 23, Mierkules – Sunday School “Nang Gabing Isilang si Jesus” December 24, Huwebes On Christmas Eve, it is traditional for the church to stage a Christmas Drama. But this year, we are going to go beyond this. We are going to shoot a video teleplay entitled, you guessed it, “SALVACION” and show it that night, plus of course live singing of Christmas Carols. Different and yet not that different.
The bad news is that the script had to be written for the storytellers and the drama of December 16-25. It is truly a daunting task! But the good news is that I have finished writing the script for the storytelling and drama and Lance and Nikki will direct the whole thing. And it only took three days to write. We have started rehearsals and are scheduled to shoot the whole day of November 28 in different locations. Reshoot and post-production will follow.
One of the things that bothered me is the fact that churches celebrates Christmas with dramas and thanksgiving worship on the eve of his birth. Yet on the very day of his birth the churches are closed. But not in Baclaran because we have a Happy Birthday Jesus Worship on Christmas Day, December 25 every year.
December 25, Biernes – Happy Birthday Jesus Christmas Worship Patnugot: Pred. Irvin Rebucas Tagpagsalita: Rev. G.B. Filio Ang Koro ay aawit ng dalawang Christmas Hymns Pastoral Family Singers will sing. Offertory: Marigold dela Cruz There will be singing groups and solo singers We will come out with a DVD of the whole activity and we are sorry we cannot put it in our youtube channel because it will be too long. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
WHEN DISASTER STRIKES, EVERYONE is caught unawares and totally surprised. “This can’t be happening. It has never happened before.”
This came out of our lips when Typhoon Ondoy poured rain water equivalent according to PAG-ASA to one month of rain. And it surely felt that way Saturday when the street in front of our house flooded in the wink of an eye. Looking out to where the sea was, we saw Roxas Boulevard under water and the water flowing into our direction instead of out to sea.
We went into the rain to assess the situation forgetting that I had my cell phone in my pocket. It conked out. Then I saw in the intersecting street my son Bengene in his small car trying to turn left into our house but by then the street was under water so I signaled him to back up. But because of the rain, he can’t see his rear so I went to him and guided him going backward to park in front of Ate Pet’s house.
I went back and saw our street flooded and the drainage clogged. I reached down and found a wet rug blocking it. I forced it out. Flood water came rushing down, with all the plastic bags, lots of them. I told one of the guys to guard the plastics from blocking the water.
Then I realized that if our street is flooded what about those places that are flooded when we are not? We thought about the house where our grandson Eli stays. We were informed that the front of house is already under water.
A day after we learned the extent of the disaster and another day later we are seeing the full gloomy news. Flood went into Gagalangin Unida Church, Tipas is under water and will stay so for a week or perhaps a month, Tipas Unida Church is surrounded by water and worshippers will have to go by banca to worship, and we received the news that our Pastor Rainier was rescued from the roof of their house. A lot of cars and vans were submerged in water.
Government agencies are busy rescuing people and feeding and curing those in evacuation centers. It will take a lot of time before we recover from this disaster.
BACK to the UNIDA SCHOOL OF FAITH! Ang Layunin ng Baclaran Unida Evangelical Church sa taong ito ay: “Upang linangin ang kakayahang ang bawa’t isa ay mayroong binagong buhay, at magkaroon ng isang iglesiang buhay at gumagabay.”
In line with this, the church has initiated a return to the School of Faith by means of a joint Sunday School (Youth, Young Adults, and Adults) every fourth Sunday of the month.
The congregation were asked to write down questions and more than fifty were submitted and are now being answered by the panel of Church Workers: Rev. Gamaliel Filio and Preds. Irvin Rebucas and Lance Filio.
The church has a channel at youtube, a blogsite, and a PODCAST. Visit us at www.youtube.com/PastorGalying, www.bagongunida.blogspot.com, and www.churchcloud.com/ieudc/sermons.
There is now great rejoicing in our family. Out of the blue, our youngest son Lance got the call from God to be a Pastor. He was ordained last May 16, 2009 at Unida Christian Center.
He is an Electronics Communications Engineer, graduated with honors from Mapua Institute of Technology, a manager with Eastern Telecommunications and for the longest time has been saying he will not be a pastor. But God works in mysterious ways.
His style is that of his grandfather Obispo Genio, not mine. But I take credit for the fact that he does research and writes his own materials, not copying nor adapting from others, thank God.
He and wife Nikki got their test of faith early. Last October 2007, their youngest son Eli was born a blue baby, one with inverted heart arteries and had to be operated on at Philippine Heart Center when only a week old.
Lance and Nikki passed the test of faith and Eli is now a precocious lad who laid both his hands on the back of his father and uttered Amen on the day that he was ordained.
THE following video amazes me. It is posted at youtube and we have favorited it in our channel www.youtube.com/PastorGalying and we are also posting it here at http://bagongunida.blogspot.com. It features the youngest son of Dr. Aladin Mariano, a heart surgeon par excellance and youngest son of the late Rev. Laureano Mariano of Tipas Unida Church. This is the piano recital of Andrew at his graduation. Bravo! Dr. Al and wife Dra. Evelyn and family are based in Chicago, USA.
VISION STATEMENT A serving and caring church faithfully proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and commissioning every believer to make disciples of all nations.
MISSION STATEMENT Glorify God by equipping the church in reaching and serving people with the Love of Jesus Christ by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
UNIDA CHURCH has a distinctive name and a place in the history of the Philippines. It followed the prophetic observation in 1903 by Rev. John Bancropt Devins “that Filipino Protestants will be self-supporting”: (Wikipedia Encyclopedia) “In 1932, six of the smaller indigenous denominations formed the Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo.”
UNIDA dared to declare economic independence by turning down American dollars to become self-supporting. It was hard going for them because their pastors did not receive anything from the church and the members built churches on their own without aid from the Americans. But with so much faith in God’s provisions they did. Unida is now 77 years old and going strong.
Jose Rizal dreamed of an economically independent Philippines but that remained a dream. For the country, that is. But for 77 years Unida was free from foreign intervention because they were economically independent.
The IGLESIA EVANGELICA UNIDA DE CRISTO or UNIDA CHURCH, the truly Filipino Protestant Church, was born on January 3, 1932 but the seeds that gave birth to it were sown at the turn of the century. It was preceded by the birth pangs of an independent Filipino Nation and emboldened by the coming to the Philippines of Protestantism and consequently the right to read and own a BIBLE. (For more please click for older post "UNIDA: A TRULY FILIPINO PROTESTANT CHURCH"
About Me
REV. GAMALIEL B. FILIO
Administrative Pastor of Baclaran Unida Church, A Spirit-Powered Church founded on the "KAISA" Prayer of Jesus Christ, John 17:11&20
1 Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
