I beseech you therefore , brethren , by the mercies of God , that you present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable to God , which is your reasonable service . 2And do not be conformed to this world , but transformed by the renewing of your mind , that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God . Romans 12 : 1 , 2 NKJV

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth , for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away . Also there was no more sea . 2 Then I , John ,[ a ] saw the holy city , New Jerusalem , coming down out of heaven from God , prepared as a bride adorned for her husband … Then He who sat on the throne said , “ Behold , I make all things new .” And He said to me ,[ a ] “ Write , for these words are true and faithful . Revelation 21 : 1,2,5 NKJV

We wish you all a Very Happy New Year . First of all , I want to thank the Good Lord for His bountiful blessings

and love for all of us . Many of us have gone through tough times this year . Some have lost their loved ones , others their jobs but God did not forsake us . Soon , we will usher in a New Year . What will it bring ? One of our popular national song says , “ Bagong taon ay magbagong-buhay ,”. The Apostle Paul says that we should not be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we can present our bodies as a holy , acceptable living sacrifice to God . But we could not renew our life on our own because we are sinful and powerless to overcome the temptations that come to us from Satan . It is only through the power of God that we can live a new and victorious Christian life . By constant communication with God through prayer and studying His Word , the Bible , we can take hold of the promises of deliverance from the power of the evil ones , ( Satan and his angels ). The Bible is the only book in the world that when we peruse and

study its pages can change our lives for the better . The Red Book of Mao Tze Tung or the Communist Manifesto , or Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler cannot make us Christians . It can make us better guerrillas or NPAs , maybe , but certainly not useful Christian citizens .

I would like to repeat this quote from the speech of King George V for the New Year in 1939 . There ’ s a lot of truth in it . The poem was given to him by his 13 year old daughter , Princess Elizabath .““ I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year , ‘ Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown .’ And he replied , ‘ Go out into the darkness , and put your hand into the Hand of God . That shall be better than light , and safer than a known way .’”*

One hymn writer wrote this song ; “ Transformed by grace divine / The glory shall be Thine / To Thy most holy will , O Lord / We now our all resign .’ Captain John Newton was a slaver , meaning that he used to go

to Africa to capture blacks and bring them to America as slaves . When he converted t o Christianity , he wrote one song that has become very popular . “ Amazing Grace , how sweet the sound , that saved a wretch like me . I once was lost , but now I ’ m found ; Was blind but now I see .”

God promises to make all things new . We will have new supernatural bodies that will not die or get sick and feeling pain . There will be no painful partings , we will see those loved ones who died in the Lord and are resurrected to glorious bodies .

May it be our resolution this year to put our hand in the hand of God because we will be secure in His hands because they are strong enough to tackle all our life ’ s difficulties . We can be renewed by His grace and

His love if only we will let Him . King David said in his prayer in Psalm 51 : 10-11 , “ Create in me a clean heart , O God , And renew a steadfast spirit within me . 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence , And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me .”. AMEN . MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE .

For prayer , questions and Bible study , call Pastor Macaraig at 604- 928- 3579 , Ben at 604-581-1278 , Junjun at 778-927-8040 , and Stanley at 604-700-3053 . You are invited to worship with us every Sabbath ( Saturday ) at the Abundant Life Community Seventh-day Adventist Church at 13062-104 Avenue , Surrey . Welcome .

is about a God who loved the

hard work help us rise above

world so much that He sent

our humble beginnings and

His only Son , so that we will

limitations .

have eternal life ( Jn . 3 , 16 ).

During

the

dawn

As

it

was

on

the

first

Mass last Dec . 18 , the last

Christmas , is there no room

candle in the Advent wreath

for the Lord in our hearts ? Are

( representing love ) did not

we still so full of ourselves that

light up , but the one assigned

there is no room for prayer ,

to light it did not give up . She

forgiveness ,

kindness

and

kept on trying until she finally

purity in our hearts ?

succeeded , to the delight

It has been 2,016 years

of the whole congregation .

since Jesus was born . Twothirds

The light went off three more

of the world has not yet

times , but she kept on trying .

heard nor accepted Him and

It was a beautiful reminder for

His message . Has our country

us not to give up on love , and

for that matter accepted the

not to stop loving .

Gospel values He has given

Christmas is sharing , to us ? On a personal note , let so I am sharing with you to live with their little wounds us ask ourselves today : Has something which a friend caused by their closeness , but

Jesus made a difference in shared with me . It ’ s about which also gave the warmth my own life ? porcupines ; in winter they that made them survive .

Every Dec . 18 , birthday have to keep close to each

May we learn to live with of my Papa ( Guillermo ), I say other to keep themselves the imperfections and pricks the Misa de Gallo in Antipolo warm , but in the process of of people around us . As the

Street , Sampaloc , Manila , to doing so , they prick each

“ Desiderata ” says : “ With all its honor him , who stayed in a other because of their sharp sham , drudgery , and broken boarding house along the quills . dreams , it ’ s still a beautiful riles when he was taking up

So it is told that a group world .” Let us not give up on law at the University of the of porcupines decided to each other . Merry Christmas

Philippines ,

Padre

Faura , distance themselves from one everyone !

Manila . Papa always told us another . But they began to

Think about this : “ The to have hope and vision , and die , alone and frozen . Finally favors we give away to others , a sense of mission in spite of they decided to go back to and the blessings we share are humble beginnings . Faith

WWW and . PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY being together , and learned . COM like boomerangs . They come