CCFers flocked to the Araneta Coliseum last August 30 to celebrate 25 years of God’s faithfulness with two worship services at 10AM and 3PM.

Gary Valenciano at CCF 25th Anniversary

Kuh Ledesma at CCF 25th Anniversary

CCF Senior Pastor Peter Tan-Chi delivered an important message as he stressed the urgency and significance of sharing the gospel to the whole world. Based on CCF’s mission found in Matthew 28:18-20, he said that there are 97 million people in the Philippines that need to hear the gospel, and that the mission of sharing Jesus Christ to them is just beginning. “There may be at least 20,000 people here in Araneta but that’s nothing compared to what’s out there. People need Jesus in their lives.”

In the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, Pastor Tan-Chi said that the heart of the gospel is that Jesus Christ spent time with sinners. He added that according to famous author CS Lewis, pain, such as the one experienced by the younger son in the story, serves as the megaphone of God. “Many of you have heard the gospel but if you don’t listen to God, your heart will become callous. Either you are drawn closer to God or you run away,” he said.

His message ended when he asked the crowd to stand up and to make that commitment to God – of making Christ-committed followers who will make committed followers of Christ.

Brothers in Christ Ronald Talagtag and Ivan Tan also shared their testimonies of how God transformed their lives. Talagtag, who was once a womanizer and bore eight children to eight different women, experienced God’s grace when he attended a marital counsel seminar and then, several retreats thereafter to improve his marriage and his relationship with his wife. Tan, on the other hand, used to lean on money and power for security until he realized God’s grace during an escape in the US, and there, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Well-renowned singers and personalities Kuh Ledesma and Gary Valenciano also shared their time and talent to the worship services, with “Above All” and “Take Me Out of the Dark” being sung respectively.

As early as 7:30AM and 12:30PM on both services, people were already lining up to get inside Araneta Coliseum. The program started with a video shown onscreen on how CCF started, and a welcome message by Pastor Joby Soriano.
An estimate of more than 32,000 people attended, including members from different satellite churches such as CCF Pampanga, CCF Marilao and CCF Malolos.

Article written by Excel Dyquiangco
Photos taken by Enrico De Leon and Boyet Francisco

CCF celebrates its 25th Anniversary today with two worship services at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City. There are two worship services, at 10:00am and 3:00pm, which will also be streamed live on the web.

Below is the program for the worship services:

1. CCF History Video
2. Praise and Worship
3. Welcome Message (Ptr. Joby Soriano)
4. Special Number (Kuh Ledesma for both services; Gary Valenciano for the 3:00)
5. Video
6. Testimonies (Ronald Talagtag and Ivan Tan)
7. Message
8. Movement Video
9. “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
10. Closing Praise and Worship

We praise God for the years that he has given us as a church and as a community. Join us in celebration and prayer, that we can continue serving and glorifying His name!

Question: Jonathan M. questioned the appropriateness of using Revelation 3:20 in the presentation of the gospel which according to him seems to be out of context since the original readers of John’s letter to the Laodiceans were already Christians (or it seems that way since they belonged to the local church).

Answer: I think the confusion arises because another NT writer, the Apostle Paul, addresses his readers in the different local churches that he writes to as “saints.” However I believe that, while it was out of diplomacy for Paul in his letters to address the members of a church as “saints”, in reality there exists within the churches he started, elements which are not exactly genuinely saved (e.g. Acts 20:30, Romans 16:17-19, 2 Tim. 4:10).

The Apostle John, on the other hand was less diplomatic to members of the church in his letters to them. A specific example of this is Diotrephes in 3 John 9-11. Other examples can be found in 1 John 3:10, 15; 4:20; 5:2. Therefore, I believe that in the church in Laodicea which was also written by John, he was reflecting the patience of Jesus in inviting the members of the local congregation who have not yet really accepted Jesus.

Likewise in CCF, although Pastor Peter addresses everyone in the Church as Christians, he is also aware that it is quite possible some may have not yet really accepted or received God’s gracious provision of His Son as payment for their sins and are still clinging on to salvation by their own merits. Therefore, the use of Revelation 3:20 for non-Christians is still in keeping with how it was originally written for unconverted church goers.

We thank God for technology that creates new ways to bring his word to everyone. We are happy to announce that, beginning with the 25th Anniversary Service, we will be web-streaming our worship services live!

Tune in to these links:

<http://www.ccf.org.ph/sunday-messages/live-service>
<http://www.livestream.com/ccf_livestream>*

at these times (Philippine time / UTC+8):

25th Anniversary Service, 30 August 2009
10:00am
3:00pm

Every Sunday after that!
8:00am
10:00am
12:00pm
3:00pm
6:00pm

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*in case the CCF Live Service page is unavailable

Disclaimer: CCF does not endorse any of the products or services advertised on livestream.com.