March 26 – 27, 2022
Sis Vera I. Tuplano, Steward, Consultant (Day 1 Recap)
Sis Jo Advincula, Consultant (Day 2 Recap)
Highlights of the Retreat
A. Introduction of 2022 Theme: Pacesetting
- Pace is movement. It could pertain to persons, group or organizations. It means being ahead in the race. A pace setter takes the lead with a particular goal in mind. Sor espouses that God has given the (TLF) vision (to the members), rendering them to be the “salt” of the earth and “light” or beacon to others.Question: Are we ready to pace set?
- Going back is not an option. (Isaiah 43:18-19). There is no need to stay in our comfort zone because God has endowed us potentials to propagate the faith and to save the people who are lost in the sea of sin as ascribed in Soar’s vision.
- Recruitment to Discipleship is essential. Those in the community have been saved. They are no longer drowning in the sea of sin. God as a Sower wants His children to be saved (John 4:4). As members of the TLF community the goal is to “fish” for people who are wallowing in darkness. Moreover, these “recruits” will undergo discipleship and the process continues: fishing for more who are eventually turned into converts.
B. First Teaching – A Fire of Passion
- A fire of passion begins with a spark of change. Change which is inevitable changes one’s life and one’s life will be changed. The passion is the desire to love God because life is worthless apart from Jesus. If a person entertains sin/temptation, he does not desire to love God (Eph. 2:2). However, the first Commandment requires everyone to love God (John 10:10). Loving God is also congruent to loving one’s neighbor(s). Hence, the passion to love God and neighbors is closely linked to changing one’s mindset (Isaiah 29:30). In addition, God would desire passion (Rev. 3:14-16; 2 Tim. 1; Mt. 6:21) by edifying the word of God in one’s community service.
- Using the gifts of the Holy Spirit will flame the spark of change. Being afraid is not passion, since it deflects the fire of change. In contrast, the Holy Spirit imparts the passion to move on amidst obstacles /challenges. His gifts will ignite the passion to accomplish the purpose as exemplified by people of faith: Abraham, Job and Joshua (Gen. 5;24; Joshua 24:2-9).
2.1 Questions for Discussion (Breakout Session)
2.1.1 What will you change to be a pace setter? What can you do to be a pacesetter that will make you a better member, worker, leader this year?
2.1.2 What is the gift that God gave you so that you can be used to serve in the community?
C. Second Teaching – Reigniting the Passion for God
- Reigniting the Passion is God’s call to be passionate. This is in relation to the fire of the Holy Spirit. Initially, a person should repent and shift his goal on things that are godly, motivated by love.
- Passion brings God’s blessings. Seek first the kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33). To consider God first is tantamount to Christ suffering on the Cross. His great love for everyone is his horrible death on the Cross. He became our sin bearer. In return, a person should fan the flame of passion to demonstrate his/her love for God.
- How does the person keep the passion alive if s/he has
3.1 unbalanced schedule (Ecclesiastes 3)
3.2 unconfessed sins (1John 1:9)
3.3 unforgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15)
3.4 unclear purpose (Proverbs 29:18)
3.5 undernourished spirit (1 John 2:15)
4.Indispensable things one must do
41. Set aside time to know Him
4.2 Remove barriers (1 Peter 1:16)
4.3 Ask for passion (John 17:26)
Afternoon Teaching:
D. Third Teaching – How to Reach and Release Our Potential
- Keys to Releasing One’s Potentials. A potential is the sum of who a person is and what s/he can do. Exposing and using one’s talent is essential to serve God. The following are the ways to release one’s potential.
1.1 Know your Source. God is the Source
1.2 Understand how you were designed (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
1.3 Know your purpose (Jeremiah 1:5; Jn. 10:10).
1.4 You must work on your potential. Use it for God’s glory
1.5 Maximize your potential (Philippians1:9-10).
1.6 Think Big.
1.7 Develop the power of thinking positively (Prov. 18:21; Phil. 4:19).
1.8 Cultivate your potential.
1.9 Move on.
Question for Discussion: What potential can a person contribute in the community?
Debriefing:
Reflection on how one can use his/her potential to propagate the word of God in relation to the TLF community as a vessel of change (pacesetting).
March 27, 2022
The second day started with Soar’s Prayer: Soar invoked the Spirit of the Living God for the Elders and Leaders to be responsible and persistent in exhorting members to be obedient to our God. She then made an emotional appeal for workers to be committed in service.
E. Fourth Teaching: Exponential Growth
- The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. The “harvest” means the lost souls. They are ready to be harvested, but there is a lack of workers and/or the workers are not doing anything.
Question: Is this the condition of Lord’s Flock? Are we (leaders and members) giving up? - Jesus is the model for Christian living and ministry. He came to seek the lost and offer salvation to all of mankind. He emptied Himself of His crown (Phil 2). We should follow His character: humility, obedience to God, and faithfulness from the start to finish (Phiippians 2)
- Christians have the same goal as Jesus. Hence, we must follow the shepherd’s voice and the heart the Jesus (compassionate, passionate, intentional).
- Seize every opportunity to evangelize. The Lord added to the Church daily (Acts 2:47). He was very intentional and went against all odds to evangelize one-one-one (John 4:4).
- Be bold in witnessing. The woman at the well became a powerful witness after finding the water that refreshed the soul.
- Be passionately committed to the Lord. The disciples were not scared nor stopped by persecutions. Their number multiplied greatly (Acts 6:7). They choose 7 men who were known to be full of Spirit and wisdom, to whom they turned-over the work in the church so that they (the apostles) could devote time to prayer and ministry (Act 6:1-7).
- Pray to the Lord to send many workers who will sow, proclaim and share the Word of God. This will lead to multiplication. The hand of the Lord will always be with us (Acts 6:7).
F. Fifth Teaching: Intentional Evangelization
- Produce leaders for the next generation.
1.1.There were only 12 Apostles, but they turned the world upside down (Acts 6).
1.2.In LF, there are 500 Leaders to be filled with the Holy Spirit and who will make a true commitment to God. They can accomplish amazing exponential growth. There is a also a need to produce leaders for the next generation - What are our Strategies as a witnessing community?
2.1.Believe that people need Jesus. What can LF do to meet the needs of people?
2.2.Communicate the good news with boldness and consistency
2.3.Be possessed with the love of Jesus and share with everyone. Conviction leads to commitment. Where there’s commitment, there’s growth (Acts 2).
2.4. Remember that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything; Only God makes things grow (1Cor 3:1-5).
Question: What were the opportunities for evangelization that you missed last week? How would you have shared Jesus with the people you met?
Afternoon Meeting: 2022 Goals and Action Plans
- What is the Lord’s Flock challenge for 2022?
1.1.The Lord’s Flock membership profile is ageing. 70% are Babyboomers and above. Even the Singles group has a high number of Generation X and Baby Boomers.
1.2.Thus, who is going to teach the New Generation and the Small World? - How will we navigate in the post pandemic era to achieve growth?
2.1.We must revive PHYSICAL gatherings.
2.2.We must sustain and grow VIRTUAL activities. - We shall focus and target the “20-30-40” (Gen Y Millenials who 24-40 years old; Gen X who are 41 – 56 years old).
- Sharing of Some Best Practices:
4.1. LF Hong Kong Chapters have their unique and creative strategies:
4.1.1.They connect with the Parish Pastor and follow these steps: (1) The members offer to serve in the parish in different functions. (2) They engage with the parishioners over lunch. (3) They form cell groupings. (4) They convince the Parish Priest to form a LF Community in the parish.
4.1.2.They “fish” in central locations on weekends. (1) They get involved with various clusters. (2) They share their testimonies. (3) Lastly, they invite to the Praise and Worship.
4.2.Bagong Silang and Karville Chapters.
4.2.1.They identify young speakers to be trained by PASTOR and SEND.
4.2.2.They train the Small World to be Moderators. - The specific Action Plans by the 5-Fold Ministry were presented by Bro Raymund Nobleza. The common themes were as follows:
5.1. Each Ministry must grow membership and the corresponding small groups aggressively and exponentially.
5.2.Transition back to Face-to-Face relational activities.
5.3.The Topics/Teachings and activities will use targeted / customized approaches to engage the audience according to their demographics.
5.4.Tap relevant social media platforms.
5.5.Pursue training and coaching to enhance skills.
5.6.Let the youth spearhead activities.
5.7.International Chapters will mimic the local ministries.
6.Office of the Elders
The “Sheep Management System (SMS) ” update was presented by Sis Chay Arevalo. SMS will provide TLF with a tool for a data-driven management and assessment of the Community. Furthermore, it gives each member the facility to see his/her spiritual nourishment and progress as a TLF member.
1.1.The development will be in 6 parts or modules. Module 1 is the Online Member and Event Registration that will initially build the LF Members Database. This will lead to systematic data management, easier access, updating and analysis. Module 1 will be available in April 2022.
1.2. By the grace of God, the whole system is expected to be completed by June 2022.
6.1.The Baruch Ministry will shift the focus and priorities for 2022:
6.1.1.Priority # 1 will be Soar’s Books.
6.1.2.The Grow and P&W Digests will continue to be in English and Filipino. As a pacesetting challenge, the group will explore new ways to expand circulation and readership, and to be more engaging through visuals and infographics.
6.1.3.Empower the trained Writers in each of the Ministries to own the write-ups about their respective events/activities.
6.1.4.Support Evangelize and Comms groups with content writers.
6.1.5.Conduct one Writing Workshop in collaboration with Equip Ministry.
7.Finale: Anointing Rites
Bro Froilan Hong discussed the 2022 Charge Sheet which outlines the Solemn Charge Job Description, and the Organization Chart of the Community, so that each one is clear about his/her role and responsibilities.
Finally, the Elders-Founders anointed all the Head Stewards, Stewards, Group Leaders, Consultants and Members with holy oil.
To God be the Glory!
Highlights of the Retreat
March 26, 2022
A. Introduction of 2022 Theme: Pacesetting
- Pace is movement. It could pertain to persons, group or organizations. It means being ahead in the race. A pace setter takes the lead with a particular goal in mind. Sor espouses that God has given the (TLF) vision (to the members), rendering them to be the “salt” of the earth and “light” or beacon to others.Question: Are we ready to pace set?
- Going back is not an option. (Isaiah 43:18-19). There is no need to stay in our comfort zone because God has endowed us potentials to propagate the faith and to save the people who are lost in the sea of sin as ascribed in Soar’s vision.
- Recruitment to Discipleship is essential. Those in the community have been saved. They are no longer drowning in the sea of sin. God as a Sower wants His children to be saved (John 4:4). As members of the TLF community the goal is to “fish” for people who are wallowing in darkness. Moreover, these “recruits” will undergo discipleship and the process continues: fishing for more who are eventually turned into converts.
B. First Teaching – A Fire of Passion
- A fire of passion begins with a spark of change. Change which is inevitable changes one’s life and one’s life will be changed. The passion is the desire to love God because life is worthless apart from Jesus. If a person entertains sin/temptation, he does not desire to love God (Eph. 2:2). However, the first Commandment requires everyone to love God (John 10:10). Loving God is also congruent to loving one’s neighbor(s). Hence, the passion to love God and neighbors is closely linked to changing one’s mindset (Isaiah 29:30). In addition, God would desire passion (Rev. 3:14-16; 2 Tim. 1; Mt. 6:21) by edifying the word of God in one’s community service.
- Using the gifts of the Holy Spirit will flame the spark of change. Being afraid is not passion, since it deflects the fire of change. In contrast, the Holy Spirit imparts the passion to move on amidst obstacles /challenges. His gifts will ignite the passion to accomplish the purpose as exemplified by people of faith: Abraham, Job and Joshua (Gen. 5;24; Joshua 24:2-9).
2.1 Questions for Discussion (Breakout Session)
2.1.1 What will you change to be a pace setter? What can you do to be a pacesetter that will make you a better member, worker, leader this year?
2.1.2 What is the gift that God gave you so that you can be used to serve in the community?
C. Second Teaching – Reigniting the Passion for God
- Reigniting the Passion is God’s call to be passionate. This is in relation to the fire of the Holy Spirit. Initially, a person should repent and shift his goal on things that are godly, motivated by love.
- Passion brings God’s blessings. Seek first the kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33). To consider God first is tantamount to Christ suffering on the Cross. His great love for everyone is his horrible death on the Cross. He became our sin bearer. In return, a person should fan the flame of passion to demonstrate his/her love for God.
- How does the person keep the passion alive if s/he has
3.1 unbalanced schedule (Ecclesiastes 3)
3.2 unconfessed sins (1John 1:9)
3.3 unforgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15)
3.4 unclear purpose (Proverbs 29:18)
3.5 undernourished spirit (1 John 2:15)
4.Indispensable things one must do
41. Set aside time to know Him
4.2 Remove barriers (1 Peter 1:16)
4.3 Ask for passion (John 17:26)
Afternoon Teaching:
D. Third Teaching – How to Reach and Release Our Potential
- Keys to Releasing One’s Potentials. A potential is the sum of who a person is and what s/he can do. Exposing and using one’s talent is essential to serve God. The following are the ways to release one’s potential.
1.1 Know your Source. God is the Source
1.2 Understand how you were designed (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
1.3 Know your purpose (Jeremiah 1:5; Jn. 10:10).
1.4 You must work on your potential. Use it for God’s glory
1.5 Maximize your potential (Philippians1:9-10).
1.6 Think Big.
1.7 Develop the power of thinking positively (Prov. 18:21; Phil. 4:19).
1.8 Cultivate your potential.
1.9 Move on.
Question for Discussion: What potential can a person contribute in the community?
Debriefing:
Reflection on how one can use his/her potential to propagate the word of God in relation to the TLF community as a vessel of change (pacesetting).
March 27, 2022
The second day started with Soar’s Prayer: Soar invoked the Spirit of the Living God for the Elders and Leaders to be responsible and persistent in exhorting members to be obedient to our God. She then made an emotional appeal for workers to be committed in service.
E. Fourth Teaching: Exponential Growth
- The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. The “harvest” means the lost souls. They are ready to be harvested, but there is a lack of workers and/or the workers are not doing anything.
Question: Is this the condition of Lord’s Flock? Are we (leaders and members) giving up? - Jesus is the model for Christian living and ministry. He came to seek the lost and offer salvation to all of mankind. He emptied Himself of His crown (Phil 2). We should follow His character: humility, obedience to God, and faithfulness from the start to finish (Phiippians 2)
- Christians have the same goal as Jesus. Hence, we must follow the shepherd’s voice and the heart the Jesus (compassionate, passionate, intentional).
- Seize every opportunity to evangelize. The Lord added to the Church daily (Acts 2:47). He was very intentional and went against all odds to evangelize one-one-one (John 4:4).
- Be bold in witnessing. The woman at the well became a powerful witness after finding the water that refreshed the soul.
- Be passionately committed to the Lord. The disciples were not scared nor stopped by persecutions. Their number multiplied greatly (Acts 6:7). They choose 7 men who were known to be full of Spirit and wisdom, to whom they turned-over the work in the church so that they (the apostles) could devote time to prayer and ministry (Act 6:1-7).
- Pray to the Lord to send many workers who will sow, proclaim and share the Word of God. This will lead to multiplication. The hand of the Lord will always be with us (Acts 6:7).
F. Fifth Teaching: Intentional Evangelization
- Produce leaders for the next generation.
1.1.There were only 12 Apostles, but they turned the world upside down (Acts 6).
1.2.In LF, there are 500 Leaders to be filled with the Holy Spirit and who will make a true commitment to God. They can accomplish amazing exponential growth. There is a also a need to produce leaders for the next generation - What are our Strategies as a witnessing community?
2.1.Believe that people need Jesus. What can LF do to meet the needs of people?
2.2.Communicate the good news with boldness and consistency
2.3.Be possessed with the love of Jesus and share with everyone. Conviction leads to commitment. Where there’s commitment, there’s growth (Acts 2).
2.4. Remember that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything; Only God makes things grow (1Cor 3:1-5).
Question: What were the opportunities for evangelization that you missed last week? How would you have shared Jesus with the people you met?
Afternoon Meeting: 2022 Goals and Action Plans
- What is the Lord’s Flock challenge for 2022?
1.1.The Lord’s Flock membership profile is ageing. 70% are Babyboomers and above. Even the Singles group has a high number of Generation X and Baby Boomers.
1.2.Thus, who is going to teach the New Generation and the Small World? - How will we navigate in the post pandemic era to achieve growth?
2.1.We must revive PHYSICAL gatherings.
2.2.We must sustain and grow VIRTUAL activities. - We shall focus and target the “20-30-40” (Gen Y Millenials who 24-40 years old; Gen X who are 41 – 56 years old).
- Sharing of Some Best Practices:
4.1. LF Hong Kong Chapters have their unique and creative strategies:
4.1.1.They connect with the Parish Pastor and follow these steps: (1) The members offer to serve in the parish in different functions. (2) They engage with the parishioners over lunch. (3) They form cell groupings. (4) They convince the Parish Priest to form a LF Community in the parish.
4.1.2.They “fish” in central locations on weekends. (1) They get involved with various clusters. (2) They share their testimonies. (3) Lastly, they invite to the Praise and Worship.
4.2.Bagong Silang and Karville Chapters.
4.2.1.They identify young speakers to be trained by PASTOR and SEND.
4.2.2.They train the Small World to be Moderators. - The specific Action Plans by the 5-Fold Ministry were presented by Bro Raymund Nobleza. The common themes were as follows:
5.1. Each Ministry must grow membership and the corresponding small groups aggressively and exponentially.
5.2.Transition back to Face-to-Face relational activities.
5.3.The Topics/Teachings and activities will use targeted / customized approaches to engage the audience according to their demographics.
5.4.Tap relevant social media platforms.
5.5.Pursue training and coaching to enhance skills.
5.6.Let the youth spearhead activities.
5.7.International Chapters will mimic the local ministries.
6.Office of the Elders
The “Sheep Management System (SMS) ” update was presented by Sis Chay Arevalo. SMS will provide TLF with a tool for a data-driven management and assessment of the Community. Furthermore, it gives each member the facility to see his/her spiritual nourishment and progress as a TLF member.
1.1.The development will be in 6 parts or modules. Module 1 is the Online Member and Event Registration that will initially build the LF Members Database. This will lead to systematic data management, easier access, updating and analysis. Module 1 will be available in April 2022.
1.2. By the grace of God, the whole system is expected to be completed by June 2022.
6.1.The Baruch Ministry will shift the focus and priorities for 2022:
6.1.1.Priority # 1 will be Soar’s Books.
6.1.2.The Grow and P&W Digests will continue to be in English and Filipino. As a pacesetting challenge, the group will explore new ways to expand circulation and readership, and to be more engaging through visuals and infographics.
6.1.3.Empower the trained Writers in each of the Ministries to own the write-ups about their respective events/activities.
6.1.4.Support Evangelize and Comms groups with content writers.
6.1.5.Conduct one Writing Workshop in collaboration with Equip Ministry.
7.Finale: Anointing Rites
Bro Froilan Hong discussed the 2022 Charge Sheet which outlines the Solemn Charge Job Description, and the Organization Chart of the Community, so that each one is clear about his/her role and responsibilities.
Finally, the Elders-Founders anointed all the Head Stewards, Stewards, Group Leaders, Consultants and Members with holy oil.
