iBelieve

Talk 1: Created
Talk 2: Redeemed
Talk 3: Empowered
Big Day

Talk 1: Created
(First Preacher)
Welcome to iBelieve!
Today, I’d like to preach on the message, You’re big in God’s heart.
Believe me, we need this series badly. Because people are confused
about their faith. And we need answers.
For this entire month, we’ll do a deep dive into the first three
statements of the Apostles Creed: “I believe in God the Father…”; and “I
believe in Jesus Christ…”; and “I believe in the Holy Spirit…”
I can hear your unspoken objection: “Gee Bo, won’t this series
be…uh…a tad boring?”
My answer: You’re be in the shock of your life. The series will blow
your mind. It will transform your understanding of God, your relationship
with Him, and thus, transform your life.
Here’s why change will happen….
Root Yourself
Trees are only as strong as their roots. Strong roots, strong tree.
Weak roots, weak tree. The Apostles Creed are the roots of your faith. It’s
called Apostles Creed because the original form came from the Apostles and
their disciples, who we call Church Fathers. So yes, these statements are.
Today, you’re surrounded with different beliefs and religions, and
some are tantalizing and mesmerizing. If you’re not rooted in the Apostles
Creed, believe me, you’ll be carried away by this exciting belief today and
that exciting belief tomorrow. But if you study the first 5 centuries after
Christ, these new beliefs are not really new. Most of them were heresies
that were corrected by the Church, such Gnosticism (“Matter is evil”) and
Arianism (“Jesus was created by God”) and Pelagianism (“We can save
ourselves through our own work”), and so on.
Solution: Root yourself to the Apostles Creed.
If you do, this is what will happen...
You’ll Get A Heart Transplant
Yes, “Creed” literally means “I believe”. But in Latin, “believe” and
“heart” have the same root word. Why? For beliefs to change your life, they
need to reside in the heart, not in the mind.
So this series will not only be a deep dive into the Creed, but a deep
dive into your heart. Are you ready for a heart transplant? For God said, I
will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My
people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole
heart. (Jeremiah 27:7 NASB, emphasis mine)
Wow. That’s what we want to happen this month—“to return to God
with your whole heart.”
What The Feast Is All About
The Apostles Creed is about the 3 Greatest Persons in our universe.
So in this series, you’ll get to know them more. But not just know them, but
follow them and love them.
Which reminds me of an old song I sang in a tiny stage play 30+ years
ago: Oh Dear Lord, three things I pray, To know Thee more clearly, To
follow Thee more nearly, To love Thee more dearly, three things I pray.
At the Feast, people tell me how blessed they are with our talks. But
as wonderful as these teachings are, that’s not what the Feast is all about.
More than all the enlightenment and explanations and elucidations, it’s the
encounter with God that will change your life. That’s what the Feast is all
about.
Are you ready to meet the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit today?
(Second Preacher)
You’re big in God’s heart.
Today, we’ll unpack the statement, “I believe in God, the Father
Almighty.” So this message has two parts: “God” and “Father”
Let’s begin exploring about God.
 1. God
Do you believe in God?
When I was growing up, everyone I knew believed in God. Most were
Catholic. Some were Protestant. The Muslims lived in the south. Plus a
sprinkling of INCs, plus handsome Mormons sweating in their long-sleeved
polo shirts and ties, plus Jehova Witness volunteers distributing flyers…
Almost everyone was going to church.
Not anymore. 85% of Catholics no longer go to Mass regularly. It’s
not as important as before.
Today, atheism and agnosticism are growing at a rapid pace. The
second largest “religion” in North America and Europe are the “Nones”. That
means when they fill out a bio-data sheet, they write “None” when asked
about their religion.
Books written to debunk the existence of God have become huge
bestsellers, such as Richard Dawkin’s God Delusion and Christopher
Hitchen’s God Is Not Great. When I read Hitchen’s book, let me shock you:
I agreed with some of his statements. Because I realized that the God that
he’s debunking isn’t my God. He pictures God as judgmental, punitive, and
capricious, based on wrong interpretations of the Bible. So yes, like him,
I’m an atheist to his version of God.
Will The Real God Please Stand Up?
Some atheists are militant atheists. They hate religion with passion
because they believe it has caused a lot of evil in this world. So much war
and death and oppression all done in the name of God. And I agree.
But human history will also tell you that religion has also done so
much amazing good in this world. So much kindness and love and progress
done in the name of God as well. Because it’s not religion. Like anything
else in this world, a good thing can become a very bad thing if you put it in
bad hands. Money, sex, and power are good things. But put them in bad
hands, and they destroy the world.
Once again, we’re confused. People don’t know who God is.
Will the real God please stand up?
And some are also questioning whether God is still relevant…
Is God Dead?
 In 1966, TIME magazine put this question on their cover: “Is God
Dead?”

Meaning: Is the concept of God dead? Is God still relevant in our

modern world? At the time this issue came out, the US and USSR were in a
space race to land the first man on the moon. People felt powerful. If we
can put a man on the moon, why do we need God?
Today, that question is more pressing than ever. Because after 50+
years, technology has grown beyond our wildest dreams. Here’s a graph
that shows how technology has changed over years. If you look closely,
most of the growth happened in the last 70 years.

And in the coming years, this growth will accelerate 1000x more; Very
soon, we’ll be seeing driverless cars, vacations in outer space, and people
living until a hundred fifty years old will be normal. The big question people
are asking is, “Why would you need God if technology can solve our
problems?”
Let me make this more graphic to you.
Is God Still Needed In This Hi-Tech World?
One day, my wife and I were shopping in a mall, or more precisely, she was
shopping and I was in a Café, reading and writing and having an amazing
time. As usual, when I write, I get lost in my own world, I didn’t realize
three hours had gone by. Where was my wife? Did she come looking for me
and didn’t find me? Because of my wild imagination—which helps when I
write, but doesn’t help when I worry—I began to think of the worst
scenarios. What if she became a victim of budol-budol? (Thieves who use
hypnosis.) What if she’s now wandering in the streets, not knowing who she
was, and asking people, “Who am I? All I remember is that I’m married to a
handsome guy who looks like Park Seo Joon.”

Now if this happened 30 years ago, I would be praying to God like

crazy, praying to all the 2000+ Canonized Saints, including those whose
names I can’t even pronounce, like St. Fulgentius and St. Gorgonio.
But because of technology, I simply whipped out my phone, opened
my location tracking app, and viola, I found her: Yes, she was still in the
building. Whew.
Let me give you a couple more examples. In ancient times, if you had
a fever that won’t go away, that meant a demon was attacking you or a
witch was cursing you—and you immediately prayed for spiritual covering
and cast out evil spirits.
But today, if you have a fever that won’t go away, you pop a pill, and
if the fever is still there, you take an antibiotic, and if it’s still there, you take
a stronger antibiotic… and so on.
In centuries past, if rains didn’t come, the farmer goes to church and
offers eggs to the nuns, so that God would have mercy on the land and open
up heaven for you. As if God was intentionally withholding blessings unless
He gets prayers and eggs.
But today, many farmers don’t lose sleep when rains don’t come.
Because they now have an irrigation system that provides them water.
So is God still needed in our modern world?
God Is Love
Once again, I repeat my thesis above. I’m not surprised atheists are
rejecting this God. I’m rejecting this God too. This is not my God. God is
not a Vendo Machine that gives you what you need if you drop the right
coins (like prayer and eggs). God isn’t a Santa Clause in the sky that gives
you what you ask for, depending if you’re naughty or nice. As Jesus said,
For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain
to those who do good and to those who do evil. (Matthew 5:45 GNT)

So who is my God? God is Love.

He doesn’t reserve His blessings in Heaven, dispensed them only if you

say the right prayers or behave as a good boy or girl. Instead, every single
blessing that you need is already available to you.
All you have to do is take it.
Every Blessing Is Available
Here’s the imagery: In one of my trips in the province, I met Manang
Cora. She is a glorious cook. And she loves the fact that her house is right
beside the wet market. So when she prepares a meal, all she has to do is
walk next door, and pick up the freshest ingredients—fish, beef, chicken,
vegetables, spices. She then goes back to her kitchen and cooks up the
most delicious dishes.
We’re all like Manang Cora. But more. We don’t just live beside God’s
Market, we live in it. God’s Market is this amazing universe. Everything that
you need is there.
And He also has given us the best cooking skills: your imagination.
Everything manmade around you was created by this phenomenal tool called
imagination. Every building, and bridge, and gadget, and movie, and song
was created twice, first in the mind, second in reality. Imagination is more
powerful than your intellect. That’s why teachers say, “What you can
conceive, you can achieve”.
All the raw material you need to fulfil your God-given dreams is
available all around you. If you need anything, go get it. You need wisdom?
Get it. You need resources? Work for it. You need opportunity? It’s right
in front of you.
This truth becomes more obvious in today’s internet age. Younger
people grew up know that they want to know is a click away. Older people
are still getting the hang of it. They send me messages online, asking
questions like, “Is there a Feast in Cebu?” I don’t mind answering. I love
that people are reaching out to me. But I’m thinking that whoever asked
this question had to wait for two or three or four or sometimes five days for
me to answer back, because of the mountain of messages I need to go
through. But to send me the question, they were already online. I’m sure
they’ve heard of this thing called Google. So instead of five days, they
would have gotten their answer in five seconds. They would have found out
that there are four Feasts in Cebu—two in SM Cebu and two in Ayala Mall.
Through our God-given imagination, we were able to create a location
tracking app and a water irrigation system and modern medicine. I don’t
see any no conflict between science and faith. I’ve met the most brilliant
scientists who are devout Catholics and Jesus Followers.
And because I’m also a financial teacher, let me insert this side note:
If you’re frustrated by how low your income is, stop complaining and start
asking, exploring, thinking, researching, and working. There are a hundred
things you can do to turn your passion into profit. Without cash. Without
connections. Without college. Given enough (1) time, (2) imagination, and
(3) perseverance to go through failures, I still believe you can earn any
amount of money you choose.
Let’s now go to Jesus’ favorite picture of God…
2. Father
In the Old Testament, God was called “Father” very rarely—a total of
15 times in 45 Books. But in the 4 Gospels alone, Jesus called God Father
175 times. What more, Jesus loved using the Aramaic word “Abba”, which is
the word used by a child saying “Papa” or “Daddy”
When His disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He could
have easily said, “Say ‘Our King’ or ‘Our Judge’ or ‘Our Lord’; Instead, He
said, Our Father (Matthew 6:9 NIV).
For many Christians, it’s easier to pray to Jesus. Because sometimes,
praying to the Father brings with it a lot of emotional baggage.
Here’s why: Your first picture of God didn’t come from a priest or
pastor or preacher. It came from papa. And mama. Not just what they
said but who they were.
I’ve met people who, in their subconscious, see God as distant, or
judgmental, or cruel, because their fathers were distant, or judgmental, or
cruel.
 Many years ago, I met Grace. She told me that as a child, her goal in
life was to make her father smile at her. Because he never did. Oh, she
would find him laughing with his barkada. But never to her.
One day, she came home with very high grades on her report card. In
her heart, she hoped that perhaps today is the day when he would smile at
her. But when she gave him the report card, all her father did was look at it
for two seconds, grunt, tossed it back, and went back watching TV.
Not one word of affirmation or appreciation.
Her little heart was crushed.
For years, Grace had a hard time imagining that God was happy with
her. No matter what she did, she believed God was always disappointed
with her. This led to her own being disappointed on herself.
I remember my own experience with my report card.
I Was The Big Deal In His Heart
When I was in Grade 2, my report card had red marks. (At least, it
was colorful. Yours was just black and white.)
That day, I went up to Mom and showed her my report card.
All she said was, “Show it to your Dad.”
Oh no. In my little heart, Dad was my hero. And I was going to
disappoint him. Would he lash out? Would he reject me? With fear gripping
my heart, I walked up to Dad and gave my card to him.
He read it, nodded his head, and handed it back to me, and said, “Son,
just study some more.” He said it so calmly, I wanted to ask, “That’s it?
You won’t scold me or spank me or give me a 45-minute lecture?” A few
seconds later, he said, “Let’s eat.” And life in the Sanchez household
continued as usual. He never changed how he related to me.
That day, I realized that to Dad, my grades weren’t a big deal. I was
the big deal in my father’s heart. I believe his unconditional love for me led
me to discover my brilliance elsewhere. (Ahem.)
Parents, can I insert this side message? Your child is much more than
his grades. Or her performance. Or his fashion tastes. Or her music. Stop
making any of these things a big deal. Make your child the big deal.
Your Father relates to you in the same way. You don’t have to
perform for him to love you. He loves you as you are. He accepts you. No
matter what sin you committed. I don’t care how many times you’ve done
it—whatever it is. God loves you and will forgive you of your sins. And it
will be this unconditional love that will bring you to repentance. It will be
this love that will cause you to live a new life.
Today, You’re big in God’s heart.
May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez