Judge Mark Anthony R. Polonan shared his testimony to the School of Graduate Studies, and the College of Law.Planting seeds of faith in our future Centralian lawyers—The University Church, together with the Central Philippine University College of Law, held a convocation service at the Educational Media Center on August 15, 2018.
For the welcome remarks, Atty. Zacarias D. Bedona, Dean, CPU College of Law, thanked the students for their participation and the University Church for initiatives that promote CPU’s vision of producing exemplary Christian learners.
It was then followed by the explanation of the text and theme by Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, Senior Pastor, University Church. According to Rev. Sian, this year’s theme, “Relentless,” is all about the relentless love of God who pursues us: “‘Relentless’ is defined as continuing without being weak. How good it is to know that God keeps on reaching out to us. It is the desire of the University that through this Christ Emphasis Week celebration, we will make the pursuit of God the topmost priority.”
Ptr. Mary Grace F. Labis, Associate Pastor of the University Church, then read Luke 15:1-32, which contains the parable of the Lost Sheep, the parable of the Lost Coin and the story of the Prodigal Son. After which, Tammy Enriquez, JD-3, introduced the convocation speaker, Hon. Mark Anthony R. Polonan, Judge 8 of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities.
In his message, Hon. Polonan talked about how the relentless love of Jesus was shown in the three stories, particularly in the characters of the shepherd, the woman, and the father: “These are three subjects sharing one emphasis, one overall outcome. Always remember that God is in the darkest, deepest parts of your lives. He wept when you wept.”
He also reminded the law students about the unlimited grace of God, “The relentless love of God is the patient love of God. Remember, you are never too sinful for God to forgive. You are never too dirty for God to cleanse.”
Ending his message, Judge Polonan talked about the importance of having a relationship with God and to feel his relentless love and grace.
The closing prayer and benediction was then led by Rev. Sian.
The highlight of every CEW is always the proclaimed Word of the Lord.
Celebrating Christ as the Cornerstone of Central Philippine University—The University Church, in partnership with the different colleges and departments, highlighted the theme “Relentless” anchored on Isaiah 54:10 and Matthew 28:20 during the First Semester Christ Emphasis Week of the school year 2018-2019.
Starting them young- CPU Kindergarten students listen attentively to their CEW speaker
Held on August 10-17, 2018, the week-long celebration, filled with praise and worship and accompanied by the sharing of God’s Word, is a testimony of CPU’s commitment as a university anchored in faith.
According to Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, the theme encourages the CPU community to make the pursuit of God a priority. In the era of persistent distractions and temptations, it is important to feel the constant pursuit and faithfulness of God: “God keeps reaching out to us so He can win us to Himself. Our theme encourages the CPU community to make the pursuit of God the topmost priority as God has been relentless in his bid to save us from ourselves.”
Rev. Sian shares that the theme encourages us to work on our faith with fear and trembling, “We should also be relentless in our pursuit of holiness. It should be the proverbial pearl of the great price of our prayers.”
Convocation speakers Pastor Russel Ban, Pastor Jasper Martin, Rev. Lennie Ruth Sombilla, Rev. Adiel Caspe, Pastor Franz Hestia Love Joy Quimpo-Leysa, Pastor Keith Dune Gallos, Rev. Dr. Jerson Narciso, Pastor Jamilo Pendo, and Hon. Mark Anthony Polonan all shared the love of God through the empowering message of God’s relentless love.
The CEW is a testimony of God’s relentless love to CPU and the Centralian community’s dedication to make Christ as the center of the university.Shout unto God a song of praise – the CPU Elementary School students leading the praise and worship.
According to Harissa Junio, BSBAMM4, this year’s CEW is a testimony of the continuing journey of the university: “As a Centralian, I take heart in the fact that CPU has been holding activities like this to share the Word of God. It continually reminds me that beyond my academics, my purpose is really to pursue God and to share his Word to others.”
A first year college student of CBA, Lyka Derayunan shared, “The CEW experience is unique. You will not probably experience this in others schools. I did not regret enrolling in CPU. I will tell others about this.”
Jam-packed, the Rose Memorial Audituriom is filled with students and faculty during the CEW.Heart of worship – the CPU Junior High School leads the praise and worship session.
As the university moves forward to celebrate 113 years of God’s goodness, the Christ Emphasis Week is a reminder of its long tradition of faith. It is also a challenge to the CPU community to never forget our roots—in Christ—and that beyond the goal of producing excellent professionals, the heart of CPU’s existence is to glorify God through the lives of its students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Christ Emphasis Week is here again. The First Semester 2018 CEW will be held from August 13 to 17. The University Church Pastoral Staff is tasked to organize the week-long spiritual activity for the students, faculty, and staff—bringing out a new challenge and another opportunity for individuals to commit to Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 54:10, as the Scripture reference of the CEW, expresses relentless love: “Thus says the Lord, ‘The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end. I will keep my promise of peace.’” Referring to the Lord’s message in this verse, relentless could mean eternal. God continues to pursue us no matter what we do.
The CEW is just a part of the mission of CPU every semester to introduce Jesus Christ to students, faculty, and staff and also to enhance the spiritual maturity of Centralians.
Let us pray for our speakers: Pastor Russel Ban, Pastor Jasper Martin, Rev. Lennie Ruth Sombilla, Rev. Adiel Caspe, Pastor Franz Hestia Love Joy Quimpo-Leysa, Pastor Keith Dune Gallos, Rev. Dr. Jerson Narciso, Pastor Jamilo Pendo, and Judge Mark Anthony Polonan.
Always with you – prayers are encounters with the King.
A story is told about a cruel king who brought his servant with him to hunt in the forest near his kingdom. A lot of exotic birds and other animals abound, but he was fascinated with a spotted dear roaming the forest.
The servant, due to his tribe’s belief, advised the king not to harm the deer. The king did not listen, and instead trained his bow at the animal. As the king was about to release an arrow, a fierce lion jumped over him from somewhere behind. Just then, the servant readily pierced a spear into the lion. The lion died shortly.
The king was saved but lost one of his fingers defending himself from the attack. The pain made him so angry that instead of thanking the servant, he sent him to jail. The servant said to the king, “God is so good. He saved you”.
Without minding the servant, He bandaged his finger and rushed back to the forest, cursing and promising himself to get the deer this time. “I’d rather go hunting alone!”
While approaching the forest, a band of natives armed with knives grabbed the king and brought him to where their chieftain was starting a ritual. The king was bound and placed on an altar, then was offered as sacrifice to the tribe’s god.
Then the chieftain discovered that the king had a missing finger. “He is not whole to be offered to our god!” The chieftain had him released, and he ran back to his palace. And being grateful, the king released his servant and apologized for putting him in jail. Then he said to the servant, “Our God is really good. He saved me from being sacrificed to their god. But,” he added “why did he let me put you in jail?” Then the servant answered, “God is good! If He had allowed me to go with you, I would have been the one to be sacrificed.”
God is good anytime. He never leaves us nor allows us to be in danger. He even leads us and guides us in our decisions so that we should be safe. Let us remember this comforting verse from Psalms 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, Senior Pastor, University Church.
In line with the celebration of Christ Emphasis Week, the Central Philippine University College of Law held its biannual special convocation at the Educational Media Center (EMC) on February 28, 2018.
For the words of welcome, College of Law Dean, Atty. Zacarias D. Bedona Jr., shared the anecdote about Mr. Philip Bliss. “In 1958, one of the best and popular singers was Philip Bliss. Years later, the descendants of Philip Bliss sent Mr. Albert B. Smith a letter. The letter contained the story of young Philip and his teacher Mrs. Murphy. Before he learned to read and write, Mrs. Murphy made the children memorize Psalm 23. One time, the children were made to recite the verse, and Philip recited the lines, ‘surely good Miss Murphy will follow me all the days of my life.’”
Dean Bedona shared that this year’s CEW text, Psalm 23, is a verse close to his heart because it was his wife’s favorite before she died. “This verse is also very dear to me because I would sometimes read the verse as, ‘[S]urely goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life.’ Mercy is the name of my wife. I hope that tonight you will encounter God in a very special way.”
For the message, University Church Senior Pastor, Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, talked about loneliness and depression as one of the leading issues the youth face today. “Amos 8:11 talks about a famine. It says, ‘‘Be certain of this, the time is coming,’ says the sovereign Lord.
‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation! People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the Lord, but they will not find any. In that day your beautiful young women and your young men will faint from thirst. These are the ones who now take oaths in the name of the sinful idol goddess of Samaria. They vow, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one lives, O Beer Sheba!’ But they will fall down and not get up again.’’”
According to Rev. Sian, there is a special mention of the youth in the said verse. “The verse talks about beautiful young women and young men and it speaks about your generation, and how vulnerable the times are in this stage of your life. I am not saying the previous generation is better but nowadays the temptation is greater and the desire to satisfy is met with temporary solutions to a permanent problem.”
Rev. Sian shares about the 2018 Grammy Awards in Madison Square Garden, New York. “During the 2018 Grammys, one of the nominated song of the year was “1-800-273-8255”—this is the hotline number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifetime. The song talks about a man wanting to die and then on the other side someone talks to him that it’s not the end, that there is hope. Every day, the hotlines received around 6,000 to 7,000 phone calls and it only speaks of the magnitude of depression. A lot of people are calling for help and a lot of people are in despair.”
He goes on to talk that the root cause of depression and loneliness is that people have forsaken God. “If you hunger for food, it can be remedied, but the famine of the soul does not have a solution from a human perspective. There is no shortage in the preaching of the Word of God. There is a famine in hearing. Because of our rejection of God, the consequence is meaninglessness and desperation. The solution is to go back to God.”
Ending his sermon, Rev. Sian told the story of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Capital of the World.” In the story, a man and his son, Paco, had an argument and the latter ran away. The father looked for Paco everywhere and after failing to find him, eventually published a post in the newspaper saying, “Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon on Tuesday. All is forgiven! Love, Papa.” On the said day, the man went to the said hotel and to his surprise he found 800 young men named Paco. “There is a deep hunger for forgiveness. Picture God as a loving father who calls us home. Our hearts are restless until we find rest in Him.”
Centralians fill the Rose Memorial Auditorium during the Christ Emphasis Week celebration.
“…With you always” (Psalm 23:4)—Celebrating the faithfulness of God to the university for 112 years, Central Philippine University dedicates this year’s Christ Emphasis Week to reaching out to those experiencing depression and loneliness. Held on February 23 to March 2, 2018, the eight-day event is a testimony of encouragement and love, highlighting God’s promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
Mental Health, being one of the leading issues faced by society today, is common among young people. The pressures of study and career, the standards imposed by the media, and the increasing discontent brought about by a competitive society have contributed greatly to the depression and low self-esteem among the youth. According to Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, there is a growing pressure among the youth especially brought about by new media. “The world will tell you, ‘Go here, go there, buy this, buy that, do this, do that.’ There is so much going on that we seek contentment in things that only give us temporary pleasure.”
Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, CPBC General Secretary, talked about the constant faithfulness of God.Rev. Jesse Magno encourages Centralians to offer their lives to the Lord, the only source of peace and security.Pastor Albert Mark Java shared about the steadfast love of God.Shout unto God a song of praise – Centralians led the praise and worship session.
This however is not a losing case; rather, it is a great expression of our need to welcome God into our lives as the author of life and the giver of purpose. This year’s CEW has gathered speakers and witnesses of faith. For the high school convocation, Rev. Jesse Magno and Pastor Albert Mark Java shared the Word of God, highlighting that God’s faithfulness is present, be it in good or hard times.
For the elementary convocation, Pastor Chobel Ferrer encouraged young Centralians to take heart and be brave knowing that Jesus loves them and He will never forsake them. She also encouraged the elementary students to cheer one another.
Meanwhile, for the college and senior high school students, the speakers Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, CPBC General Secretary; Dr. Margen A. Java, Director, CPU Office of Development Program; and Pastor Niza Joy F. Santiago, an alumnus of CPU as well and pastor in a CPBC church in Capiz, used the lecture-forum format where they answered students’ questions about combating depression and helping others after their discussion.
CPU’s Christ Emphasis Week is part of the university’s commitment not only in producing excellent professionals that impart their time and talent to the community at large but also in encouraging Christian values in the workplace, school, and home that combat depression and loneliness. It is to be part of a community of believers that encourage, love, and uplift one another.
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