Two Are Better Than One: Why Community Isn't Optional in Our Walk of Faith

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There's a verse I come back to more than almost any other when life feels heavy: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

All along my life, I remember a season when I nearly stepped away from my small group. Work was overwhelming, my prayer life felt dry, and honestly, showing up to sit with other people's struggles felt like one task too many. But I stayed — mostly out of habit — and it was in that season, not a "strong" one, that I understood this scripture in my bones.

Moreover, faith was never meant to be a solo project. We've built a culture that prizes independence, self-sufficiency, "just me and God." And there's real intimacy in that quiet, personal relationship with the Lord. But scripture keeps pulling us back toward each other. Genesis tells us it's not good for us to be alone. The early church in Acts didn't just believe together — they ate together, shared resources, and carried each other's burdens daily. As it is commonly said, two heads are better than one.

imagecredit: by Cheryl Holt from Pixabay

Community is where faith becomes visible.

It's easy to feel spiritual in isolation. It's much harder — and much more honest — to stay gentle when someone in your Bible study disagrees with you, or to show up for a friend's crisis when you have nothing left to give. That friction is not a distraction from spiritual growth. It is spiritual growth.

Ecclesiastes goes on: "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Notice it's not two strands — it's three. You, another person, and God woven through the middle. That's the picture of real community: not just mutual support, but mutual support anchored in something eternal. That's exactly the reason why we are created unique from one another for us to realise that we need each other.

A gentle challenge this week:

As you go through your life each day, try to reach out to one person in your community — a text, a coffee, a phone call. Not because you need something, but because connection itself is an act of faith. Ask them how they're really doing, and let them ask you the same.

We weren't made to carry this alone. We were made to walk together — in faith, in hope, and in love. Let us all embrace each other's journey. 

Be Grateful

    As we are nearing to the end of this year 2025, let us be grateful for everything that we have received most especially for the gift of life. The journey may not be as smooth as what we wish to be at the start of the year yet being able to reach this far, we have heaps of reasons to be joyful.

                                                                               

Imagecredit: Image by Ксения Кузнецова from Pixabay

    As we all know, no one among us could ever dictate what the future holds for us or what tomorrow will bring. The essential thing is that we are always open to all possibilities that come our way. Sometimes the present moment for us is missed since we are so focused on what the future brings hence we fail to appreciate the present moment. 

    Thus, we are so lucky to enjoy and savour all the past days of this year. Others may not be as lucky as us however looking on life's positive side, we still are fortunate to reach this far in our life. 

How To Improve One's Life Journey?

           Our life is considered as a journey. And no matter how easy or difficult the way is yet we need to improve in trekking this life journey. Remember always that when we realise that we are not alone on this journey, it is then that this becomes a meaningful and memorable to us. 

          At first we all know that this journey is a multifaceted one thus it involves different aspects of personal development, growth and fulfillment. To help us grow in this journey let us take a look on these steps so that we will attain a positive growth on this. First it is good for us to have establish certain goals in areas of life such as career, health, personal development and relationships.

Image by Public Co from Pixabay

           Let us also try to acquire more learning through the different opportunities given to us every single day. Possible ways to enhance this would be to engage in continuous reading, pursuing further education, taking courses and even attending workjshops. 
Self reflection also is another way to develop ourselevs in this journey. By doing so, we will widen our self knowledge and better equip ourselves with both positive and negative qualities that we have.

           And by maintaining healthy habits, this will result to a positive physical and mental well being and this can be done by engaging in activities such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, sufficient sleep, stress management techniques like meditation or mindfullness.
Finally, to grow in this life journey, we need to practice effective time management and this can be done by learning to prioritise our tasks, knowing our boundaries, learning how to delegate things, and most especially by avoiding procrastination. 
 

          Thus with these few steps, I am positive that we can then be very alive and inspired to continue our journey day by day. 

Make A Difference

     As a member of a community ( no matter what is it whether a family, or a social group, or an exclusive working group ...etc ) we all have the responsibility to contribute to help it reach its full potential. In a way, there is always that challenge for us to make a difference in our life. 

     We are gifted with so many talents/ capabilities/ abilities/ skills and others that facilitating any of them will enable us to be counted positively in our group. For example, in the smallest unit of our society which is our family, we are always being look up by our children so it is for us to be true to such challenge. But alas....no stress on this one....we only need to continue being ourselves and fulfil our respective role whether as a father or as a mother. 

imagecredit: Image by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

     Being a positive contributor to the growth of others is but a very big contribution already to our social group. Over time, we travel from place to place and from that, we learn to understand on a deeper level what life is all about. 

    And we could also learn vice versa from others even with our kids since as young as they are, they could also be teaching us many traits in life such as innocence and being natural. So life must go on and we again just need to play our respective role in our society or family and that's it. Life then becomes a very special place to live for you and me. 

What is the Significance of Black Saturday To Us?

     Black Saturday- what is the significance of this day? For the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations, this is the day that Jesus descended to the realm of the dead so as to save humankind from total damnation due to sin. This is the climax of all His sufferings within the last few days. And to think that He is the Son of God yet He sacrificed Himself just to save us. 

     Personally I regularly spend this day trying to reflect what have I done in the past days, weeks, months and even years of my life. How did I witness to all the examples of Jesus? Did I become a concrete model for others especially to those people close to me on how to be a good Christian?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

     As human as we are, it is our tendency to deviate from what is good. So many times in our life that we tend to forget how to be a good follower of Jesus Christ.  In the midst of all these lapses, there is no excuse for us but rather, it should boil down to an awareness of such limitation as well as to possess that earnest desire to CHANGE ourselves for the better.

     Life is such a complicated gift yet it is also a very precious one. And I would say that time is of the essence for us -- indeed we should be able to pause from our busyness and try to reflect on how are we now in our relationship with Jesus and His Heavenly Father. If we are on the right track on this, then this would also be demonstrated through our relationships with loved ones, with relatives, with friends, with society and with nature. Hence this day Black Saturday is a special day for us to recognise Jesus' examples of lying down His life to save us and to do our own share on this challenge of being a good Christian.   

Practicing Genuine Gratitude

     In our recent gathering in the community, we all had the chance of sharing with one another what currently is our struggle on areas such as practicing genuine gratitude, and being present on the here and now moment. Today I would like to share with you my sentiments on gratitude as well as on what I have heard from my fellow members of the community.

    Somehow it is a common experience that being grateful is neglected or forgotten on several instances in our everyday life. This happens due to many reasons like being so preoccupied with things, or being not at home with expressing one's gratitude, or just the simple reality of being ungrateful. 

    Personally I would say that this is our choice whether we will be grateful or not to everything that happens to us everyday. Moreover I observe that we become ungrateful when we are discontented of our own selves or that instead of recognising our own giftedness, we rather choose to focus on what others have and consequently, we start to become envious (rather than being grateful) on them.

                                                                               

     

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    Thus it is a calling for us that in our day to day life, we may become grateful to everything that comes to us. We keep in mind that this LIFE is but a borrowed one and soon or later, we will return it to its rightful owner and we can give back the kindness by taking care of it. 

PS: Thanks to our community led by our active leader Bro. Jose and to the rest of the team: Bro. Reddy, Bro. Arnold, Bro. Danny and to Bro. Boying whom we missed on this session. Shoutout to all of you Brothers. 

What is Your Goal in Life?

       Goals- what exactly is it that motivates you to get up every morning? Is it to become rich? Is it to become famous? Is it to travel to various places in the world? Is it to be able to help others most notably those in need like the poor and the helpless? Whatever your goal in life, be ready to work on it.

        As I observe in my own life and that of others, we tend to set up numerous goals especially during the first days of the year (New Year's resolutions) and somehow, along the way we tend to delay- we tend to forget about them. 

        I believe that along with our goals, there should also be a point of inspiration for all of us that can make us consistent in our

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daily activities so as to achieve our goals. As we go on each day, trials may come our way but bear in mind that they are there to make us polish everything so that achieving our goal could be much sweeter around. 

        Think about your goals and consistently be ready to work hard so that you will attain them soon or later in your life. Never waste your energy crying over a spilled milk- complaining about those unattained goals but rather, stay focus on what lies ahead of you. 

The Trait of Generosity

       Being unselfish is one of those positive traits in life that we must continuously practice and share with others especially with the young generation. The recent times is a very challenging for all parents. With the emergence of today's modern technologies,  there is a need  for them to display to their kids the trait of generosity for them to learn what is it all about. 

          When they start to explore the world of modern gadgets and begin to use them like ipod, cell phone, tablet etc. the risk of them developing less the idea of being generous is inevitable. It is but common nowadays that wherever you go, kids as young as 1 year old and up start to explore already these gadgets. 

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And when they learn to manipulate them, the more time that they need to play with them. Consequently they gradually create their own virtual world thus denying themselves the opportunity to cherish playing time with other kids like them.

          Therefore, the challenge now to bring them to the normal world wherein they can and able to share their time with their peers is clear. The adults like the parents need to monitor this reality making it sure that time spent by kids on modern gadgets is balanced with their time for interaction with the world. And this task has to be a priority for them if they dream of having kids who grow in harmony and who learn how to balance their time.

Disclosure: "This post contains affiliate links- if you purchase, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you."

                                                

Getting Strength from Each Other

          Belonging to a community is a treasured gift for me. It is but awesome to think that our community is made up of people coming from different backgrounds. No one among us choose this community ( as far as I know) yet every get together that we have is considered a special event.

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          Personally, the times that we come together allows me to gather more strength on myself and grow also through the experiences and struggles of others.

         We know we have priorities in our life and I constantly appreciate the effort of each family to spend time to join the gathering. And the sharing of prayers like petitions and thanksgiving makes us feel to be one. Each family has its own needs like schedules, activities and others and still we are able to share our time for the community.

          With this experience, the journey called life becomes easier and interesting. Life is  ought to be shared with others. It is a precious gift and we should be generous in sharing this with others. 

A Community United In Prayer and Fun

          Being in a community is one gift that we can always treasured in life. Absolutely no one could ever survive on earth just by his lonesome.

That's exactly why we are called as social individuals since we are expected to interact with others. 

         And true to its word, our Couples for Christ household community is one support group which is constantly essential for all members. We are called to prayer and to offer thanksgiving for everything that we unceasingly receive from Him Above. 

           Our household community through our ever active leaders, couple Bro Sam and Sis Bong, is always active in all its commitments as a group. And all members believe that it is the commitment of each one to devote time for prayer in the group and to interact with each other that binds all members together. 

         The summit of every gathering is the worship  and it is coupled with other worthwhile activities such as camping and fun run plus the regular household gathering. Through these enumerated activities, we further develop our closeness with one another as well as to strengthen our relationship with God. 

more fun......more actions.........

United as One Family

          Last August 19, 2017 Saturday, Couples For Christ (CFC) Melbourne,  Australia celebrated its 26th anniversary at Saint Brigid Catholic Church. The day's celebration was filled with laughters and screams as each one witnessed the various presentations from the CFC units: West, North, South etc. 

          The YFC group was very generous to share their talents through their various presentations like the band playing and dances.

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There was also the much applauded lip sync battle of the different CFC Units. Our unit, CFC North Unit, was successful in sharing our God given talents through our Grease dance presentation- thanks to the support of our Unit Leaders, Bro. Walter and Bro. Gary as well as to our household leader- Bro. Sam and Sis Bong.

          Prayers and worship were also shared thus making this event centered on our belief that everything which happened within those 26 years of existence were guided by the graces of our Most Loving Father. Hence all these manifestations are but just right to be returned to Him through this get together of CFC brothers and sisters all throughout Melbourne. 

          Much gratefulness also to the elders of CFC Melbourne who unceasingly devoted their extra mile, time and resources so that CFC will continue to flourish and grow in this part of the globe.

The Need to Belong

          One of man's basic needs is the need to belong to a community whether it is a social group, an athletic group, a religious community, a spiritual group and others. No one could ever live and survive on this world just by his lonesome. In one way or the other, the need for companionship and belongingness is but a very essential one among man's hierarchy of needs.

          Thus, it is weighs a lot that at an early stage, a child is nurtured and guided on how to interact with his peers. So many resources like books, video materials, recordings are available everywhere to augment man's understanding about this task. However, in reality, this is easily said than done. There has to be a consistent accompaniment on the child so that his needs can be realised and attended. 

        No one can substitute physical presence with mere possessions like money, treasures, gadgets etc. Somehow this is the challenge that is being thrown to all adults whether one is a parent or non parent. In spite of all life's busy routines, there has to be  a place for proper guidance to sufficiently answer the needs of those young people in the community.  

Real Friends are Worth Keeping

          How many friends whom you can really consider as real ones? If we will think about it, some of those friends are not really "real". Real friends are those whom you can rely in whatever situation one is in. He is there in times of joy and times of tears. 

          Thus you should be thankful if you can find one. Having them in our life adds flavour to it and let us find ways to keep them inside our hearts. Life's journey could be very tricky at times and in those trying times,

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we need people who can share their time and energy with us. This is always a gift --to have somebody who can listen to you no matter what it takes. 

          Journeying in life is exciting and easy when we have real friends around us. Hence we also allow others to enjoy and treasure our friendships. After all, we are made to help each other in all times. 

Quality Time.....Quality Life

          No matter how abundant we are in life but if we are not happy and contented with our primary relationships, then everything goes to nothing. Though we may differ in terms of our understanding of quality life yet for many, it is the amount of time that we spend together with our loved ones like family, relatives, friends and others. 

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          Life is marked by the kinds of priorities that we assigned to it. And from one person to the other, this varies according to our standards, ideals  and behaviour. This will take form in a matter of a pyramid and at times, this will become the inverted pyramid for others. Priorities such as money, health, travels, religion, food, security, and many others almost become as our main reasons why we need to get up every single day. 

          Yet at the end of the day, many among us are convinced that spending quality time with our families and others is the best positive way so that we can attain the so-called quality life. Amidst the challenge brought about by today's all advancements such as technologies and others, there lies the very basic way of promoting quality life----to spend quality time that is defined by the amount of love, affection as well as kindness that we share with those special people in our life. 

Sharing the Joy of Christmas

          As we in our household joined together in the spirit of the holiday season, we cherished every moment of our bonding. The hosts of our gathering were Sis Danna and Bro Rodel Ordonez at their lovely residence in Mernda suburban. What  made this gathering a momentous one was that almost all the members were present. 

 While waiting for the food to be served, we enjoyed ourselves through our karaoke session. Each one rendered his masterpiece to the delight of the rest of the group. Songs ranging from the 60s up to the latest ones were performed by the group.

After a while, food was served and everyone was delighted to the various recipes prepared by the different wives of our household. 

          As each one is excited to welcome the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, the joy also of being gathered together as one community through our household was very evident on the face of each member. Thus, we say good- bye to 2015 and with a high spirit, we welcome this new year 2016. 

Sharing of Love and Compassion

          Another gathering of life was held today on our Couples for Christ North Household community. Our kind host was the Vidal family, couple Bro. Alex and Sis. Precious and their ever talented daughter Alexi. We went through our usual routine of our gathering and in spite of our conventional way, it was still enriched by the varied experiences we shared in our group. 

          When everyone was ready, we started our gathering with two meaningful songs,  My Life is In You and Give Thanks. The first song allowed us to recognise God as the source of all- that everything we have in life- life, strength, talents, skills, etc. - they are all coming from Him and it is  but fitting for us all to recognise Him as such.

          The second song, Give Thanks, allowed us to recognise again God as the source of everything and that we are expressing our gratefulness to Him for all His unending goodness showered on us every single day.  

  We have so much to be thankful to Him and for several times in our life, we fail to recognise such goodness thus we chose this song to remind us that we have to be constantly grateful to God Above for His love and compassion.

          We moved on with the rest of our activities such as the sharing of thanksgiving prayers and also the expression of petitions wherein we submitted all our worries and concerns to God believing that He can hear us at all times. He would always remain as the source of our strength and energy everyday as we continue with our separate journeys in life. 

The Need To Belong

          One of man's primary needs is the need to belong to a certain group. It goes with his desire to be accepted as a person. However just like any process of communication, it is always a two-way process meaning he needs to be accepted by the other members of that group and at the same time, he needs to accept the whole package of that group so as to be considered as in the group. 

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          Different stages are involved in this process of integrating oneself into the group. At a certain stage, personal values need to be aligned with that of the group. Maybe there could be instances that he needs to sacrifice for the sake of the group. Citing a concrete example of this, if the group is actively participating and responding to the social needs of the times like poverty, social discrimination, racial issues, etc. then he has to convince himself that he values these issues personally so that he can extend a genuine participation to the cause of the group.

            Oneself vs. themselves......man vs. community....him vs. them....sometimes a conflict between any of these groups but somehow, the tides can be turned against a conflicting situation and finally emerging as victorious at the end. Hence the best way to belong to a particular group is by initially checking what are the values this group has and compare them with one's own values. 

A Borrowed Quote

image: http://www.brainyquote.com/photos/r/ralphmarston132966.jpg

 

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.

Ralph Marston

I personally shared this borrowed quote from Ralph Marston for I strongly believe on what he shared here that whatever we do in the present moment of time will greatly affect our "tomorrows". 

Henceforth, it is but essential for us to be always  mindful of all the ways that we communicate with others for there might be unfavourable consequences on our actions that may, sooner or later, affect us negatively. 

However, being aware of our everyday dynamics, it is but an everyday challenge for us to constantly monitor and be consistent on our life values for whether we like it or not, there would always be instances wherein these values will be tested and challenged. 

Yet at the end of the day, we will always go back to the basic premise and question ourselves, " What have we done today that improve our life being?", " Have we contributed positively or the contrary to our world today?", Did we become agents of change for others today?"....so on and so forth. 

Again, as Ralph said, let us utilise positively our "todays" to experience a better "tomorrows".....not just for our sake but that of our neighbours regardless of any status, situation, colour etc. in life. 

CFC Celebrates 24th Year Anniversary

          August 15, 2014, Saturday will mark the 24th anniversary of CFC (Couples for Christ) in Melbourne, Australia. Many grateful hearts are ready to share their gifts tomorrow during the celebration. The venue for this momentous event will be St. Brigid's Church and Parish Hall.

          To make this event a very meaningful one, the following activities are being prepared for everyone to share. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist will commence the festivities then this will be followed with the following events:

- praise and worship

- group photo

- dinner

- inspirational talk from Bro. Ed Canilao 

- unit presentations 1, 2 and 3

-  unit and family ministry presentations

          Everyone is so thankful to God for everything that has transpired all those 24 years that CFC existed here in Melbourne, Australia. It has passed through so many stages including the moment of purification most notably when it passed the division phase. Yet after all those trying moments, CFC continues to grow and move forward by the grace of God and by the abled leadership of people like Bros. Bong, Romy, Ed and others. Happy 24th anniversary dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Treasure Every Moment with Loved Ones

           One of the treasured moments in our community is the opportunity to be with loved ones. And as a matter of fact, this is one thing that is oftentimes encouraged to each of the members of the community- to be able to devote time especially to one's family and to gather together in prayer and in other communal activities.

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          Personally, I see it as a very pertinent part of our daily life especially that now I have a family to prioritise. Other things such as schedules, activities with friends, personal itineraries, and other extra curricular activities outside of the family circle are but merely secondary things.

          I know that we all have our set of priorities everyday and they vary from one person to the other. However, there is no other most urgent and important need than that of the family. As members of such group, we, especially the parents, are asked to devote much attention and care to those persons entrusted to our care most notably our children.

          Thus, as the days go by, we need to, from time to time, evaluate what then is our everyday priority. And be happy if they are geared towards the joy and fulfilment of the desires of each member and make a turnaround if it the other way around.