Arc Church

12/04/2022

Dear Friends,

Should you find yourself needing a reflection tool this Holy Week, consider using The Stations of the Cross and Table by arc.

They are available in text and audio-video version, you can just pop in some headphones and ponder the reflections. Though they were posted in 2020, you’ll find, it is still relevant today.

For Facebook users

English version:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/110359703746244/446855249731882

Filipino version:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/110359703746244/200578844804577

For Instagram users

English version:

Station 1
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-k-8TqHq4K/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Station 2

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-k_a1lHZb_/

Station 3

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-k_iJZH_CV/

Station 4

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-n2vB2HjTh/

Station 5

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-n7WvFH_6O/

Station 6

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qzX-XH8uP/

Station 7

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rJkjuHjgm/

Station 8

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sy8FZHLse/

Station 9

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-v-SN3nVge/

Station 10

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xwFLVnBVL/

Station 11

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zBaalnr7j/

Station 12

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-08-j0HXAP/

Station 13

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-1sWrRnC7c/

Station 14

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-33nLOngWv/

Join us for the digital version of the Station of the Cross.

For English
https://www.facebook.com/watch/110359703746244/446855249731882

For Filipino

https://www.facebook.com/watch/110359703746244/200578844804577/

29/09/2019

Prayer by Henri Nouwen

Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.

28/09/2019

This Sunday at CS is the second part of the Redemptive Movement series.

The arc of the redemptive story found within the Scriptures is marked by steps. God gives us a greater understanding of His goodness with every redemptive step.
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10:00am - Coffee and Krispy Kreme
10:30am - 12:00nn Worship Gathering
Kids church available.

Limited parking available at BGC Arts Center.
Here are the other car parks close to the center:
https://www.bgcartscenter.org/plan-your-visit/77/plan-your-visit

This service will not be available for livestreaming.

24/09/2019

While we believe that the Bible is inspired by God and contains the narrative that reveals who God is and how He moves in this world, we also know that it is written through human hands. The people who God wrote through lived in ancient times and cultures, and while we share a lot in common with them, the world they experienced was also a lot different from our world.

Thus reading the Bible has to be treated like a cross-cultural exercise into the ancient world. It also helps us to be aware that there are methods, processes, and tools that are employed by generations of manuscript experts, interpreters, scholars, philosophers, theologians, linguists, cultural anthropologists, and archeologists to help us gain a fuller, richer and deeper understanding of what text mean.

As we approach the Bible and craft our understanding of it, here are things to consider:
- Linguistic Analysis
- Authorial Intent
- Cultural Context
- Narrative Flow

As we take a look at these methods available for us to interpret the Scriptures, we see that it is more profound than we can possibly imagine. And while we don’t have the faculties to embrace the enormity of its truth fully, the quest for a more accurate understanding is worth it.

For here is where we get a better understanding of who God is, what He is like, and how we are to live in this life.

23/09/2019

Prayer by Dag Hammarskjöld


Thou takest the pen and the lines dance
Thou takest the flute and the notes shimmer
Thou takest the brush and the colours sing

So all things have
meaning and beauty
in that space beyond time
where Thou art.
How, then, can I hold back
anything from Thee?You who are over us,
You who are one of us,
You who are also within us,
May all see you — in me also.

May I prepare the way for you,
May I thank you for all that
shall fall to my lot,May I also not forget the needs of others.
Give me a pure heart — that I may see you.
A humble heart— that I may hear you,
A heart of love — that I may serve you,
A heart of faith ­— that I may abide in you.

Amen.

18/09/2019

This Sunday at CS: The arc of the redemptive story found within the Scriptures is marked by steps. God gives us a greater understanding of His goodness with every redemptive step.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
10:00am - Coffee and Krispy Kreme
10:30am - 12:00nn Worship Gathering
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Kids church available.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Limited parking available at BGC Arts Center.
Here are the other car parks close to the center: https://www.bgcartscenter.org/plan-your-visit/77/plan-your-visit

16/09/2019

Prayer

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the salt sea and the running water, for the everlasting hills and the never-resting winds, for trees and the common grass underfoot.

We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of the summer fields, and taste of the autumn fruits, and rejoice in the feel of the snow, and smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty, and save our souls from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common thornbush is aflame with your glory.

O God our creator, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

14/09/2019

Join us as Gibson and Gail Viduya lead us in community worship this Sunday (September 15) at church. Come before 10:30am for breakfast, coffee and conversations. ☕🍞

12/09/2019

This Sunday at CS: We are separated from the ancient writers by millenia. As witnesses to the spirit of the text, how do we make sense of the God portrayed by Scripture in the world we now inhabit?

10:00am - Coffee and Krispy Kreme
10:30am - 12:00nn Worship Gathering
Kids church available.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Limited parking available at BGC Arts Center.

Here are the other car parks close to the center: https://www.bgcartscenter.org/plan-your-visit/77/plan-your-visit

Featured art by Andrew Judd

10/09/2019

Scripture tells the story of a people enslaved and exiled by oppressive empires. Despite a golden age in the promised land, the story of the Israelites starts and ends with subjugation.

From the harshness of Egyptian slavery to the brutal exile by Assyria and Babylon to the heavy-handed dominions of Persia, Greece, and Rome, the pages of Scripture stand as a rebuke of dehumanizing empires.

These stories told a nation in exile that their God still loved them. Despite their failures, God longed for them, promising to restore them once more.

The Hebrew Bible stood as a judge against the myths of pagan empires. No, the world was not the by-product of the petty strife of angry deities. The cosmos were the creative act of a good God who blesses His handiwork.

The writers sent a message to their oppressors who worshipped the sun, moon, and stars that their God was the creator of those heavenly bodies. One day, He would act on their behalf.

They declared the innate dignity of humanity. Other creation myths taught that humans were slaves of the gods. Elite pagan emperors, the embodiment of these deities, had the right and mandate to enslave and to rule.

The Bible refuted this claim. It subversively declared that all human beings are image-bearers of a good God, equally sharing in the mandate to care for all creation.

This radical and revolutionary anti-empire message echoed through the ages. It served to provide the foundation for the advancement and expansion of human equality, even now, in our modern times.

Today, the Bible serves as a mirror to anyone who desires to encounter it. It can reveal to us the ways we become complicit to “empire thinking.”

It challenges us to fight for the dignity of all, to fight against those who would wield their power to diminish the image of God in their fellow man.

1. What are some ways that the idea that every human inherently holds a divine dignity could be seen as countercultural even today?

2. What are some areas in your life where you feel like the Bible’s portrayal of people might be challenging you to treat others better?

3. What does fighting for the dignity of all look like for you today?

10/09/2019

Scripture tells the story of a people enslaved and exiled by oppressive empires. Despite a golden age in the promised land, the story of the Israelites starts and ends with subjugation.

From the harshness of Egyptian slavery to the brutal exile by Assyria and Babylon to the heavy-handed dominions of Persia, Greece, and Rome, the pages of Scripture stand as a rebuke of dehumanizing empires.

These stories told a nation in exile that their God still loved them. Despite their failures, God longed for them, promising to restore them once more.

The Hebrew Bible stood as a judge against the myths of pagan empires. No, the world was not the by-product of the petty strife of angry deities. The cosmos were the creative act of a good God who blesses His handiwork.

The writers sent a message to their oppressors who worshipped the sun, moon, and stars that their God was the creator of those heavenly bodies. One day, He would act on their behalf.

They declared the innate dignity of humanity. Other creation myths taught that humans were slaves of the gods. Elite pagan emperors, the embodiment of these deities, had the right and mandate to enslave and to rule.

The Bible refuted this claim. It subversively declared that all human beings are image-bearers of a good God, equally sharing in the mandate to care for all creation.

This radical and revolutionary anti-empire message echoed through the ages. It served to provide the foundation for the advancement and expansion of human equality, even now, in our modern times.

Today, the Bible serves as a mirror to anyone who desires to encounter it. It can reveal to us the ways we become complicit to “empire thinking.”

It challenges us to fight for the dignity of all, to fight against those who would wield their power to diminish the image of God in their fellow man.

1. What are some ways that the idea that every human inherently holds a divine dignity could be seen as countercultural even today?

2. What are some areas in your life where you feel like the Bible’s portrayal of people might be challenging you to treat others better?

3. What does fighting for the dignity of all look like for you today?