By Keziah G. Huelar

CPU President, Dr. Teodoro C. Robles talks about the importance of CEW to the CPU community.

Ushering in the CEW Season, the University Church held a convocation for the Central Philippine University faculty and staff at the University Church on August 10, 2018.

The praise and worship was led by the Seeds of Faith band. It was then followed by the welcome remarks by CPU President, Dr. Teodoro C. Robles. In his message, Dr. Robles thanked the university community for supporting the Christ Emphasis Week throughout the years. He also talked about the importance of such activity: “This is the time to refresh ourselves with our relationship with God. For the past few days, you were busy with the examinations and the faculty proctoring of the said exams. But now is the time for us to emphasize our relationship with God. Although it should be done every day, we have at least one week for us to focus on this.”

 For the explanation of the text and theme, Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, Senior Pastor, University Church, talked about the importance of experiencing the relentless love of God: “Our text is found in Isaiah 54:10 and in Matthew 28:20. Sin has its own way of alienating us not only from others but also from our loved ones and our God. The phrase “God loves you” can be repeatedly heard from many conversations, that to some extent, it has become a cliché. It has stopped being an emotional experience for many. Many people in this generation are lonely, depressed, and disillusioned with life, but we still believe that the message of God’s love has the power to transform our lives.”

Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, CPBC General Secretary, shared in his message that life does not consist in the abundance of things.

 Mr. Agripino Gallos, Jr., faculty of the College of Business and Management then introduced the guest speaker, Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, CPBC General Secretary. In his message, Rev. Dr. Narciso highlighted the importance of living our lives relentlessly for Jesus through the beatitudes: “When I hear the word relentless, I am reminded of Matthew 5:6 where we will find the beatitudes. The beatitudes are known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Other scholars call it as the greatest sermon ever told.”

 According to Rev. Dr. Narciso, we live in a material world where happiness revolves around the around the acquisition of things: “I think that is the reason why people today are relentless in their efforts to pursue that which are in the world. They have the assumption that the more they have in life, the more they would be happy and contented—materialism confuses our values with our valuables.”

 Rev. Dr. Narciso ended his message by encouraging the CPU community to be relentless in the pursuit of God, who is ever-faithful, rather than the things of the world that will only leave one empty and thirsty for more.

The closing prayer and benediction was then led by Rev. Sian