FRUITFUL THROUGH THE YEARS:FULFILLING GOD’S GREAT COMMISSIONFRUITFUL THROUGH THE YEARS:

Nehemiah 6:1-4; Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 9:6-14

Today we have come together for a historical event. This church is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary. Indeed, it is a day of thanksgiving celebration. A celebration of what God has done, a celebration of what God is doing, and a celebration of what God will yet do. When God calls us, it is a call to engage in a partnership with God, to make a difference in the world. 60 years ago, evening of October 21 1951, 23 people gathered together at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Jose Collantes, the Provincial Treasurer of Davao Province, to form a Methodist congregation of Davao City.

When God called these Christian Methodist to start the Methodist mission in Davao City, He had a very good purpose it doing so. It was not easy for this early Methodist group. They had no church building, they held their worship service in several places:

First they rented a house at the corner of Tomas Claudio (Quirino St.) and General Luna Streets with Rev. Vicente Rosete as pastor;
then followed by another transfer to the residence of Atty. and Mrs. Ramon Saura, President of a Rural Bank in Davao City in San Pedro Street.
Followed again by another transfer to the residence of Mr. & Mrs. Castro Lardizabal (Manager of Star life Insurance), located at the corner of Bolton and Rizal Streets.

We thank God for their faithful dedication in the church ministry by planting the seed of our Methodist mission in this City.
This church anniversary, then, provides the opportunity to reflect upon what God has done through this church community over the last 60 years. It is a time to reflect upon our experience of God being (as it says in Psalm 46) our refuge and strength in times of trouble, thus there is no cause to fear even though change is all about us and not necessarily change for the better!
Yes, as we give thanks to God for the past, as we remember the past, it is easy to become pessimistic about the future. Nationally (generally internationally too) church attendance is in decline and, for our Church as a denomination anyway, the age-profile is getting older on average. So, what does the future what does God’s future hold for us? For us here (as with many similar sized congregations within our and other denominations) we still share that same pioneering spirit of faith, courage, hope and obedience to God and Gods will with the founders of this church. But at the same time, it is easy to be overly-concerned for the future.