Special Talks – Breaking Free From Bondage

Special Talk

BRO. BO SANCHEZ

Néle Azevedo, Brazilian sculptor. What’s amazing about her is that her artwork is temporary. You call it temporary art. Here, I show you some pictures of her art: ice sculptures, tiny ones, little figures, 1,000 of them.

Here, a post on Azevedo’s sculptures on her Facebook page.

Azebedo called the sculptures Minimal Monuments.

Why? Because the usual monuments–made of stone, marble, or bronze– they last almost forever. Azevedo’s artwork would last for only 30 minutes. After that, the ice sc ulptures melt (above right) –they’re gone.

Two for Blessings Overflow

The reason I share with you Nele Azevedo’s Melting Men is I became very sentimental a few days ago.

At the recent Holy Week Retreat and Grand Easter Sunday Feast, there were two persons who were not there. I’m talking about Tita Lynda

Reyes (right, in black) and Tita Aida Dy (in yellow) Every single Sunday, they were here at The Feast.

Let me tell you their story.

Many years ago, they were in their late 60s already, they walked into The Feast for the first time. They loved it. They talked to me. We called them Doñas. We called them Imeldific They had elaborately coiffed hair. They always dressed well.

They wore beautiful jewelry.

They would walk into The Feast with that sense of confidence and aura.

One day, they told me: “Bro. Bo, we visited The Feast, and we love it. We visited Anawim, our Ministry for abandoned elderly, and we love it.

We want to serve there.”

I said, “Parang hindi kayo bagay doon. It seems you’d be out of place there…” But they said, “We want to go there. We want to serve there.”

You know, they adopted Anawim.

They said, “Bro. Bo, we’re going to build houses there.”

They raised funds. They dug from their own pocket. They started building one house after another. Anawim was transformed.And people started telling me, “Bro. Bo, Anawim is like a resort.” I said, “Blame it on the Doñas.”

Original nipa huts transformed into “resort” cottages for our lolos and lolas.

The Message of Easter

Tita Aida and Tita Lynda would go to Anawim weekly, stayed overnight, or for two nights. They beautified everything there.

Every Sunday at The Feast, I would go to the lobby for book-signing and picture-taking with attendees. After that, I would walk and see two familiar figures manning the table of Anawim, attending to those inquiring details about this ministry, and those who want to donate. I always said in jest that people might not donate to Anawim anymore because they looked wealthy already.

They were so regal.

Last year, in a span of one month, both women passed away. It broke our hearts. Two ice sculptures melting in 30 minutes. That’s who we are. We melt.

Tita Lynda and Tita Aida are not here anymore. The table is empty. I miss them so much because every Sunday they were there.

We are not made of marble or stone or bronze. We are made of ice. After Néle Azevedo carefully set up 1,000 ice sculptures, they become puddles of water– after 30 minutes.

One day, we will all be gone. Here’s my very strong recommendation. Do not be too attached to anyone nor to anything in this world. We need to understand the power of Easter. The message of Easter is if Jesus rose from the dead, He will raise you up as well. This earthly life that we have is temporary– just like the art of Néle Azevedo. But we last forever in another form.

Let’s read Luke 12:16-21:

Tita Lynda and Tita Aida were rich here on Earth but when the barn was full, they did not build new barns. They just let the barn overflow.

It’s okay to overflow. Because we are all ice sculptures that melt.

Tita Aida and Tita Lynda’s generosity overflowed to Anawim and they made it beautiful.

If you want to be free, let go of attachments and trust in the One who will raise you one day.

If God blesses you so much, just let the blessings overflow to the people around you.

Special Talk

BRO. AUDIE VILLARAZA:

This week, I prepared a message that I believe will set someone here free. I don’t know what kind of chains or bondage holding you back. But I’m declaring right now that the power of Jesus is upon us. Right now, He’s going to set you free. I want you to believe that with all your heart.

Lift your hands as we sing in honor of God’s Word:

Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet And a Light unto my path.

After coming from the Grand Easter Feast last Sunday, I wonder if you also asked this question. After every big occasion that happens– whether it’s Easter, Christmas, birthday, or a regular Feast where you get so inspired– do you also ask: “So, what now?”

The Message

I realized that this is a message that we all need to receive because God has been trying to do something since the beginning of time.

We’re going to walk through this beautiful story from the book of Exodus on how the Lord has been trying to resurrect people since Day 1.

The problem is that for some reason, people keep on going back to sin, to chains, and to slavery.

My big message for all of you today is that God wants to set you free.

He really does set you free from whatever prison you are in. Maybe you’re a sin to social media. Maybe, you’re a sin to a substance. Maybe, you’re a sin to people-pleasing. Maybe, you’re a slave to a person you are trying to love– but it’s becoming so hard to do so.

Today, I believe that God is going to set us free. I want you to come into that posture of receiving the light and the love of the Lord.

Put your hand over your chest and say:

“Lord, change me from the inside out.

Only You can transform me in this moment. I will listen and I will receive with love.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet And a Light unto my path.

Three Lessons from the Wilderness

We’re going to backtrack a bit to the Old Testament, in Exodus. We’re going to talk about the story of the Israelites being freed from Egypt. I’m going to teach you three powerful lessons that we can learn from the wilderness. We’re going to do a little wilderness-walk.

If you have a goal of taking 10,000 steps every day, we’re going to have a goal of taking 10,000 spiritual steps today with God.

Let’s read Exodus 14:10-21

I want you to think about this for a few moments:

The Israelites were slaves for 400 years. That’s a long time. They were praying to God for help. They were begging God for freedom.

Quick context: This is the time when the Israelites were already freed from Egypt and they were walking towards the Promised Land* –until they reached the Red Sea. And then they noticed that the Egyptians were chasing after them.

All of a sudden, God freed them from Egypt through plague after plague and miracle after miracle until finally, the Pharaoh softened his heart and said, “Go. Go away from this place.”

That was a happy moment. It was a celebration.

*Why were the Israelites in Egypt?

In the Old Testament, in Genesis, because of his faith and obedience, Abraham was blessed by God who promised his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. From Abraham came Isaac, from Isaac came Jacob and from Jacob came 12 sons, one of them, Joseph (the dreamer) who told his brothers he dreamt that one day, they would bow down to him. This angered the brothers so they sold Joseph to slavery in Egypt. Joseph gained the favor of the Egyptian Pharaoh who assigned Joseph second in command — to stockpile food to prepare the nation for an impending worldwide famine.

During the famine, Jacob and his sons had to transfer to Egypt since it had food reserves. The Israelites flourished in Egypt — until succeeding pharaohs after Joseph’s time were threatened by the growing number of the Israelites. So, they made the Israelites slaves and they remained so for 400 years until God then chose Moses to aet the Israelites free.

In Exodus, led by Moses, the Israelites then set out for Canaan, the Promised Land.

Trivia: Today, the Promised Land encompass the modern states of Israel, the West Bank/ Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and southern Syria. Gaza.

Egypt Still Following You?

After 400 years of bondage, the Israelites were finally free. They were walking in the desert. They were walking towards the Promised Land, a land filled with milk and honey– until they got to the Red Sea. They saw the Egyptians riding in chariots, chasing them. From celebration, they turned into depression. They started complaining to Moses:

The lesson here is simple. Sometimes, you think that you have left Egypt but Egypt is still following you. It’s right behind you. Isn’t that so true when it comes to sin?

Imagine this very powerful and very scary image: The Devil is always there chasing you. The moment you take a step, he’s chasing you to get you back.

That’s how sin is. It’s so hard to overcome sin because it’s always there. But one lesson we need to learn here is that sin is not too far away from all of us.

You think you’re free — until the next bad medical report, or until the next bad day. I mean, you would be surprised how little it takes for the enemy to steal your joy. Somebody comes up to you, and you’re chasing your dream, and you’re now experiencing the abundance of your business– but then one bad day happens and now you’re back to where you started, questioning God and your faithfulness in God. It’s so easy to get us back into that familiar place.

We prefer familiarity over what is uncertain.

Think about it: Why do people keep going back to toxic relationships even though they are physically abused or verbally battered? Because that relationship is familiar.

Why do 66% of ex-offenders in the United States end up back in prison within a three-year span of time? Because the prison is already familiar to them.

This is the truth. Familiarity doesn’t necessarily mean freedom.

God wants something better for you. He wants you to be healthier so that you can be healthy for your family.

God wants you to experience financial freedom. Just because you think you know how to survive in Egypt doesn’t mean that you belong there. Just because you think you can handle that sin doesn’t mean that God wants you to have that sin.

Once God frees you, you are free physically. But the battle is now in your mind.

Everything happens in the mind. For example, you got out of a toxic relationship but for some reason, the slavery mindset still grips you.

You’re not opening yourself to other people for them to love you. Why? Because you’re stuck in that position– thinking, “I’m not worthy to be loved by anybody else.”

Some people are like that because they went through a trauma in life –and that’s a sad part.

Egypt is more than just a place.

Egypt is a mindset.

God wants to remove that slavery mindset because it continues to chase us wherever we go.

If you’re going through any of these situations, I want you to know that there is a spiritual family here at The Feast that you can come to for help.

We can point you to our Pastoral Care Center.

We might not know all the answers but at least, we’re here to journey with you and to pray with you.

God led the Israelites to a long path for a specific purpose:

They were walking in the desert for 40 long years. Do you know how long it should have taken them from Egypt to the Promised Land? Only11 days.

But 11 days turned into 40 years. *

Why did the Lord allow them to go through that?

I used to think that the wilderness was a place of punishment. But the truth is, the wilderness is a place of preparation. Because the Israelites were slaves for 400 years, the Lord needed to prepare them for freedom. Because removing that slavery mindset doesn’t happen overnight.

So, the Lord will change you not overnight but over a lifetime.

Little by little as you walk with Him, God is changing you, unlocking your potential in living with Him. But I need you to understand that the reason

God is allowing us to go through a lot of delays in life.

*There are 250-330 miles (400-500 kilometers) between Egypt and Canaan, the Promised Land– which took the Israelites to complete in 40 years.

The shortest route was 250 miles– which could have been negotiated for only 11 days.

Two Reasons for Delays

God is allowing us to go through a lot of delays in life. There are two reasons:

When my Dad was still single, he used to work as a medical technician. During his time in the 1960s, nobody travelled by plane. So, he would be driving all the time to different cities and he would experience a lot of unforeseen delays.

By the time he was married and already had children, he had clocked in over 10,000 hours in the patience department. He would wait for us even when our classes ended up late. He would not complain a single bit.

They say that the best way to learn something is to experience it. Do not be surprised that the Lord will allow you to go through traffic. Do not be surprised that the Lord will allow you to experience canceled flights. Because sometimes, the only way that the Lord will teach us is through experience.

By this time, they were already hungry. So, it says in Exodus 18::

So, the Lord was going to rain down food from Heaven. Each day the people can go out and pick as much food as they needed for that day:

What was God doing? He was sending manna. Manna is bread raining down from Heaven. That is beautiful. Imagine, just receiving the blessing of the Lord every day.

But there’s a catch. You need to eat manna or bread on the day you get it.

Because by tomorrow, it will already be rotten.

There was a time limit. The Lord wasn’t just trying to get the people to a destination. He was teaching them dependence on Him.

In the same manner, God is teaching you to depend on Him, so that every day, you go to God for what you need.

That’s why Jesus taught us the prayer: “Give us this day, our daily bread…”

Pope Francis’ Humble Statement

I really want to honor Pope Francis.

He’s a leader who just recently passed away. (Following a heart failure, Pope Francis died at age 88 on Easter Monday,

April 21, 2025, at Domus Sanctae Marthae, in Vatican City.

He could have lived in The Apostolic Palace… But he chose to live in a small room in the Vatican Guest House.

It was his statement: to let everybody be aware that we are humble Christ followers who depend on God for all that we need.

This is how God is speaking to all of us. Don’t be afraid because that thing that you’re so scared of, after today, you’ll no longer see that. God wasn’t just delivering the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land.

God wasn’t just delivering them. God was destroying everything that was coming against them. He said that right after the day they are freed from sin, these people will no longer be in that oppressive situation.

We shall be set free in the same manner. I know this is going to be a hard truth. There are some moments in your life that are not meant to continue. There are some doors in your life that are not meant to be reopened. There are some chapters that are really meant to be closed.

“This Is Final.”

Why? Because God wants to set you free.

Sometimes, to set you free, there has to be a final note.

But final doesn’t mean failure. Sometimes, final simply means freedom.

Because the only way that you can walk away from sin and oppression is to really say:

I know it’s hard to walk away from a toxic relationship where you feel loved.

But you need to do it so that the Lord can heal you and give you something better. I know it’s hard to walk away from a high-paying job that pays for your bills.

But if it’s stressing you out and it’s corrupting you, you need to walk away so that the Lord can save your soul.

What does it profit you to gain the whole world but then lose your very own soul?

The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land wasn’t just about blessing them so that they would survive where they were.

God sent the Israelites manna every day but God was doing something deeper– giving them nourishment for their soul.

And I believe He’s still doing the same thing today– while you are in your business of being in your own wilderness.

Please don’t rush your wilderness season. The Lord is preparing something greater for you. While you are still in the wilderness season, He doesn’t just want you to survive. He wants you to be ready for the Promised Land. When you come to the Promised Land, you won’t just survive but you’re going to thrive. You’re going to excel. You’re going to experience abundance like no other.

Don’t rush your progress. Take your time. There are delays in life– and that’s good. Because God will teach you how to persevere, how to be patient, and how to depend on Him.

Pope Francis showed us that what we need to do is to keep walking forward.

Pope Francis came at a time in Church when there was a lot of division and anger.

But he reformed the Church through his humility. He pushed the boundary to love people who felt unloved. He accepted and embraced people from different sex.

That’s what we need to do. We need to stop looking back at the past, and instead keep moving forward to a better life.

Egypt is a place that represents sin. It’s a place of opulence, of grandeur, of excess. It represents power, oppression, and slavery. The Israelites were trying to get away from it all for 400 years. They were trying their best to get out of it but they couldn’t. They were in bondage and for some reason, even if they were already freed from slavery, they kept on returning to it.

Isn’t that just like all of us here? There’s a tendency for us to keep returning to slavery because it’s our mindset.