Sunday's Sermon on August 30, 2009

By Bishop F. M. Mawit

Topic : "It is your God’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom"

Luke 12: 22 – 32 One of the things that can change the atmosphere in the church and in our lives is the reign of the Kingdom of God in the church and in our lives. We must have the attitudes and behaviours of the Kingdom of God. As children and citizens of the Kingdom of God, we must have attitudes and behaviours that are different from those of the world. The people of the world must notice the difference in us. The Kingdom of God is submitted to principles of the King, and we must respect these King’s principles. The Kingdom of God functions according to God’s principles.

The Kingdom is not for lazy people (Matthew 11: 12). We must act with violence, with force, to enjoy the Kingdom of God. We must apply force to enjoy the advantages of the Kingdom. We must fight all the opposing situations that prevent us from enjoying the assets of the Kingdom of God.

There are things that we can never get if we don’t dare, if we don’t press into them (Luke 16: 16). We must press into the things that God has prepared for us.

Violence is to be willing to do what we have never done before. Violence here is our faith, our full trust in God. The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are violent.

Christian life is not a lazy life, neither is it a peaceful life (Acts 14: 22). Persecutions, tribulations, humiliations, hardships, are part of normal Christian life; and we have to use violence to go through them.

We must fully trust God and be aware that He always cares for us. We have value in His sight. Our value depends on what God says, not on what people say or think of us.

We must therefore have a good image of ourselves and never worry.

One of the greatest enemies of the Kingdom is worry.

Worrying means that we doubt God’s might and ability.Worries stop the power of the Holy Spirit in the church and in our lives. Worries are a poison for our souls.

Worry is an expression of lack of faith; it comes from a heart that has lost trust in God or from a person who has a bad image of God. Worry comes from a person who is not aware of having value in God’s sight.

Children of the Kingdom are characterised by the joy of the Lord, not by worries. The joy of the Lord is our force. Joy is an attitude of the Kingdom.

No matter the problems that we might be facing, we must always put our trust in God. He has given us the Kingdom, and everything that we need is in the Kingdom.