HOCF SERMON 2023

Hosea 9: Celebrate God with Holiness

Hosea 9:1-5

9 Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations.

For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute

at every threshing floor.

2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.

3 They will not remain in the Lord's land; Ephraim will return to Egypt

and eat unclean food in Assyria.

4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,

nor will their sacrifices please him.Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves;

it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

5 What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the Lord?

SERMON:

A blessed day to everyone! This is Pastor Ren. Today Im not in Bantayan, Im notnin cebu and definitely Im not in Iloilo so I wont be preaching to any of HOCF local church because Im here in Pierto Princesa Palawan still but the Lord has p rompted me to release a message about today's Word.
So today we are on the Book of Hosea 9:1-5

9 Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations.

For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute

at every threshing floor.

2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.

3 They will not remain in the Lord's land; Ephraim will return to Egypt

and eat unclean food in Assyria.

4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,

nor will their sacrifices please him.Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves;

it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

5 What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the Lord?

So yes. The Word, brothers and sisters is alive! Indeed, what a timely message from the Lord, as many are celebrating what some people believe as religious festivals. If you go around the city, you will see that the mood is so festive and many people are excited because they are looking forward to the different performances and events that the city has prepared.

You see as Christians, there are indeed days that we should celebrate to honor God and to thank God and to give back to God. Im not talking only about some particular religious festivals but all festivals that we claim that we do for the Lord. Whether it is Thanksgiving or Harvest Festivals. We should celebrate the goodness of God in our lives. God deserves it. We owe it to Him.

However, we should remember that since we are holding these celebrations for God, as the Word today is reminding us that we should hold it in a way that indeed it will honor and celebrate God. We should hold it in a way that is acceptable to God.

You see, there is no problem if we hold festivals and celebrate, but the problem is when we hold it claiming that it is for God, but the way we celebrate it does not honor God.

Remember people of God that God is holy. And so when we offer something to God, it should also be holy and acceptable to Him. If the festival that we hold is for God, it should bear the fruit of righteousness but most of the time, these festivals only lead people to unholiness. It only lead to unrighteousness.