HOCF SERMON 2023

Speak Jesus, Speak Love (Gen 11)

SPEAK JESUS, SPEAK LOVE

Genesis 11:

6 The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

6 Siling niya, "Ini nga mga tawo nagaugyon kag may isa lang sila ka lingguahe. Kag ining ila ginahimo umpisa pa lang sang ila pa gid nga pagahimuon. Sa indi madugay himuon nila ang bisan ano nga gusto nila himuon.

SERMON:

Good morning Church! Today, once again, with agreement and confirmation from Pastor Pearl, I will be delivering the message to you and I feel thankful because this might be the last preaching that I am going to do here in Iloilo before I leave.

I kinda know and feel that I will be preaching today because there is a wisdom that keeps on popping up in my mind but I thought, maybe today it would be pastor pearl that would preach. Yesterday morning, I was prompted to message pastor Pearl na ako lang mawali, but I thought, maybe she already started making the sermon. Then suddenly, nag message sya asking if may leading ako to preach. And so I said. I was about to message you because I received the same instruction.

Hallelujah! If we have one Spirit, we will have one mind. And so when I checked on the Word today, it is indeed a confirmation to the wisdom that I have received from the Lord and what He wants to tell you People of God today.

In our Word today, speaks about the story of the Tower of Babel. It was during the time after the Great Flood and people began to multiply and spread out to the east part of the world and that at that time they only had one language. And so they began settling in the land of Shinar.

Then they began to tell among themselves that they were going to build a very tall tower that would reach the heavens and take the honor for themselves. And because they spoke only one language, they understood each and all agreed and united with the plan.

And God was not happy about their ambition because they began to take pride in the works of their hands. They wanted to reach the heavens by their intelligence, their skills and abilities. Remember that idolatry is not only about worshiping statues, but anything that we put above God is idolatry.

Even our own intelligence. When we begin to think that we have superior knowledge over, when we begin to be in awe of our own intelligence and think that we are above others then this can be considered as mind idolatry.

When we begin to ignore others because we think we know more, when we begin to look down on others because we think we are smarter than them, when we begin to admire our own work, we could be in danger of the consequences of the sin of mind idolatry.

The begin to worship the works of our hands because we think that everything we have is because of what we have done and not from God.

And I tell you God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. If God was not happy about the people building the Tower of Babel, God confused their language that they began to misunderstand each other and turn to each other that they were not able to finish building it. Their plan was destroyed. Their pride was destroyed.

The story of the Tower of Babel teaches us a very important lesson that the Lord wants you to take note. That when people unite and understand each other, nothing is impossible.

This is exactly what the Lord was saying in the Word today. That if only people would speak the same language and understand each other, we can actually carry out the plans that we have in mind and make it possible. That's why in the story of the Tower of Babel their goal was to reach the skies. They wanted to be God that could do everything.