Fidelity in the Kingdom :: Sermon on the Mount

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 8/30/20 at 10:45 AM by Pastor Steve Shields

You probably became familiar with the phrase, Semper Fi through the United States Marine Corps. It’s a short version of the Latin, Semper Fidelis. It means always faithful. Or perhaps more literally, “Always marked by fidelity.” The earliest recorded use of the phrase dates back to a town of Abbeville in France almost 700 years ago. The US Marines adopted it in 1883.

It’s a great moto.

Always faithful…. To what? I guess it might mean always faithful to the flag. Or always faithful to the Commander in Chief. Or always faithful to the government – of the people, by the people, and for the people. Or always faithful to one another – as brothers fighting shoulder to shoulder.

Probably all of the above.

At the most basic level, I would hope that Marines – and any other person serving their country – would be faithful to their office.

-What is your office?
-I am a United States Marine, sir.
-Then be true to that office. Act like it.

I would hope that when a Marine says “Semper Fi” he or she is saying, “I am what a Marine is supposed to be.”

And followers of Jesus… we should be what we’re supposed to be.

In this worship service, we look at Fidelity in the kingdom.