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.

In The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is showing us what the kingdom looks like. This kingdom derives from a dream – a plan that God had since before the foundation of the world.

You might say that a dream is being realized. The kingdom of God is at hand.

You can be part of the worship service through this video.

Jesus is clear on who the kingdom is made up of.

It’s not made up of people who have pushed the envelope and made themselves righteous. There’s no real room in the kingdom for the self-righteous.

It’s not made up of people don’t care and adopt lawlessness.

Those in the kingdom are those who have a keen sense of right and wrong – a keen sense of light and darkness. And they are disturbed when they see darkness in themselves. They know they cannot personally rid themselves of guilt and shame, but they trust that Christ has done so.

And, in humility, they receive his forgiveness – his righteousness – as their own.

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 8/2/20

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is turning the world upside down – giving us a proper perspective on life and on the kingdom of heaven.

You can watch the worship service here.

The Beatitudes form a Benediction, of sorts….

You are blessed when you realize you have nothing before God and are completely dependent on his grace and mercy.

You are blessed when you struggle in your recognition of the evil of this world and it causes you to mourn. You’re seeing clearly, understanding that the only solution is God’s goodness.

You are blessed because you have stopped clamoring for your rights and you’ve begun trusting God – and you’re finding more than you would have hoped for.

You are blessed because you have a sincere hunger and desire to be a better person – to be “right” before God. And God has made that happen because the desire itself was a prerequisite.

You are blessed because you have been shown mercy. You’ve indicated that you understand that God’s mercy is what you must rely on. And it holds you and sustains you.

And you are blessed because you have been cleansed and refined by God himself, made pure in heart – finding meaning and purpose in life.

You are blessed because God has called you to join him in his mission of reconciling the world to himself. And you find happiness as a co-worker with Christ in the kingdom, helping others find what you have found: Peace with God

And you are blessed because you are willing to courageously stand in the gap, showing the kingdom of God to a world that needs this blessing.

Take this blessing as you go from here today, in Christ’s name, Amen