Sermon

THE ALABASTER OIL: SOMETHING TO REMEMBER. Matthew 26:6-13.
It cost her a fortune, and no one seeing her pay the price would have thought she wasn't buying it for her own personal use.With the Alabaster box of precious oil tucked away in her bag, she went uninvited into the house of Simon the l***r where Jesus had lodged with his disciples. Finding the Lord at ease, she reached into her bag for the Alabaster box and emptied the content on the head of Jesus. We cannot tell what prompted her action but one thing is certain, and that is that she wanted to touch the heart of Jesus by doing what no one had ever done for him. Thousands of years after the event, Christians continue to read about the woman who lavished her precious ointment on Jesus.
We cannot talk about those three wise men who came from the East to Jerusalem without mentioning their precious gifts to Jesus.
For helping to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and for his service to the people, Nehemiah prayed God to remember him:
"Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof." Nehemiah 13:14.
So what have you done for the Lord that is worth remembering? It is true that Jesus is no longer in the world to personally receive our freewill gifts but he has given us a guide as to how we can reach him. For how to get your gifts across to Jesus and have your name written in his book of remembrance, please read and follow the steps in Matthew 25: 35-40.
Remain blessed.
Barrister (Pst) Godwin Efemena Macaulay.

BELIEVING GOD LIKE ABRAHAM.
Every King desires an heir, and no great man wants his affairs to pass on to a stranger. Abraham was no exception, for his lack of an heir was for him a source of continual sorrow.
On one starry night God called out Abraham to have a glimpse of his future greatness. With a hand on Abraham's shoulder, as friends are wont to do, God told Abraham to look up at the shinning stars that dotted the skies. As Abraham looked on in awe of the innumerable stars, God said to him, " So shall thy seed be." Gen. 15:6.
It was a promise that was far beyond the imaginations of Abraham. How could Abraham in his old age fathom such a thing when as yet he had no child who could prolong his generations. All the same, Abraham absorbed the images with a believing heart, " being fully (leaving no room for doubts) persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he was able also to perform." And from that day, Abraham ceased to see Eliezer of Damascus as his heir.
Like Abraham, we have our own fears too. All our fears put together is, in figure, this Eliezer of Damascus. Even as this Eliezer was not made heir to Abraham, so shall our fears not be our heirs if we keep believing in God and his promises.
God often uses images to create a lasting
impression in the hearts of his children.
"And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount." Exodus 25:40.
All through his life, the stars served as a reminder to Abraham of God's promise to him.
Do not look into empty spaces in utter hopelessness but fill them up with the images that God has shown to you and wait to see them materialize. Let the wonderful things you see all around you remind you of the promises of God and of the images shown to you, keeping in mind that the vision is for an appointed time.
The devil is also a lover of images hence he shapes and projects horrible images of death, sickness, decease, accident, poverty and other misfortunes into the thoughts and dreams of men and women. Happily we can replace these images with their very opposites and commit God to action, for the Bible says, "As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you." Numbers 14:28.
We read in Romans 4:17 that God "calleth those things which be not as though they were." Know therefore that you are bigger than what you are now, and that from creation, God has been calling you by your highest honour. The Lord Jesus had not started his ministry when John the Baptist said of him, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
You are not there yet but God is already saying of you, behold Mr. President, Governor, Senator, etc.
Let us encourage ourselves with these words of the Lord in John 14:1.
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."
At a time when all hope of survival should have been lost, Paul declared to the Centurion and his fellow prisoners:
" Wherefore, Sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Acts 27:25.
Remain blessed.
Barr. (Pst) Godwin E.F. Macaulay.
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