Home Cell Guide (Sunday 15th September)
Praise God Brethren! Last Sunday our topic was; Repent and Rest in Your Salvation from Psalms 15:1-5. Our greatest desire should be to dwell in the house of the Lord. David poses a pertinent question of who is fit to dwell in the presence of God. Looking at the situation in our nation, murders, quarreling amongst leaders, hatred, anger, fornication, immorality, divorce, abortions, violence, injustices, betrayal and oppression; corrupt leaders of all kinds; this is described as wickedness of the heart as seen in Habakkuk 1:13.
We need to be weeping and morning for our country, repenting Prophets like Jeremiah, Micah wept for Israel on seeing such occurrences instead we keep silent and fail to rest in the salvation of our Lord.
Rebuilding the nation begins by every one of us rebuilding our lives by repenting. Repentance is a total turnaround; It is Emotional where you feel sorrow over your sin; it is Intellectual where you recognise sin and you renounce it and it is Vocational where you refuse to take a certain course of direction and instead you take the right one e.g. John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and his disciples emphasized the need for repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance on the other hand is to allow God to look inside us and transform us.
Ones acknowledgment of sin is the first step necessary for repentance to occur; for the Lord examines our hearts.The following responses call for repentance and resolving to rest in the salvation of the Lord:
1) Integrity of the Heart; [Vs 2] the person who will sojourn your holy hill is the one who walks blamelessly and one who does what is right and speaks the truth from his heart
2) Integrity of Relationships: [Vs3] Relationships at personal level, at workplace, among the marrieds, at church, at home. Whoever is in such authority shouldn’t oppressing people.
3) Integrity of Promises: [vs 4] We should desist from making empty promises and bear integrity by learning to honour God through fulfilling our promises and covenants because God is a promise keeper: Mean what you say and say what you mean.
4) Integrity in our financial dealings; Desist from bribes, exploitation, corruption, selfishness, have financial integrity, look to God above everything and others above self.
Therefore for us to be fit to dwell in His presence, God is calling us today to repentance as individual[s], families, Church and Nation – May God have mercy upon us!
Guidelines and Questions
1) From above, where have we gone wrong as Individuals, Families, Church and Nation?
2) What does the Lord require of us in response to the issues raised above?
3) Prayerfully allow the Lord to examine our hearts and purpose to live with integrity.
More Study Helps: Luke 24:44-48, Matt 4:17, Acts 3:19,
Rev. Patrick Kamara
Priest in Charge: Home Cell and Pastoral Care
0772482433/0754 482433 /0753922448