Sermon – Page 16 – Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church Sunday School Department

“Let the earth bring for the grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.” (Genesis 1: 11-13)

It was deep wisdom of God that commanded the earth, when it rested after discharging the weigh to f the waters, first to bring forth grass, then wood as we see it doing still at this time. For the voice that was then heard and this command were as a natural and permanent law for it; it gave fertility and the power to produce fruit for all ages to come; “Let the earth bring forth.” The production of vegetables shows first germination. When the germs begin to sprout they form grass; this develops and becomes a plant, which in sensibly receives its different articulations, and reaches its maturity in the seed. Thus all things which sprout and are green are developed. “Let the earth bring forth green grass.” Let the earth bring forth by itself without having any need of help from without.

The Truth about Wind

God created the wind for everything was created with a reason. King David wrote in psalm “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.”(Psalm 19:1-2) Nature teaches us Gods work and His will. God created humans with the characteristics of the soul and body, in his image and in his likeness. (Genesis 1:26). The Body made of the four elements being body, Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. In Genesis teachings this is descried widely. In this short article we will the winds nature in different aspects.

God created Fire to reveal His power

The creation of God “fire” is created on Sunday alongside the Heaven and Earth, the Angels, Water and Wind. There are some facts we must analyze about fire for God created it for reason. Prophet Mosses have said that God is consuming Fire stating “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24)

The Seven Archangels

Dear Children of God! How are you? How is school and your study? Hope you are doing well! Children, always remember to be active and attentive at your school because you need to understand the lesson that your teacher presents in the classroom. You must also have a good behavior, be obedient and respect your teachers as well as your elders.

Dear Children, alongside Holy Mother Saint Mary, the chosen children of God help us repent (cleanse) our sin. That is one of the reason we have prepared a lesson about the Seven Archangels who are Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, Saint Raguel, Saint Uriel, Saint Phanuel, and Saint Saquel.

The Creation of Water

The Almighty God created water extraordinarily from the sky visible for the eyes of human beings. In scripted in the Holy Book bible as “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Sky is the paint of water according to patristic fathers. (Genesis 1:6)

Earth

Even though God is in His Kingdom of Heaven, earth is also His Kingdom as we His creatures inhibit in it. We shall embrace His existence within our humanity, soul, heart and spiritual life every day for He could live with us. It is stated, “It is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that sit upon the orb of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretch out the heavens as nothing and spread them out as a tent to dwell in.” (Isaiah 40:22)

“Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3)

Light is the first thought of God as His first recorded words are; “Let there be light.” He created the light three days before creating any of the heavenly bodies. The light in Genesis is not a by-product of solar energy. It is rather, the principle of intelligibility in the structure of Creation. The light that God calls into being at the beginning of Genesis is that inner form of meaning that the mind of man, in due course, will be created to discover and investigate.

The World of Angels

The world of angles occupies heavenly hosts whom are the seven archangels Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, Saint Suriel, Saint Zedekiel, Saint Serathiel and Saint Ananiel. The Holy Scriptures also mentions the Seraphim with their six wings who filled the house with smoke and the cherubim that provide the throne for the Lord.

Witnessing Miracle

The human mind cannot comprehend a miracle, since it is the extraordinary phenomena. But it is the will of God to witness it in our lives as well as in others. Within this manner, we understand that it is God who does the miracles upon each of us as it is written in Psalm 77, “Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders.” (Psalm 77:13-14) In the Second Canticle of the Midnight Praises, Psalm 136 (135), we praise God “Who alone does great wonders.”

The miracle that is from God has is essential since it supports the true faith. Many teach strange beliefs and support their teachings with miracles to dazzle people. This is the main role of the Anti-Christ: to introduce new teachings that contradict the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he uses true miracles to support his false teachings. Therefore, if one concentrates on the factuality of the miracle, then it is easy for him to accept new teachings, since he will see the miracle as a fact, for example fire coming down from heaven or an image moving and speaking. However, if one concentrates on faith, then he will reject the teachings that contradict the true faith, even if they were supported by tens of miracles.

The miracle, which is from God, has a primary goal: to lead people to the true faith. The secondary goal of a miracle is an act of mercy towards a needy person, whether it is a sick person or someone in trouble, and God may save such a person in a miraculous way. As for the miracles that are for exhibition and dazzling people, they are not from God. Therefore, when we hear of a miracle, we should examine not only the factuality of it, but also more importantly whether it is from God or Satan.

Works of Mercy

Merciful as He is, God has granted us yet another new year, “The Year of Luke” for we can rinse out our vices entirely. We have added one more year to our lifetime and getting older by the day walking towards the end of earthly life. It is today that we shall realize the mystery of salvation and acknowledge the path to heavenly kingdom. Our destiny shall be shade by God’s mercy for we are His children.

All in the name of Lord Jesus Christ shall be merciful as He taught us saying, “blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Patristic fathers teach about the two categories of works of mercy, “Corporal works of mercy” and “Spiritual works of mercy”