 Happy Sabbath to everyone It's about to enjema You know, I have been working, you know the last time I was here. I told you I was working a little bit on my Swahili I don't I was thinking this morning about Sharing a few phrases with you and just having a conversation with you in Swahili But you know, I'm a little bit nervous now and I'm not sure I can quite make it So, let me just say oh look Nalipinda Wah si not Nali pin. See you see I'm nervous. I've messed up already But I was gonna say Nalipinda watu wa mungu and And the very important thing is that the Lord loves us The Lord loves you as well and that's really if there's only one thing that we can never say to to any of us There's hope for us Because God loves us. There's hope for you because God loves you That's the only power there is in the universe and No matter what you're going through no matter what you think you're struggling with no matter what you think you may be dealing with Just know one thing one thing we have to know is that God loves you and I as I enter into the message today, I just have to stop and share once again I'm always very touched by the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in this church through these young people I Have met many of the leaders of this Children's ministry here in this church And I'm always humbled when I meet them because I see the fruit of their labor and And I just want to praise God for the young people in this church that are serving the Lord in such a beautiful way Thank you for this children's story sermon that we've heard today and May God bless you all abundantly and richly I want to bring you greetings on behalf of the East Central Africa Division of the seventh day Adventist Church where there are over 5.2 million of your brothers and sisters across East and Central Africa. I know that Dr. Raghuri the president of the division would be Very eager to bring you his warm greetings and welcome and along with his other colleagues the executive secretary Pastor Musa Mitokaro and the executive treasurer elder Johannes Olana So bring you those greetings and I want to just jump right into the word of God today now we've read the Verse we've heard the scripture reading for today, which is Acts chapter 1 verse 5 and I just I want to start there And I just want you to know why we've chosen this particular passage as our verse The verse says you shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth and As I read that passage I Have a question which is What is the purpose of the power that God wants to give us? You see when we go through our normal church life our normal church experience our normal church program Many of the things that we see in church and we experience in church can actually be done Without any extraordinary Experience we've gone to places and people can give you know they don't call it a sermon they call them speeches, but Those things can be done we can have lots of programs and indeed they are done around the world in many different places But the fact that God himself Jesus is saying that we will receive power and then We will be his witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and to the end of the worth into the earth that makes me ask the question What is it about this this cause that we have been assigned to be his witnesses that Requires and demands this extraordinary power that God is promising us And when you ask that question it leads you on a journey And this is the journey that we have been going on through This week, you know, there's a preacher. There's their quote actually that's been attributed to a preacher named a w. Tozer and That preacher I'm gonna paraphrase his quote He says in the early Christian church in the days of the Apostles he said 95% of the things that you read about in the book of Acts 95% of these Dracula's things that you're seeing they could not have been done at all Without the Holy Spirit's power and his presence among the people But then the preacher goes on and he says but when you look at the church today He says the the the Holy Spirit could leave the church entirely alone and Yet 95% of what he sees going on in the churches Could continue on without the Holy Spirit just as well and that should be a cause for concern for every one of us Because whatever it is that God is calling us to do Demands it requires it is a prerequisite that we have the power from the Holy Spirit in Order to do what he is calling us to do So to me It made me ask the question. Well, what is it that God is asking us to do? Maybe what we have done is maybe we have limited The mission that we think that God is asking us to do maybe our thinking is a little bit too small and So it caused me to look back in the book all the way back in the very beginning in the book of Genesis and the book of Genesis in the first chapter God calls humanity just as after he creates them in his image he calls Humanity and he says be fruitful multiply fill the earth subdue The earth and have dominion over the animals and this language that God is using to call His people to go out and fill the earth He's saying not just he's not just saying he wants them to travel and and be in all of the parts of the planet that's a simple matter But what God is saying that he is that he has created a good world Perfect world. He's given them all of this perfect building blocks For them to use to do what? God says that he created humanity in his image and we are to take his image and To reveal his glory and his power and his goodness and his greatness throughout the earth He's given us a perfect world, but we are to now he wants to see what we will do with it How we will use his power To even more fully Display and reveal his goodness in the world. Well, that was in a perfect world before the world was fallen But after sin came into the earth God's purposes and plans for you and for me as his children have not changed God's intention is that his glory will be seen throughout the earth But the call even seems a little bit more urgent now because the world is so filled with darkness The world is so filled with pain It's so filled with suffering but I'm comforted by the thought that God still has a Perfect plan for you and me and for this earth and That perfect plan demands that we experience the power of God That perfect plan calls for us to be his witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and to the ends of the earth It is not just a plan for church a church program here in the church And we bless as we bless one another no it is a plan for us to be his witnesses to reveal his glory Yes here in the church Here in our Jerusalem here in our families here in the city of Nairobi Across the nation of Kenya and yes even into the world But we can't fully be his witnesses without his power He has an unlimited purpose It's not defined by the borders that we put around our church or around our family His mission is to the entire world. It is indeed Unlimited and I love the verse that so many of us love Jeremiah 29 11 for I know the plans that I have for you Plans to prosper you and not to harm you Plans to give you a hope and a future, but we need God's power in order to do it It's not a matter of just going about and doing the best that we can do in our own strength and In our own power in fact we get a little bit of a sense of The calling that God has for us when we look in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 9 where Peter's reminding us that we are a chosen generation Chosen by God For something unique and something special God's people this congregation of people that believe in the name of Jesus Recalled to something extraordinary. We've been chosen hand-picked by God to do something extraordinary We're chosen by God. We are you and I. We are all part of a royal priesthood When you come to believe in the name of Jesus when you Understand that God is your creator and that he has called you that he loves you When you know that you become a member of the of royal priesthood every single one of us Who calls on the name of Jesus as our Lord and as our Savior? We are all every one of us ministers of the gospel wherever we go and It requires it demands power power from where power from God in order to preach The gospel everywhere you go You are minister of the gospel at home in your family You are a minister of the gospel when you go to work when you're riding On the matatou's or on the boat of Otas or when you are driving your car when you're at the supermarket When you're at work Everywhere you go you are called to be a minister of the gospel filled with the power of God Filled with his holy spirit and to speak and to act to live in his name according to his purposes This is why we need his power first Before we can become his witnesses It's not just a matter of living according to the standards and the purposes of the world that we live in My friends god has chosen to give us power because his purposes in us our His purposes in us are unlimited God wants to take us somewhere to do something so Extraordinary that it cannot be done without his power. Oh my friends. I know that you and I we are christians We've been believers were baptized were members of god's remnant seventh day Adventist church these people who were called to do a special work in the time just before Jesus Would come We're living in the days of of the last days of verse history. Jesus is coming soon Yesu anakucha Jesus is coming And we have an urgent task that must be done But I want to ask the question At the way that we have been living and we praise god for all that he has done for us In this last year in 2023 And we are looking forward to 2024, but I want to say my friends We've got to begin living as a chosen generation We've got to begin ministry In the world with the power of god that means we can no longer minister as if we're just Going through and doing business as usual The task is urgent And we have got to minister with the very power of god What does it look like for you in this last week? How many times have you needed the power of god and ministered to people Ministered in this world with his power and not just your own This goes far beyond living in the way that we think that we can live Comfortably and conveniently And you know, I'm challenged when I look in passages like mark Excuse me, matthew chapter five Where jesus is speaking And he gives some very extraordinary statements. I'm going to just pick a few of them. I'm going to start in matthew chapter five verse 38 39 Jesus begins talking about the normal way if we're going to minister according Minister to the world with our power then we can just start with verse 38 and just leave it there He says you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth If that's the way that we're going to minister we're going to live in this world as just another Kenyan as just another human being living in the normal world and we can learn The the the the principles of the world the way the world works People can just tell you oh, you know, this is the way we do things in kenya This is how it is in africa You just kind of have to know how things work And you just live according to the cultures and the traditions of this world and and pastor You know, we're just going to do our best, you know with the situation we have if you want to live that way Then you leave it at verse 38 But jesus does not leave it at verse 38. He goes on he says but I tell you jesus gives us the command Not to resist an evil person How many people do we know? Is it you that we know that does not resist an evil person some when someone Whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other cheek to him Also, I've been living in kenya now almost six years and I don't meet a lot of kenyans Who are able to do this? I don't meet a lot of people in the world Who are willing to trust god and live by that standard? Don't resist an evil person jesus goes on he says Um if anyone wants to sue you to take you to court and take away your tunic Let him have your tunic and let him take have your cloak also No, but when people do they want to take things from us our natural reaction is to fight and to resist But jesus says don't resist When someone tries to take from you become even more generous and give to them more And whoever compels you to go one mile go with them too whoever asks you Give to him who asks you and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away My friends this is not a normal way to live god has chosen us to be a royal priesthood to be a special And a peculiar people to be different. This is why god is telling us First we have to receive his power in order to live that way He says love your enemies and bless those who curse you and do good to those who hate you Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you That you may be sons of your father Who's in heaven? Are we living with god's power or are we just living the best way we know how in our own power? And refusing to live according to the to the extraordinary example and calling that god has given us We need power to be able to do that in isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9 God reminds us he says my thoughts are not your thoughts Neither are your ways my ways Say it the lord For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways Higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts I know it does not make sense not to resist someone who's trying to steal from you I know it doesn't make sense that when someone curses you when they speak evil of you when they want Evil to be done to you that you should respond with kindness and generosity and love. I know it doesn't make sense But you're a chosen generation You are a royal priesthood and we are not to live According to the ways of this world. We have to live different And the question is has god noticed that difference in you Are the people around you noticing that you are different? My friends when someone curses me when they try to spitefully use me when people are my enemies My friends i'm telling you if it demands the power of god to come and live in me to forgive them And to love them Oh, how I wish we could see so much more of that in the world How how I wish we could see more of that in the church God has an unlimited purpose for us Which is to transform the world and show his glory throughout the world that would in a way that will change the city of Nairobi But the fact is we have been living and ministering without his power And we refuse to live and to humble ourselves and to live according to his plans and in his ways But when we choose to do it i'm promising you the lord is promising you this city and this nation will be changed By the glory and the power of god We have to live with unlimited faith We've got to trust in the ways of god and in the purposes of god in luke chapter 11 Jesus makes an extraordinary promise to us It's a promise that we need to hold on to Because without those promises without this kind of faith We will not be able To live in the way the humble Powerful way that jesus is asking us to but in this this promise We don't we don't live the way that god asked us to live because we're afraid of what will happen We're afraid That maybe we won't be taken care of maybe We're just we just have so much fear, but jesus says to us. He says i say to you Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find Knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks for seeds He who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open jesus will not abandon you if our purpose Is surrendered to the purposes of god remember god wants to see his glory Revealed around the world if we submit ourselves to that If we become committed to that to god's glory more than we're committed to our own glory And we ask the lord to give it to us. It will be done for us Are there people that you know in your lives that need healing and help in this world? In this city of nirobi There's too much pain and there is too much suffering in the world And i believe that the reason why This city is not in a better situation than it is Now is simply because god is waiting for his people To live according to the pattern that he has shown them And to call on his name He is promising us That he will transform this city. He will transform this nation When he is allowed to transform you and in your and your life God is looking for a special people Who will meet him Who will see him face to face Who will come to experience his love And his grace in such a powerful way that they cannot help but worship him Worship is not a program Worship is a response to meeting a loving powerful creator Who forgives and blesses and heals The bible says when we were his enemies Christ died for us Oh, would you meet a loving creator and a loving god like that? The only response is worship It is a natural irresistible reaction that we have When we come face to face with love It changes you that love changes you and the only response you can have is love That response of love and of awe That response that changes the way we see things that is worse And in revelation chapter 14 The first five verses of that chapter describe a people Who are just in love with christ It says in verse one He says uh john says i looked and behold a lamb standing on mount zion and with him 144 000 having his father's name written on their forehead We are identified by The father his name is written on our foreheads And he he says that these people they're singing the song of the redeemed Their identity is as a person who does who was not worthy of the love and the and the redemption and the grace of god But they have met him And as they experience his love they what comes forth from them is worship the song of the redeemed There's truth not deceit in their mouths They follow the lamb wherever he goes all of these are just the natural response Of the love that we have received from god and when we have Understood that powerful love of god We respond by giving god all of our influence Matthew 516 says Matthew 516 says let your light your light so shine Before men that they will see your good works Your good works that are only done because you have received the power of god in your life When you have that power those good works Will cause people to glorify your father who is in heaven Are the people around you so confused? By the power of god in your life That they have no choice but to give glory to god in heaven I pray that it will be so I pray that as you use your influence with the power of god That you will have a mighty impact an unlimited impact in the world God wants Those that are hurting to be helped in this world God wants the hungry to be fed in this world God wants those who are living without hope To find hope But he wants them to find it through you As you receive his power My friends the time for business as usual is over the time for church as usual is over God is looking for a people Who will have an unlimited impact in the world Through his power Now no matter what we do no matter how much effort we put into it How much forgiveness we offer in the world no matter how much graciousness We display in the world No matter how often we turn the other cheek No matter how often we do good to those who curse us and spitefully abuse us No matter how much of that we do The ultimate healing of this world will only happen When jesus himself comes to redeem the world So we say you may ask the question Well, if that's the case then why why is god so concerned that I do all of these things if I Can't fix the world then why doesn't jesus just come and do all of these things that he wants to do Because god has given you and me the opportunity and the privilege to reveal To our brothers and sisters in the city of nirobi and around the world the goodness And the love of god and they will not see it as long as we are living like ordinary people Who simply are committed to our religious traditions But we are not committed to living in an extraordinary way and showing them the unbelievable mercy and grace of god It is our enemies the people who don't like us the people who do not expect us To be gracious and loving to them who we will be able to preach to with the greatest power When we do the unexpected through the power Of god It is those people who will see most clearly the power of god in us This is why it is urgent that we forgive It is urgent that we love it is urgent that we give to whoever asks from us People will be shocked to say hey these people Why are they giving they I asked them yesterday and they gave yesterday and today they're giving yet again I don't understand these people We need to confuse the world with the love of god And the bible says you know in in daniel chapter 2 there's this Statue there's this vision that the king uh of babelon has And god gives him a vision of all the kingdoms of the earth And His kingdom is first the kingdom is which is identified by this precious metal of gold and and then The the persians come the meads and the persians They're identified by silver and it goes down through all of the kingdoms of the earth Of this statue the golden statue begins with gold the head of gold the torso of of of silver and and then the waist of of uh brass Bronze and then we have legs of iron and then feet of iron and clay all of these are human kingdoms This is human history being played out But in the end of that vision The king of babelon sees A rock a stone that has carved out without hands And that rock comes and crashes down at the end of human history on the feet of that statue And that statue is totally destroyed and that stone that was carved without hands becomes a mountain And that mountain Becomes a kingdom It is the kingdom of god that will bring eternal peace on earth You see this was god's original Unlimited purpose Was that his kingdom would be established on this earth and that his glory would be would be revealed throughout the world But when sin came god was always looking For a people to reestablish his kingdom and still to bring his glory around the world Will he be able to establish that kingdom through you? Will you be his agent to bring light around the world? God's purpose is to call as many people as possible To join in and to become part of that kingdom So that when he comes and finally establishes His eternal kingdom on this earth He will be able to rejoice Along with you and with all of the people who have seen who have seen a glimpse Of his unlimited kingdom of love Through you My friends we cannot afford to live in an ordinary way It is time for us to do the extraordinary things don't limit your faith to church God wants the world to see that there is unlimited hope for them But they will never see it as long as you and I remain committed to living in an ordinary way Oh, okay. Well, that's kind of how christians are. They kind of live this way They do things a little bit differently these guys they're christians They're a little bit different because they go to church on saturday. They're a little bit different But basically they're christians. No the world should be shocked. They should be confused by your Unlimited love your unlimited compassion Your unlimited grace No matter what the enemy does to you No matter what problems you face You and I need to respond because the power of god has been given to us already Let us respond and let us reveal unlimited Unlimited light in this dark and fallen world Oh my friends, I don't even have time to share with you the beauty of this love But let me just share just a little bit This is from revelation chapter 21 God's purposes will never never never be defeated We began in genesis chapter one and now we come to the end of the bible Chapter 21 verse 21 john says now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away Also, there was no more sea than I john saw a holy city A new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is with men And he will dwell with him with them and they shall be his people god himself Will be with them And be their god god is looking to reveal his glory across across the earth And i'm skipping down to verse 23 He says John says I saw no temple in the city this new city of jerusalem For the lord god almighty and the lamb are his temple and the city had no need of the sun Or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god Illuminated it my friends when we choose to live in a different way We cannot live like ordinary kengens ordinary africans ordinary men and women in this world God is looking for us to live in an Extraordinary way so that people will be able to see his unlimited light his unlimited hope for them Our friends, this is the week of prayer. We have been Bringing our prayer requests and it is my prayer request and I believe it is the lord's prayer request That you and I will come to live in an in an extra Extraordinary unlimited way revealing his unlimited grace I want to invite you now If you have a prayer request if you want to say to god lord, I'm ready to live in an unlimited way Lord i'm not looking to receive glory for myself, but all of my resources all of my time all of my Intelligence all of my opportunities lord. I want to lay them at your feet And I want to confuse the world with your glory lord. I want to be different If that's your prayer today I want to ask you to stand If you will do this the lord will transform this city He'll transform this nation if you have a prayer request Maybe you have a celebration for what the lord has done for you this year I know there are many that are celebrating weddings and Anniversaries even this week We want to praise god for those things. It's okay. Let's give god glory for those things But as we give god glory for those things We also surrender those same things we surrender our marriages to be different kinds of marriages Revealing his unlimited glory There are some of us who have prayer requests We're asking for the lord to give us children in our families As we ask the lord for those blessings. It's okay The lord wants to bless you, but he also wants to use those blessings for his glory Some of us are looking for jobs The lord wants to give you the job But the lord also wants you to give him the job that you will use that work for His glory you're not there to earn money for yourself You're you're there to earn money to be used for his kingdom not for building your own My friends if you have a prayer request you can come and put them in the boxes on the side or you can come up and Stand here. I want to pray for you I want to pray For the city of Nairobi. I want to pray for the nation of Kenya There is greater hope That we have come to believe Come to believe that it's just church as usual That we will come and worship this week and next week we'll come and we'll do it all over again. No The world Wants to see something extraordinary in us And unless we're willing to give up our prize And to live with an extraordinary faith It cannot be done God says surrender all surrender all to him And he promises he will use you To reveal His unlimited love His unlimited hope to the world Let's pray Heavenly father Lord, we thank you for your unlimited purposes Lord your purpose to to provide hope and help and healing to the world Lord, we thank you that you want to do it through us God we confess it's not easy It's not easy to live With humility and trusting that your ways are higher than our ways lord It's not easy to turn the other cheek. It's not easy to forgive those that hurt us It's not easy to bless those that curse us lord It's not easy But lord, you have given us your power so that we can do exactly that Lord forgive us for the ways that we have fought For our own kingdom Fought to have glory and respect and appreciation in our own lives for ourselves No lord forgive us for that, but lord, please help us to live in an unlimited and in an extraordinary way So the world may have a glimpse of your unlimited love For them Oh lord, help us to trust in your great and precious promises Help us lord to live with prayer as the foundation of our lives lord We can't do it lord unless you help us lord help us to call on your name So that we're not tempted To try to live according to our own strength and our own power Oh lord god We want to have an experience of your presence in our lives that is so powerful that the natural response that we cannot even We can't even hide Is a response of worship It was a response of praise Lord, I pray that you will help each one of us To love you with such a complete heart that all of our influence All of our time all of our financial strength all of our the money Lord all of our education All of our property all of our life Is devoted lord completely to you so that we can use it for you to influence the world To also fall in love with jesus Lord, we want kenya to be changed. We want nirobi to be changed We want the world to be changed and it can only be changed heavenly father Through the power of your love revealed throughout God do it we pray Have an unlimited impact so that the world May have unlimited in jesus name. We pray