 Let it be, take my life, an unsecreted Lord to the tech. Thank you so much, keep it there and turn with me to song number 213. Jesus is coming again, lift up the trumpet and love. I want to take this opportunity to welcome each one of you to this service this evening. We've had a very blessed week throughout this week through this revival, stewardship revival week. I pray that all of you have been blessed and that we are welcoming Christ into our lives and that he is working his will in us. This moment on behalf of the pastorate and the entire leadership of the Nairobi Central SDA church, I'd like to welcome each one of you into this service and even into this blessed Sabbath day that you are coming into. May each one of you be blessed and above all may you pass the blessings to your neighbors. I'd like to welcome and introduce the ones who are serving with us this evening. Our sister who has opened for us with our opening song and our opening prayer is our sister Damakrin Dira. And also the one who's going to take us through the scripture reading is our sister Dorita Abura. And on our sign language we have our sister Clemesia Nyaboke. And the word of God will be broken to us by his servant Pastor William Bagambe who's been taking us through this series of God is worshipped by the wise. I pray that God will give us wisdom so that we continue to worship him in truth and in spirit. May you all feel welcomed and may we be blessed at the feet of Jesus. Our sister who took us through the song service is sister Damaris Ndira. Sorry for that. Thank you. May you all be blessed as we continue the worship. Thank you very much. So the living God, I believe and trust that you had a good day and this is yet another time that the Lord has allowed us to turn our attention to his word. So reach out for your Bible. Our scripture reading is from the book of Luke chapter 7 verses 37 and 38. Luke chapter 7 verses 37 and 38. I will read from my translation that is New King James Version and you're welcome to follow from your various translations. And behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping and she began to wash his feet with his tears and wipes them with the hair of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. I repeat and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. May the Lord add blessings to his word. Let's humble ourselves for a word of prayer. Our Father what in heaven we come before you this evening as we asha in the holy Sabbath day. Father we commit ourselves unto your feet and we commit ourselves as living sacrifices that you might come and work in us both to will and to do of your good pleasure. Father at this juncture we want to thank you for all the blessings and all the protection that you have accorded us throughout the week up to this day we have gone through a lot we have experienced many different experiences each one of us and we want to thank you for enabling us even to have this breath of life this evening. May your name be glorified above all. Father we also pray for all who are not feeling well at this moment you know each one of them you know where they are may you meet them and heal them father according to your riches in glory and may you provide for all that are seeking to have sustenance in this life. Father we also pray that you might forgive us our sins we know that we are a wicked generation we commit ourselves unto you broken in spirit that you might come and give us your Holy Spirit that you might guide us into all truth that we may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Father at this moment also we pray and commit your servant Pastor William Bagambe who's been taking us through this series of stewardship throughout the week. Father may you please bless him and his family and his dedication to your service father may it not go unnoticed even unto the world. Thank you father for using him to reach our hearts this evening we still commit him unto you that you may put your words in his mouth that we might be blessed and that we might be able to bless others as you blessed us father. Father we also commit the whole leadership of this church from the general conference up to the local church you know each one of them and their desires of their hearts may you be with them and bless them also even as they continue to serve your people. Thank you father as we go into the Holy Sabbath day may your blessings of this Sabbath be upon us and may your will be done in our lives as it is done in heaven. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Good evening brothers and sisters once again we thank you for the time we have had together the whole week and we praise the Lord for giving us yet another chance so we can speak and talk on His behalf. As we welcome the Sabbath I can say happy Sabbath and as we begin this Holy Sabbath we will continue with the Holy Word of God but I feel convicted that I should pray before we start. Father God in addition to what our brother has prayed for I call upon your presence and I call upon your love and grace to continue covering us like you have done in the past and especially Lord as we move into this study may your spirit help us to learn that which you have never learned but more importantly we pray that you will help us to take a step. Thank you Jesus for being our Lord and thank you for being so wonderful to us we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Throughout the week we are talking about wise people I'm sure we saw the three wise men from the east we saw Abraham giving Isaac we saw Hannah giving Samuel we saw a rich young man who lost it all at the last minute I don't want us to go there yesterday we saw Zakias a rich man who gave half of his possession to the poor can you be listed here as well when the three wise men are listed when Abraham is listed when Hannah is listed when Zakias is listed can you also be listed that is the question must be moving in our lives brothers and sisters since we looked at a man yesterday now let us consider another woman this woman is described as a sinful woman at least that is recorded in the book of Luke chapter 7 verse 37 to 50 all that is written there is only to describe what a sinful woman did to Jesus Christ Luke 737 to 50 has this to say please listen carefully what the Bible is saying a woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume she did not go to Jesus empty handed notice she did not stop at hearing about Jesus she took a step to Jesus this evening our topic is take a step for those of us who are writing take a step for all the messages we have had this week each one required that you take a step accordingly this woman moved to Jesus we need to move to Jesus as well but as she stood behind Jesus she was at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears then she wiped them with her hair kissed them and poured perfume on them when you check what this woman is doing number one she has properly identified who Jesus is you know there are quite a number of people who were in the house men were in the house and I'm sure even some women must have been there but the woman did not confuse Jesus with any other one she straight went to where Jesus was and she did not remain in any place she went down at the feet of Jesus Christ like I told you in the week that the best place for a sinner is at the feet of Jesus check this woman though she's a sinner she recognizes that she's a sinner and she knows where to go at the feet of Jesus brothers and sisters are emphasized that we get at the feet of Jesus what did she do right at the feet of Jesus yes she was weeping because she was sinful yes she was weeping right there at the feet of Jesus but praise be to God she was weeping at the right place praise be to God she was weeping to the right person when you weep before Christ brothers and sisters you are doing it at the right place you are doing it with the right person and the Bible says she began to wet his feet with her tears I don't know how much tears these tears were because look at this the amount of tears that were enough I mean that was enough to wet the feet of Jesus that must have been profoundly quite a lot of tears and I can imagine how much she cried how much she was weeping then she wiped them with her hair this is a woman remember she's not a man when a woman surrenders her hair to you then she has done it all they love their hair so much they need their hair so much they take care of their hair so much they spend on their hair so much but this woman decided to wipe Jesus feet with her hair then she wiped them with her hair kissed them poured an expensive perfume on them I mean she is doing everything at the feet of Jesus she is right there right in the right place Jesus is just watching but when you check in the stewardship spirit what was this woman doing what did she give to Jesus listen to this list of what she did and what she gave to Jesus first of all she gave herself to Jesus because without giving yourself to Jesus you will never do anything right you can never even get at his feet until you have given yourself to Jesus the woman gave herself to Jesus that was the first stewardship step she took that is the first stewardship step I want you to take this evening as you listen to the word of God surrender your life to Jesus Christ give yourself to Jesus Christ this woman though sinful at this time she had given herself to Jesus Christ number two she gave her tears to Jesus Christ all the tears she shed all the whipping she did was just moving to Jesus Christ so on top of herself she added her tears on top of herself and tears she gave her hair also she used her hair to wipe the feet of Jesus after making them wet she wiped them with her hair she kissed the feet of Jesus several times even gave a kiss to the feet of Jesus then finally she gave a very expensive perfume when you count properly she gave five items straight just here all the five items herself very important her tears yes her hair alright her kisses on the feet of Jesus even that was done and then lastly very expensive perfume most of us when we are reading this story we stop at the very expensive perfume but please this was I think almost the last first of all she gave herself secondly her tears third her hair fourth her kisses fifth very expensive perfume brothers this woman brothers and sisters this woman was as sinful as you are but she did something very intelligent to Jesus Christ brothers and sisters who are listening and who are watching from everywhere listen to this every long journey starts with a step every long journey starts with a step every spiritual journey starts with a spiritual step tonight take a spiritual step so whoever wants to reach any destination must definitely take a step nothing flies until a step is taken nothing turns until a step is taken nothing runs until a step is taken nothing moves without a step even in a stewardship journey a step must be taken take a step now after Mary had that Jesus was in Simon's house when Mary this woman very many gospels describe the woman as Mary whatever the name was I am after the action she took I am after the step she took to me the step she took to Jesus Christ was profound and what she did with that step serves my spiritual life after Mary had that Jesus was in Simon's house she took a step and went there where Jesus was to meet with him furthermore she took that gift this was a very serious step of wisdom she never went and gave it while standing I wanted to check this woman this woman knew she was going to Jesus she was going to someone who was not an ordinary man Jesus is not an ordinary man when we talk about Jesus we are talking about Jesus God we are talking about Jesus the savior we are talking about Jesus the Lord we are talking about Jesus the king of kings we are talking about the one in whom we have hope we are talking about the one we are waiting for and the one who is preparing places for us this woman went with all this in mind and when she gathered her face together she went with everything she had because herself was there her tears was there her gift was there her hair was there I mean mention anything she had was there this was a spiritual intelligence this woman exercise getting at the feet of Jesus is another step my friends it takes wisdom to do that at least the sinner did it but if this sinner did it you as a sinner can do it me as a sinner can do it let us take a step tonight it doesn't pay just to hear of Jesus Christ brothers and sisters we have listened to messages the whole of this week but it doesn't pay just to listen it does not even add you any value just to listen it only makes sense when you take a step it is important that you take a step towards Jesus Christ after you have heard these messages take a step after you have listened to the call of Jesus take a step to Jesus Christ if we have been unfaithful take a step to tree of faithfulness the right tree we talked about the right one Zakias claimed check the step Mary took was very focused quick and meaningful she went to the right place she went to the right person and just landed at the right time stewardship and faithfulness is a step every believer takes towards Jesus in fact listeners and those of you who are watching us returning and giving to Jesus is just taking a step to Jesus Christ you can see how this woman came she did not come just anyhow she knew what worship means remember when we were discussing Abraham's story I told you there is no worship without sacrifice this woman at least had that knowledge take a step brother take a step my sister verse 39 when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this remember if you flash back you are going to discover that this woman came without invitation brothers and sisters when it is about Jesus don't wait for an invitation after all that invitation he extended each one of us that invitation is open to all of us just move when your situation is so bad when everything is falling down in your spiritual life never wait until you are called upon never wait until you are invited please just go after all when Christ steps into any house that house ceases to be anybody's house but Christ's house when Christ steps into your life that life ceases to be your own it belongs to Jesus Christ when Christ steps into your world please that wealth stops being your wealth it becomes Jesus' wealth right now yes he was in Simon's house but it ceases to be Simon's house it belongs to Jesus Christ that's why this woman did not need any invitation brothers and sisters when you are going to Jesus it does not need any invitation don't wait for the invitation just go to Jesus Christ when the Pharisee saw this woman who had invited herself they were amazed even this Pharisee was amazed of course he was the one who invited Jesus but he did not invite the woman and so when the woman stepped in this is what the Pharisee said and I want you to judge this Pharisee don't judge him so badly but based on what we have been studying the whole of this week give him a group to belong to the Pharisee said he was speaking to himself the Bible says if this man referring to Jesus if this man were a prophet he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner look at him look at this man look at Simon look at the Pharisee this was really Pharisee in nature this man the Pharisee did not know the relationship between Jesus and the sinner this man did not take time to even think about why Christ came because for sure Christ came to save that which was lost Christ came to look at people like this Christ came for all of us because we are all sinners including the Pharisee but look at what this man is saying if this was a prophet in other words he is saying probably Jesus is not a prophet but he was speaking to himself remember he is speaking to himself all these words are just within himself but luckily enough and strangely enough when he was speaking to himself verse 40 says Jesus answered him brothers and sisters even when you talk within yourself when you talk about yourself Jesus will hear if you are sleeping Jesus will know you are sleeping if you are talking Jesus will know you are talking if you are working for sure Jesus has that knowledge of knowing that you are talking and everything you are doing and so Jesus answered him said Simon I have something to tell you he has already understood what Simon has in the mind he has already seen the attitude of Simon towards the woman and so he said Simon I have something to tell you probably Jesus is saying the same thing to each one of us tonight he has something to tell you tonight he has something to tell you this week he has something to make you learn this week he has something he wants you to pick tonight and so Jesus said Simon I have something to tell you and then Simon says tell me teacher he didn't know what he was going to tell him but this is what Jesus told Simon verse 42 the whole thing is this Jesus said two people owed money to a certain money lender I don't know why Jesus Christ wants to talk about money he talks about money many times yes so in the stewardship when we talk about money please don't blame us we are picking it from Christ himself hallelujah yes we are picking it right from Christ himself and so Jesus said two people owed money to a certain money lender he paid 500 dinaris and the other 50 verse 42 neither of them had the money to pay him back and so he forgave the dates of both now which of them will love him more verse 43 Simon replied I suppose the one who had a bigger date forgiven you have judged correctly Jesus said you see people know the right thing people can judge correctly people know what to do I mean we know what's wrong and what's right but the problem is we never take a step please tonight let us take a step all Jesus was saying to Simon was in terms of numbers you are doing well yes you can congratulate you are doing well but in terms of spiritual intelligence you have not even started that is what Jesus is telling Simon verse 44 then he turned towards the woman and said to Simon do you see this woman that is Christ speaking now turning to the woman and talking to Simon asking Simon Simon do you see this woman Hallelujah do you see this woman if you think of what you think it's okay but please look at this woman I came into your house please listen to this brothers and sisters at least don't miss this one Jesus turned towards the woman and said to Simon remember he has turned to the woman but he is speaking to Simon and asked do you see this woman I came into your house Simon you are the one who invited me in but you did not give me any water for my feet the word is give the word is give the word is give yes look at this woman since I came into your house Simon you have not given me water for my feet but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair brothers and sisters give did Jesus expect Simon to give him water for his feet oh yes if he did not expect it he wouldn't have asked he wouldn't have commented towards it Jesus is reminding him in explanation could it be that each time you don't give what you are expected to give Jesus gets concern could it be that when we don't give the offering that Jesus expects us to give he gets concern brothers and sisters here Christ is concerned he said Simon you are the one who invited me you are the one who opened your doors but since I came here you have not given me even water for my feet but check this woman this woman she is the one this woman this woman came she blessed me with her tears she wiped my feet with her hair praise be to God for a sinner praise be to God for this woman Jesus is comparing the two he is comparing the woman and he is comparing the woman with Simon of the two the woman and the Pharisee which one would you choose which group do you belong to could it be that Jesus is still asking us to give that which you are supposed to give of course yes don't you think Jesus is expecting something from you don't you think Jesus is expecting part of the blessing to be returned to him I suppose yes don't you believe that Jesus is expecting an offering since he started loving you of course yes he was concerned you did not give me imagine you did not give me water verse 45 he continues to give him what he did not give you did not give me a kiss but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet the whole comparison is between the woman and Simon verse 46 you did not put oil on my head but she has poured perfume on my feet therefore I tell you verse 47 the word is therefore in other words this is a conclusion Christ is making about the woman therefore I tell you her many sins have been forgiven her many sins have been forgiven as her great love has shown brothers and sisters when God loved the world he gave his only begotten son when this woman loved Jesus see what the woman has given what do we give in return of the love of Jesus to us whoever has been forgiven little loves little giving and returning is a show of love to Jesus Christ even of us explain it as man once you go to the man you will lose it it is about love of God 48 then Jesus said to her your sins are forgiven verse 49 then the other guests now look it was Simon now speaking verse 49 even other guests have joined Simon what other guests were doing the other guests began to say among themselves who is this who even forgives sin in other words since they started working with him they had never understood him remember in this house they are disciples they are also there and among them they are speaking that kind of statement it is not about proximity you can stay in the same house but still get lost in fact the worst mistake we are facing today is for us to be in the church of God but still lost for us to be the preachers of the word but still lost for us to be the elders of the church but still lost for us to be in the church for all that long 20 30 40 for us but still lost imagine these are disciples who is this who even forgives sin verse 50 Jesus said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace Jesus spoke to her because the woman took a step remember when you check properly this at this moment he is working with the woman he is not working with the disciples he has not much to do with even Simon because of the attitude already created towards the woman brothers and sisters never allow Jesus to stop working with you let Jesus work with you today let Jesus work with you tomorrow let Jesus work with you every moment now the woman first and foremost this woman is not invited to this dinner no when your situation is bad like many of us are you do not need to wait for invitation like I told you get to Jesus take that step take a step and get there anyhow if it means climbing a tree like Zakias did please climb the tree if it needs giving your son give your son if it means giving your gold give your gold if it means surrendering if you have frankincense please do that because that is when Christ steps into your life take a step and get there anyhow after all he said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Matthew 1128 records that get to him today for spiritual healing about your unfaithfulness please make a step to Jesus Christ based on what transpired in the house on what transpired at the dining table remember it was about time for dinner and people were on the dining table when you check here it is evident that the woman knew who and what Jesus was expensive gift she directly went to Jesus and worked only with Jesus she never worked with the own of the home no she had nothing to do with the own of the home she had nothing to do with the disciples she went straight and started transacting with Jesus Christ brothers and sisters that is very critical in our lives you may have challenges but please learn to work with Christ do not put your life into the hands of your elders do not put your life into the hands of your pastors put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ because that is where your life is safe I praise the Lord for this woman she went straight to Jesus Christ worked with Jesus Christ whipped at the feet of Jesus Christ continued to listen to what Jesus was saying even when Jesus announced the forgiveness I'm sure this woman was listening because the woman was quiet listening you know brothers and sisters the quieter you are the more you hear what Jesus Christ says praise be to God with her expensive gift she directly went to Jesus and worked only with him she did not confuse him any other person please many of us have that problem we confuse Jesus with other things we confuse Jesus with other people we confuse Jesus with our responsibilities please let us have that clarity but it takes intelligence to separate those two this means that she would clearly identify the savior she had that clarity some commentators say she made Christ actually Christ had taken out some demons out of her at some point she was clear about who Jesus was and how Jesus looked like that is very important this clarity of who Jesus is to us individually is critical because this is quite foundational to our trust in God and son then our savior Jesus Christ in stewardship and other matters of spiritual nature God cannot or is never confused with any other item or human tithe must be different from your money yes offerings must be different from your money learn to separate these two from your money learn to take charge of the clarity that you handle spiritual issues from your common life it must be clearly separated it must be so clear like this woman was with Christ when Jesus is clearly captured by your mind then giving and returning to him becomes non bad sum and more so spiritually motivated you become one does not consider how expensive gifts to Jesus are once he has captured Jesus clearly once our savior is clear in our minds once God is clear in our minds stewardship will never be a problem faithfulness becomes just commonplace we become part of God's kingdom and our lives grows spiritually from strength to strength faith in the Lord then becomes louder than anything else when your faith is so loud you cannot hear what doubt is saying brothers and sisters many times we have a lot of doubt but what really helps doubt to grow is lack of faith when you have faith when your faith is so loud you cannot hear what doubt is saying to you hallelujah when you have to make sure your faith is louder because once your faith is louder you cannot hear what doubt is saying to you and what helps us faithfulness will help us do that let your faith grow be spiritually intelligent and then doubt will subside what makes this gift very exciting now this woman gave five like I told you but there is one gift and that is the perfume look at what happened when the woman broke the perfume what makes this gift very exciting and spiritually weighty is its fragrance that filled the entire house when the woman broke the perfume the bottle there was fragrance that covered the whole house the whole room no it does not matter when a fragrance comes it does not separate it does not even have to ask for permission whether you like it or not you will pick it that fragrance is so strong and so it filled the entire house nothing that gives an aroma or faithfulness in the house of the lord like giving or returning a holy tithe to the lord when you give that tithe when you give that offering there is an aroma that comes around there is an aroma that fills your heart there is an aroma that fills your life and it fills even the house of the lord giving to the lord gives a fragrance of peace and freedom in the heart of the giver it gives strength and spiritual growth in the entire house of the spirit Israel the church of God it makes one joyful when you get into the church that gives to the lord you can't miss the fragrance of worship I know many of us have visited churches many of us have gone to homes many of us have seen people people who worship God but you can tell that this is a true steward who is pretending and who is truly a true I mean a true steward because when you get into a true steward you will even smell the fragrance you can tell first of all if you are not spiritual you will get confused by someone who is faithful to God you will be confused you will not even understand how things are going on why he or she begins to do things that common people don't do look at this woman though a sinner she is breaking very expensive items very expensive perfume for the lord Jesus Christ brothers and sisters it takes intelligence to do that before Jesus steward ship disconnects us from the world and connects us to God at this time Jesus is connecting with a woman and once the woman got connected to Jesus definitely she was connected to heaven such a fragrance does not start diffusing outside you see when the woman brought this very expensive perfume and broke it that fragrance that filled the house that fragrance that entered into the nostrils of the people who were there did not just start from there it is believed that this fragrance came from her heart there must be a fragrance in your heart for you to provide a fragrance to others the fragrance that comes from you must be coming from your heart an empty heart has nothing to give such a fragrance does not start diffusing from outside but rather inside the heart the seat of worship and love a seat of spiritual intelligence and reasoning a seat of spiritual wisdom our hearts are the seat of all that the aroma that filled the entire house of the Pharisee first filled the heart of the woman who gave the gift and it propelled her to give to Jesus brothers and sisters is what fills the house he or she occupies yes what fills your heart is what fills the house you occupy what fills your heart is what fills your home what fills your heart is what fills your church today the church is full of unfaithfulness why because that is what fills our hearts at this time I want us to pick a leaf from this woman let us feel our hearts with the fragrance of faithfulness praise be to God if the heart is filled with faithfulness it will accordingly fill the church or house of God with the same if it is filled with love the home will be full of love if it is filled filled with joy then your life will be full of joy what fills the heart is what fills you and what fills the people that work and stay with you Mrs. White writes about this woman and she says this when she broke her box of ointment she poured its content on the head and feet of Jesus then as she knelt weeping moistering them with her tears she wept his feet with her long flowing hair her movements might have been passed unnoticed but the ointment filled the room with its fragrance and published her act to the present today we are reading about him today I mean about her we are preaching about her because of this fragrance that is from heaven with love page 372 by Mrs. White when you get to church with no fragrance brothers and sisters it does not matter how rich the members may be but if this fragrance of giving is not there you will quickly tell there is something wrong there is something that is not right with the congregation but I don't want us to get there brothers and sisters when the world smells you they must smell the presence of Jesus in your life as a matter of fact we would not be struggling to preach we would not be struggling even to conduct crusades we would not be struggling with even spending money in large amounts like we do only the fragrance was just enough the fragrance is enough because once you have that fragrance of love you have that fragrance of faithfulness people will smell and you will find them right here in the house of God check this woman who invited her no one invited her how did she know Jesus was in the house of Simon I am sure people must have talked about Jesus people must have talked about Jesus in the house of Simon you see when Christ is in the house people know when Christ is in your home people will see Christ there if Christ is in your heart people will see Christ in your heart when Christ is even in your church people will know and you don't need to call them they will come and feel the house they will come and do a good to Jesus Christ they will definitely come and worship Jesus because everybody wants to worship Jesus except they don't know how to get him the fragrance is not yet there but please brothers and sisters take a step today towards Jesus Christ this condition should never be to us the idea of not having a good fragrance giving comes with a fragrance the gift itself was very expensive and full of the fragrance the Bible says without this fragrance there is no worship even in the Old Testament listen to this even in the Old Testament offerings were born to get this fragrance to God in heaven Leviticus 1.9 does your giving or returning give any fragrance to the house of the Lord or you are there only to provide the opposite I don't know what the opposite of the fragrance is but what is your fragrance tonight what is it that you are emitting what is it that people smell when you are around what is it that people get when you are there if you check on the worshiping now I don't know whether you have ever read this check in the house when they were in the house and when you check when they were in the house on the worshiping in this house of Simon it is possible that the only person who worshiped the Lord at this time was this woman because I don't see anyone else worshiping everyone else is grumbling including the owner but the woman is not affected she is still with Jesus I don't see anybody else worshiping Jesus it was only the woman after all there was no one at the feet of Jesus except this woman let me tell you brothers and sisters who is watching who is listening please don't worry about others seat at the feet of Jesus even if there is nobody who is faithful remain faithful to the Lord when everybody else is falling off remain connected with the Lord when everyone else is complaining don't complain just keep quiet at the feet of Jesus she is the only one who is seen giving only this woman is seen giving something to Jesus she gave herself to Jesus she gave her perfume to Jesus she gave her kiss to Jesus she gave her hair to Jesus she gave her tears to Jesus I mean she has given everything even when others were just grumbling and complaining it's spiritually important if Jesus can appreciate and for sure Jesus appreciated what the action of this woman were Jesus appreciated if Jesus can appreciate your action steps and ways that's all you need that's all you need in the spiritual journey that's all you need in your spiritual steps that's all you need in your spiritual struggle the Lord's appreciation of the gift is not about material expense but rather the spiritual intention embedded in the gift get your spiritual intention straight with the Lord whenever you give in powering the content of her alabasterja and to Christ she was saying I have no future but you Christ I have no value but loving you Christ I am you as all Lord no gifts offerings speak they are just a statement when someone is returning a holy tithe to the Lord he is making a statement when someone gives something for the work of God that is a statement when someone gives an offering of thanksgiving that is a statement when you give those statements and statements of which nature statements of spiritual nature and so she spoke all these things at the same time in the gift the speech by the way your speech to God is found in the gift that you give to God giving to the Lord speaks volumes of what the Lord is to you it is by giving that your heart speaks to the Lord in a nutshell this woman was saying he was making an ebenezer statement meaning the Lord has brought me that was the woman speaking can we also learn to speak by what we give to God the oil was substantial expensive yes it is generally accepted that its cash value was worthy one years wages this was a lot of money some commented and say the value the cash value was worthy one years wages I mean we are talking about a woman who was sinful but after realizing that there was a savior she went straight with all and look at how much she gave to Jesus all of it poured unto Jesus for worship when Jesus pours love and salvation to you you pour back appreciation by giving and returning I will repeat that you know our giving and returning is for sure an appreciation the appreciation of saying God here we are father here we are we thank you for what you have done we were sinners but now we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ this gift speak this tithe speak that's the only fair way we are saved that's the only fair way we can do to Him you have not worshipped Him at all until you give all to Him including yourself at this time many opinions were running through the minds of the people in the house of the leper when the woman entered remember this woman was uninvited but when she came in at this time at the woman they started assessing they made comments who has invited this woman who is she anyway and why is she going to the master opinions were running through the minds of the people in the house of the leper when the woman entered the disciples were complaining of the wasteful giving by the sinful woman imagine these disciples are complaining when someone gives complaining saying it was wasted in fact some people said it would have been sold and money given to the poor as if that's what they meant you remember Herod Herod told the wise men go find him worship him after you are done come back tell me so I can go and worship him when actually meant completely something different this is exactly what these people are saying you cannot worship God in a complaining environment like this you don't create a complaining environment and you think you will worship God you can't do those two things at the same time please when you are complaining when you are grumbling when you are quarreling you can never tell me that's the time you worship God God can never be worshiped like that worshiped by a settled mind Hallelujah you remember when Jesus entered Martha's house it was Mary who was at the feet of Jesus and where was Martha mother was grumbling mother was quarreling mother was complaining until Jesus said what Mary has chosen is the right thing friends of mine we need to stop complaining you can't grumble and worship God at the same time as a matter of fact you can't begin fights in the church and worship God at the same time they don't go together and that's not stewardship Simon the owner of the house also mattered that Jesus was dealing with a sinner imagine he had not understood who Jesus was Judas remarks were full of corruption and intentions to embrace mixed intentionality never get there my brother never get there my sister the house of the Lord is full of these groupings when you check the house of the Lord all these groupings are there complaints grumbling fights all over the place you can do all that and then tell us you are worshiping God because word is worshiped by the wise some people in the church just to complain about what others do others are there only to blame there is a group that exists just to embezo steal or rob that which is given or returned this is the worst group we have in the church I don't know you may be looking at me watching and you know exactly what I'm talking about but there is this group that confuses what people return they are only there to embezo steal and rob that which is given or return by the faithful hearts and sisters that is Judas' attitude we can't do that spiritual intelligence does not call us to behave like that spiritual intelligence tells us to settle at the feet of Jesus listen to what Jesus is saying and then act accordingly and move on unfortunately such groupings have frustrated all the stewardship efforts injected into the ministry and frustrates people spiritual growth and development have all been curtailed by this kind of work you can be sure there is no worship taking place under these negative circumstances like it was in the house of Simon this just can't happen Jesus cannot appreciate such creations and he has no intention to function under such settings that's why she has chosen the woman who is doing the right thing beloved we are so busy doing wrong running fast on wrong lines what's the use of running if you are not on the right road that's one of the german proverbs now I want us to look at Jesus' comments on the act of the woman first 10 over this is you check the bible I think in the book of look check this you will see the comments look 7 aware of this Jesus said to them the groupings why are you bothering this woman remember what Simon has said remember what Judas is saying Jesus now has come full blast to defend the woman this is what he says aware of this Jesus said to them why are you bothering this woman she has done a beautiful thing to me hallelujah she has done a beautiful thing to me brothers and sisters Jesus is waiting for you to do something beautiful and when you do something beautiful you can be sure Jesus will tell the story hallelujah Jesus is telling a story here saying why are you bothering this woman she has done a beautiful thing to me but what is that beautiful thing she did one she gave hallelujah that is beautiful giving is so beautiful my brothers and sisters Jesus appreciates giving tomorrow just listen to the presentation you will understand the attitude of Jesus towards giving and I guarantee you will understand God towards giving the poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me don't confuse the world thinking you mean what you say you are talking of selling and giving the money to the poor when actually you don't mean that the poor you will always have but I am not with you all the time what this woman has done is a beautiful thing in other words Jesus was saying I appreciate what the woman has done verse 12 when she poured this perfume on my body this is Jesus speaking when she poured this perfume on my body she did it to prepare me for barrier Christ now began to tell the meaning of the giving of the woman let me tell you brothers and sisters everything you give to Jesus every tithe you return to Jesus every offering you give to Jesus has a meaning it has a meaning if you tell properly if you check properly every time you are giving there is a meaning attached to it if you don't just give it just commonly every time either you are saying thank you Lord or you are saying Lord this fire you have brought me or Lord you have blessed my business oh yes Lord you have protected me against accidents everything you give has a meaning the giving of this woman had a meaning the woman is Jesus is saying she gave me this perfume to prepare me for barrier verse 13 wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world what she has done will also be told in memory of her brothers and sisters we are speaking of this we are telling the story up to today and this story will continue to be told because of what Jesus said faith is action faith is action you cannot tell the world you have faith in God until we see your actions you cannot tell you wash God until we don't see the actions of faith this woman believed in Jesus and you can see the action she took God is worshiped by the wise here we are still telling it up to today we are telling this story like Jesus mentioned why? it was spiritually proper it was well spiritually risen out I mean you can see spiritual sense in what the woman did you can see spiritual intelligence in what the woman did I mean you can see the love of this woman in the gift for God have you ever looked at these comments made by Jesus about this woman with sufficient spiritual attention I get excited personally at the defense Jesus mounted for the woman against her critiques in these groupings these people are criticizing these people are blaming these people are looking at it from a different perception but Jesus says now what he has done is the right thing to do beware of the groupings found even in the church this affirms the fact that Jesus is our defense and our real defense in times of blame our real defense even before our enemies Jesus can defend us Jesus made positive comments about the sinner because she did for and to him she took a step of giving to Jesus faith is action once again at the feet the woman was speaking through the gift if you can't talk to God talk to God giving to the Lord is beautiful and makes you live a legacy or a mark that explains your faithfulness to the Lord even after you are not there Jesus said truly I tell you wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world what she has done will also be told in memory of her is there anything good to be reported about you anything to be reported about you if Jesus were to talk about you as an individual what comments would he make can Jesus say you have done beautiful things to him since you believed can Jesus say something good about you since you were baptized Jesus can applaud those who take a step for Jesus to appreciate you you must take a step take an intelligent stewardship step to him tonight and now and go right to him God bless you God keep you I want to pray with you I pray to remember to take a step we have listened to many things we have listened to many messages but praise be to God tonight we are asked to take a step and so as we pray together let us be thinking of taking a step let us worship God in prayer God our heavenly Father we thank you for the time we have had together today we thank you for the speech that has come to us we thank you for the insights that day by day come to us tonight we have seen that of all things we have not done is to take a step but we pray that you give us power and the spirit and the spiritual strength and intelligence and wisdom to take a step today let us take a step to you let us take a step to faithfulness let us take a step to the kingdom like this sister, sinner did places to this extent give us good resting hours of the Sabbath until tomorrow we pray in Jesus name may God keep you the loving palms of his hands for ushering in the Sabbath in the message of faith in action he was we thank the pastor for the special message this evening I want to invite you again tomorrow that our service will start at eight o'clock in the morning we will have the climax of our series this week of stewardship tomorrow at this time I want to give you an opportunity to give us giving or showing your faith in action as the Lord has blessed you as you purpose in your heart showing on the screen shortly at the numbers for sending in your gifts offerings both tides offering purpose and choose in your heart numbers are 320 100 M-Pesa and S-D-A-01 S-D-A-01 for Airtel there is also a bank account for those who prefer to send their money directly to the bank as the Lord has blessed you I want to pray that God will bless each and every one of us this evening as you prepare to come tomorrow tune in tomorrow from 8 am local time from wherever you will be wherever you are God bless us all together this evening as we get holy hours of the sabat God bless you all thank you so much elder and pastor it's amazing how pastor has spoken about a subject of resilience that is currently top of mind and deep in the heart if you allow me may you just may I take a few minutes just to recap what pastor has said that we can go into the song and then we go away so we have been told that we can never get anything before we give to Jesus we need to take a step the way this woman took a step and every spiritual journey has to take a step nothing runs until a step is taken and it takes wisdom spiritual intelligence for anyone to take a step and when you get at the feet of Jesus if you feel mentally overwhelmed speak to Jesus because he listens and he answers and at the feet of Jesus talk to him pastor thank you so much and my prayer is that we will have resilience to take a step and stay at the feet of Jesus we have big thoughts and plans and we ask that the Lord may walk with us because we dare not walk alone turn with me to the song number 554 which is about walking with Jesus so it says oh let me walk with the oh let me walk with me to the song number 554 which is about walking with Jesus so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says so it says