Speaker 1: Hi Parklands Baptist Church.
Speaker 1: My name is Pastor Felista Kamau.
Speaker 1: The theme for this month Open Door Responsibility Uplifted Kingdom Stewardship is indeed a rammer word for this hour.
Speaker 1: It comes at a time when the nation is going through so much.
Speaker 1: The nation is going through great difficulties.
Speaker 1: In fact, these are days and seasons of self-examination.
Speaker 1: No one loves going through testing, because times of testing require that we individually, require that we individually, as Kenyans, as members, as believers, as families and as individuals, go through self-evaluation, interrogating ourselves to see where we have failed, to see what we have been doing for the last couple of years, to see how is our work with the Lord.
Speaker 1: There are many conversations that we should be having in the home front, in the church front, even as we continue to engage in different conversations in the nation front.
Speaker 1: As we examine ourselves during this season, it's key for us to remember that God is interested in healing the nation, god is interested in healing the church, god is interested in healing the family and God is interested in healing your life.
Speaker 1: One important thing I would like to say concerning open door responsibility is that we should not forget our assignments, we should not forget our calling, we should not forget our responsibilities, because God expects us to take responsibility over our lives.
Speaker 1: God expects us to take responsibility over our families.
Speaker 1: God expects us to take responsibility over the church and over the nation.
Speaker 1: What is the assignment that God has given you in this hour?
Speaker 1: What is your calling, what is your gift, what is your passion?
Speaker 1: It is very important for us that we keep engaging.
Speaker 1: We keep doing that which we are being tasked to do.
Speaker 1: If you have a job, keep reporting to your work.
Speaker 1: If you have a family, take responsibility over your family.
Speaker 1: Watch over your family.
Speaker 1: If you are a businesswoman, or even if you are a student, it is really important that in this season, you take leadership.
Speaker 1: Take leadership over yourself, even as you take leadership over the responsibilities that you have been called to do.
Speaker 1: Remember times when you called to God and asked God God, give me something to do, give me, give me an open door.
Speaker 1: This is a season of uplifted open doors.
Speaker 1: So when God has finally given you an uplifted of open doors, so when God has finally given you an uplifted open door, show up, make sure that you are delivering.
Speaker 1: Allow me to talk about uplifted kingdom stewardship.
Speaker 1: This has to do with stewarding your own life, stewarding your resources, stewarding your gifts, stewarding your calling?
Speaker 1: Do you have a gift?
Speaker 1: Do you have a skill?
Speaker 1: Use it, because what you don't use, you lose.
Speaker 1: Do you have a job Guard?
Speaker 1: It Work hard.
Speaker 1: Steward your time.
Speaker 1: Stewardship the call to accountability is allowing people, allowing someone maybe it could be your mentor, your leader, allowing someone in your life to ask you difficult questions.
Speaker 1: Are you bringing returns?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding your time?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding resources?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding your family?
Speaker 1: What are the key things in your family in this season that you are saying that these are the core values that I want to see in my family?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding your family?
Speaker 1: Encouraging the children, encouraging your spouse to walk in these key non-negotiables that you have come up with in your family?
Speaker 1: Is it attending church?
Speaker 1: Is it reading scripture?
Speaker 1: Is it obeying the word of God?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding your marriage?
Speaker 1: Are you stewarding the resources that God has given you?
Speaker 1: Are you saving for the future?
Speaker 1: The Bible says that a good man leaves an inheritance for his children.
Speaker 1: If you are not following kingdom principles uplifted kingdom stewardship it is possible that at a point, you can find that you have nothing to give to the next generation.
Speaker 1: As I finish concerning this theme for this month.
Speaker 1: Uh, open door responsibilities, uplifted kingdom stewardship.
Speaker 1: I would like to read colossians 3, 23, 24.
Speaker 1: It says that whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
Speaker 1: It is the Lord Christ you're serving.
Speaker 1: So, whatever we do, whether you are a student, whether you you are in business, whether you are in the marketplace, you are employed.
Speaker 1: Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, whatever.
Speaker 1: Whether you are in the marketplace, you are employed.
Speaker 1: Whether you are a stay at home mom, whatever.
Speaker 1: Whether you are a volunteer in a place, the Bible encourages us to do everything as unto the Lord, for it is the Lord Christ we are serving and that is the only way we will get a reward.
Speaker 1: Thank you, and God bless you, shalom.
Speaker 2: Welcome.
Speaker 2: Welcome to March 28, Route 1820.
Speaker 2: Stories from the Mission Field.
Speaker 2: It's yet another wonderful evening, a chilly evening in Nairobi, and we are here with Pastor Victor.
Speaker 2: I'm desiring to hear about the stories from the Mission Field.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Pastor Victor.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much, goodrick.
Speaker 3: It is indeed a very chilly afternoon.
Speaker 3: It's almost feeling like a winter season in Kenya.
Speaker 3: We are only missing the snow.
Speaker 3: African winter, African winter in Kenya no snow, but temperatures are low, of course, not below 10 degrees, but we are grateful to God for this season.
Speaker 2: So welcome to the Great Commission.
Speaker 2: Matthew 28, verse 18 to 20.
Speaker 2: And today I'd love to read what scripture says.
Speaker 2: The Bible says.
Speaker 2: Then Jesus came to them and said All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Speaker 2: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Speaker 2: Pastor Victor, tell us more about this great commission.
Speaker 3: You know, jesus has spent three and a half years with the disciples, pouring out his life to the disciples, and he gives them not just the commission but the great commission.
Speaker 3: And now that Jesus has all authority, all authority in heaven and on the earth, he now commissions the disciples not to stay but to go and make disciples of all nations and baptizing them.
Speaker 3: So he's simply saying Go and reach out in every space, tell everyone that the kingdom of God is at hand and there is only one way of connection, and the way is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
Speaker 3: So the gospel must go.
Speaker 3: The commission is that the gospel must go beyond the city of Jerusalem, beyond the nation of Israel and to the ends of the world.
Speaker 3: The Bible also says in Acts 1.8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be what?
Speaker 3: By witnesses.
Speaker 3: By witnesses when?
Speaker 3: In Jerusalem, judea, samaria and the ends of the earth, meaning that all these places must be reached with the gospel at the same time.
Speaker 3: Sometimes people think that what you are doing, the Great Commission, you must begin from where you were, then go to the next city, then the next city or the next nation.
Speaker 3: It's talking about reaching all of them at the same time.
Speaker 3: So everyone needs to know that Jesus is the light of the world, the savior of the world, and there are many that need to know about it.
Speaker 3: That's why we are saying in Mark 28, 18 to 20, the mark is not full.
Speaker 3: There is still space for one more passenger.
Speaker 3: Are you going to be that passenger?
Speaker 3: Are you going to be that?
Speaker 2: passenger.
Speaker 2: Are you going to be that passenger?
Speaker 2: I hope you'll be that passenger at the end of this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, very important.
Speaker 2: And another wonderful question, Pastor Victor.
Speaker 2: Most people say it's not enough to know, but it's very important that we live out our faith and maybe there's a viewer watching us and would love to know how are we living the Great Commission here at Parklands Baptist Church?
Speaker 3: You know we normally say the scripture says in the book of Matthew, chapter 6, that we are the light, we are the salt.
Speaker 3: You know, we are the ambassadors, we represent the kingdom of God on earth.
Speaker 3: But, more importantly, how do we engage here at Parklands Baptist Church?
Speaker 3: Five things.
Speaker 3: Number one, the command is to go, and the Bible says in John 20, 21,.
Speaker 3: As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.
Speaker 3: We are all saints and therefore we must go.
Speaker 3: And you know, in the missions department we have different outreach pillars or places of connection with the Great Commission.
Speaker 3: One of the areas of outreach is in the school ministry and we have an opportunity to reach there Gen Z, majority of whom are in the school.
Speaker 3: And, by the way, do you know that in sub-Saharan Africa the average age is 18 years, so meaning that the nations in the sub-Saharan region are basically youth?
Speaker 3: The highest population is the youth and most of them are in educational institutions.
Speaker 3: So the opportunity to reach the greater population in Africa, and even in Kenya, is within the schools or the institutions of education.
Speaker 3: Therefore, there is that opportunity for you to be able to minister to those ones.
Speaker 3: We have also people in the streets, the vulnerable, you know the people in the streets, like street children, street families, and they need to be reached with the gospel.
Speaker 3: That's why we have the vulnerable and marginalized outreach.
Speaker 3: We also have people in prison, a lot of small population, a big one, and therefore these ones also need to be reached.
Speaker 3: They're incarcerated in the prisons.
Speaker 3: We also have those who are coming from other nations, from Rwanda, burundi, congo, under the social justice outreach pillar.
Speaker 3: So we are saying, at Parklands Baptist Church, we can go and those are the opportunities that God has given us.
Speaker 3: And, more importantly, you can be able to reach members of your family who need to know about Jesus.
Speaker 3: And, just within your sphere of influence, your colleagues, you know, your friends, the guys running the Matatu business, the people around you at the stage where you are, border borders, the one who sells you the groceries.
Speaker 3: It's an opportunity that everyone who believes in Jesus has an opportunity, opportunity to tell someone else about it.
Speaker 3: So we are all commanded to go, so you can go.
Speaker 3: That is number one.
Speaker 3: Number two you can pray.
Speaker 3: You know, not everyone gets an opportunity to go, but everyone has an opportunity to pray.
Speaker 3: We can pray and therefore the Bible says in Psalm 28, ask of me and I'll give the nations to you, the ends of the earth, as your inheritance.
Speaker 3: So we must pray as others are going, others can be praying and probably you can be the one supporting others in the place of prayer.
Speaker 3: The Bible also says in Matthew 9, 37, it says that the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few.
Speaker 3: Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he may send laborers in the harvest field so you can pray.
Speaker 3: The third thing you can support you know, not everybody goes, not everybody prays, but you can also be able to support or even do all the three.
Speaker 3: How do you support?
Speaker 3: By giving your time, by giving your talents, by giving your treasure.
Speaker 3: All of us have something that we can give.
Speaker 3: And what the Bible says in Philippians 4, from verse 10 to 23, about Paul, how he was supported by the Philippian church in reaching the Macedonians, and actually in Philippians 4, 19, it says and the Lord shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory, through Christ Jesus.
Speaker 3: And the fourth thing is that you can invite others.
Speaker 3: You see there are many that don't know the Lord and then probably it is your neighbor, probably it is your friend, probably it is your colleague, invite them for a cup of tea and as you're having tea together, it's an opportunity for you to tell them about Jesus.
Speaker 3: Or probably you can even invite them to church.
Speaker 3: Tell them, by the way, I go to Parklands Baptist Church.
Speaker 3: Would you mind joining me that this Sunday we may go to church together.
Speaker 3: Invite others, and the Bible talks about that in Romans 16, verse 3 to 5.
Speaker 3: Priscilla and Aquila opened their house, opened their homes and they invited others, and you could also do the same.
Speaker 3: You could open your house, invite your neighbors maybe they don't know about Jesus welcome them for a cup of tea, or just have a walk with them.
Speaker 3: Tell them, today we just want to have a walk and as you're having that walk, you are sharing the gospel.
Speaker 3: And there's also an opportunity.
Speaker 3: There are people who take care of us during the nights and they give us the security, the watchman in your neighborhood.
Speaker 3: It's an opportunity for you to just invite them over a cup of tea.
Speaker 3: Get some tea down in the thermos and it's a very cold season, like you are saying and you just tell them okay, I have some tea for you.
Speaker 3: Why don't you have this cup of tea?
Speaker 3: And that's another way of just inviting someone over a cup of tea and sharing the gospel.
Speaker 3: And finally, the last one.
Speaker 3: I talked about five things.
Speaker 3: You can mobilize, you can train, you can tell someone else about Jesus.
Speaker 3: And how do you do this?
Speaker 3: The Bible says in Matthew 4, 19 that come, jesus gives an invitation.
Speaker 3: Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
Speaker 3: So the five things are how can you connect?
Speaker 3: You can go, you can pray, you can support, you can invite and you can also mobilize others to be part of what God is doing during this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wonderful.
Speaker 2: I think I wouldn't have said it any better than Pastor Victor.
Speaker 2: We all can be part of what God is doing and we're all encouraged to make this great commission great.
Speaker 2: So remember, you can go, you can pray, you can support, you can invite and you can also mobilize.
Speaker 2: So plug in and make the Great Commission great.
Speaker 3: Remember here at Mark 28, route 18 to 20,.
Speaker 3: We always bring you the stories from the mission field and the mud is not full.
Speaker 3: There is still space for one more person.
Speaker 3: Are you that person?
Speaker 3: Be about what God is doing in this season.
Speaker 3: The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are not few.
Speaker 3: You can be part of the laborers March 28th, 18 to 20.
Speaker 3: Stories from the mission fields.
Speaker 3: God bless you and have a wonderful day.