Speaker 1: We want to read the scripture for the day Luke, chapter 4, 18 to 21.
Speaker 1: We are talking about impartation of uncommon justice, but today we are talking about spirit-led restoration.
Speaker 1: Jesus is reading a scripture.
Speaker 1: He says this the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
Speaker 1: He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Speaker 1: Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
Speaker 1: The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him and he began by saying to them Tomorrow, okay, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Speaker 1: This is God's word and God's people say it Amen.
Speaker 1: We may be seated in God's presence as we take a moment to pray.
Speaker 1: Father, in the name of Jesus, it is a joy to always come before you to worship, to glorify you, to fellowship with one another, to pray, to bring our needs before you, to bless our children.
Speaker 1: To bring our needs before you, to bless our children, to celebrate our visitors, but also to get an opportunity to hear your word.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.
Speaker 1: May that proceeding word come through today.
Speaker 1: Thank you for hearing our prayer, those watching us online in the pavilion and in this sanctuary.
Speaker 1: May that proceeding word come through today.
Speaker 1: Thank you for hearing our prayer, those watching us online in the pavilion and in this sanctuary.
Speaker 1: God bless them indeed, because we have prayed in Jesus' name and God's people say it Amen, amen.
Speaker 1: Before I share the word, we had quite a number of us being baptized yesterday.
Speaker 1: Was it yesterday At Jakaranda swimming pool?
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor, it was not a river, it was a swimming pool.
Speaker 1: So we had about 140, 198 who came.
Speaker 1: 98 were baptized.
Speaker 1: So those 98, can you stand wherever you are?
Speaker 1: I don't know where you're seated, we have some down here.
Speaker 1: Any others?
Speaker 1: God bless you, amen.
Speaker 1: God bless you.
Speaker 1: All right, quite a number of them were baptized.
Speaker 1: All right, quite a number.
Speaker 1: Oh, god bless you, amen.
Speaker 1: God bless you.
Speaker 1: All right, quite a number of them are baptized.
Speaker 1: All right, quite a number.
Speaker 1: Oh, god bless you.
Speaker 1: So much.
Speaker 1: Now, these ones were not sprinkled, they were dunked, they were baptized and after that they came back to church and had a fantastic fellowship.
Speaker 1: We thank God for the families that joined them, and we really believe in this issue that you have to follow the Lord, that if you believe in him, you have to follow him in baptism.
Speaker 1: Baptism does not wash your sins.
Speaker 1: Baptism exemplifies your commitment to follow the master, and so we celebrate you and let's give them another big hand.
Speaker 1: Thank God for them In Jesus name.
Speaker 1: Pastor Keniti, I know you had a big team out there doing this and we praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: I'd like you to know that I stopped baptizing people a long time ago, hello, and I handed that work to Pastor Simon, and Pastor Simon later handed it over to Pastor Keniti, and I don't know who Pastor Keniti will hand it over to, but they are doing a good job, and so we believe that when you believe in Christ, that you follow him in baptism and then you follow him in discipleship, because it's a journey.
Speaker 1: It's a journey.
Speaker 1: We are talking about spirit-led restoration and in this journey, it is the spirit that leads and though we don't see him, we sense him.
Speaker 1: We know that he's there.
Speaker 1: The Bible says the wind blows where it wills.
Speaker 1: We don't see it, but we see its manifestation.
Speaker 1: You may not see the wind, but you know the wind is there.
Speaker 1: You may not see the Holy Spirit, but you see the manifestation, the movement.
Speaker 1: Part of the manifestation is these gentlemen and ladies who stood up and made their commitment in baptism.
Speaker 1: We see it and we know that the Holy Spirit is leading, and the Holy Spirit loves to lead.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't just lead to nowhere.
Speaker 1: He leads to restoration.
Speaker 1: His business is restoration and that is why the verses we read Jesus Christ comes and his first message is to give his manifesto and says the spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me for various restorative works.
Speaker 1: Number one to bring the poor and give them good news that they no longer need to be poor.
Speaker 1: They now need to know that they have inherited eternity.
Speaker 1: He says the blind don't need to be blind anymore.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit is restoring them to their sight.
Speaker 1: The oppressed don't need to be oppressed anymore.
Speaker 1: They are being restored.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah To liberty.
Speaker 1: The prisoners don't need to be in captivity anymore.
Speaker 1: The Spirit is leading them into freedom.
Speaker 1: And so the Spirit leads us.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in Romans 8.14, if I can read those verses, romans 8.14 it says this for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Speaker 1: So he leads us.
Speaker 1: Another verse 1 Corinthians 2.12.
Speaker 1: Again, talking about what the Holy Spirit does, it says what we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what he has freely given us.
Speaker 1: He has given us.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor we have been given.
Speaker 1: The interesting thing is that in John, chapter 1, verse 11, it says Jesus came to his own people, but his own people did not receive him.
Speaker 1: But to those who received him, he gave them the power to become the children of God, who are born not of the will of the flesh, not the will of man, but by the will of God.
Speaker 1: So the Spirit leads, but it is interesting that the Holy Spirit will not lead somebody who has refused to be led.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit leads, he doesn't push.
Speaker 1: Demons do not lead, hello.
Speaker 1: Satan doesn't lead.
Speaker 1: They push you, they drive you and sometimes beyond your ability and strength, they take you places you don't want to go.
Speaker 1: But thanks be to God, god will not force you.
Speaker 1: God will lead you.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: He's a God of restoration.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this in Joel, chapter 2, verse 21.
Speaker 1: It was a prophecy.
Speaker 1: And the Bible says this in Joel 2, verse 21.
Speaker 1: It was a prophecy, and the Bible says this Do not be afraid, land of Judah.
Speaker 1: Be glad and rejoice, surely the Lord has done great things.
Speaker 1: Do not be afraid you, wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green, the trees are bearing their fruit, the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
Speaker 1: Be glad, people of Zion.
Speaker 1: Rejoice in the Lord, your God, for he has given you the autumn rains.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because he's faithful, he sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
Speaker 1: The threshing floors will be filled with grain, the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
Speaker 1: I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten, the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you.
Speaker 1: You will have plenty to eat.
Speaker 1: You will have plenty to eat Now, that's restoration Until you are full and you will praise the name of the Lord, your God, who has worked wonders for you.
Speaker 1: Never again will my people be shamed.
Speaker 1: Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord, your God, and that there is no other.
Speaker 1: Never again will my people be ashamed, and afterward I will pour out my spirit on all people.
Speaker 1: God's spirit is a leading spirit.
Speaker 1: He leads you.
Speaker 1: He's a God of justice.
Speaker 1: He knows how to bring justice where there was no justice.
Speaker 1: And to illustrate this message, I have picked the book of Ruth to illustrate one or two things about spirit-led restoration.
Speaker 1: The story of Ruth starts with a gentleman called Elimelech.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor Elimelech Now.
Speaker 1: Elimelech is a good name because it means God is king Eli.
Speaker 1: God Melech is king.
Speaker 1: Elimelech had a wife called Naomi.
Speaker 1: They had children, two sons, and one day there was a famine in the land, and so they went to Moab.
Speaker 1: They went to Moab, they went to Moab.
Speaker 1: I'm saying they went to Moab.
Speaker 1: They were not supposed to go to Moab.
Speaker 1: I'm saying they went to Moab.
Speaker 1: They were not supposed to go to Moab because Moab had a bad history.
Speaker 1: Genesis, chapter 19 let me take you there, verse 36.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this about Moab.
Speaker 1: So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant.
Speaker 1: By who?
Speaker 1: By their father.
Speaker 1: The next verse the older daughter had a son and she named him Moab, and he's the father of the Moabites of today.
Speaker 1: The younger daughter also had a son and she named him Ben-Ami.
Speaker 1: He's the father of the Ammonites of today, and so the Moabites and the Ammonites and other parasites gave Israel a very difficult time.
Speaker 1: And you can imagine these guys.
Speaker 1: God just set them aside.
Speaker 1: He said I will bless Israel.
Speaker 1: Moab is completely out of my agenda, but God is a God of justice, he's a God of restoration and he is still able to weave his purposes, even through people who rebelled against him and people who started, who did not start.
Speaker 1: Well, let me tell you this it's not how you started, it is how you finish.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Some of us started in crazy ways, but to Kohapa, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: And the spirit is the one who restores us.
Speaker 1: And so these guys Go to Moab Because God has an agenda.
Speaker 1: There's a lady in Moab who needs to experience divine justice and even though his entire clan and family are out of the will of God, god is still able to go out and pick them out.
Speaker 1: Pick them out, pick them out.
Speaker 1: No wonder God can go into a drunkard family.
Speaker 1: Pick them out.
Speaker 1: No wonder God can go into a drunkard family.
Speaker 1: Everybody drinks, the entire clan drinks, but then God picks one person and weaves a new generation.
Speaker 1: That is a God of restoration.
Speaker 1: God can pick a person from a family of thieves, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Just look at your neighbor.
Speaker 1: You never know who you're sitting next to.
Speaker 1: Just tell your neighbor Hello, hello.
Speaker 1: And God does that.
Speaker 1: That's why we come to this church and that's why we know when the spirit leads he does uncommon things, things we could not imagine he could do, choosing people we imagine he could not choose.
Speaker 1: And so God has an agenda.
Speaker 1: And so Naomi was there.
Speaker 1: His sons get married to two ladies, ruth and Oprahpah.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I confuse and say Oprah, so it is Orpah.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor Orpah.
Speaker 1: The funny thing is that after some time the sons die, mahalon and Kilion.
Speaker 1: They die and things go from bad to worse.
Speaker 1: And sometimes in our lives things never get better, go from bad to worse.
Speaker 1: But the Holy Spirit is watching.
Speaker 1: The devil will not have the last word in your life.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's give God a big hand.
Speaker 1: The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
Speaker 1: But Jesus came that he may have life, that we may have life and have it abundantly.
Speaker 1: The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and yet, because of his redemption, he came and picked us out.
Speaker 1: I wonder why God picked out Pastor Kennedy.
Speaker 1: He doesn't look like a candidate for salvation.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: But God, in his own ways, looked for him and got him.
Speaker 1: And so God is looking for Ruth, but using certain circumstances to get there.
Speaker 1: So, starting with Ruth, verse 1, 6.
Speaker 1: Let me pick up the story from there.
Speaker 1: The Bible says Ruth, chapter 1, verse 6.
Speaker 1: When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there With her two daughters-in-law.
Speaker 1: She left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Speaker 1: Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law go back, each one of you, to your mother's home.
Speaker 1: May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.
Speaker 1: May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.
Speaker 1: Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her we will go back with you to your people.
Speaker 1: But Naomi said return home, my daughters.
Speaker 1: Why would you come with me?
Speaker 1: Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands?
Speaker 1: Return home, my daughters.
Speaker 1: I'm too old to have another husband, even if I thought there was still hope for me.
Speaker 1: Even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would you wait until they grew up?
Speaker 1: Would you remain unmarried for them?
Speaker 1: No, my daughters, it's more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned against me At this.
Speaker 1: They wept aloud again and again.
Speaker 1: Then Orpah, then Orpah.
Speaker 1: Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
Speaker 1: The story of Orpah ends there.
Speaker 1: Goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
Speaker 1: The story of Orpah ends there.
Speaker 1: You never get to hear of her again because, even though the Spirit was leading her to restoration, she did not take it upon herself to get this restoration.
Speaker 1: But Ruth, the Bible says.
Speaker 1: But Ruth had a different way of thinking.
Speaker 1: Look, said Naomi, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.
Speaker 1: Now take note her gods.
Speaker 1: She's going back to her gods.
Speaker 1: She's committed to other gods.
Speaker 1: Go back with her.
Speaker 1: But Ruth replied don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Speaker 1: She's committed to other gods.
Speaker 1: Go back with her.
Speaker 1: But truth replied don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Speaker 1: Where you go, I will go.
Speaker 1: Where you stay, I will stay.
Speaker 1: Your people will be my people.
Speaker 1: And then she said something critical your God shall be my God.
Speaker 1: Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried.
Speaker 1: May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely if even death separates you and me.
Speaker 1: You see, this, what she says, lays the foundation of the three things I want to tell you this afternoon.
Speaker 1: Number one have a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: Number two have a purposeful outflow.
Speaker 1: And number three have a productive outcome.
Speaker 1: Positive outlook, purposeful outflow, productive outcome.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor positive outlook, purposeful outflow, productive outcome.
Speaker 1: Starting with the first one, positive outlook one of the things that changed the equation between Orpah and Ruth was that Orpah and Ruth had a positive outlook to life.
Speaker 1: She had gone through a difficult time, her clan had had its own issues, but she kind of had this positive outlook that, no matter what happens, things will turn out okay.
Speaker 1: And she said it.
Speaker 1: She didn't just keep it in her spirit, she said it.
Speaker 1: Her faith was released.
Speaker 1: She said things will work out well for me.
Speaker 1: Things may be bad now, but tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Watch this space.
Speaker 1: Things may be down under, but tomorrow they will be up.
Speaker 1: That outlook is what helps the Spirit of God to lead you to restoration.
Speaker 1: The Spirit needs that kind of encouragement to take you where he wants you to go.
Speaker 1: Jeremiah 29, 11,.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this and you know this verse very well, for I know the plans I have for you Declares the Lord Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
Speaker 1: Plans to give you hope and a future.
Speaker 1: And then the Bible says this is what I am doing, but this is what you must do.
Speaker 1: Then you will Call on me, and you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.
Speaker 1: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart and I will be found by you.
Speaker 1: Positive outlook, positive outlook, hallelujah, positive, positive outlook.
Speaker 1: Positive outlook, hallelujah, positive outlook.
Speaker 1: Just look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor I have a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: Even when things have gone haywire, kenyans are amazing people.
Speaker 1: They are very resilient.
Speaker 1: And when things are tough and taxes are going this way and that way and some leaders are not doing what they were called to do, they still are steadfast.
Speaker 1: And out of nothing, kenyans can create comedy from anything.
Speaker 1: Who knew that Chapatis would take such a prominent discussion in this country?
Speaker 1: Those are Kenyans for you, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Those are Kenyans for you.
Speaker 1: Things are bad, but they are just laughing.
Speaker 1: They are just cracking jokes Because it helps them to have a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: But they are just laughing.
Speaker 1: They are just cracking jokes Because it helps them to have a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: Life is not gone.
Speaker 1: We are not defeated, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: And we are still waiting for that machine that brings about a million chapatis To come.
Speaker 1: These are Kenyans who are waiting because it's going to create serious business, hallelujah and thank you, jesus, that's Kenyans for you.
Speaker 1: But I want you to know that that kind of spirit keeps people going.
Speaker 1: There are deficits in their lives, but it causes them to laugh and to move on Because God is out there, because God is out there.
Speaker 1: God is out there, god is in our midst, and Ruth had that perspective.
Speaker 1: Naomi, on the other hand, if you read that story, she comes back and says don't call me Naomi, call me Mara.
Speaker 1: I have nothing to be excited about.
Speaker 1: But you see, god was putting Ruth in the path of Naomi to bring about an amazing situation In my life.
Speaker 1: As I've journeyed through life, I've gone through good times and bad times, challenging times and non-challenging times, but one thing that has kept me moving is having a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: You know, having a positive outlook, being with people with a positive outlook, and I pray that in Jesus' name, if you're in the company of people who have a negative outlook to life, very soon you're going to be negative yourself and very soon you'll be down and under.
Speaker 1: But I'm telling you, when you fly with people with a positive outlook, even no matter how down you are, you're going to come up.
Speaker 1: When I was in primary, I was very bright and I'm still bright, hallelujah, still bright.
Speaker 1: I went to some of the amazing primary schools in this city of ours.
Speaker 1: The first time I went to primary school Standard One I went to a school called Dr Livingstone Primary School.
Speaker 1: Now, dr Livingstone Primary School is in Jerusalem and Jerusalem is not in Israel.
Speaker 1: Just tell your neighbor, it's not in Israel.
Speaker 1: Dr Livingstone is in Jerusalem and Jerusalem is in its lands, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: So there's Jericho, ophafa, jericho, and just across there is Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: I went to that school.
Speaker 1: Standard one, standard two Then I repeated Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: I repeated class two when I went to Nairobi South B primary school and I went there until class seven and in class seven I passed.
Speaker 1: I'm saying I passed.
Speaker 1: I passed so seriously because those days we were just doing three subjects.
Speaker 1: Three.
Speaker 1: It was enough for us those days Maths, english and general paper.
Speaker 1: In maths, I got a clean A.
Speaker 1: In English, I got a clean A.
Speaker 1: In general paper, I got a clean A.
Speaker 1: I passed.
Speaker 1: There are people who pass and others who pass.
Speaker 1: And I was called to go to Lenana School and not liking boarding schools.
Speaker 1: I decided I'm not going to Lenana School.
Speaker 1: I said I want to go to a day school and so I went to Jamuhuri High School.
Speaker 1: Don't be quiet, I'm saying I went to Jamuhuri High School.
Speaker 1: At that time Jamuhuri High School was one of the top schools.
Speaker 1: It was called the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke, duke, duke of Gloucester.
Speaker 1: Our sister church, which is Pangani Girls, was called the Duchess of Gloucester.
Speaker 1: Thank you, jesus.
Speaker 1: Those are the schools.
Speaker 1: Nairobi school also had a name those days.
Speaker 1: I don't remember very much Pach Wales.
Speaker 1: Prince of Wales, tell your neighbour, those were schools.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, forget.
Speaker 1: Shinyalu Secondary School.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Jamuri High School.
Speaker 1: And so when I went to Form 1, what I didn't realize is that I met other A students.
Speaker 1: We were packed in class all of them AAA students and I started playing around in class all of them AAA students and I started playing around in class and by from two first time.
Speaker 1: For the first time I became number 37 out of 38.
Speaker 1: Now my outlook was important Because when I took the report card to my dad who was very harsh those days he looked at the report card and he said nothing.
Speaker 1: He commented nothing.
Speaker 1: And, pastor Simon, that was very torturous Because at least he needed to say something, but he didn't say something.
Speaker 1: The next term I worked so hard and I became number 20 out of 38.
Speaker 1: The following time I got better.
Speaker 1: By the time I was reaching form 4, I passed my form 4 exams.
Speaker 1: I passed.
Speaker 1: Those days they called it division 1.
Speaker 1: I passed.
Speaker 1: Those days they called it Division I.
Speaker 1: I passed with flying colors and I went to Form 5 at the same Jamuri High School to do maths, physics and chemistry.
Speaker 1: We used to call it mad people combination Carried big books and I thank God that I have my fellow Jamurians, like Pastor Kiniti who also went there, pastor Sammy went there.
Speaker 1: Thank you, jesus.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor, look at your neighbor, look at your neighbor.
Speaker 1: But the amazing thing in from five.
Speaker 1: Pastor Simon, I met an obstacle the maths I knew.
Speaker 1: Form 5, pastor Simon, I met an obstacle the maths I knew so well suddenly became one of the most difficult things because they introduced something that was never explained.
Speaker 1: It was called calculus.
Speaker 1: And I think, pastor Keniti, the students were not the problem, the teachers were the problem.
Speaker 1: The teachers were the problem.
Speaker 1: They did not define the word calculus.
Speaker 1: Then there was something else called in chemistry, organic chemistry.
Speaker 1: It gave me nightmares.
Speaker 1: I tried to understand it.
Speaker 1: I was not understanding it and by the time I was doing my form 6 and doing my exams, I want to tell you when the results came in maths, I got an F F.
Speaker 1: I was supposed to either get A or B or C or D or E.
Speaker 1: I got F.
Speaker 1: In chemistry, I got the immediate neighbor of that F physics.
Speaker 1: The same thing, I'm telling you.
Speaker 1: My dreams just were shattered and I got so upset with God because that time I wanted to go to Kenyatta University to do Bachelor of Education, because I wanted to be a teacher and I knew my only chance of going to Kenyatta University was to pass there by a matrip going to Moranga.
Speaker 1: That was the only way I would be near Kenyatta University.
Speaker 1: But my life ended that time and I told God what do I do?
Speaker 1: You have messed me up.
Speaker 1: I have been a Christian Union chairperson.
Speaker 1: I have been preaching your word and see what you have done.
Speaker 1: The Lord dropped that scripture.
Speaker 1: I read to you earlier, jeremiah 29, 11.
Speaker 1: I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
Speaker 1: At that time it was not making sense because I said God, how, how are you going to make this happen?
Speaker 1: I have an F.
Speaker 1: What is going to happen?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you this Papers do not define your future.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, it is God who defines your future.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, hallelujah, it is God who defines your future.
Speaker 1: And so, when I was leaving Jamuri High School, I was just feeling upset, finished down.
Speaker 1: When I reached home, god really did an amazing, just a mercy, amazing grace.
Speaker 1: My dad is asking me how did the exams go?
Speaker 1: I said they went very well.
Speaker 1: Then he said what did you get?
Speaker 1: I said I got A well.
Speaker 1: Then he said what did you get?
Speaker 1: I said I got A, b, c, d.
Speaker 1: I didn't say F, e, e.
Speaker 1: And my dad, out of nowhere, he was not even a believer he said Ambrose, you know, god knows the plans he has for you.
Speaker 1: And God just said Ambrose, I'm repeating myself, have an outlook, believe my word, and I want you to know that.
Speaker 1: From that moment I began to see things better.
Speaker 1: I started having a positive outlook.
Speaker 1: I became a teacher, an untrained teacher.
Speaker 1: I went to teach to a school here near Ngarara it used to be called Shada High School and the headmaster that time, when I came in, he said young man, I would like to give you a class, and I don't have a teacher in maths.
Speaker 1: My friend, god is a good God and I taught maths in that school.
Speaker 1: Another year I left.
Speaker 1: I went to teach in another school in Shaorimoyo, and then I left.
Speaker 1: And then I went to Kenya Science Teachers College to be trained to become a teacher of physics and chemistry, to become a teacher of physics and chemistry.
Speaker 1: God can weave your life and, like Ruth, god can weave your life.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what obstacles you meet.
Speaker 1: God is the one in charge of your life and if you allow him, if you have a positive outlook, god will bring you to your destination.
Speaker 1: I was in Kenya Science Teachers College for one year.
Speaker 1: It was a two year diploma course.
Speaker 1: One year in that course God said Ambrose, I want you to leave Kenya, science, I want you to become a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: I argued with God, argued with God and at last I said fine.
Speaker 1: I left Kenya Science Teachers College.
Speaker 1: I became an associate pastor at Parklands Baptist Church.
Speaker 1: I also went to Bible school.
Speaker 1: After four years of Bible school I graduated and then some missionaries from America gave me a full scholarship to go to the United States of America I am saying a full scholarship, hallelujah To go to the US.
Speaker 1: My ticket was paid for.
Speaker 1: Visa came so clean and I went to the United States of America and there I did theology, specializing in two subjects, two languages, hebrew and Greek.
Speaker 1: And I did that course and when I finished I passed Seriously Again.
Speaker 1: I passed they call it cum laude, passed seriously, came back to Nairobi, continued pastoring and together with Pastor Simon we continued through ministering and things like that.
Speaker 1: Pastor Simon also had nearly the same direction like mine.
Speaker 1: I was at Kenya Science Teachers College.
Speaker 1: He was at Kenya Technical Teachers College.
Speaker 1: God called him from Kiambu High School while he was teaching.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor amen.
Speaker 1: And so I continued.
Speaker 1: Then, later I decided to continue my education.
Speaker 1: I went to the International Leadership University right here in Kilimani to do my master's in leadership.
Speaker 1: Master's was not a very easy thing to do, but I tried my best and I graduated with flying colors.
Speaker 1: A young man who studied with an F.
Speaker 1: Thank you, jesus.
Speaker 1: What I didn't know that I thought that F meant failure, and God reminded me that F means fantastic hallelujah.
Speaker 1: It just means how you define words and what perspective you have.
Speaker 1: Either the cup is half empty or it is half full.
Speaker 1: Either way, you are right.
Speaker 1: I pray you'll have a positive outlook to life.
Speaker 1: Buenas, if you will.
Speaker 1: And that's what brought Ruth to where she was supposed to be and God began to guide her.
Speaker 1: But, number two, she not only had a positive outlook, she had this purposeful outflow.
Speaker 1: There were things that she always wanted to do.
Speaker 1: She was active in her life.
Speaker 1: She didn't sit back and cry about the bad things that have happened in her life.
Speaker 1: She put herself to work.
Speaker 1: Look at Ruth, chapter 2, verse 1.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this Ruth, chapter 2, verse 1.
Speaker 1: Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this Ruth, chapter 2, verse 1.
Speaker 1: Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Speaker 1: And Ruth, the Moabite Say to Naomi Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone whose eyes I find favor.
Speaker 1: I mean, she was purposeful, she wanted to do things.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you this you may not be in your career path, but be doing something in the time being.
Speaker 1: Be involved in something.
Speaker 1: Be involved in church Maybe it is ushering Be involved in greeting the guests.
Speaker 1: Be involved in hospitality.
Speaker 1: Do something because you have time in your hands.
Speaker 1: And Ruth was like that.
Speaker 1: The Bible says keep going that while she was in that field.
Speaker 1: And Ruth, the Moabite said to Naomi let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone whose eyes I find favor.
Speaker 1: Naomi said to her go ahead, my daughter.
Speaker 1: So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.
Speaker 1: As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Speaker 1: Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, greeted the harvesters the Lord be with you, the Lord bless you.
Speaker 1: They answered.
Speaker 1: Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters who does that young woman belong to?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you this when you're busy doing what you're supposed to do, fulfilling your purpose, somebody will notice you, Somebody will locate you.
Speaker 1: Buona si fie.
Speaker 1: You may think you're wasting time gleaning.
Speaker 1: You're behind the harvesters gleaning what is left, and the Bible says very clearly that it is the poor people who came to the fields when the harvesters were harvesting and they would pick the leftovers, leftovers, leftovers.
Speaker 1: But she was busy and Boaz located her.
Speaker 1: Let me finish that story there.
Speaker 1: The overseer replied she's the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
Speaker 1: She said please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.
Speaker 1: She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.
Speaker 1: So Boaz said to Ruth, my daughter listen to me, don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here.
Speaker 1: Stay here with the women who work for me, watch the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the women.
Speaker 1: I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.
Speaker 1: Boaz located this lady and says this one is mine.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, may destiny locate you.
Speaker 1: May says this one is mine.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, may destiny locate you.
Speaker 1: May destiny say this one is mine.
Speaker 1: Why you have been busy.
Speaker 1: You have had a purposeful outflow.
Speaker 1: You're helping this.
Speaker 1: You're helping there.
Speaker 1: You're giving this advice.
Speaker 1: You're ready to be used, even though that is not your destiny yet, buenas, if you will to be used, even though that is not your destiny yet, buenas, if you will.
Speaker 1: And out of that experience, something began to happen, because favor came upon her in amazing ways and before long, boaz proposed to her and something shifted in her life, pastor Kiniti, she started gleaning after the harvesters, then, later, she was located more inside, and then she was located more inside and she came near until she became the owner of the field that she was working in.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, my friends, that is your destiny, that is your path that you must take.
Speaker 1: So, looking at my story and seeing what God has done, I'm telling you God spirit led to where I am today.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you this you may still be in a famine, you may still be in a place where people who are very close to you were removed, either by death or by just location.
Speaker 1: They relocated, and people you depended upon.
Speaker 1: They are no longer there.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you this there is a God who knows your destiny.
Speaker 1: There is a God who knows your destiny.
Speaker 1: There is a God who knows your path and he will lead you in paths of righteousness for his name.
Speaker 1: He's your shepherd and he will not allow you to suffer shame, buona si fiwe.
Speaker 1: That's what the book of Joel was saying God will not allow you to suffer shame, buona si fiwe.
Speaker 1: And then the third thing is that so the book of Joel was saying God will not allow you to suffer shame.
Speaker 1: And then the third thing is that Naomi experienced productive outcomes.
Speaker 1: So let me read this in chapter 4 of Ruth.
Speaker 1: Chapter 4, I begin with verse 11.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this.
Speaker 1: Then the elders and all the people at the gate said we are witnesses.
Speaker 1: May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel.
Speaker 1: They started blessing Ruth and Leah who together built up the family of Israel.
Speaker 1: May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman.
Speaker 1: May your family be like that of Perez, home to Ma Bo, to Judah.
Speaker 1: So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.
Speaker 1: When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.
Speaker 1: The women said to Naomi praise be to the Lord who this day has not left you without a guardian redeemer.
Speaker 1: May he become famous.
Speaker 1: The women said to Naomi has given him birth.
Speaker 1: Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.
Speaker 1: Salmon the father of Boaz, boaz the father of Obed, obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David, somebody who had been locked out in Moab, never to be known, never to be seen.
Speaker 1: And common justice found her and uncommon justice said come and inherit what Israel is supposed to inherit.
Speaker 1: And in the process she became productive, producing things of the kingdom.
Speaker 1: Kings came out of her.
Speaker 1: Obed, jesse, david.
Speaker 1: Fast forward, jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of her.
Speaker 1: Obed Jesse, david.
Speaker 1: Fast forward Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Speaker 1: That is your story.
Speaker 1: I'm saying that is your story.
Speaker 1: I'm saying that must be your story.
Speaker 1: If some of you could come here and give us your storyline, we'd sit back and say surely god is a good god, surely god is an awesome god.
Speaker 1: God does not just choose anybody, but he chooses those people who are willing to be led by the spirit of god.
Speaker 1: Some people completely, their destiny ends and nothing ever is hard about them.
Speaker 1: There's's a gentleman by the name of Jabez whose entire life is in only two verses.
Speaker 1: And the Bible said that Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
Speaker 1: And one day he cried to God and said God, may you bless me, hallelujah, hallelujah, may you extend my territory, may you deliver me from pain.
Speaker 1: And the Bible says and God granted her request For those who desire to be led, god will lead you.
Speaker 1: And sometimes things are tough.
Speaker 1: Sometimes things are difficult, sometimes you are in a stage of just giving up, finished.
Speaker 1: But God is watching over his sheep.
Speaker 1: God is watching over his sheep.
Speaker 1: God is watching over you.
Speaker 1: You may be as dry as dry bones in Ezekiel.
Speaker 1: And God says to Ezekiel can these bones live?
Speaker 1: And Ezekiel says Lord, you're the only one who knows.
Speaker 1: And God says to Ezekiel prophesy to the bones that they may live.
Speaker 1: And the Bible says by the time Ezekiel was finishing that, prophecy bones that they may live.
Speaker 1: And the Bible says by the time Ezekiel was finishing that prophecy, bones that were so dry became a mighty army.
Speaker 1: May that be your story.
Speaker 1: I'm saying may that be your story.
Speaker 1: Forget sitting back and crying over things that you should not cry about.
Speaker 1: Oh, if only, if only my dad and mom lived in Parkland.
Speaker 1: Hello, Pastor Simon came all the way from Gorokosho.
Speaker 1: He's here.
Speaker 1: You may be from Shimahoro.
Speaker 1: You are here, kabondo Sipul.
Speaker 1: You are here.
Speaker 1: When there is a God that you allow to lead you, you will never be disappointed, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor you are not a disappointment.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor you are God's appointment.
Speaker 1: One more time, tell them I am not a disappointment.
Speaker 1: Tell them I'm God's appointment, hallelujah, and smile while you are saying it.
Speaker 1: So one more time, tell them I am not a disappointment, I am God's appointment.
Speaker 1: If you believe that, you better give God a big hand and tell him thank you, shall you stand.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit restores.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit is God's agent of change.
Speaker 1: God is in the restoration business.
Speaker 1: God will restore your value, amen, amen.
Speaker 1: God will restore your value.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: God will restore your destiny.
Speaker 1: God will restore your fortunes.
Speaker 1: That is how good God is.
Speaker 1: So when Jesus came, he says the spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me.
Speaker 1: He was basically saying I've come to bring restoration.
Speaker 1: Parklands has taken a long journey to come where it is, but it is also going farther.
Speaker 1: Because you came, you have a story.
Speaker 1: Tell it.
Speaker 1: You have a story.
Speaker 1: Tell it.
Speaker 1: You have a God, who has written a story in your life.
Speaker 1: Don't sit down and say my story is not worth telling.
Speaker 1: I've gone through too many disappointments to even show my face.
Speaker 1: I am ashamed to stand before people.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you this God is not ashamed of you.
Speaker 1: God loves you just the way you are.
Speaker 1: Some of us cannot stand you, but God will stand for you.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, come on, let's give God a big hand.
Speaker 1: God will stand for you, amen.
Speaker 1: Did you receive something?
Speaker 1: Why don't you give God a big hand and tell him thank you, come on, somebody, give God a big hand.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, hallelujah, Amen.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't matter how you look, it doesn't matter how much you weigh Hello.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter whether you have hairstyle like Casino hair Hello, your destiny is not in your hair.
Speaker 1: Just tell your neighbor.
Speaker 1: Have hairstyle like Casina here Hello, your destiny is not in your hair.
Speaker 1: Just tell your neighbor, your destiny is not in your hair.
Speaker 1: I know some of the ladies here.
Speaker 1: You have wigs Are they called wigs?
Speaker 1: But you look good anyway, hallelujah, hallelujah, you look good anyway, hallelujah, you look good.
Speaker 1: Kasina is pursuing a PhD.
Speaker 1: He is about to get a PhD, and so when you see him jumping and sweating and some assaulting here.
Speaker 1: He has destiny in him, amen, and so do you.
Speaker 1: Don't let anybody pull you down, don't let anybody look down on you.
Speaker 1: There are some of you who never finished Form 4.
Speaker 1: And you don't even have a certificate of finishing form 4.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you this there are some people who never finished form 4 but they have gone back to school as adults and they have done their form 4 as adults and they have passed and they have gone ahead and done a certificate in some area, then done a diploma, then gone to do a degree.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you this when you need to go somewhere, you can take different paths.
Speaker 1: If you're focused, you'll get there.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you.
Speaker 1: You cannot be in Parklands Baptist Church hearing all these messages and not end up having a story.
Speaker 1: There is greatness in you.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor there is greatness in me.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor, forget how I'm wearing.
Speaker 1: Tell them there is greatness in me.
Speaker 1: You know there are some people here.
Speaker 1: During the week you are suited, like me, completely in suits, but over the weekend you dress down.
Speaker 1: So when you come to church you also dress down, but that's why people do not know who is next standing next to them.
Speaker 1: So look at somebody who is dressed down.
Speaker 1: You may be standing next to them.
Speaker 1: So look at somebody who is dressed down.
Speaker 1: You may be standing next to a millionaire Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: You may be standing next to her.
Speaker 1: But you might be standing with somebody near with a suit Looking very good, but that suit is borrowed Because greatness is not how you wear.
Speaker 1: Greatness is inside you.
Speaker 1: Greater is he that is inside you Than he that is in the world.
Speaker 1: So carry yourself with your head held high.
Speaker 1: You are somebody in the kingdom.
Speaker 1: You are somebody in this world.
Speaker 1: Don't walk around with your head held high.
Speaker 1: You're somebody in the kingdom.
Speaker 1: You're somebody in this world.
Speaker 1: Don't walk around with your head looking down.
Speaker 1: Look up.
Speaker 1: You may just be located for destiny.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor one more time.
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell your neighbor respect me.
Speaker 1: There's greatness in me.
Speaker 1: Come on somebody, give God a big hand.
Speaker 2: Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Glory, glory.
Speaker 1: Come on, somebody better.
Speaker 1: Give God a big hand.
Speaker 1: Father, we thank you.
Speaker 1: There is no God like you.
Speaker 1: You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Speaker 1: And Father, I have released your word to your people.
Speaker 1: Like Ruth, may they run with it.
Speaker 1: Let them not be like Orpah, who went back to her gods and she has never been heard of again.
Speaker 1: But Ruth said where you go, I will go, your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God.
Speaker 1: That changed her trajectory and she became a great, great, great grandmother of kings.
Speaker 1: We have a story, kasina, if we can just sing that short chorus this is my story.
Speaker 2: This is my song Praising my Savior.
Speaker 2: All I long for All the day long.
Speaker 2: This is my story.
Speaker 2: This is my song Praising my Savior.
Speaker 1: All the day long.
Speaker 1: Sing it out now, praising my Savior One more time.
Speaker 2: Sing it out now.
Speaker 2: This is my story.
Speaker 2: This is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
Speaker 2: This is my story.
Speaker 2: This is my song.
Speaker 1: Praise be my Savior, glory to the Lord.
Speaker 1: Father, we have a story and you are that story in our lives the story of redemption, the story of restoration.
Speaker 1: The story of restoration.
Speaker 1: You're the God who came down and restored our value, restored our fortunes, restored our destiny, and now we are called sons and daughters of the Most High God.
Speaker 1: Father, thank you.
Speaker 1: Let us not take for granted what the Holy Spirit does in each one of our lives.
Speaker 1: Lord, may we not look down on the paths we have gone through.
Speaker 1: Not all of us have followed the same path, but, god, you have brought us to a point where we are able to say I have a story to tell.
Speaker 1: It's a story of redemption.
Speaker 1: God has done a work in my life that, if it were told, you would not believe it.
Speaker 1: And so, father, I really thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for every member, every congregant, every friend, every visitor who is in this church today.
Speaker 1: Lord, as they go out, may they know that their story is still being written, their story is not over, and it doesn't matter if they are still in the first chapter.
Speaker 1: God knows how he is going to conclude that book, that story.
Speaker 1: You are the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.
Speaker 1: Let us never give up on ourselves because everything is not working for us.
Speaker 1: Let us look unto Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.
Speaker 1: And so I bless your people and I know that, lord.
Speaker 1: Some women have come so down and, depressed, are going out with their heads held high because they can face tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Lord, I say thank you and I give you all the glory and I give you all the praise, father, as we march into this coming week and even as we conclude a month that has been such a blessing, may we continue to see the leadership of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives.
Speaker 1: Spirit-led restoration.
Speaker 1: That is our portion.
Speaker 1: Thank you for hearing us as we pray all these things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and God's beloved people say Amen, come on, let's give God another big hand.
Speaker 1: As Pastor Simon comes up here, I want you to know that some of the stories of my life have been documented in this book called the Rivers that Flow.
Speaker 1: I've shared many testimonies of my life and the journeys that God has taken me through.
Speaker 1: May this book be an encouragement to somebody.
Speaker 1: When you get time at the bookstore, get yourself a copy, or give a copy to somebody who feels their life is over and done.
Speaker 1: This story will shift their mind.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor one more time and tell your neighbor there is greatness in me, there is purpose in me, there is destiny in me.
Speaker 1: Now repeat it to the person who just ignored you.
Speaker 1: So tell them one more time there is greatness in me, there is purpose in me, there's destiny in me.
Speaker 1: Amen, one more hand as Pastor Simon comes.
Speaker 1: God bless you.
Speaker 3: This is my story.
Speaker 2: This is my story Praising my Savior all the day long.
Speaker 2: This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior.
Speaker 3: All the day long.
Speaker 3: Let's appreciate Reverend Ambrose Nyanga.
Speaker 3: Thank you, yeah, thank you for that wonderful message.
Speaker 3: As we take the benediction, let us go home remembering there is a God who restores, and let's thank God for the servant of God again who has shared this message.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Spirit-led restoration and the God of Ruth is the same God we have today and therefore let us surrender our destinies into that God, the God of Ruth, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Speaker 3: As we take our benediction today, my prayer is this that the blessing of God would accompany you as you leave this place, as you enter your house, your office, your workplace, your business, as you go on the roads here, may God's blessing accompany you.
Speaker 3: I'm inspired by Deuteronomy 28, verse 2 as I make a declaration of this blessing today.
Speaker 3: We call it the benediction, deuteronomy 28 and verse 2.
Speaker 3: That simply again reminds us that God is not withholding blessings up there.
Speaker 3: God always wants to release them and that is why, as servants of God here, we connect with heaven and we invoke the blessing of God.
Speaker 3: We release a benediction because God wants to release a blessing to walk with you everywhere you go this coming week On the basis of this scripture, here I decree a blessing on Monday, a blessing on Tuesday, a blessing on Wednesday, a blessing on Tuesday, a blessing on Wednesday, a blessing on Thursday, a blessing on Friday, a blessing on Saturday and this coming Sunday, blessings that bring a testimony back into the house of God.
Speaker 3: Let that be your portion and the whole of this week.
Speaker 3: We are blessed and covered, and now may the grace of our Lord, jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore.
Speaker 3: Amen, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord Forever and ever and ever.
Speaker 3: Amen, shalom, enjoy the week.