Speaker 1: The Word of God today is coming to us from the book of 1 Chronicles, chapter 4.
Speaker 1: And I will be reading some verses that could be very familiar to many of us, if not all of us.
Speaker 1: 1 Chronicles, chapter 4.
Speaker 1: Mambo ya nyakati wakwanza, mambo ya nyakati wakwanza Kifungu ni channe na mstari, ni watisa hadimstari wakumi Mpigye buwana makofi.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, amen.
Speaker 1: This is, brother, a coffee.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, amen.
Speaker 1: This is what the Bible says.
Speaker 1: The Word of God says Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
Speaker 1: Actually, let me pause there.
Speaker 1: Let's do what we did in the first service.
Speaker 1: We read all of us.
Speaker 1: So let me invite you to join me as we read these verses.
Speaker 1: Let's go together.
Speaker 1: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
Speaker 1: His mother had named him Jabez, saying I gave birth to him in pain.
Speaker 1: Jabez cried out to the God of Israel oh, that you will bless me and enlarge my territory.
Speaker 1: Let your hand be upon me and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.
Speaker 1: And God granted his request.
Speaker 1: Let us celebrate the King of Kings once more.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: I invite us to take our seats in the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 1: It is such a privilege and great honor for me to come before you this afternoon and to be part of this moment where the Lord wants to speak to each one of us.
Speaker 1: My prayer is that your heart is open, your heart is receptive and you are ready to receive from the Lord this afternoon.
Speaker 1: One of the words that you are going to hear again and again today, so repeatedly, is the word uncommon.
Speaker 1: In fact, I will repeat it until by the time you are leaving this service.
Speaker 1: You cannot afford not to be uncommon, because the Bible says that faith comes by, and so maybe you came ordinary by the time we are done with this service and in the working of the Holy Spirit, you must be uncommon in Jesus' name, and so the topic of our sharing today is uncommon reception, uncommon reception, and I begin by saying the passage that we are reading is one that is uncommon.
Speaker 1: It is an uncommon passage.
Speaker 1: It is a two verse package that is tucked in between a genealogy.
Speaker 1: When you read through the book of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, you will be reading names the sons of Judah, wah Perez, hezron, cambry, and you continue and every other page.
Speaker 1: You will be reading many names, lists of names, but these two verses do not simply have a name in them, but they have one name that I refer to as an uncommon name.
Speaker 1: Why is it uncommon?
Speaker 1: Because it is not the everyday name that we give our bouncing baby boys.
Speaker 1: The name Jabez literally means sorrow, it means pain.
Speaker 1: It is not a fancy name.
Speaker 1: It is not a prophetic name as we know prophecies.
Speaker 1: It is not a fancy name.
Speaker 1: It is not a prophetic name, as we know prophecies.
Speaker 1: It is not one of those great names.
Speaker 1: In fact, I was trying to research.
Speaker 1: I don't think there is anybody in the world who is called Jabez.
Speaker 1: That is how uncommon this name is, and I'm not even suggesting any of you names your children Jabez.
Speaker 1: It is such an uncommon name.
Speaker 1: Basically it means sorrow.
Speaker 1: Now I want you to think about the word sorrow in your mother tongue.
Speaker 1: So that person was called that name that you've just thought.
Speaker 1: That is if you have a mother tongue.
Speaker 1: And so anytime Jabez walked around, basically they were calling him sorrow, pain If he's playing with other children.
Speaker 1: Pain, sorrow, that was his label.
Speaker 1: If he was a footballer, I would imagine which team he would have played for Most likely Arsenal.
Speaker 1: Sorrow with the ball, sorrow with the ball.
Speaker 1: There is a lot of pain in the field, but sorrow is moving, sorrow has it, sorrow has lost it.
Speaker 1: That is the name that this man has.
Speaker 1: But, brothers and sisters, though this name means sorrow and pain, by the end of this passage there is an uncommon testimony for this man Called sorrow, a testimony of blessings, a testimony of favor, a testimony of divine intervention.
Speaker 1: Your situation can turn around.
Speaker 1: Jabez received something that not many people experience, and that is that God granted his request.
Speaker 1: Not because God is selective, not because Jabez was lucky, no, but because Jabez did something that was uncommon.
Speaker 1: Another word, the other, the word that I will keep repeating uncommon.
Speaker 1: He made an uncommon request.
Speaker 1: These requests he made to an uncommon source, and this request he made it through uncommon faith, and out of that, god responded with uncommon favor.
Speaker 1: You must be uncommon today, in Jesus' name, and so this afternoon, I just want us to look at these aspects of this uncommon reception that Jabez experienced.
Speaker 1: Under these three uncommon aspects, one is uncommon asking, two is uncommon source.
Speaker 1: And three is uncommon faith, uncommon asking, oh, that you will bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that Jabez cried out to the God of Israel Bless me, indeed, and enlarge my territory.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that Jabez cried out to the God of Israel oh, that you will bless me and enlarge my territory.
Speaker 1: You see, jabez did not whisper his prayer.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that he cried out to the Lord.
Speaker 1: Not only did he cry out to the Lord as a way of signifying his passion, as a way of signifying the urgency of his asking, as a way of signifying the depth of his asking, but he also went ahead and said Lord, I don't want to settle at.
Speaker 1: Bless me.
Speaker 1: He said bless me.
Speaker 1: Indeed, jabez is saying I want you to bless me in a great way.
Speaker 1: I want you to bless me deeply.
Speaker 1: I want you to bless me in such a way that it cannot be denied that I am blessed, that it cannot be denied that I am blessed.
Speaker 1: I want you to bless me in such a way that people can look at me and say, for sure, it can be nothing else but the blessings of the Lord.
Speaker 1: It was not just the casual asking of saying oh God bless me.
Speaker 1: It was not just a simple way of saying oh God, bless me.
Speaker 1: It was a deep.
Speaker 1: The extent of his asking was a deep asking.
Speaker 1: I don't know when is the last time you asked for something uncommon to the Lord?
Speaker 1: When is the last time you asked for something with a sense of urgency from the Lord?
Speaker 1: When is the last time you asked for something with a sense of passion from the Lord?
Speaker 1: Too often, brothers and sisters, we pray what I am calling safe prayers, small prayers, vague prayers.
Speaker 1: Lord, if you just give me a job, any job, I'll be okay.
Speaker 1: God, if you just increase my salary a little, I'll just be okay.
Speaker 1: Just an increase, something that can cover inflation.
Speaker 1: Those are the terminologies we use.
Speaker 1: Inflation is 26%, so if you take 6%, you have less than nothing.
Speaker 1: But Jabez, is this man who is teaching us that faith does not whisper, it cries out.
Speaker 1: That faith does not ask for small, it asks for big.
Speaker 1: That faith actually not ask for small, it asks for big.
Speaker 1: That faith actually dares to ask.
Speaker 1: The word of God tells us in James, chapter 4, verse 2.
Speaker 1: That you have not because you have not asked.
Speaker 1: You have not because you have not asked.
Speaker 1: You know there are people who think they don't have because someone else has.
Speaker 1: The reason why I don't have a car, the reason why I don't have a good house, is because my neighbor has a good house.
Speaker 1: No, my brother, my sister, the Bible is reminding us, you have not, because you have not asked.
Speaker 1: Jabez asked.
Speaker 1: Jabez was not only asking that God will just bless him.
Speaker 1: No, he was not just asking for things to enhance his life.
Speaker 1: He was asking for things so that he can be an influence.
Speaker 1: He was saying God, I want to be significant.
Speaker 1: He was not just asking for a salary increment.
Speaker 1: He was saying, god, I want to be a presence, I want to be a person of influence.
Speaker 1: He was saying God, give me a responsibility.
Speaker 1: I want to be a person who can be counted on.
Speaker 1: I want to be a person who can be called upon.
Speaker 1: This is what Jabez is asking for.
Speaker 1: Jabez was asking for capacity, saying Lord, I have handled this, I want to handle bigger.
Speaker 1: That is what Jabez was asking for.
Speaker 1: But why is Jabez asking this?
Speaker 1: He is not just asking for more from God.
Speaker 1: He's actually asking to have more from him so that he can serve him even in a greater way.
Speaker 1: He does just want God to do more for him.
Speaker 1: He's saying, lord, I want you to enlarge my capacity so that I can do more for you?
Speaker 1: Why are you asking for that expansion?
Speaker 1: Why are you asking for that salary increment?
Speaker 1: Why are you asking for that plot?
Speaker 1: Is it simply for your comfort?
Speaker 1: God is saying beyond the comfort which I'll give you, you can ask for more.
Speaker 1: That house can be a house of prayer, a place of blessing.
Speaker 1: You know, when I was reading this passage, I was asking myself what exactly was Jabez's motivation for asking, and just asking you, what is your motivation for asking?
Speaker 1: You know, when you read this passage, motivation for asking, you know, when you read this passage, it doesn't tell me that Jabez was in pain.
Speaker 1: When I read the English, it tells me that he was born in pain.
Speaker 1: So who experienced the pain?
Speaker 1: Is it Jabez or is it the mother?
Speaker 1: So, basically, jabez is not the one who experienced the pain.
Speaker 1: If anything, the Bible tells us that he was an honorable man.
Speaker 1: But at the place of his birth, somebody experienced pain and took that pain and labeled it on him.
Speaker 1: And therefore Jabez is walking under the shadow of somebody else's pain and even though he is honorable, even though he has made it in life, he wants to disconnect himself from the pain that is not his.
Speaker 1: And so that at no point does that pain catch up with him.
Speaker 1: Jabez does not sit down and say things will never work for me.
Speaker 1: You know, by the way, why things are not even working for me.
Speaker 1: By the way, I am actually called pain.
Speaker 1: My name is Soro, so things are just working for me the way my name is.
Speaker 1: No, jabez said I am going to disconnect myself, and so his motivation for asking is not simply is not because of a circumstance of pain, but because he's asking so that he can disconnect himself from a past and connect himself to a future, a future that belongs to God.
Speaker 1: I want to encourage you don't sit there and wait for someone else to come and disconnect you from your past, to come and disconnect you from the shadows that hover around you, from circumstances of other people that hover around you.
Speaker 1: You can pray a prayer like that of Jabez and say God, disconnect me from that and connect me with your future.
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: But also the question of what limits you?
Speaker 1: As I have said, jabez is a victim of his mother's pain, and sometimes we are victims of other people's shortcomings.
Speaker 1: Sometimes other people have told us how it is impossible.
Speaker 1: Until it becomes possible.
Speaker 1: And I was just scrolling yesterday and I realized that Kenyans are now breaking from a renowned success of long distance running and now they are connecting to a future of short races.
Speaker 1: Did you see that?
Speaker 1: I hear that?
Speaker 1: Did you see that?
Speaker 1: Am I the only one who is new in Jerusalem that now we are doing four by four?
Speaker 1: Are we doing four by four?
Speaker 1: Omu Omanyala, omanyala, omanyala.
Speaker 1: So Omanyala has told Kenyans we shall not only be known by the shadow of long distances.
Speaker 1: Who said we cannot run like Usain Bolt and that young man with the team is breaking that?
Speaker 1: And so sometimes we can live our lives and our asking can be limited by the circumstances of others.
Speaker 1: Let me share with you my experience when I did my KCSE exams and the results were out.
Speaker 1: I meet this cousin of mine and she's a good cousin and she asks me hey bro, what did you get KCSE, how did you perform?
Speaker 1: And of course I tell her my grade and it was a very good grade, a grade that will get me to the university, and when you see somebody explaining their grade, just know it was not an A you don't explain A grades but it was a good enough grade to get me here.
Speaker 1: I may not have gotten that A, but I am an, a student.
Speaker 1: Do I look like anything less than A?
Speaker 1: So, even though the paper may differ and I know there are a number of us whose papers differ, but they are A students After all you are not the one who published that paper, it is not yours.
Speaker 1: If you were the one to publish, would you have put the grade that is there.
Speaker 1: You would have put an A grade.
Speaker 1: So that paper equal to a two in Guinea.
Speaker 1: And so, anyway, I told her my grade and she said ah, bro, I knew, you know that is what in our family, generally, around the family, around the family, around the family, around the family.
Speaker 1: In fact, we had a lot of hopes in cousin so and so, but you know what he got.
Speaker 1: So you have actually tried.
Speaker 1: So my family I don't know about your family, my family, the shadows of my family.
Speaker 1: Now let me tell you the difference.
Speaker 1: The difference is that, unfortunately, my cousin lived under the shadows of my family grades.
Speaker 1: She lived under the shadows of our family grades.
Speaker 1: I chose to live under the shadow of God's grade and today, if I stand with her, we are miles apart in terms of grade.
Speaker 1: You can disconnect yourself, and sometimes those are some of the things that can disconnect yourself and sometimes those are some of the things that hold us back.
Speaker 1: Our family, oh, nobody marries and nobody gets married in our family.
Speaker 1: And you have confirmed that Uncle Nani was not married.
Speaker 1: They even have children, but they were not married.
Speaker 1: That is how our family looks like and you can walk under that shadow such that even when you meet somebody potential to marry you remember in our family we don't marry you can disconnect yourself from that shadow today, like Jabez did in Jesus' name, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: How about our parents?
Speaker 1: You know those days when we were growing up, you go to the shop with your parent and you're trying to ask for a sweet, and she will ask you oh, is it a sweet that I'm going to buy, or is it school fees I'm going to pay?
Speaker 1: Have you heard those questions?
Speaker 1: Will I buy you a toy or am I going to pay for your school fees or buy food?
Speaker 1: And our parents had a way of telling us the opposite of what they mean.
Speaker 1: So now your father has all the money.
Speaker 1: Just take the whole shop, carry the whole shop, go with it, go with it.
Speaker 1: What, basically, they were saying dare pick something.
Speaker 1: And so we grew up with these options.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, part of the reason why they did that is because they were limited and so they had to make priorities.
Speaker 1: They had to say no to this one so that we can have this one.
Speaker 1: So they were just acting in wisdom.
Speaker 1: But I am here to declare to you that this God of ours, he wants you to have your heart's desire.
Speaker 1: This God of ours does not trade one thing for another.
Speaker 1: He wants you to have that toy and that education.
Speaker 1: He wants you to have that holiday and that investment.
Speaker 1: He wants you to have that car and food as well.
Speaker 1: He wants you to have that house and school fees as well.
Speaker 1: He is willing and able to give it to you.
Speaker 1: That is the God that we are asking to.
Speaker 1: We are not asking one who is asking you choose one because of limited resources.
Speaker 1: And so what does this uncommon asking look like?
Speaker 1: This uncommon asking is uncommon in impact.
Speaker 1: It is an asking that asks for things that alter destinies, things that go beyond the immediate gratification, things that can turn around situations.
Speaker 1: This uncommon asking is uncommon in size.
Speaker 1: It is an asking that asks for bigger things than ourselves.
Speaker 1: When did you last ask for something bigger than your salary?
Speaker 1: When did you last ask for something bigger than your profit?
Speaker 1: When did you ask for something bigger?
Speaker 1: Many times we want to ask for things that the probability of having them is almost one.
Speaker 1: Statistics you get it.
Speaker 1: The probability of having it is one.
Speaker 1: You are actually able to get it.
Speaker 1: And so by the time you are coming to brethren and saying I am trusting God, that I will move from where I'm staying, you've already shopped around and you have realized you can move to a place and you can afford.
Speaker 1: And you're telling them so pray with me, I'm trusting the Lord.
Speaker 1: You are not trusting the Lord.
Speaker 1: You've already planned within your limits.
Speaker 1: This asking is the asking that asks for bigger things than ourselves.
Speaker 1: It is one with uncommon purpose.
Speaker 1: It asks for things that glorify God first, that at the core of what we are asking is that God should be glorified.
Speaker 1: Core of what we are asking is that God should be glorified, and so we just want to reflect.
Speaker 1: How does your asking look like?
Speaker 1: Are you asking God to enlarge your territory?
Speaker 1: Is there anything you're asking God to enlarge today?
Speaker 1: Are you telling God I want more, I want bigger, not just for, but so that I can glorify you even in a better way.
Speaker 1: Jabez heard an uncommon asking, but secondly, he also heard an uncommon source.
Speaker 1: The Bible says and Jabez called on the God of Israel.
Speaker 1: Jabez called on the God of Israel.
Speaker 1: As I said earlier, this is a book of genealogies, and so we have many names here.
Speaker 1: We have great names here.
Speaker 1: We have names like Judah, we have names like Perez, we have names like Hezron and big names.
Speaker 1: But Jabez pauses, looks at his lineage, looks at the people, the great names that he can call upon, and instead chooses to call upon the God of Israel.
Speaker 1: And so the writer is very keen to tell us Jabez called upon the God of Israel.
Speaker 1: Jabez did not look at his family, he did not look at his friends, he did not look at his own strength.
Speaker 1: He went straight on to the uncommon source, the one who gives good and perfect gifts.
Speaker 1: That is the one that Jabez went to the God of covenant, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, one who has a track record of being limitless.
Speaker 1: You see, in this time, people are turning to idols, and it is no different from our time today, people have turned to diviners, people have turned even to corruption, people have turned to many other things as their source, but Jabez chose to face God and say only you will I ask from.
Speaker 1: Jabez knew something that we must remember today that blessings don't come from connections.
Speaker 1: Blessings come from the creator.
Speaker 1: He can use the connections you have to bring a blessing, but ultimately our eyes are not to the mountains.
Speaker 1: No wonder the psalmist says I lift up my eyes to the hills, psalm 121,.
Speaker 1: I lift up my eyes to the hills.
Speaker 1: Where does my help come from?
Speaker 1: And he says my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
Speaker 1: And what does the Bible say?
Speaker 1: He will not let your foot slip.
Speaker 1: He who watches over you will not slumber.
Speaker 1: This is the God that we are calling upon.
Speaker 1: He, indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Speaker 1: The Lord watches over you.
Speaker 1: The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
Speaker 1: The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
Speaker 1: The Lord will keep you from all harm.
Speaker 1: He will watch over your life.
Speaker 1: The Lord will watch over your coming and your going, both now and forevermore.
Speaker 1: Who else can be like this God?
Speaker 1: So, brothers and sisters.
Speaker 1: You can turn to ten people for advice, but only one person can enlarge your territory.
Speaker 1: You can turn to ten offices for connection, but only one person can bless you.
Speaker 1: Indeed, you can turn to 10 contacts of human influence, but only one person will always abide with you.
Speaker 1: You can have 10 padlocks and passwords, but only one person can keep you away from harm.
Speaker 1: One person can secure your security.
Speaker 1: His name is Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Speaker 1: That is the one Jabez turned to for an uncommon reception.
Speaker 1: His name is Yahweh, his name is Elohim.
Speaker 1: His name is Jehovah Jireh.
Speaker 1: His name is Jehovah Shammah.
Speaker 1: He is the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob.
Speaker 1: He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: He is the uncommon source.
Speaker 1: What does this source look like?
Speaker 1: This uncommon source?
Speaker 1: This God is uncommon in his willingness to grant your request.
Speaker 1: I say the word uncommon.
Speaker 1: You must leave this place uncommon.
Speaker 1: His willingness to grant your request is uncommon.
Speaker 1: Do you know?
Speaker 1: There are people who are not too quick to give.
Speaker 1: There are people who are not too quick to offer solutions, even when you know they can offer the solution.
Speaker 1: Their level of willingness is at the lowest.
Speaker 1: But this God of ours.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in Romans, chapter 8, verse 31,.
Speaker 1: What then shall we say in response to these things?
Speaker 1: If God is for us, if God is for us, who can be against us?
Speaker 1: And then it gives us his characteristic of being so willing, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all.
Speaker 1: How will he not also, along with him, graciously, willingly, give us a few things, give us some things, give us all things?
Speaker 1: This is the God we are calling upon, all things.
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes we receive on the basis of the moods of other people.
Speaker 1: When they are very happy, you receive a lot when they are not so very happy.
Speaker 1: You know, even in our homes you can tell If you're asking something from your spouse.
Speaker 1: You can tell whether you will get it or not.
Speaker 1: Unapima hewa kwanza.
Speaker 1: And there is nothing wrong with that, by the way, because hewa ya wanadamu ubadilika, even hewa ya pastors ubadilika.
Speaker 1: So sometimes my wife will ask and she can tell I am not about to receive anything from this man.
Speaker 1: So let me pray for him.
Speaker 1: I'll have some soup.
Speaker 1: My friend, you give the wallet.
Speaker 1: It's here.
Speaker 1: The wallet is here.
Speaker 1: Our God is willing.
Speaker 1: He doesn't change moods, he doesn't have mood swings like human beings.
Speaker 1: Our God is willing.
Speaker 1: But secondly, this God is uncommon in his ability.
Speaker 1: He is uncommon in his ability to grant our requests.
Speaker 1: Jeremiah 32, verse 27,.
Speaker 1: The Bible tells us that I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.
Speaker 1: Is anything, is anything too hard for me?
Speaker 1: And for sure it's a rhetoric question Nothing is too hard for him.
Speaker 1: This God is uncommon in his capacity to grant your request.
Speaker 1: Uncommon in his capacity to grant your request.
Speaker 1: The Bible tells us in Psalm 24, verse 1, that the earth, the earth is the Lord's.
Speaker 1: Let's read this together the earth is the Lord's.
Speaker 1: Let's read this together the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live belong to who?
Speaker 1: That is the capacity of our God, some of us.
Speaker 1: The most you can have as a human being is a plot.
Speaker 1: Yes, as far as the earth is concerned, you can only own a plot.
Speaker 1: It could be 40,000 acres, but it is still a plot.
Speaker 1: It could be 100,000 acres, but when you compare to the owner of the earth, it is just a plot.
Speaker 1: Him is saying that the earth and everything in it.
Speaker 1: By the way, did you know that in your plot, in your piece of land, there are some things that don't belong to you.
Speaker 1: Did you know that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are some things.
Speaker 1: I hear there are some depths.
Speaker 1: If you want to go on your piece of land, you must get permits, because there are things beneath there that don't belong to you.
Speaker 1: Now, this God of land, you must get permits, because there are things beneath there that don't belong to you.
Speaker 1: Now, this God of ours, even those things that you require a permit, they belong to him and you can get them without a permit.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, his capacity, who is your source?
Speaker 1: Who is your source?
Speaker 1: Whom are you depending on as your source?
Speaker 1: Who is your source?
Speaker 1: Whom are you depending on as your source?
Speaker 1: We are in a country where everything is about serikali, even the things that we are supposed to be responsible for, serikali.
Speaker 1: We litter everywhere With papers, with bottles, and then, when it rains, the drainage systems do what they clog, and then we have floods and the waters come into our houses.
Speaker 1: Then the media appears.
Speaker 1: What do we tell them To Naomba Serekali?
Speaker 1: But whose problem was it in the first place?
Speaker 1: Our own problem.
Speaker 1: What do we tell them To Naomba Serekali?
Speaker 1: But whose problem was it in the first place?
Speaker 1: Our own problem.
Speaker 1: May the Lord help us.
Speaker 1: All these other things are limited, but our God is limitless.
Speaker 1: And so if you want to have an uncommon reception, brothers and sisters, I invite you that you must have an uncommon source.
Speaker 1: You cannot get uncommon reception from common sources.
Speaker 1: But number three, quickly, as I bring this to a close, we see uncommon faith in this man called Jabez.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in his prayer he says that your hand will be with me and that you will keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain, that your hand will be with me.
Speaker 1: And this shows us the heart of Jabez.
Speaker 1: Jabez is not only asking for blessings, but he is asking for God's hand.
Speaker 1: He's not just asking for what God can do, he's asking for God himself.
Speaker 1: He's not just asking for what God can give, he's saying I want not only to have more of what you can give, but I want to have more of you.
Speaker 1: You can give, but I want to have more of you.
Speaker 1: He is not just asking for success, he is asking for God's presence.
Speaker 1: He is not just asking for increase, he is asking for integrity upon his increase, such that when people look at his increase, they can say for sure, the hand of the Lord is upon this man For sure God has done it for him.
Speaker 1: That is what Jabez is asking for.
Speaker 1: He's connecting his faith to his asking.
Speaker 1: He's connecting his faith to his source.
Speaker 1: You know, there is wealth that you can have and especially in our country we've had circumstances where people grow in wealth exponentially and they quickly attribute it to God's working.
Speaker 1: The Lord has been this is God, and many times Kenyans.
Speaker 1: We are very sure that is not God, or rather, let me revise that.
Speaker 1: Maybe we are not very sure, but sometimes we feel that that is not God.
Speaker 1: That is the circumstance we find ourselves.
Speaker 1: Jabez is saying God, increase me with integrity so that whatever I have can be traced back to you.
Speaker 1: That he's saying I'll be open to any scrutiny when the Lord has blessed me.
Speaker 1: I am open to auditors, I am open to DCI, I am open to ESCC because when they come my house, whatever they will find, they will also find a legitimate source that can be traced back to God's favor.
Speaker 1: That is integrity in our increase, amen.
Speaker 1: And there are people who are found with wealth, even in their homes, and they say, well, I don't know where that one came from.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but we can try to find out.
Speaker 1: May that not be your portion.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, connect your faith to your increase.
Speaker 1: So what is Jabez saying?
Speaker 1: He's saying, god, I don't want to succeed without you.
Speaker 1: He's saying, god, I don't want a territory without your touch.
Speaker 1: He's saying, god, I don't want to cause harm, even if I grow or even if I increase.
Speaker 1: That is uncommon faith, one that not only believes in God's provision, but one that also believes in God's presence.
Speaker 1: What does this uncommon faith look like?
Speaker 1: This uncommon faith is a faith with uncommon hearing, a faith with uncommon hearing.
Speaker 1: The Bible says now, faith comes by hearing.
Speaker 1: What hearing?
Speaker 1: Hearing of the word.
Speaker 1: Romans, chapter 10, verse 17.
Speaker 1: The faith that we are talking about here is not one that just hears anything.
Speaker 1: It is one that has the capacity to hear the word of God, one that says if God has said it, I will do it.
Speaker 1: And that is why Peter is very keen to ask Jesus and say Jesus, if that is you, I want to hear.
Speaker 1: My faith wants to hear.
Speaker 1: If that is you, call me and I will come.
Speaker 1: And Jesus says come.
Speaker 1: And when Jesus says come, peter steps onto the water carried by this faith that has heard a word, an authentic word, from an uncommon source, and on that basis, peter walks on water.
Speaker 1: In fact, it is until he stops listening to that voice that he starts sinking, because he started listening to the waves.
Speaker 1: You know, the ocean has a voice.
Speaker 1: He started listening to the waves and then, when he listened to the waves, immediately he looked at the waves and his faith was affected.
Speaker 1: This faith is a faith with uncommon substance.
Speaker 1: Hebrews 11, verse 1, tells us now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, things that are hoped for things.
Speaker 1: Hoped for things that are hoped for things.
Speaker 1: It is the evidence of things that are not seen.
Speaker 1: It is not an empty faith.
Speaker 1: It is a faith that James refers to as a faith with action.
Speaker 1: It is our title deed for what God is able to do and what God will do.
Speaker 1: A faith with substance.
Speaker 1: But thirdly, this faith is a faith that is uncommon in victory.
Speaker 1: A faith that is uncommon in victory.
Speaker 1: What does this mean?
Speaker 1: The Bible tells us in 1 John, chapter 5, verse 4, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
Speaker 1: Whatever is born of the Lord of God overcomes the world.
Speaker 1: And this is the victory that overcomes the world.
Speaker 1: Which victory Our faith Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: And so, as I conclude, what does this faith do?
Speaker 1: This faith keeps us aligned to the blesser.
Speaker 1: You know, blessings have a way of swaying us from God.
Speaker 1: There are things we can receive and our hearts are deceived and we sway away from the Lord, away from the Lord.
Speaker 1: This faith that has ears, this faith that has substance, this faith that has victory, keeps us aligned to God.
Speaker 1: This faith frees us from the chains of the past and accelerates us to God's unlimited future.
Speaker 1: It is that faith that can disconnect us from the past and instead connect us to God's unlimited future.
Speaker 1: This faith rewrites our story.
Speaker 1: Show me a man with this faith and I will show you a man whose story is different.
Speaker 1: Show me a woman with this faith and I will show you a woman whose life is different.
Speaker 1: I will show you a woman whose life has been transformed from pain to peace.
Speaker 1: I will show you a man who has been transformed from chains to freedom, from sorrow to endless joy, from shame to confidence, from ashes to beauty, from betrayal and loss to victory, from lack to abundance, from being lost to being fast, from being forgotten to the spotlight of God, from death to life, from being lost to being found, from being blind to seeing.
Speaker 1: This uncommon faith is the key to uncommon reception In Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: May you receive that faith today, receive that faith in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: And so let's go back to where we started.
Speaker 1: That verse 10 ends in a very beautiful way.
Speaker 1: It simply says and God granted his request.
Speaker 1: And God granted his request.
Speaker 1: May that be your story today.
Speaker 1: May the Lord grant your request.
Speaker 1: May you call upon this God with a sense of urgency.
Speaker 1: May you call upon this God with a sense of victory.
Speaker 1: May you call upon this God with a sense of assurance.
Speaker 1: May you apply your faith, calling upon this God and in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: May your life turn around.
Speaker 1: May it turn around from pain to a very simple statement, a very simple testimony.
Speaker 1: And God granted his request in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2: That is the uncommon reception a wanna Nii nuwe kwa imani, nii sima me ni pandemi, nii ma yote e buana u.
Speaker 1: Please, let's be on our feet.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, take this moment.
Speaker 3: Make this your declaration in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: Make this your personal declaration.
Speaker 1: Make it your personal declaration.
Speaker 3: One more time we are saying Lord, lift me up.
Speaker 1: And let me stand by faith on heaven's table land.
Speaker 3: That is our prayer today.
Speaker 3: Oh, nipande, that is our prayer today.
Speaker 3: One more time, I will sing your praises.
Speaker 3: I will sing your praises.
Speaker 3: I will sing your praises, I will sing your praises.
Speaker 1: Now, make this your prayer.
Speaker 1: Make this your prayer, just come on, just call upon the Lord.
Speaker 1: Tell God I make an uncommon ask us in an uncommon way, today, in Jesus name, that that which you have been trusting the Lord.
Speaker 1: Call upon him, cry out to the Lord, him, cry out to the Lord.
Speaker 1: Jabez cried out to the Lord.
Speaker 1: He was not ashamed of his circumstance.
Speaker 1: He called out on the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1: And today you can call upon that God in a passionate way.
Speaker 1: You can call him with a sense of urgency, you can call him with a sense of assurance.
Speaker 1: You can tell him it is today.
Speaker 1: It is today, lord.
Speaker 1: It is today, oh Lord.
Speaker 1: It is very simple but powerful.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' mighty name, take this moment, call on him.
Speaker 1: Those who are at the pavilion call on him.
Speaker 1: Call on moment.
Speaker 1: Call on him.
Speaker 1: Those who are at the pavilion Call on him.
Speaker 1: Call on him, call on the Lord.
Speaker 1: Call on the Lord In Jesus name.
Speaker 1: Be very specific with your call.
Speaker 1: Make it big.
Speaker 1: Make it big today in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: Maybe you have never asked the Lord something bigger than yourself.
Speaker 1: Today, ask him something bigger, something bigger than your resources, something bigger than your salary, something bigger than your connections, something bigger than you can think about it.
Speaker 1: Ask him today in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: God is waiting.
Speaker 1: Challenge him today with something big, something that is uncommon In Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: God is waiting.
Speaker 1: Challenge him today with something big, something that is uncommon in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, lord, we are asking.
Speaker 1: We are asking for life changing.
Speaker 1: We are asking for things that transform our lives.
Speaker 1: Today, somebody may want to take this moment just to disconnect yourself from the shadows of other people, disconnect yourself from the failures of other people, disconnect yourself from the pain of other people, disconnect yourself from the utterances of other people.
Speaker 1: You may want to disconnect yourself from things of your tribe, things of your clan, things of your clan, things of your family.
Speaker 1: Disconnect yourself today, just like Jabez Say oh God, enlarge my territory, remove me from that past, remove me from that circumstance.
Speaker 1: Make your ask a big one today, because there is a God in heaven who is not limited in any way, and I can tell you today he is going to grant that request.
Speaker 1: God is going to grant that request in Jesus mighty name.
Speaker 2: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 3: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: I want to pray with a very special category of people.
Speaker 1: You are here and you are not born again.
Speaker 1: You have never given your life to Christ.
Speaker 1: You may look honorable, you may look honorable, you may look successful, you may look like everything is working for you, but I can tell you, just like Jabez, you hung under the shadows of pain, you hung under the shadows of failure, you hung under the shadows of limitation, but today you can disconnect yourself from that shadow of sin by asking the Lord, jesus Christ, to come into your life and transform your life for good.
Speaker 1: And so, if you are here in the sanctuary, this is your moment.
Speaker 1: You want to give your life to the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 1: This is your moment.
Speaker 1: Come to the front.
Speaker 1: We have brothers.
Speaker 1: Our pastors and deacons are here.
Speaker 1: Come to the front, give your life to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Those who are in the pavilion we have our leaders standing at the front.
Speaker 1: Please walk to somebody and disconnect yourself from the pain and the shame of sin and say, like Jabez oh, that you will bless me, oh, that you will set me free.
Speaker 1: That is what Jesus wants to do for you today.
Speaker 1: And so, if you're here and you're not born again, this is your moment.
Speaker 1: Just come, come.
Speaker 1: You are the one I'm waiting for.
Speaker 1: We are just about to pray, but just come those who are online.
Speaker 1: Kindly, if you want to give your life to christ today, let us know.
Speaker 1: Just put it in the column, in the comment section.
Speaker 1: Somebody will reach out to you.
Speaker 1: You want to give your life to Christ today?
Speaker 1: Don't go back home with your shame.
Speaker 1: Don't go back home with your fear.
Speaker 1: Don't go back home with the common.
Speaker 1: Come and connect to Jesus and begin your life of something different.
Speaker 1: Today, in Jesus' name, I am still making this passionate appeal.
Speaker 1: There is somebody.
Speaker 1: You need to come.
Speaker 1: Jesus is waiting for you.
Speaker 1: Jesus is not in a hurry.
Speaker 1: He is waiting for you.
Speaker 1: He wants you to come and give your life to him.
Speaker 1: Me.
Speaker 1: Is anyone coming?
Speaker 1: Jesus is inviting you.
Speaker 1: We see somebody's afraid.
Speaker 1: Jesus is inviting you.
Speaker 1: Let us celebrate our sister.
Speaker 1: She comes.
Speaker 1: Somebody else, somebody else.
Speaker 1: This is your day.
Speaker 1: Don't go home with your shame.
Speaker 1: Don't go home with your pain.
Speaker 1: Come, come, somebody.
Speaker 1: Jesus is calling you.
Speaker 1: Come Somebody.
Speaker 1: Jesus is calling you.
Speaker 1: Jesus is inviting you.
Speaker 1: He's saying come, come.
Speaker 1: It's your moment to come.
Speaker 1: This is your moment to come In Jesus name At the pavilion.
Speaker 1: Come, come.
Speaker 1: This is your moment to come In Jesus' name At the pavilion.
Speaker 1: Come Come.
Speaker 1: Jesus is calling you.
Speaker 1: Let's celebrate this sister as she comes.
Speaker 1: There is somebody else.
Speaker 1: Come, come, come in Jesus name.
Speaker 3: There's somebody else who is coming.
Speaker 3: This is your moment.
Speaker 3: It is your moment.
Speaker 3: In Jesus name, come, come, come.
Speaker 3: Jesus is calling you, come.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, let us celebrate the King of Kings.
Speaker 1: Come on, let us celebrate the King of Kings.
Speaker 1: God is doing something uncommon.
Speaker 1: Come on, let us celebrate the King of Kings.
Speaker 1: The Lord is doing something uncommon in the house.
Speaker 1: Something uncommon is happening.
Speaker 1: An uncommon reception is taking place.
Speaker 1: The Lord has granted your request in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: And so, lord, we thank you.
Speaker 1: Just like you did it for Jabez, do it one more time.
Speaker 1: In our days, father, we long for you, we long for the uncommon.
Speaker 1: Our hands, our hearts, our thoughts are open to receive.
Speaker 1: And so this week, we declare that our testimony is changing, and now we receive the testimony of the Lord, the testimony that says yes.
Speaker 1: And so, father, we declare that it is yes on Monday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Thursday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Friday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Saturday, the whole of this month.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Friday.
Speaker 1: It is yes on Saturday, the whole of this month.
Speaker 1: It is yes the remainder of the year.
Speaker 1: It is yes.
Speaker 1: We are positioned for the uncommon in Jesus mighty name.
Speaker 1: And so, if you believe it, shout a big amen, claim it with a big amen, connect to it with a big amen.
Speaker 1: Connect to it with a big amen.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah.