WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:09.519 Reverend Faith Mugera is a prominent Kenyan pastor, missionary, and a non-profit leader who serves at the Nairobi Chapel. 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:22.640 She leads the church's global partnerships, mobilizes global missions, and is passionate about empowering the next generation and championing social justice in undeserved communities. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:35.759 She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Nairobi and a master's degree in non-profit management from Eastern University in the United States. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:46.240 Though she initially resisted full-time ministry after her college internship, she eventually embraced a calling starting in social justice. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:59.039 She currently serves as the pastor of global partnerships at Nairobi Chapel and as a board member for Logos Africa, an organization focused on empowering youth and children. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:12.159 Reverend Mugera is a frequent speaker and preacher, often sharing messages on platforms like the Afrigo magazine and contributing to the Nairobi Chapel media channels. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:21.519 She is a dedicated mother to two teenage boys, often openly sharing experiences and insights on motherhood. 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:30.640 Let's appreciate her. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.120 Let's keep clapping until she gets here. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:39.280 Let's keep clapping. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:40.560 Thank you. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.159 Thank you. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:59.599 Happy birthday. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.159 May you have many, many. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:10.639 Happy birthday. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:12.879 Happy birthday. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:17.520 Happy birthday, dear Paki. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:20.639 Shango Navigele Gele. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.400 Our Father and our God on our feet. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:26.719 We celebrate your goodness and mercy. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.400 We celebrate your love. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:30.719 We celebrate your seasons. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.080 We celebrate 50 years of this ministry. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:40.159 As we turn to your word, remind us that it is all your doing. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:47.199 Remind us that without you we can do nothing. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:03:02.800 Remind us that as you invite us into a Jubilee season, your promise is that you will restore, refresh, reset what it is you're intending for us in the next 50 years. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:09.599 And so how I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would come with great conviction, but also great refreshing. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.000 Speak to us, Lord, we ask. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.360 And God's people said, Amen. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:16.719 Please have your seats. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.360 And I don't know how do you follow that? 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.919 Amy, because gay's uh situation. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:31.199 I've always wondered what you would call a Kalenjin woman who is influenced by Nigerians. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.560 I think you call her Emmy. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:35.919 It's true. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.919 I just she has thunder. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:39.360 She comes with thunder. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:41.280 And please just invite me a come to her. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.560 I I want that little, you know, Nigerian fire. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:46.400 A little Nigerian fire. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:49.199 Just to help me move things along. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.080 I said yes to coming here because I know you are Bapticostals. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:55.039 Amen. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.840 Me, I like fire because we we are very tame where we come from. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:05.840 But you have seeped the Pentecostal spirit of God, and I'm here to tap into it. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.800 I am not alone. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:16.480 I have come with many guests, but my most important guest is my husband, Patrick Mugera, if you would stand up. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.319 I thank you, babe. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:22.560 Thank you for your support through our years of ministry. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:31.120 He's not a pastor, he's a businessman and a farmer, but somehow finds himself on the pulpit because God propels him here. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.759 So thank you for your support, babe, over the years. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:35.680 I really thank God for you. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.959 I've also come with a few sisters who decided to escort me. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.680 People who come here seem to have escorts. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.120 So I got a little nervous and I asked some people to escort me. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:51.920 My sisters, Makenna and Joanne and Marion, are here. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:54.240 Thank you for coming with me. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.879 Are there any Nairobi Chapel who've made their way here today? 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.879 From Nairobi Chapel. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:02.959 Just we I won't tell on you. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.519 I'll just say you are visiting and you're coming back home. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:06.560 Just stand up. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:13.360 I see you. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:26.959 Well, Patriots Baptists receive our deepest celebration greeting, particularly from uh Bishop Oscar Moreau and his wife, Reverend B. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:40.160 Moreau, who are out of the country, but I know are celebrating God's goodness with you in this season, together with the elders and all the different congregations of the Nairobi Chapel movement, together with the TC churches. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:48.000 We are so thrilled that you are pausing to celebrate God's goodness in your lives. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.079 He is an amazing God. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.680 50 years is more than a milestone. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.439 50 years is a lot of years. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:07.439 And when I got this invitation and have been seeing the people profiled to speak from this pulpit, I've been wondering why they invite me. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:16.160 But then I found out that almost everybody who's been invited is over 50 years. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.600 Including me, which is where you have to be shocked. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.519 Hey, not possible. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:30.079 I have a 50-year jubilee story that I'll be telling as part of Sherry from God's word. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:36.639 But 50 years is an end of a season, the beginning of another. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.040 50-year-olds wear glasses to read. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.560 Did you see Reverend Simon and how you were struggling here? 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:52.560 I don't know what you're drinking, honorable Reverend Ambrose, because what you are drinking, we want. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:55.120 This 50 is not a joke. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.199 And 50 is not about just looking back to see the great things God has done. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:00.240 It is important. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:07.759 It is important to retrospect, to look at the rear view mirror and see God's goodness and celebrate it. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:15.279 But 50 is about looking upwards, which is what you're doing this week and into the months of your Jubilee year. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:19.920 But it is also looking forward with bold courage. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.319 With bold courage. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:29.759 Every Jubilee season marks the end of one important time and the beginning of another one. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:40.160 And I'm here to say that we are celebrating not just God's grace and goodness, but his promises into the future. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.000 I don't know how many will be here 50 years from now, just by a show of hands. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.439 I know I asked God for 97 years, I'll have passed. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.319 You will be alive 50 years from now. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:55.040 Okay, the people on this front row, they didn't raise their hands. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.399 Then they are honest. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:01.759 Let me see again how many people will be here for a hundredth year celebration, anniversary. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.240 May the Lord grant that desire. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:10.160 And you will be wearing glasses, I can tell you for sure. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:18.560 We are celebrating five important things, and I love that you're calling it switches. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:31.439 Yesterday, Reverend Ambrose talked about the switch of legacy, that thing that stops the regular flow of 50 years and ups the current to the next 50 years. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.960 You're celebrating God's faithfulness. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:43.120 Psalm 126 says, the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:49.840 That instruction from the book of Isaiah 62 is such a beautiful reminder. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:09:00.879 Because Israel, as they were getting into the year of Jubilee, and there are several chapters before chapter 25 of Leviticus, God talks about how to enter your Jubilee. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:01.360 Okay? 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.480 How to walk into your Jubilee. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:23.360 But first, let me just say as you have looked back as a church and as a ministry for 50 years, many things have been done. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:29.120 Through your faithfulness, through your sacrifice, through your prayers, through your ministries. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.080 God has saved souls through you. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.080 God people say amen. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.360 God has raised leaders through you. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.600 God has healed families. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:41.600 You have sent out missionaries. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.039 Can I hear an amen? 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.320 You have given sacrificially of your finances. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:50.080 God has increased your numbers and your congregations. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:55.440 You have been affirmed in your journey of integrity and humility. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.159 That journey that your leaders have walked. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:01.360 God has opened for you impossible doors. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:03.120 Can I hear an amen? 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:12.720 The testimony in this season of 50 is not that God just opened doors and we built a church. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:19.039 The witness and the testimony is that God built his church. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.240 God built his church, ladies and gentlemen. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.080 My brothers and sisters, God built his church. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:30.879 And sometimes we forget that it is his church. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.639 And so we honor God's faithfulness. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.279 It is critical in this time of celebration. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.360 We also honor legacy. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.080 I love that that is the running theme through this year. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:45.919 Hebrews 13:7. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.720 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:58.000 Think of all the good that has come from their lives and follow the examples of their faith. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.559 We stand on the foundations of those who went ahead of us. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:25.759 Those who prayed many prayers, who came to many prayer meetings, those who sacrificed and gave, we've mentioned, those who remained faithful in difficult seasons, those who gave up so that the kingdom of God would be advanced, those who packed up their bags and went into distant lands so that others could come to the saving grace of Jesus. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:35.039 This year, this week, today, we celebrate the legacy of those who went before us. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:44.720 So let me just ask: is there anyone here who has been here for 50, 40 years, 50 years, has been part of the last, the initial 50, 40 years? 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:46.559 If you're there, just stand up. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.279 I just want to ask you to just graciously stand up. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.799 You were there 40 years ago. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.480 You were there 42 years ago, you are there 49 years ago. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:56.080 Just just raise on your feet. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:56.960 Someone raise their hand. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:58.399 You don't look that old. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.320 You look you look nicely and healthy. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:01.600 No, hold on, hold on. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.279 I just want them to stand up. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:05.120 You are there. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:06.559 Were you in Sunday school? 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:07.840 You look very young. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:08.480 No? 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:10.159 Keep standing, keep standing. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.480 Those, those who are here. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:13.759 Look at that. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:19.759 Ladies and gentlemen, let's celebrate those who lay their lives for this ministry. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:24.799 And let me tell you something. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:31.519 There are many churches that were started 50 years ago, 40 years ago, even 30, that are not standing. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:37.840 And the main reason for that is because of the integrity of your leaders. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:39.840 You have men. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.399 Reverend Simon, Reverend Ambrose Nyangau. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.320 Let's celebrate these two men. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.399 In their leadership, we honor you, we celebrate you. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.120 We thank you for faithful ministry. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.320 Thank you so much. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.000 You may have your seats. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:01.440 So Jubilee celebrating legacy, those who have sacrificed, given. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:05.600 And I know what it is to start a church, to plant a church. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:14.080 Around the COVID season as it was ending, my husband and I started a small congregation at the back of our church at the invitation of our bishop. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:19.120 And there were times to tell you the honest truth, it was our children and I and the neighbor. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:20.000 For real. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:25.360 I have deep compassion for church planters, deep inside me. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.519 Before that, I was the HR person who used to ask, where is your giving? 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.200 What's wrong with your giving? 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:32.399 How can we support this man? 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.919 These days I say, to God be the glory, anybody showed up. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:41.120 There is a cost to raising a congregation. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:52.320 And those who have come before us, everyone who has faithfully carried this baton to this season, to God be the glory for your sacrifice. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:56.480 This Jubilee, we embrace God's restoration. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:13.519 The promise, even the prophetic declaration spoken from this pulpit, especially yesterday, that God will restore your families, God will restore your property, God will restore your identity, God will restore your freedom, God will restore mission, God will restore vision. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.759 It is his commitment in this year of Jubilee. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.320 And so there is a reset button. 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:30.240 Even more, the fourth thing that is important is that God is inviting us to step boldly and courageously into our future. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.519 I'm doing a new thing, the Lord says in Isaiah 43. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.360 Do not let yesterday's challenges limit our tomorrow. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:50.879 He's already there. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.600 You know, those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar like eagles. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:17.840 It is said of eagles that as they grow older, they go, they need to go into a molting season in order to survive. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:23.440 And so what they do over a period of time is they begin to shed their old feathers. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.600 Actually, it's a natural process that comes out of being an eagle. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.080 You begin to molt. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:38.000 All the old worn-out feathers are removed by their beaks, even their talons and their beaks begin to fall out. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:49.440 And what God does in his wisdom as creator is give them new feathers, new feathers, new talons, new beaks. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.279 Because do you know why? 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:55.360 They need to soar into higher heights. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.960 So this year, God is saying to you, Packlands Baptists, step courageously into your future. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:15.519 God is already there, and He is giving you fresh vision, fresh strength, fresh leaders, fresh opportunities because this church, this church of God, will need to soar even higher. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:22.879 The churches that stop renewing never stop, always stop growing. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.679 They stop being what God has ordained for them. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:35.120 And then the fifth thing that I have loved as I've watched what this week will unfold and be is the promise of passing our faith to the next generation. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.759 So we know a number of us will not be here 50 years from now. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.200 And I know this sanctuary will have tripled in its size. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:57.519 And I know that your congregations will be in the furthermost parts of the earth, according to the reflections of this uh floods, because a jubilee isn't complete unless faith is transferred. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:12.400 A jubilee is just a celebration, unless those who are coming after us have the angst, the passion, the commitment, the commission to be sent out to multiply. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:17.839 And I know you are deliberate about planting for the next generation's sake. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:25.279 My husband is a mango farmer, and about five or seven years ago, he planted seedlings, many mango seedlings. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:32.799 And every year we would ask with our children so these mangoes, what's the story of the mangoes? 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.480 There are no mangoes. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:40.000 We are on the fifth year, and this is the time we are beginning to eat mangoes. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:40.480 Okay? 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.119 If you're my friend, you talk to me. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:50.480 However, the bountifulest of the mango trees will come 30 years from now. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:58.000 A mango tree gives fruit into its 40th, 50th year, most of its fruit. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.039 All that to say, babe, that we might not be there to enjoy it. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:02.400 But we planted. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:08.559 We planted, we are passing on the pattern of faith to the next generation. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.200 And Paki, you are doing it right. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:16.079 My work this evening is talk about the restoration switch. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:22.000 The restoration switch returning to God's intention. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.079 I love the switch um picture. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:32.160 Okay, a switch is a simple device, but it changes everything. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.799 You flip on a switch and darkness becomes light. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.839 You flip on a power switch and a dormant machine kicks into life. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:50.640 You turn on your car engine, you turn on a machinery in a factory, you flip a circuit breaker after a power outage. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.720 God bless you, Kenya power. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:19:00.799 You turn on this circuit breaker that has been flipped because of a surge, and your electricity is restored. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:05.759 The year of Jubilee was God's restoration switch. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:14.079 It reconnected Israel to God's original design as he called his people God's people. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:18.960 God's original design was about freedom, was about justice. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.039 I'm passionate about issues of social injustice. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:30.960 It is about restoring order, it was about worship, coming back into the throne of thrones. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:32.799 It was about community. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:41.680 And this year, God is inviting us to switch back and reset to factory settings. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.920 Coming back to say, Lord, we did it in what we knew was best in the last 50 years. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:52.799 We are flipping back restoration that you would do it in your plan. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:20:02.480 His desire is to restore you into the new season and the new agenda and blueprint that he has for you as a church. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:09.200 I want to invite you to kindly be on your feet as we read God's word from Isaiah 62. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:23.839 Where there is a noun, and a noun is uh a noun. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:28.960 A noun is a name, okay? 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.920 Faith, Jane, Parklands, Baptists, etc. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:40.559 Put in the name, your name, and then put in the name of this church. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:52.720 This Isaiah 62 was actually uh Reverend Simon's reference on Sunday and had already been directed there by the Spirit of God, and so I affirm what God is doing. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:54.799 This is what Isaiah said. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.519 Because I love Zion. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:04.720 Your name is because I love you, I will not keep still. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.079 Because my heart yearns for you. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:23.039 Your name is I cannot remain silent, I will not stop praying for you until your righteousness shines like the dawn and your salvation blazes like a burning torch. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:26.319 The nations will see your righteousness. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:34.799 Wild leaders will be blinded by your glory, and you will be given a new name by the Lord's mouth. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:42.799 The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see, a splendid crown in the hand of God. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:55.200 Never again will you be called the forsaken city, the forsaken person, or the desolate land, because this road will be tamaked. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.680 Your new name will. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.000 Be the church where it's altarmarked. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.119 Your new name will be the city of God's delight, the bride of God. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.920 For the Lord will delight in you and will claim you as his bride. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:20.640 Your children, your children will commit themselves to you, oh Parklands Baptist Church. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:30.640 Just as a young man commits himself to his bride, and then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:35.200 And God's people said, Please have your seats and thank you. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.599 This is the word of the Lord. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.039 Five things that I quickly need to say about the restoration switch. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.920 The first is that God is switching you back to freedom. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.119 Did you hear that? 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:57.759 Yes. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:04.799 That God is switching you back to freedom from bondage, from slavery. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:14.720 In the preceding chapters of Leviticus 25, God gives instructions about what freedom means and why it was important to him. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.559 He said slaves must go back to their original homes. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:25.039 If you have a slave who was your kinman, your clanman, you go and buy them out. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.200 They needed to come back home. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:32.559 Land was supposed to be restored back to the original owners in the 50 years. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:36.559 You were supposed, excuse me, you were supposed to cancel debt. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.759 Chains were going to be broken. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:45.440 God's intention was to bring liberty and freedom in the jubilee. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:51.920 Many scholars have understood the year of the Lord's favor to be a jubilee yeah. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:57.119 And God favors restoration, healing, freedom. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.359 The things that need to go back to original setting. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.720 Jesus himself effectively called himself God's restoration switch. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.519 Through him, captives are set free. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:11.200 The broken are healed. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.279 The marginalized are welcomed. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:18.000 God's people are restored to God's original intention. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:32.640 The connection makes a compelling golden jubilee message where everything points to Christ, who compels us through grace to come back to God's original setting. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:41.279 In India, where they use elephants to run errands for them, to tame them, they start by tying a little baby elephant to a little rope. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:46.480 And so anytime the elephant wants to move away, it knows there's a restriction. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:50.559 In the mind of that elephant, it is not free. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:55.759 As it grows older, they make that cord even smaller. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:02.880 But the time a grown elephant is grown up, in its mind it is not free. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.119 Because all the days of its life it had a little restriction. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:15.759 That little rope can be broken by a grown-up elephant, except in its mind, it is totally bound. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:24.880 Many of us are held back by the lies of the enemy from recognizing our freedom in Christ. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:30.000 And so in this Jubilee year, Parklands Baptist Church, God is coming to reset. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:41.200 He's coming to give us a new mindset, to break a lie and turn it into truth, to confront an identity crisis, who you are in Christ. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:47.359 A relationship that has you so bound that you have forgotten what God has said about it. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:50.799 There's an important aspect of release. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:26:00.880 One of the most important parts of God's invitation to the year of Jubilee was forgiveness. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.319 Forgiveness. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.200 Even perhaps reconciliation. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:16.400 This was a very key principle in God's teachings, in Jesus' teachings, and it is a bondage to many of us. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:26.319 Forgiveness says, I want to break this rope that has me tied, that makes me believe that the pain is too much. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.759 I need revenge. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.839 You don't even know what I have gone through. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.160 The divorce left me with nothing. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:36.559 The deal, a business deal left me completely broken. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:38.720 I don't know what to do about my family. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:40.240 They betrayed me. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:53.039 And today I want to invite you, Parklands Baptist Church, to reset by saying, This day, I forgive all my debtors. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:08.640 Of those today by faith, you're asking, God, give me the grace to forgive. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:19.119 But I want to believe today I have released this person or this situation because I cannot carry it into my year of jubilee. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:23.200 Who do you need to forgive? 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:30.960 But even more important, who do you need to ask for forgiveness? 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:38.400 Who do you need to invite to release you because you know you wronged them? 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:48.000 And so let me ask you all to pull out your phones, like really seriously, and write down as the Spirit of God prompts you, two people that you will forgive. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:56.720 And one person, and there are many, some people here are completely freed from this, but the Spirit of God prompted me to invite you to freedom. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:59.920 Because unforgiveness is a strong chain. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:08.400 It's the reason why Jesus in the scripture over and over tells people, before you sacrifice or come to the court of God, go and forgive. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:10.400 Go and release this burden. 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:14.720 I want you to free this person because I want you to walk in freedom. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:17.920 Did you write down a name? 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.759 You all look like your angels. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:20.799 Maybe you don't even. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:22.079 It's not your. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:23.680 I'll just pause for a minute. 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:25.440 Let me just pause for a minute. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:28.640 Who do you need to forgive? 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:59.519 Lord, as we trust you to give us this freedom through forgiveness, through asking for forgiveness. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:03.279 Perhaps even the grace to seek reconciliation. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.920 Allow that this would not be something that we carry into our jubilee. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:09.440 It will burden us. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:14.960 It will make the new task that you're giving us heavy and burdensome. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:21.759 So we ask that you would reset our relationships through the power of forgiveness. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.799 That we would walk in your freedom. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:28.480 Amen. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:38.799 So the first is God's invitation to restore your freedom. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.079 The things that you need to reset. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:46.480 And then you said say this forgiveness is not always reconciliation. 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:47.039 Okay? 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:55.279 There's a special grace that comes with God inviting you to go and reconcile with somebody where there has been a broken relationship. 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.920 Some people that we need to forgive may not even be on this side of heaven. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:12.960 But what forgiveness is is saying, I will not carry the pain of what you did or what I have perceived as a slight on me into my future anymore. 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:19.119 From today, I release this person and I will not carry them into my tomorrow. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:24.079 The second thing is this God is inviting you to stewardship. 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:29.279 Stewardship is when you know that you're not an owner. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:30.319 Alright? 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:37.680 If you borrow somebody's car, you can take pictures and put them on social media, but that doesn't make you an owner. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:38.240 Okay? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.279 You can floss with other people's things. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:46.400 But that doesn't necessarily make you, unless you have the car log book, you're not the owner. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:47.519 Which is the truth. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:48.480 It's painful. 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:53.680 Which is the truth about what stewardship is against ownership. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:57.279 Stewardship says nothing belongs to us. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.279 It all comes to you. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:05.759 It is all from you, my family, my husband, my land, my everything. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:08.079 This ministry belongs to you. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:09.440 I am not an owner. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:17.599 I am here to steward God's grace in the finances, in the ministries, in the outreach, in the mission. 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.039 I need to know who owns it all. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:32.799 The reset back to restoration says, remember that it is the Lord who gives you the ability to create wealth, to steward his things. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:36.079 Everything we have belongs to him. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:44.480 So restoration says, move your mindset back to knowing that you're just a steward. 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:50.000 I have given you these gifts for you to steward on my behalf. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:58.319 The third thing that is important is moving from just regularness into covenant relationships. 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:11.359 If you have served in a ministry with someone for 50 years, 40 years, 30 years, you move from being literally brothers in the Lord to being covenanted brothers. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:19.519 The kind of relationship that is Jonathan and David that we see in Reverend Ambrose and Reverend Simon. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.000 You become covenant brothers and covenant sisters. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:30.640 God is saying you're going to move from relationships that are just kawah. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:33.759 I borrowed that from your pastor. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:43.599 Kawaida, just regular, to relationships that first put God and then those I serve with. 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:45.759 Because we have covenanted. 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.559 It's almost like a blood connection. 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:52.480 The kind of thing that says, I will show up before you ask. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:58.319 I will be there to support, to cry with, to celebrate with, to pray with, to fast with. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:32:59.920 I will hold you accountable. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:07.200 I will ask you hard questions, but I will celebrate what God has done because that's what covenant relationships look like. 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:11.680 God wants us to move to relationships that count. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:24.079 For us who have been in ministry, one of the things that is a little unfortunate is that once our season of ministry ends, our congregations forget us. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.559 And they want to love the next person. 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:28.559 I don't know about you, Bishop Adoyo. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.640 Maybe they all came with you from Sitam. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:37.680 But the truth about it is that ministry is almost limited to where you're serving, and then it is not. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:48.160 And I want to challenge you, Parklands Baptist, in the season that God is taking you, that you will walk with your ministers into retirement and beyond. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:34:00.880 Because you're covenanting in this next season that ministry will not just be constrained in these walls or in the places of mission where you go. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:10.000 That every person who ministers here will not count you to continue celebrating them in their sunset years. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:15.440 Trust the gift of covenant relationships. 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:17.360 God honors them. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:24.880 The fourth thing is the beautiful gift of not gatekeeping. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:28.079 Only Gen Z know what gatekeeping is. 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:32.639 So if you're a Gen Z, just tell the person next to you what gatekeeping is. 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.400 It's not being a watchman, okay? 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:36.400 It is not being a watchman. 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:38.719 Anyone gatekeeping? 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:43.760 We love to preserve good things, okay? 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:48.639 Paki has done amazing good things and refined them over 50 years. 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:50.320 You do good things. 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:56.239 All young people come to this place because they know good things happen here for young people. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:03.360 I met one of your um protocol team members and thank you for the grace that you have just allowed for us to be here. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:05.280 I have felt spoiled. 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:07.920 And and I want to stay, but I don't know. 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:12.880 I mean, the kind of driving I have been driven, it's been amazing. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:13.599 Oh Lord. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:15.199 I hope my boss is watching this. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:25.360 But however, gatekeeping, gatekeeping means I have refined something and it is working in the most amazing ways. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.679 But I don't want to share it. 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:35.840 I want to keep and preserve a culture that is refined and real and true so that no one else will get it. 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:42.480 Church, 50 years is not about preserving tradition or culture. 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:52.880 50 years is celebrating the things that we know made us shine, but saying that it can't be what is defining us. 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:55.199