When You Stick Your Neck Out, Doors Open - Extraordinary Possibilities

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Transcript

Framing The Year And Theme

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Hectic time, preparing children, taking them back to school, getting ourselves ready uh for the year 2026. And I want to uh just pray that we should be encouraged today as we continue to um to gather here. We've been talking about extraordinary possibilities, uh extraordinary possibilities, even as we set our theme for the year. And um, we've had several sessions, and I want to uh conclude one of those sessions today um from where we stopped last time. Um we've been, you know, we had said that um even in a year like this, uh if you are going to experience the uh extraordinary possibilities, there are several things that you do that position you uh to live in that realm of the extraordinary possibilities. And we have been covering a number of those uh things, and this today morning, I want to wrap up one of it as we continue with that theme in me. And I think last time we said uh we were looking at the story of Naomi as captured in Ruth, uh Ruth chapter one, Ruth chapter two. And uh we had said that for us to um to live in this realm of extraordinary possibilities, there are some things that we must do. Uh that if you do those things, they position you, they uh you enter into that realm and we begin to experience the supernatural, the extraordinary. And one of those things that we had said was we need not to be afraid of

Try Something New And Start Small

SPEAKER_03 2:40

trying something new. Trying something new. Uh, we need to we need to be willing to try new things, um, and not be afraid to start from scratch. Um and I sort of want to pick it up from there as I um recap on what we captured. Uh, because sometimes we can um we can be afraid to start new things. You can feel, oh, it's too late uh in the year to start something, you can feel like I'm getting too old and past a particular age, you know, age date. Um and you can feel like, you know, I I don't have the energy to start it again. But we need to make sure that we don't lose that that spark of willing to try something new. Um we need not be afraid to even start from scratch. What do I mean by starting from scratch? I'm saying you start something and you fail, or it doesn't work out. Um, and you can be, can I do it again? Um, is it possible? Um, am I a failure? Will it fail again? And all those questions linger over our minds and they can paralyze us. They can paralyze us to make us never try anything, anything new. Um, and we have to encourage ourselves. As said, Ruth and Naomi, they went into Mohab in Ruth chapter 2, they came back when things changed, and they were just happy to start again. They were happy to start again. Um, and so don't be afraid to start afresh. Um, even sometimes in the career, um in the corporate world, sometimes when you you end up taking smaller jobs for you to bounce back. Um you can take up a job and it reaches somewhere, and you have to give up the current job to take another smaller job, and you then leverage that smaller job to get back into another bigger job. So we need not be afraid um, you know, to start something new and not be afraid to start from uh start from from scratch. Don't don't have that uh feel um that that egoic thing of feeling no I'm am I a failure, or will it will it will it fail again? Naomi and Ruth started uh fresh, they started again. Uh if you are if you don't be negative, don't be rigid. Uh there are people that started off um very late uh uh in the year, um in their late age, and they went out to build big, big companies. Uh I was reading the story of KFC. KFC is one of the um you know fast food chains that uh has expanded globally, uh, you know, started off in America. We've seen them here. I think they you know here in Africa, now they're growing and expanding. And the owner, the man that started that that that that business started it up after the age of 60. He went as out that's when he started up uh KFC after the age of 60. That's when he started up and went on the greatest companies in the world. So it's never too late. Don't rule yourself out yet over anything. It's never too late. Don't be afraid to dream again. Don't be afraid to start. And we have to keep trying new. And even if even us in the ministry, we we we have to keep trying something new. We have to every year we're launching forward, moving forward, every mission. We're asking how we can do it differently, how can we do it better? How can we do it at scale? Um, you know, we have to keep trying something new. And some things you'll try and they don't work out. At least you try it, you know, and you know how you you learn from it, you learn from you learn from the uh from the from the experience. Um, and that's very, very important for you know for us. Um so don't be um afraid to start from uh scratch. Um you know, you have to make that step, there's no guarantee. Um when you start something, there's no guarantee it's going to be successful. But at least you start, at least you move on. Um, you know, you just started. I think last week we saw that uh this lady Ruth, she was just happy to do the cleaning already from the beginning. You read Ruth chapter one, chapter two, you see when she went into the field of um to clean, she did not even feel entitled to anything. She said, Me, I'm happy just to just pick the leftovers. Um, I'm happy just to just to pick the leftovers, the thing that, you know, the glean, the crops that are left there. She was just happy to start from there. Um I think it's a it's an attitude issue. It's a mindset issue. She was, you know, when you are starting afresh, when you are starting um uh fresh, you you can't have an attitude. You can't have uh, you know, you can't set up. You are your attitude is that I'm happy to start um from wherever the Lord opens, uh you know, I'm happy to start anywhere. Um and when you have that attitude, then God will come in and he'll do the extraordinary because an attitude issue. So when she was happy to clean, she was just happy to take the leftovers, she did it such diligence uh that even the owner of the field um you know noticed. Um, you know, she stepped out there, there was no guarantee. She was ready to start, and then boss began to you know began to notice. So I think we need to we need to step to step out there. There's a saying that says the turtle makes progress when he sticks his neck out. Now you've seen the the turtoise. I think the the the turtle is every time it hears some noise, it takes and it can't move. Every time the turtle sticks his neck out, it makes progress. So the turtle only

Let Go Of Ego And Failure Fear

SPEAKER_03 8:30

makes progress when he sticks his neck out. I believe, brethren, we need to stick our we need to stick our necks out. Um when you stick your neck out, you make progress. Um the year 2026, if you're going to have the experience, the experience the extraordinary, we're going to have to start uh sticking our necks out on different things. Um, maybe some things you have been procrastinating, saying, I'll start this, I'll I'll you know, I'll join this one later, but you haven't really moved on. There are things that are that you feel strongly that you should be doing, um, but you haven't really progressed. This year 2026, maybe it could be the year that you stick your neck out. Maybe, and it could even be just more of serving God more. You feel that, hey, I can do more. I can do more for God, I can volunteer more, I can lift up my hand for that ministry in the church, I can do something more than I'm doing today. This could be the year uh that you just step out there and and and do something for good. Do something for God. When you do that, when you stick your neck out, um, you know, you you begin to enter into that realm of what is extraordinary, and your life begins to uh begins to change. I was reading about the story of a farm in Orange County, California. Uh, it's called North Berry Farm Amusement Park, it's one of the largest amusement parks now. Um, but it's originated from what is now today a very, very big amusement park, almost very close to Disneyland. Um, but it's become big and famous. Um just in the outskirts of California. But what is to what is today such an famous um amusement park began um you know with a couple that are you know that moved in um meeting there's a lady called Not and the wife called Cordelia. They moved there and um near into the outcast there, and then they started growing berries. Um, and and and then when they started growing those berries, they said, Hey, we are living near the road here. Maybe we should take these berries and um you know and and start selling them by the roadside. So they started taking those berries from their farm and opened um a place uh, you know, they were selling those berries on the road. Uh, so that as people drove by that highway, um, they started, they could buy uh, you know, those those berries. Um, they continued like that. Um, and then finally, uh, you know, that road was made bigger, it became a bigger highway, and you know, they continue expanding it, they began, they started to serve more. Uh, said why don't we serve some fried chicken here? They continue adding on, they continue adding on, adding on. And then one day the road was actually made big, bigger. It was expanded, it became a big highway, the road became busy, and they continued adding things. And today it's one of the largest amusement parks uh in America. People travel all over the world. When they go to Disneyland, they pass there. Uh, there are many things that um, they've created many things, added things that children can play. There's even an active volcano there, um, you know, where they picked rocks and they try to mimic a volcano so that when um, you know, children go there, they can actually experience a volcano um without necessarily being there. It all started. What is today such a famous thing started when a couple, a man and his wife, took a table and started selling things on the road. Um, you know, just selling things on the road, on the berries to travelers is what is today such a powerful and such a big big thing. So, brethren, when you step out, however small uh it may look, and you stick your neck out like a turtle, uh, God has got a way of coming in uh to bring, you know, to release his blessings and his grace upon us. And I think many times we are afraid to start small things. Um, and especially as Christians, we are timid because we feel that if we fail, uh people will think that we are not spiritual. Um, yeah, how do you, you know, you are not very spiritual, you failed.

Ruth’s Attitude And Diligence

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Maybe you didn't pray a lot, you didn't do that. And because of that, a lot of us Christians, we don't venture out. We don't venture out. We we are afraid of starting, we are embarrassed of starting small because we feel, oh, you know, my hassle is so small. Uh what will the brethren think when they find me selling my ice cream on the road or selling this or that? We are afraid as Christians to venture out, and because of that, we remain weak. We don't learn. Um, you know, we we don't we don't we we we play safe. We play safe so that we can look very uh we can we can look spiritually clean. Um and I think it's it's it's a lie of the devil. It's it's it's a lie. Um yet out there, the people of the world are trying, they try this, it fails, they try that, it fails. No one is condemning them. Um I think that's another thing that we do a lot as Christians. We we have got a way of instead of encouraging one another in our small vengers, we condemn, we we we laugh at, we uh we talk about Sister So and so, you know, she's you know, she's failed. And you know, she's she's failed. We talk about those things instead of encouraging, uh encouraging one another. Um, and I think if you look at communities that that thrive, um, you just need to go to um, and I'm sure you you you're here in Kenya, you know this very well, you need to just go to Isli and and go and look at how our communities build themselves. Um, an entire community has taken over a city, um, completely. Rest of the city from those who are traditionally there, um, the Somali community, and and and they are doing everything. They control the whole supply chain. There are people that are doing the imports, there are those who are doing the sales, they are those who are doing the you are being, you keep, and you get handed over from one person to another, to another, to another, and it's all within the same supply chain. Why is that so? Because people support one another instead of criticizing, instead of bringing down um each other, people are able to support one another, they're able to encourage one another and build a thriving business uh that is making a lot of difference. So I think as Christians, we've got a way of um wanting to do it alone. Um, you know, there's always that tendency of, oh, maybe let me just do it on my own. And the the real the reality is that yes, you can you can do it for some time, but you never get that scale. There's always, and I'll talk about that as my second point, uh, of networks. And we need to get over it. Um, you saw Naomi continued encouraging uh Ruth to keep moving forward, and then you know, doors begin to open. So I think as Christians, we we need to rethink, uh, we need to be more encouraging. So when you find somebody with a venture, um, you know, encourage them, uh, ask how can I help? You know, how can I help? How can I introduce you to somebody who you can sell to, I can introduce you to a new environment, a new school, a new, you know, a new market. Um, we we need to have that collaborative spirit. Um, because that's the only way we can be able to build strong churches. Uh, that is not just a Somali community. Go and study, look at the Jewish community. The Jewish community, everywhere they go, they thrive. And why do they thrive? Because they support one another. They support one another, they will they will not allow you to go down. They will support you, they will, you know, lend to you, they would buy from you. Um, they they support one another. They don't tear each other down. Um, and and and I think that that that spirit is a is a great spirit that's worth worth mentioning. So um this thing has become a big, big, big business uh just because this couple decided to go out there and put a small table and start selling berries, and as they say, the rest is history. I don't know what it is that you need to do as you look at your life, as you look at your um you know, uh your life across several aspects, your finances,

Stick Your Neck Out For Progress

SPEAKER_03 17:00

your income, your family. What are some of the things that you need to do um to step out there? Let us be willing uh to start afresh, let us be willing to start small, don't be embarrassed about your small huddle asshole that you are doing that you think people, oh, this is just look very spiritual. No, no, no. Don't be embarrassed by anything, it's your life. Um, and and and and it's it's it's it's your life. Don't be embarrassed. Don't live to please people. What will the brethren say? Let them say what they want. What will the neighbors say? Let them say what they want. Go out there, follow your heart, do what you feel led by God to do. When you are willing to have that approach, um, the Lord will release his favor upon your life. Anything about this woman, she was just saying, let me just pick around the leftovers. I want to go after you have harvested, let me just pass by there, picking the leftovers. Think about the, you know, what were people saying going to say about her? Uh somebody just picking up leftovers. But she was saying, you know what, I'm willing to start afresh. I will do it anyway, uh, without caring. So we have capacity. Um, we have capacity. There are many things you can do. Um, you know, you know, you know, time, we all have 24 hours a day. Um, you I've seen people doing multiple things, um, you know, multiple things. You, you know, you know, three, two days, uh, three jobs at a time, um, you know, you know, to fill your time, to um get more extra income. Um, yeah, so be willing to do anything. Be willing to um, you know, do anything to drive, um, you know, to drive what uh uh what you do what you do. And I believe when you when you have that attitude, you can actually live in the realm of extraordinary possibilities. I've done it many, many times. Even when I started up my work, I remember buying my first investment that I got from when I in the in the banking industry. My first loan was to buy a computer. And all I needed was a computer in my house that I could work on at night, and I would go in after work despite all you know the long hours we are working. And I remember sitting on that computer at night doing my coding, writing programs, writing code. Um, you know, uh that's in the in the early 90s, and I wrote code at night, and no one had asked me to do it. I wrote it for free because I had seen a problem in the office uh that we are facing, and I felt maybe I could solve this by writing code for them, and I worked at night. I developed an application for the bank at that time, and um they didn't ask for it. I didn't no one was going to pay me for it, but I felt maybe I could solve this problem, and I was doing it at night. I would labor live in the wood night until 2 a.m., 3 a.m. That's when I'm doing. The compiling, checking in the morning, and this went on for several months. And eventually one day I walked to my manager and I told him, Look, you know a thing that I think is of interest, and I'd like to show you. I'd like to show you how it works. And thankfully, you know, that's what God will place bosses around along your way when you step out, when you stick your neck out. And I, this bright manager, you know, you were so gracious. He said, Yeah, come and show me. I took my laptop, went to his office, I sat down there, showed him how he could, um, you know, how to, you know, they they could use the application in the bank at that time. He was so excited. He was so excited about that application. Um, this is in Mombasa, you know, it's a remote branch, and it's that application. Um, he picked it up the next week. He called Nairobi, the head office. He said, Hey, you guys don't think only talent is in Nairobi. We even here in Mombasa, we've got people that can do stuff. And I want to show you what one of our staff members has done. That application went on to be used by the bank. And I got one of my awards from the chairman at that time. I was young. Um, you know, I will never forget it. I I got an award. It was, I think, $500. $500 in the 90s was a lot of money. Um, and I was able to buy a sewing machine uh for my sister to start a sewing business from that hard work at night, and that opened doors of opportunity. So, brethren, when you stick your neck out, um, you never know. You never know who is going to notice. You never know which boss is out there. You never know. If I had not stuck my neck out and did that, um the branch manager would not have noticed me. And that was, you know, I believe that opened up my career. That people realized the skills that we that we had. But it all began by me going to the bank, taking a loan, um, which was expensive at that time, um, and taking the loan and I buying a machine and sitting down at

From Roadside Berries To A Theme Park

SPEAKER_03 22:00

night doing things for free. And it opened huge doors of opportunity that I believe today I'm still enjoying that grace that happened. So, brethren, uh don't be afraid, and don't be afraid that at all. I'm sure those of us who used to come to um, you know, to uh to visit us, you remember my computer in my bedroom because I was staying with my dad that time. I didn't have a house, and I was coding from my from from my bedroom, um, you know, the sitting room, which was my bedroom at that time. I didn't have my own house, I was still staying with my dad. Um, you know, but I was coding there at night. Really, really doing it. It was felt easy, it was not comfortable. But when you stick out your neck, and don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Um, it may look small, it may look not like it, it may not go on anywhere, but stick out your neck. The tortoise only makes progress when it sticks its neck out. And this year, 2026, brethren, let's stick our neck out and let us not uh belittle each other's uh hassles or small things. Rather, take the hand of your sister, leave them up, and you know, you never know what God is going to do uh in Jesus' name. Let me not spend too much time on that. Uh, let me move to point number two. Uh, remember we have been looking at Ruth chapter 2, verses 1. Ruth chapter 2, um, verses 14 says, at mealtime, Boa said to her, Come over here, have some bread, and dip it in the wine vinegar. Remember, what started off as a young lady, uh, a widow uh picking grains and leftovers and everything. Eventually, now things are begun to turn, the extra ordinary is beginning to happen, and now Boaz is inviting, uh inviting her uh to take some bread and dip it in the wine finegan. She's now beginning to have meals with Boaz and the other workers, yet she started up small. So when you stick your neck out, uh, you begin to make progress and you begin to find yourself having meals in places that you never imagined just because you stuck your neck out. And I pray that this should be a year we shall stick our necks out. And that brings us to point number two. Trust God to create the divine connections with fresh possibilities. Trust God to create the divine connections with fresh possibilities. Um, you know, when you stick your neck out to do things that have not been done before, and some of these things you may be the first person in your family to do them. You may be the first person to stretch out to do um to do things that have not been done before. And this can also cut out gender. You know, there's some things that, you know, you're the you know, the first woman to do this, the you know, the first um the single to do this, the you know, the first man to do this in your family. Don't be afraid. Um, you know, if you're going to experience the extraordinary possibilities, we're saying be willing to stick your neck out. You know, get out there. Um, sometimes it looks difficult, risky, but get your neck out there. And don't ask, how will it work out? God will make it work out. Don't wait until things line up. Um well, believe God to come through and make the way. Um, you know, if we say we have to wait until everything lines up, you're not going to make much progress. 2026, if we want to experience the extraordinary possibilities, let us be willing to stick out there. Trust God for divine connections with fresh possibilities. See, when you know, you know, when you stick out your neck, and I think I've just given my example, you know, when I stuck out my neck out um, you know, to do something, um, then somebody was willing to listen to me and look at what I had done. Um, you know, willing to look at what I had done and that opened up fresh ideas. So when you stick out, what God does, he'll send people your way. You know, with He'll send Boazes. There'll be people that God sends your way, but you can never send them your way until you begin to stick out. If Naomi, if if Ruth had uh and Naomi had not attempted what they were doing, he would not have met Boaz. They would have just sat in the home, um, you know, having pity on themselves, or the life has been hard. You know, we went to Mohammed, we came back, we have got nothing. Um, that is when they stepped out that Boas began to turn up. So there are many boases out there in the business world, in the corporate world, in the even in the in the ministry side, when you stick your neck out, God begins to send people to your way to help you out. And some of them will give you ideas, some of them will give you favor, some of them will open a small door here, small door there. But it's that sticking out that makes these divine connections begin to happen. Even as in Krem, you you know, we when we stepped out and started serving and serving during ministry, God has introduced us to great people that have been such a blessing to you know you know you know to us. Um, you know, during the conference, you saw many of them here. You know, Brother John Young, he's been a you know, such a blessing to this ministry. And if we had not stepped out, we would not have met him. Uh, Professor Rui, Reverend Carlos, Bishop Malir, these are all men and women that God has sent our way and he has used them, used them in an

Christians, Stop Playing Safe

SPEAKER_03 27:30

amazing way uh to open doors. Yeah, last yesterday we had traveled up country for um some funeral. Then we were able, I was able to listen to some of the tapes that John Nanga preached in 1998, his first message uh to Krem. And uh another one, I was listening to another one by Reverend Bosco and Wahinia in 1998 conference, whose theme was equipped for service, 1998. And we are listening to those messages that we have preached at that time. And I said, look what God has been able to do to us. But it's all begun because we are willing to stick our neck out. When you stick your neck out, God will send bosses along your way. He'll send people that will give you connections that will open doors. It's never easy. Gleaning over this lady now, she was gleaning, picking up the things, it's painful, it's hot, and you know, she didn't know anyone who will invite her for lunch. And there's that moment when it's so difficult, you're trying, nobody's buying, you look like you're not making progress, uh, you look like you're stuck in one thing or whatever. There's that period where it is tough. But I'll tell you, if you stick your neck out there, um you soon doors begin to open. And I pray that God will give us staying power. The Lord encourage us to give, you know, to stick out there, to go out there, to do what we must do, um, so that we can be, we can experience the extraordinary possibilities in our lives because it brings glory to God. So um trust God to create divine connections, um, to in you know to to um uh to come to you know to to come your way. And um you know God uses people to elevate you. So I there are several people along the way that God will plant along the way to come in and help you out um in whatever you're undertaking. He's so faithful, and he will we we know he will do it. And then um number six, I think this is the last point. Um as we progress, let's attempt something new, even if you could be criticized. And and I'll spend some you know a few minutes on that before we dive into pray tonight this morning. Um, you know, a lot of us um we don't progress because we fear criticism, we fear the opinion of others, the opinion of experts, the opinion of our family, the opinion of our spouses, the opinion of um the environment, um, you know, the opinion of the area. We so we we freeze, we sort of get frozen. And so we don't attempt new things. But I want to encourage us here, brethren, that we need to overcome the fear of being criticized. Um, you know, because if you become a prisoner of criticism, you will never be able to accomplish much uh in the in this world. In Ruth chapter 3, um, we see the Bible says one day Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi says to her, My daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be well provided for. Now, Boaz, with whose women you are, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. And tonight you'll be winnowing Bali on the threshing floor. Wash, put on palm and get dressed in your best clothes. Those are very, very powerful um uh the thing that the mother-in-law here is advising. He said, wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, not the place where he's lying, then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what, he will tell you what to do. First five,

Community Support And Supply Chains

SPEAKER_03 31:30

I will do whatever you say, Ruth answered. So he went, she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly and covered his feet and lay down. In the middle of the night, something startled the man. He turned and there was a woman lying at his feet. Who are you? He asked. I am your servant Ruth. She said, Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian redeemer of our family. I want you to know that. Then the Lord bless you, my daughter. He replied, This kindness is greater than that which you have showed earlier. You have not run after young men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I'll do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. It's not that. Everybody knew our character. She was noble character. Although it is true that I am a guardian redeemer of our family. There is another one. There's another one who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night. And in the morning, if he wants to do his duty as your guardian redeemer, good. Let him redeem me. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it. Lie here until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized. And he said, No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor. He also said, Bring me the shawl you are wearing and all out. Where she did so, he poured into six measures of barley and placed a bundle on her. Then went, he went back to town. When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, How did it go, my daughter? Then she told her, Everything Bo has done for her and added, He gave me these six measures of Bali, saying, Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed. Then Naomi said, Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today. Say, Amen. You know, sometimes you there are things that are written in the scripture, and you wonder, oh my gosh, what is going on? What is going on here? But this this teaching that we can get here. Um Naomi is is has been touched by the uh uh uh uh no uh Ruth uh uh Naomi has been touched by her daughter-in-law, the honor that she has given, she has gotten from this lady. That she is concerned about our future. She is concerned I want to make sure I'm you are settled, you have a family, I'm not gonna stay, I'm not young anymore, you cannot continue depending on me. Uh, I want to make sure you have a home, uh, you are well provided for because of the honor that um this woman this girl had given the mother-in-law. So she's concerned about uh you know about about that. And so he says, now, you know, since you have been going to Boas, this Boas thing is happening. I think that says that Boaz was interested in her. Uh, she had a very good reputation in the village. This now may decide I have to get us a wife, uh sorry, a husband for uh for this lady so that she's she's you know she can be provided for. And then they begin to put a plan. She says, you know, to now, and there was this whole thing about redeemer. I was reading about it, um, you know, in Israel, what was going on, you know, who would redeem her family, and and Naomi decides it's boss, and they begin to arch a plan. They tell this lady, I want you to be make sure you're at your best. Make sure you are at your best. You know, the whole thing of wash, put perfume, get dressed. It is a state of your best. Be your best. Whether it's in business, whether it is in work, whatever you are serving, whatever you are standing up in the marketplace or in the church, whatever you're ever going to stand up, the principle is for you to begin to experience the extraordinary wash, put on perfume, get dressed in your best clothes. That means you are presenting the best version of yourself possible. That means you don't, you there are no shortcuts. There are no shortcuts, there's nothing that I'm just having a go. No, no,

Personal Story: Coding After Hours

SPEAKER_03 36:00

no. Wash, put on perfume, get dressed in your best clothes, and get going. And I pray that will define us whether you know, you know, anything that you ever do that's as your signature, um, you know, it's as you know, make sure it is you you you've thought through it. So the the the she gets very good advice. Wash, put on perfume, get dressed in your in your best clothes, and go down and into a threshing floor, look at where Boaz is sleeping, and you know, go sleep next to him. And you know, when he responds, you um, you know, I'm let's see what happens. The the point I'm making here, President is this was not an easy thing. It could go wrong. It could go wrong. What if Boas responded in a different way? It could go very, very wrong. But that's what I was seeing is that is the whole idea around attempting something, even at the risk of being criticized. This lady could have been called a prostitute, they could be called a setup, they are setting up boss, um, she's going there, try to bring herself closer to boss and all these things. She could have been criticized. But I'm encouraging us, brethren, let us be willing to attempt things, even if there's a huge risk of being criticized. This could have gone terribly wrong. Um, you know, it could be told you are a loose woman, you're in, you know, you're going yourself to a man with all of the new, there are other young men here, and I even and Boaz actually raises. He said, Why are you coming to me? There are many other young men here. But you have come to me. And to do Boaz, that was such a great honor. This woman, there are other young men who have come here. She's a woman of noble character, and she's choosing me over this young man here. And that move was he said, if your other redeemer does not respond, I promise you, as the Lord lives, I'm going to be able to do what you have asked me to do. There are many of us fear being criticized. And it's something that we need to deal with in the year 2026. We need to, you know, to stop fearing criticism from people and just keep going. People will criticize you, they'll think you cannot make much, they'll think you cannot go far, they'll, you know, they'll think you are proud, they'll think you are teamy. So we need to overcome that spirit of criticism, and then we go to enter that realm of extraordinary possibilities. When you set off to do what you need to do, don't fear criticism. Don't fear criticism from whichever source. Um, whether it's those around you, those close to you, those far from you, just be willing to stick your neck out at the risk of being criticized. This is what Naomi did. And you know what? Things just changed for her life. Boas picks her up, she becomes, um, you know, she gets a husband, and today we have the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, because this woman was willing to risk it. And she was willing to not um be criticized, took risks for her, and the rest is history, as we say so. Um, as I close, one of the biggest, the greatest writers um is a German called James Michener. Uh Michener, most of you have read his books, he has written many, many books. Um, tells of the South Pacific, the drifters, Hawaii. He's written very, very many books. James Michener is a great writer. If you've been, you must have come across some of his books he has written if you're reader. But he was a serviceman in the South Pacific during the Second World War. He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, in the US Navy, he had been assigned uh to duty in the South Pacific. And um he spent a lot of time there in the military, uh serving during the Second World War. And he he was he he then decided um he was a um he used to serve as a historian, like you know, documenting the war in the ships. All that. And then he decided to turn his notes and impressions into tales. What he called the Tales of the South Pacific. And this was in 1947, is his first book that he tried to publish when he was aged 40. Um, when he wrote that book, Tales of the Pacific, a friend of his read the book. Um, he didn't like it. He when he wrote the novel first, he was criticized by someone by people that were there were people that read the novel first. He was criticized, he didn't, you know, and he almost abandoned the whole thing. But then somebody came along and offered, approached him to do a film based on the book, and uh, and and that film was so criticized. But he overcame that and went on. Uh, the film was was was featured and it actually took off. And he went on when that film was done, it opened the door for him, and he even became a better, a bigger writer. He started writing more of those memos, and yeah, he ended up writing over 40 novels. 40 of them that have gone ahead. Um, you know, he became one of the biggest writers called James Missioner. You must have read. And if you are a novelist, you read novels, you would have come across one of them. But the first one he wrote, he was so criticized, he almost gave up the whole idea. But he's gone on to become one of the greatest writers. And the time at the peak, he he became, he sold these novels, he became a multi-millionaire. And he I was reading him, he you know, he he was able to donate up to hundred million dollars to universities, to hospitals, to charities, and it's all because he did not give up to criticism. He's stuck in there and continues becoming a writer. And today he's a pick, one of the greatest philanthropists uh in the in the world, funding universities, uh, you know, money or he's given millions of dollars to charity, um, to you know, charity, you know, forces that he believes in, uh, he's given up a lot of money to that. Why? Because he was not willing to give up to criticism. He did not give up due to criticism. So, brethren, as I write as we as I wind up, you have to start. We have to start up. You have to start, we need to step out, we need to do something, whatever people say, we need to stick our necks out there, and then if we do that, we should be able to live in the realm of extraordinary uh possibilities. Today, this man, missionaries, is a is is is celebrated. In fact, there's a whole hotel in Singapore that has a whole room that is uh it's called the missionary room, and you go in that room, you pay a lot of money um, you know, to to stay in that room. It's got his writings, everything there decorated just for him. And it's all because he did not give up. Brethren, we have give men, we sometimes we give up on our dreams because of criticism. And I pray that 2026 should be the year praising this whole thing, you're not giving up. Because when we do that, you need to live in the realm of extraordinary possibilities. And who knows? You're going to go out there and become such a multi-billionaire in those businesses that you're doing, and you begin to start donating and giving money to the church. And we can do a lot, we can do with a lot of that uh in the house of God because we need brothers and sisters that don't give up, and so it does not matter how small the venger is or uh you know where you start. Don't give up to criticism. If you have that approach, you begin to reap in the realm of extraordinary

Divine Connections Begin To Appear

SPEAKER_03 43:31

possibilities. Brethren, I'm gonna request that we unmute this morning. I don't know what you have picked across several to several days, but I believe that this is going to be a great year. But we need to make sure we are not afraid to criticism, and it is going to be well. So I'm gonna request that we unmute and let's just spend a few minutes in prayer. I've seen our sister Harriet. Uh, she's back. Um, so Brother Ndolo, um, when you take it over, you can give her a chance to say hi to us. It is so great to see her back uh here. Uh, so as we wind up, it'll be great to just give her a chance to say hi to us, Brother Ndolo, as you wrap up. But for now, in the next few minutes, why don't we spend some time in prayer and reflect on what we have? We have spoken in the last couple of days, and let us make some.