Reaching the next generation Introduction - Prof Tim Kiruhi

www.cremministry.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:49

In the

Why KREM Exists

SPEAKER_01 0:50

next uh forum, then the next online uh platform. So I've thought to reflect on Krem, and of course, all of us know the longer meaning, Church Revival Evangelistic Ministry. And uh the first thing is I believe God has called Krem to be a support to the church, um, all God's people. Many times when we think about ministry, we tend to focus a lot on the pastors, and they have a very critical role, as uh we see in Ephesians 4. But theirs, along with all the other offices, the apostles and you know, and teachers and so on, and those who are pastors, their role is to prepare God's people for works of service. I actually thought maybe we could read together um Ephesians 4, uh, if it's okay, just very briefly, just to set a tone for what we are here for. Uh so

Ephesians 4 And Shared Ministry

SPEAKER_01 1:40

allow me to read the passage, um, Ephesians 4. First of all, in verse 7, just to set a context, it says that to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. So all of us have a measure of grace to do something for God, for the kingdom, to be a blessing to others. When we only receive, when we only sit and wait for others to do something, we are actually not being faithful stewards of the grace that has been apportioned to us. But in verse 11, specifically, that I was referring to, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers. Now, if I just stopped there, most of us would think those are the people who serve in the church. But oh, we are wrong. Look at verse 12 to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Those special offices have been set up so that they equip us so that each one of us then can be faithful. If you are to think of it, maybe a contemporary example would be a shepherd and his flock. You know, the shepherd, yes, he has a responsibility to make sure that the flock is well-led and you know, all taken care of and well nourished, but ultimately the role of reproducing, you know, whether it is a flock of goats which can bring milk and meat and so on, or cows and so on, you know, is really the work of the flock. It's it's them to reproduce, it's them to bring forth the fruitfulness and so on. That is our role in the church. And I thought to start there by encouraging each one of us as we listen to the training to ask God, what do you want me to do more of? You know, now that I'm getting better exposure, now that I'll be trusted with more resources tonight, uh, what can I do more for you now that I'm knowing that? And look at the benefits of doing that. When we get involved in the ministry, uh, which is really what Krem caused us to, we look at verse 14. We will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful team. You know, there are people who have been around the church for a long time. But every time there is a like, you know, people being led astray, you find them being very prone to that. Many times they are not grounded in the Lord and in the ministry that God has called them to. When we choose we commit to serve, there is a maturity and a blessing that comes because of that service. And then verse 15, lastly and 16. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is ahead, that is Christ. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. As we all do our part, according to the grace that God has given us, the whole body is built up, the body is blessed, we are stronger together, and as a result of that, we even are able to handle the difficult things such as speaking the truth in love to one another because of our security in Christ, because we are growing in our relationship with Him. So we could go on and on, but I think the point here is that my point here was that God is calling all of us, and I think believe that's a calling of Krem, that all of God's people play a role, all of God's people get involved, not for a special few, it is a calling for everyone. And

Revival That Fuels Evangelism

SPEAKER_01 5:17

then revival, of course, and I'll focus a little bit just on this as an entry point, that God's presence and working among his people. Uh, that's, I believe, is one of the, again, the focuses of Krem. And uh that that it we are important, and it's good that uh Brother Isaac talked about that even about prayer, that we are careful about God's presence, that God is present among us and working among his people. Of course, he has some conditions: holiness, repentance, submission to the work of the spirit, and so on. And it's important, and we'll come back to that a little bit, just to talk about the need then for revival in the church, because it sets a foundation, it gives us an opportunity for God to use us more. But no, the revival doesn't just come so that we feel good, so to speak. It is so that now we are a place of being usable or more usable by God in the work of evangelism. That's the next thing, evangelistic. And uh really another way, what you could use for evangelism is also we usually sometimes see the great commission, you know, uh, coming from Matthew 28, 80 to 20. And that is life ministry's mandate. Uh, if you check us out on the internet, you'll see that uh the calling of life ministry is to really help the church be effective in evangelism and discipleship, uh, so that you know everyone is reaching everyone everywhere by all possible means. My two colleagues will speak quite a bit more about that, so I'll not go a lot into the evangelism part, but but today we'll be hearing about how we can use uh digital tools as an avenue for the gospel.

Digital Tools For The Gospel

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Many of us spend lots of time on the phone, all kinds of websites, all kinds of uh, you know, apps that we visit and so on. And uh, you know, if we only knew that we could actually use some of that time for something eternal, not just for the short term, uh, that would bring a lot more blessing. You know, so digital strategies, you'll be hearing from our director Naftael Katumbo uh tell us about more about that. And I recently just know had lots of opportunity to use media uh around the ESA time, as some of you may be aware. And then our students' ministry will also be hearing about how young people in their formative years, many of us here possibly came to Christ in our high school years or even primary school years, and uh there is a you know, there are many studies that have been done to show that those people who to receive Christ early, of course, have a longer time to serve God, but also to be grounded and so on. So we want to utilize opportunities to work with students, and I know that uh creme as well reaches out to students, so we thought we'd hear a bit more about some opportunities maybe for collaboration in the area of high school ministry, which I'm sure there are a lot of weekend challenges and so on that we do, but also then those who have finished high school before they go to college, what you call a bridge opportunity, and those are very important years to help give them a good foundation before they go into the freedom and the challenges of being on a campus or in college, uh, which sometimes, if one is not well grounded, of course, they tend to get lost and so on. So today we'll hear a bit about those two, the latter one from uh Brother Mike Deamutama. Then on May 15th, uh there are two other areas that life ministry serves the church or supports the church. One of them is ministries to churches. Again, I know many of us are involved in our churches, some of us could even be the pastors or leaders in the churches, and maybe there's more we can do to catalyze our churches to be a much more effective tool for God's ministry to the world as well. So we'll be hearing a bit more about that next week. I believe our uh National Director Robert Balusi will be here at that time, and others are to support that area. And then also another platform or area where life ministry uh you know has effectiveness is ministries to leaders or professionals, uh sometimes called leader impact or leader strategies. And again, you'll be hearing a bit more about how we, many of us, I know are leaders in our own roles, having interacted with many of you in your, you know, at other conferences, but also we have access to leaders who also need the gospel. They are some of the most enriched people because they hardly have anyone who goes to them to share the gospel and so on. So those are that's just to give you a background, our backdrop to what we'll be doing. And lastly, to just say ministry, of course, is about organizing our hair ourselves to help the church to be more effective in her calling in very specific ways. And I know that uh creme has been doing that from the reports that I've been hearing during the annual conferences and so on. So I thought I'd just reflect on who we are as Krem from my point of view or my understanding. I hope I've been uh you know fairly accurate on this, but I trust that this will help connect us now to the things we'll be doing. But just a few thoughts about revival. I thought I would speak a little bit about that and then let my my two friends focus quite a bit on the evangelism part. So

Why Revival Declines Today

SPEAKER_01 10:02

why uh you know we know that there is a sense of declining revival in church missions or in the church today. And I'm I'm sure there are many reasons. Um if we had more time, I would have picked up a few. But I'd encourage you even now, so that you stay active. I know you've had a long day working, on the chart, you can share. What are some of the reasons that you feel or you think that there is declining revival in the church today, not just in nations, but in the church in general? Why is the church today declining in its effectiveness in the area of revival? And I uh maybe you can share on the chart before I share some few thoughts with you here. What comes to mind? Just the first thoughts, just in a short sentence.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Use a chat on Zoom to just write what are some of the thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Yes, read a few before they share some. So if each one of us writes something, there'll be many, many points here. And there's no maybe it is unlikely that there'll be a wrong answer. Uh so just feel free to share what comes to mind. What are some reasons why there's declining? Um compromise. Thank you very much. Yeah, somebody with EK. Compromise, thank you. What else? Compromise, no weakens. No, they're capach of the church. Lack of genuine repentance and holiness. Okay, thank you, Steve. Others? Lack of trust, Mary. Yeah, thank you. Lukewarmness, no penina, Rosa. Many people preferring online services to physical, so that also can reduce the level maybe of fellowship. Like Barry John says in the book Dwell, that's from Emma Charlotte, modernization has made us busier and taking us away from God. I can tell Emma is in a good school called International Leadership University. Thank you. Materialism. Materialism, yes, thank you. Brother Isaac, Eugene talks about failure to embrace early church. Um, they're coming fast and furious now. Thank you. Early church approaches religious politics and Zioka's family, Meshach, prayer life, becoming a burden, failure in godly parenting duties, J.K., Lydian, generational changes, and Isaac also has focused on those inside more than outsiders. Yeah, thank you very much. Very, very good thoughts that all of you have shared there, and I'm sure there are others. So

Getting Back To Holiness

SPEAKER_01 12:28

sometimes the foundations, if we did not start right, you know, if depending on how the church was started, if it didn't start with a clear calling to ministry, we can focus on ministry and its trappings rather than, you know, the role of the church. Weak devotional life, maybe that was not mentioned. You know, if we are not walking with God, spending time with God regularly, then soon uh we'll run dry and not have the inner energy, the inner drive to be able to do ministry. Lack of authenticity has been mentioned, you know, the public and private selves. Uh, success and pride, yeah, when God blesses, um, you know, um, just when we do that, you know, then um begin to focus on what we are doing rather than what God is doing very often, then um, you know, we soon we we look, we look, we lose focus. And God, of course, hates, you know, uh pride. He says he opposes a proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And the law of the temporal, those things are always going to be there, you know, and it's a struggle for all of us to manage this. Uh, gold is a love for money and wealth. Uh, girls are guys, you know, and relationships, glory. We've talked about that and so on, and of course, disciplining ourselves to be able to do that. Not getting along with others. Sometimes there's a lot of strife, you know, in terms of members and you know, in the church, or sometimes the leaders and the members and so on. And so we lose focus on the main thing. And Satan is very happy when there is conflict in the church. We need to deal with it quickly so that we can focus on the main thing. There could be political issues or ethnic issues, you know, these people versus these and so on, and other divisions and other allegiances that can have that. And then forgetting, of course, why we were called. Now, Paul was very clear. He kept talking about it and saying, you know, I was not even called something as important as baptism. He says, Oh, no, we're not even called to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and so on. He was so clear on the calling that he had received and so on. So there could be other things, you know, and so on. I just thought I would revise, uh, refresh us again on these things. We know them, but uh to remind us that we are called to revival, we are called to holiness, we are called to walking with God and allow trusting him to work through us.

Moody And Full Consecration

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Uh, recently came across this uh you know, quote, and I thought it was very helpful. It uh you know goes back to 2 Chronicles 69. Many of us know 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, turn from away from their wickedness and seek my face, then I'll hear from heaven and you know, and I'll answer, you know, I'll hear from heaven. Um, I'm missing something there, and I know, and I'll heal their land, you know, but there's something they are keeping. Uh, but and in addition to that, um, you know, there's 2 Chronicles 16, 9. And uh, so it is said that back in 1873 there were two Christian preachers talking about a conference they had just attended. Henry Valley said to his new friend, D. L. Moody, uh, Moody, you know, the world has yet to see what God can do or will do with a man fully consecrated to him. The world will has yet to see what God will do with a man or woman in this case, fully consecrated. Consecrated means no surrender to God. So these words pierced Moody's heart so much that he couldn't get them out of his mind. And he said these words to himself I will be that man. If God is looking for a man of integrity, a man of honor and courage and faithfulness, with God's help, I will be such a man. Could you choose to be that man or woman for God in our time? Dear Moody went out to be used by God greatly. There is a whole institute in the US that, you know, named after him, and now out of the which have been trained hundreds of thousands really of God's workers around the world that have gone on to impact the work of ministry. But it started with Moody consecrating himself to God and saying, I want to be that man or woman, you know, whom God will use, you know, and so on. Then 2 Chronicles 69 talks about the fact that God's eyes range throughout the earth, seeking somebody whose heart is fully given to God so that God might strengthen them. I think sometimes because of our unfortunate experiences with early fathers, sometimes we tend to think, oh, you know, if I really commit myself to God so too seriously, you know, God will take advantage of me. You know, something will not go right, or things like that. Those are not correct perspectives. When God finds somebody who is totally committed to God, then he chooses to strengthen that person, he rewards that person, he comes alongside that person, that they can even be more fruitful. Together, then as a group, we can trust God, you know, with the promise of Genesis 11:6, that as one people, speaking the same language, if we have begun to do this, in that case it was the Tower of Babel, nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. So there is a place for the individual, but also the collective, that as one people, if we have the same language, there is a same vision. And that's why I wanted to review the vision and purpose and mandate of Krem. That if we all commit to that, as one people, speaking the same language, and we say that by God's grace, we will each of us be involved, then nothing we plan to do will be impossible for us. So, very briefly, I just thought uh I'll do this bit because this will be my last

ILU Partnership And Training Paths

SPEAKER_01 18:12

part. Just to mention, for the in the case of those who may be very new to our university, international university, we have been a partner with KREM and are very pleased to do that. There's our Kilimani campus, below is our Kitangela campus, which we just began at the first one, uh, the bottom left, and uh it's about to get completed. We are hoping to take occupation from the contractors finishing another two, three weeks. And we are very grateful for the opportunity to be able to train thousands of people around Africa for the work of the Great Commission. Our mandate is to develop leaders of integrity, people who will choose to submit to Christ and therefore be at a place where God can use them to usher a revival in our time and also uh holistic transformation in terms of transforming society with all the issues that we are seeing today, all the things we all complain about. We believe the answer is in the church, it's with God's people, and being able to change that. There are programs. Uh, some of you may be familiar. If you want to take a picture of that, you can look at it later or not keep that slide for very long. But just wanted to say we have programs from certificate to PhD in leadership and uh also and governance includes management and business administration, things like that, prison ministry leadership, and also in programs in theological studies for those who may be interested. And then from certificate all the way to masters for the counseling program, um, you know, so that uh those again want to be prepared to know mental health and so on. And we do have a number of us here. I'm happy to see Jocelyne and Emma and others uh who have been our who are our students at ILU. I wanted

Practical Ways We Can Support

SPEAKER_01 19:47

to finish with saying how can we support you as CREM and also other places where you may be involved, even your place of work, if you should be interested. Of course, it's through education, that's one of them, the short courses, collaborations to train other people, especially in issues of integrity, is becoming a big, big need now. And then, of course, uh leadership development, um, then holistic development, uh, formations, especially. Uh, when you are going to formations, we can bring our skills in the areas of leadership, counseling, and theology. So, let me give an example. In Kilife, we are going to Kilifi County in the month of April for our annual mission, uh, partnering with life ministry and local churches in Kilifi. And when we go there, in addition to using the tools of evangelism and uh, you know, all the other methods of sharing the gospel, we also address leadership issues because we know that those are important. So, whether it's community leaders or leaders in the church who would have some training for them. We also do some counseling and uh support training for basic counseling skills to help maybe deal with some of the basic issues and some addictions in communities and of course issues of theology in terms of the church and church leadership. Then research collaborations, where maybe sometimes ministries may feel stuck or church, and maybe in terms of church growth, we are happy to come alongside and do some studies that would help and unearth what are the issues that may need to be addressed. Then governance and leadership and ethics training for boards, maybe for organizations or even church enterprises and so on, so that there's good governance that will anchor ministries for the long haul. The number eight and nine is on youth and children. Again, those are important for areas of outreach and evangelism because many, many people come to Christ, as I said earlier, early on in life. We are happy to come alongside and you know, offer some short courses and so that would help people in that space. And then, of course, maybe lecturers or teachers in schools uh who want to learn how to teach in a Christian manner, or as Christian lecturers and teachers, uh, we are happy to come alongside and do that. So I will stop here. I'll not go much further, just to say that it's an honor for us to be able to partner with you. And uh I trust that at the time uh today and also on the May 15th will be very, very beneficial as we look at.

Closing And Handover

SPEAKER_01 22:00

how we can be equipped to be more effective so that all of us not just a few but all of us are involved in the work of ministry so without further ado allow me now to turn it over to my two brothers and uh they will share the rest of the time so over to naftal and I'm sorry I've overshot a little bit on my time but I'll give it up to uh brother naftal from here please take it over and then you can hand it over to the next one yeah thank you thank you very much uh prof for that one