The Day God will say thank you

www.cremministry.org

Transcript

Why Serving God Feels Hard

SPEAKER_00 1:04

We were

Rewarded For Deeds Not Intentions

SPEAKER_00 1:05

looking at um works that counts, and uh one of the things that we we said last week was that um and encouragement for us as we serve God, encouragement for us as we do ministry, as we prepare for missions. Um, because sometimes you can ask, is it you know, is it worth it? You know, and it's the same um place we have Apostle Peter and others reached, and they looked Jesus and they asked him, um, they asked him, um, what is in what is what is what is it in need for us? Well, you know, we are following you, we have left everything uh to follow you. Um what what are we going to get out of here? Um is there anything we are going to get? And I think it was a good ask, and the you know, the Lord encouraged them, the disciples. And so sometimes as we do ministry, it's important to step back and just ask yourself, why do we do what we do? Why would we um go out of our way to help others? Why would we go out of our way to spend resources and time and effort? Why do we do this? Why would we um yeah, why would we um and why why do we do what we do? And so last week we're encouraging ourselves that actually um the Bible tells us that um when this is all over and we stand before God, there's a day that is coming uh that the Lord uh God is going to gather his people and there's gonna be a reward. There's gonna be a reward. And that's what I want to encourage us this morning as I pick up from there. And we saw that the Bible challenged us last week that when that time comes, uh, we are not going to be uh rewarded um for what we intended to do. We saw that uh the the award or the reward that is coming is for what we did. Uh it's not for intentions. That was really a key message last week. Um, that we are going to be rewarded for what we did and not what we intended to do. There are many people who have intentions to do good, who have intentions to help, intentions to witness, intentions to do something, but they never do it. And so when we stand before God, we're not going to be um rewarded for our intentions, we're going to be rewarded for what we actually did. And so we saw it's important for us to move um from intentions to actually doing, because that's what we get rewarded uh for. And so I want to pick it up there, um, for as as we go into day this morning, and I pray that they shall encourage you. Um, because you can get, you know, um sometimes you can be discouraged, you can wonder, is it making a difference? Um, you know, is it really worth it? And I want to encourage us this morning that the Bible tells us there's a day when God Himself, when God Himself would gather us and He's going to say, Thank you. You're going to stand before Him. And the Lord God will look at each one of us and He'll say, Thank you for what you did. Um, you know, Thanksgiving is always a very, very important thing. In any service, in any meeting, any worship service, the highlight of any service is always thanksgiving. When people stand and they give thanks to you know what God has done for them, when you give thanks to what somebody has done for you, it's always the highlight of any meeting. Um, and there's going to be a come a time, brethren, when God will gather his people and he's going to be able to say thank you. And I want to be in that meeting that day, you want to be there when the Lord God will gather his people and he'll look unto you and he said, Well done, faithful servant. That's what I want to encourage us today. Now, the Bible also tells us that we're going to be um the Lord God is going to thank us for what we have done.

Four Stages Of Spiritual Growth

SPEAKER_00 5:09

And and and so, you know, life life in life is like you move through four stages of life. Um, the first stage of life is normally what you call survival. And this is either both spiritual and physical. Um survival. When you get born again, you're just a Christian, you're surviving. You're living day by day, you are learning how to pray, you're building your faith, and you are you are basically surviving on miracles. When you, you know, every time you are basically living from miracle to miracle to miracle. That's the stage of survival. Um, where you you need survival for everything. You need survival for your marriage, you need survival for your finances, survival for your work and all that. That stage in your life where you are so desperate, you're basically surviving. And you need miracles every day. And it's normally not a very comfortable place. The children of Israel, when they move from uh Egypt, going to the Promised Land, which is normally a picture of us. Um the move of the children of Israel from Egypt to Israel, um, the promised land is a picture of our salvation as well, where we move from um, we move from um the world, and God is leading us into a place of promise. And right at the Red Sea, the Bible says they they got stuck there, he had to do a miracle for them to cross over. And throughout that period, God had to give them food, he had to intervene to give them food, to give everything, so that he could move them to the promised land where they would now begin to live, begin to have resources, they begin to exist, to produce, and and continue on with your life. But in between Egypt and and the promised land, they needed a miracle every single day. For miracle for food, miracle for clothing, you know, they just need for for safety, for protection. So there's that stage in your in life where you are living every day on a miracle. But you must then move from that stage of survival. You cannot stay in survival mode forever. You need to grow up and move on to the next stage, it's normally called stable, where you become stable. Uh, you are now not in a miracle every day. You begin to produce, you begin to be productive, and uh things begin to work. That's why people talk about, oh, my marriage is stable. I have a stable marriage, I have a stable business, I have a stable, you know, we normally say Kenya is stable. We have a stable country. That means there's no war, everything is fine, there's no, you know, rockets being fired all over. Um, a stable country. But that stage is also not a great place to stay. You don't just have a stable marriage, you just don't want to have a stable business, or everything is stable. No. You must move from stability, and now you move to the next stage, uh, which is success. Where we start saying, hey, we are not just a stable country, we are actually a successful, successful country. And I think you've had our leaders saying, oh, we want to move to Singapore, we want to be like Singapore, we want to do this. Those are all pains of saying we are not comfortable where we are as a nation. We don't want to just be stable. No, we want to move in and start being successful. You the in the in the World Bank ranking, they talk about moving to a medium uh income country, uh, where you move from a third world country to a medium income country. Um, so people, the country doesn't want to just be stable. We want, um leaders want us to be successful. And that's why you hear the whole Singapore narration, is basically saying, no, no, we can do more. We don't want to just be a stable country like everybody else. No, no, we want to move from stability to the next level, which is actually successful, um, where you say we are now a successful nation. But then that stage of success is also not the end. You have to move to the next level. Um and I think it assumes the same thing. You don't just have a successful marriage, a successful family. You know, it's great when you are, oh, my marriage is successful, you've been able to bring children, bring them up, everything's looking well. Um, but you must move from success to the next level, which is what you call significance. And that fourth level, which is significant, when you when you become, when you be when you start living that level of significance, you are you are now not just looking at about yourself, um living a life of significance is when you now stop looking at yourself and you now begin to do things for other people. So you have been successful, you've had a successful marriage. That's great. But when you reach the level of significance, you are now beginning to say, hey, how can I help other people navigate their marriages? How can I help people, struggling couples, how can I help the young, the medium? You are now beginning to pour yourself on others. Um, and so that you know, you know, it's not about you anymore. It is now about what you do for others. It is, and and this is a belief where God wants us to reach, where we begin to help other people, um, where we are not living uh uh for ourselves, but we are beginning to um to help other people. And this is what the Lord encourages us that we get rewarded for. And I pray that we shall be able to move through all those stages in our life and we reach a place of significance where you are now occupied, preoccupied with what you can do for other people. Um, we've seen other nations that have done very well, uh, what we call now the developed world, even though a lot is changing now. But the developed world, you will find they allocate a lot of money. A lot of money is allocated for helping other countries. I think we have, you know, the when the new current president in America came into power, he shocked the whole world by cutting um aid or money that America was using to support other countries. And there was a lot of money, a lot of money that America was spending in all over the world, through USA, they canceled that, and they started pulling back. And why? Because America had reached a point of significance where they are they have so they have enough, not just for themselves, but actually in helping so many countries. A lot of people have been affected by that decision that was that was made. Why? Because they had more than enough. So when you have when you have reached that level of significance, you're not just taking care of yourself, but you're actually spending a lot of time helping other people. And I believe that God wants us to quickly graduate to mature. That's why Paul was talking to the church and he said, by now you should have been mature. Because maturity means you've moved through the stage of survival, stability, success. You are now living a life of significance where you are so mature, you can now be able to do things for other people. And this is not just physical, this is spiritual, where you mature spiritually and you can now be able to help other people.

You Are Not Yet Home

SPEAKER_00 12:35

The story, I think, has been told many times. The story has been told of this missionary who was returning from um a mission in Africa. Those days when missionaries were coming here. Uh, he was from the United States, and um those days there was there were no planes. So if you you you to travel to uh around the world, people are using ships. And so he had come and stayed in Africa for a while, uh supported, of course, by people at home. And the time came um for him to go back home and just um you know visit the you know back to America. He got into a ship and he sailed all the way to America. And when he came out of he was coming out of the ship, he you know, there was a lot of a lot of people on the ship, on the port, um, with drums, um, you know, dancers, people, you know, coming to welcome. Um, you know, there was a whole frenzy of a whole welcome, welcome party. Uh, and he's he's sitting in the ship and it is his his mind was that must be, you know, people welcoming me back from Africa, where he had spent so many years preaching, and he was so so excited that such a huge group of people would turn out to welcome him, um, you know, as he returned back. But then as he came out, the crowd was there, they were dancing, cheering. And then when he came out, he realized actually this crowd was not waiting for him. Inside the ship that he had come with was a president, was the president of the president coming back, also from Africa, um, where he had been hunting. Those days they used to come here to hunt lions uh in the in the war in the game parks. So he was coming from his trip of hunting lions in Africa, and then there was all these old people coming to welcome him. So they welcomed the president, and all of them left. This man came out. There was not, forget about the people he thought were waiting for him. There was not even a single person who remembered that he was coming. There was absolutely nobody. And this man was devastated. You know, that have been in Africa winning souls, um, building the church. I come home, there's not even a single person to welcome me here. And people are happy to come and welcome somebody coming from hunting lions. He could not understand that. He was so, so discouraged. No reception, no fanfare. And he's wondering how can you be so excited about somebody coming from hunting lions, to somebody coming in from winning swords. And it was at that point in time that the Lord spoke to him and he said, You are not yet home. You are not yet home. This is not your home. One day you'll go before heaven and God is going to be waiting for you there to thank you. Your reward is not in this life, it's a home that we are going, and that time our Lord God um you know will come. There'll be a lot of there's a there'll be a ceremony, and you'll see, you'll be thanked for what you did. And so that encouraged that encouraged him. So, brethren, um, the things that you do for others, you may never ever get recognized here. There may be no fanfare here on earth. In fact, most times, what you do for people, they never remember, they don't appreciate. Um, and and that's okay, because him that is coming to reward us is not people, it is God Himself. And so I want us to be encouraged

Two Judgments And The Books

SPEAKER_00 16:18

by that. In Revelation, um in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 to 15, it captures uh this very well about just what's going to be happening at the end of the world. There will be could be two judgments. Let me read that so that you can encourage us this morning. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it, and that's Revelation 20, 11, 15. It says, The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hate gave up the dead that were in them, and each person uh was judged according to what they had done. Uh, then death and hate were thrown into the lake of fire, and the lake of fire is the second death, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. So this scripture here shows us about two judgments that are going to be coming towards the end of time. I think the first judgment is um whether you are born again, whether you are Christian. If you are not born again as a Christian, um um then there's gonna be um a separation. But then after the separation, um, there's going to be another judgment, um, which is going to come, and this judgment is going to be for Christians. This judgment is going to be for Christians. And in this second, uh, in this second judgment, which we see here, the the the book of works, which we talked about last time, um, everything you've done um for others, everything you've done for anybody for others, including giving a glass of water, an encouraging word, there's a book that everything is recorded. And this is the books that we saw. We encourage here that a book was another book was opened. I mean, you know, which is the book of life, is the book of works. And um at this judgment, the only book that would be useful, um, you know, in in the at the first judgment, the book of works will be of no use to you. Because if you're not born again, you'll not be able to proceed on to the second, uh, the second the second judgment is the book of works. So if all you do is works and you you know you you don't um get saved, um then the the second this book of of works will not be there, will not be will not you'll not be able to reach that that stage, not help you basically. Um but God is a is a fair God, he's a he's a fair God, and he wants to make sure that everyone is given a chance. In fact, in Romans chapter 14, Romans chapter 14, verses 10 to 12, the Bible says, You then, why do you judge brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For he will stand before God's judgment seat. As written, As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me, and every tongue will acknowledge God. So then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Uh and this in Romans saying, We have no business judging each other because we are not the judge of each other. Each one of us will be given a chance to stand before God, and we shall give an account to God. And that's why you need to be very careful. Um, you know, because you can be judgmental, you can judge people, you can you know, you can think you know, some people are not Christian, you can think some people are not, you don't know. You don't you don't know until you stand before the judgment of God and you'll be seeing surprises there. People that you never thought um will be there, you'll find you'll find them there. Um people that you thought will be there will not be there. Uh, there'll be a lot of surprises there. Um, because it's only God who knows, and that's why in Romans chapter 14 he says it was challenging. You say, Why do you judge your brother or sister? You know, why do you treat them with contempt? He says, We will stand before God's judgment seat. We will, um, all of us. So each person will have a chance, will have your time, um, you know, before God, and there will be will be judged. In Second Corinthians 5 10, he says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due to us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Again, therefore, regarding the Corinthians telling them the same thing, we will all, all, we must actually say Paul using the word, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us, each of us may receive what's due to us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. So each of us must stand before Christ. We'll take each other, not be taking um, you know, someone, you know, each one of us will have a fair chance before before God. And in 2 Timothy, um chapter 4, verses 1, he alludes to it as well. Paul wrote to the Timothy says, In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you

The Judgment Seat Rewards Believers

SPEAKER_00 21:44

this charge. So again, Paul is making reference here uh to the judgment seat of Christ, and this is what I want to talk about here tonight the judgment seat of Christ, and this is where Christians will be judged. This is where Christians will be judged. Now, this was. Not be a negative um or evil judgment. It's not be a negative or evil judgment. It's going to be a positive judgment. And a positive judgment is for it is for good. It's where God will say thank you by rewarding his family. So it will be a good judgment, a positive judgment, where we all come before the Father. We are all in heaven. We are standing before Christ, all of us. And now he says, Hey, come here. I want to judge you. I want to be able to say thank you to you. And all those that have given their lives to Jesus, you know, will be rewarded. All those that have given their life to Jesus, dead or alive, will be rewarded. And at this judgment, the book of works will become vital. This judgment, the book of works is going to become vital. So this second book is going to be very, very um vital. So this place, even is not where we are, we are not going to be rewarded the same. It's not going to be, there's not going to be no communism. All socialism is no communism. They say, yeah, you know, let's distribute it equally. Everybody gets a fair chance, um, you know, a fair opportunity. You know, we all uh, you know, all of us should make sure everybody just share equally. No, there's going to be no communism in heaven when we stand on the judgment seat of Christ. Um, you know, um, there's a reward system. Um, you know, there's gonna be a reward system, and everything you have done for God and for others is well recorded, and you'll be rewarded. And this should encourage us preferring to me, because many times you can feel worn out, many times you can ask, hey, is it worth it? And I want to tell us, brothers and sisters, there are books in heaven, and everything we have done for God and for others is well recorded, and you will be rewarded on the judgment seat of Christ. And people that have given their time and resources for God will be rewarded. And I want to believe and I want to encourage all of us that desire to be there. Um, you know, heaven, heaven is a home. Uh, heaven is our home, it's not a reward for Christians. You know, we are not we don't get rewarded by going to heaven. No, heaven is going to be our home, and then we're going to be rewarded uh in heaven. And so I believe there's a lot of work, um, a lot of work to do. Um, you know, in heaven, when we go there, we don't just be sitting. Um, if there's going to be a lot of work, it's going to be a very, very different system up there. What we are told, the Bible says consistently is that the Lord God Himself will come and gather his children to say thank you. And there's going to be a reward for every single thing that you have done for God and for others. And so, brothers and sisters, we should be very, very encouraged as we serve God because there is a reward. Uh, in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 10, it says, For for we are God's handwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So he says in Ephesians, we are created to do good works, um, which the Lord has prepared for us in that. So we we are created to do good works. That's what God has created us. He and he prefers that you and I have been created um to do good work. And so we should be motivated, we should be encouraged to know, brothers and sisters, that even if there's no fanfare here, even if there are no people who don't reward you, don't recognize what you did for them. Um, many times you sacrifice for people, you know, they are not there. And you can be like, oh my God, is it worth it? But let me tell you, every single thing you've done for God and you've done for others as you live a life of significance is well recorded. And those the angels are doing a good job up there. There's no corruption, there's no missing file. I think you've heard of missing files in the courts. Those who are lawyers know what I'm talking about here. Um, you know, your file gets missing. Um, you know, you you look for the file, they can't find it. Uh, and people have thrown it away because they, you know, they are doing corruption. There's no corruption in heaven. The angels are doing a good job up there, and they say every single thing that has you have done uh will you be it is recorded and will be uh will be recorded.

Fire Tests The Quality Of Work

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Now, one thing that we need to know is, and we talked about that last week, is that a supernatural fire will go through everything we have done. A supernatural fire will go through everything we have done. It's recorded if you read one second, one Corinthians chapter um 3, verses 8 to 15, um, which I think um brings that out very clearly. I mean we could read it. It says, the one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. See, uh, for we are co-workers in God's service, you are God filled, God building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, or hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is. Because the day will bring it to light. And you should know that if anyone builds on this foundation, using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. Whatever we do, brothers and sisters, it's a day to be brought to light. And then says, their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light, it will be revealed in fire. And the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames. So Paul is giving us here a very important thing, brothers and sisters, is saying, you know, whether you planted, whether you watered, it does not matter what you do. What's important is that to understand you'll be rewarded according to your own labor. According to your own labor. And he says, we are God's co-workers. That means there should be no competition. It's not a shore, it's not any of all those things. The motive here, right? He says, We, you know, is we we are all co-workers in God's service. You are God field, God building. And say, I laid a foundation, Paul laid a foundation, someone else built on it, but each one should build with care. That's what he said. Each one should build with care. For he says, no one can lay any other foundation than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. And he says, We will our work will be tested, um, through it will go through fire and see if it will survive. So it is it's uh the the key thing here is that the quality of what you put in is what is good, is what's going to come. If what you did stands out, what does this mean? If the motive was right, whatever you are doing, um was the motive right? If you do it for the right reason, then we'll be rewarded. And that's what I think it will be tested to go through fire. If you did it for people, you did it for recognition, you did it um, you know, out of you know, your own ego, it says we will go through fire, and God will be checking exactly the quality of that work. What was behind the work? Um, you know, it says some you talk about here, some will be like hay. Can you imagine hay and straw? It put through through the fire. What happens? It will disappear to be burned, it'll be burnt completely. Um you know, then you have gold and and and and you know, we have gold which which as you put it through fire, it actually becomes better, gets more refined, it gets more, um, it shines, and God will, you know, we'll will get will get will get rewarded. Um, and we know that brothers and sisters, our God is a generous God, He is generous, the God we serve as generous. Um, so you can imagine um what reward will await us. You know, you think about the last week, you know, last month we attended the graduation of our son, and it was great to see after all the effort and and the work, you know, the name is called, and and and then he goes to the front and he put him, you know, that that you know, they give him the um the certificate, he put the gown, they tap his head, they say we you know, whatever they do. It's an important ceremony. And I'm sure you've seen it, anyone of us who has attended a graduation ceremony, it's amazing. There's something special about being rewarded after all the hard work and the sleepless nights, the continuous assessments, the examinations, the old nights, the tests when you denied yourself um, you know, time to go out and you are there busy doing the test and passing. And I'm sure those of us who those who are who are in the who are doing exams know what I'm talking about because it's still fresh. But you know, preparation for exams is tough. And because it requires a lot of denial, you deny yourself sometimes. You can't eat because you know if you eat and you are too happy, you'll sleep, but you have you have to finish the assignment, you have to you know get yourself prepared. Then you go through it. Sometimes some lecturers are not good, you know, they are they are they're not really very nice, they don't cooperate. They, you know, your classmates sometimes can be nasty. You know, it is that tough thing to go through um just studies, you know, ups and downs. Um, you're almost they're almost receiving a paper, almost, you know, just the whole you don't know that you graduate. You're not sure. But then finally you you make it and you arrive there. Your name is called, and you could see others we are in tears, others we are dancing, others we are pausing. It is such an amazing opportunity for you to be rewarded for work. Now just think about that, brethren. It's going to be a reward ceremony in heaven. And the person who is rewarding us is God Himself, who is a generous God. There's a song that we sing that God is a generous God. He's a generous God. He's that's the God we serve, brothers and sisters, is generous. So you can imagine being standing before him and is now the one conferring a reward on us for the work that we have done. So, uh, brothers and sisters, you know, everything we do, we go through that fire and we'll be rewarded

Serving Without Needing Approval

SPEAKER_00 33:38

for it. So let's make sure that our motives are right. Anything that you're doing, don't do it for people, don't do it because you are being pushed. You know, sometimes you can you can do something because you are being pushed or you are being and you know, forced, or you, you know, it will ban. It will be like, hey, it'll be like hey, we must reach a point where brothers and sisters, we are self-motivated, we are doing what we are doing for Christ. And that means that's why we cannot be discouraged. You cannot be discouraged, it's difficult to discourage us because I'm not doing it for you. You can abuse me, you can do whatever you want to do, you may talk behind my back, it doesn't matter what people will do, but you can never ever be able to deal with somebody who is doing what he's doing for God. You can never discourage him. We become discourageable and discourageable if there's an English like that. Because sometimes you can, I've seen people, you know, what I will say, where your spiritual life is dependent on on the response of other people around you, and and you can't live like that. You have to fight that off. Your spiritual life cannot be dependent on the response of others or those of your other people in the team. No, you are your spiritual, your work with God, what you do for God cannot be tied to anyone else. That means even if I show up and I'm the only one, it's fine. Even if you people criticize, even if they do what it I you are completely deaf and blind to both things. You will, yes, you may discourage me, maybe as a human being I feel that, but I cannot. Because whatever I'm doing, I'm not doing it for a human being, I'm not being doing it for accolade, I'm not doing it for position. And that's why last week uh you know, we talked a lot about that position. There are a lot of people who can do what they do because of our position. Oh, I'm the leader, I'm the you know, the pastor, or I'm this you cannot serve God because of position. People can give you position based on what you do, but the motive being what you do must be because you know you are serving God. And when you live like that, you can never be discouraged, you can never be drawn by people's opinion. Because what I'm doing or how what you do is not dependent on me. And brother, it's something that we have to we have to fight. Um you know, to fight, I've seen even in the ministry. I've seen sisters and brothers come and go. They came, you are there, they are so excited to serving God until um you know somebody said something, or until then the kwazo came, and then the gekwazu grew, and then the person leaves the ministry. Or he is no longer active, he's no longer doing what he was doing. What happened? He listened, he or she listened to the views and the opinion of people. But you see, you cannot do that. You cannot sell the the call, what we do has to be because of a calling we have received from God. Therefore, whether people applaud you, whether they are happy, whether you don't, as long as the only person you care about being happy is God. And everything else is noise. What we do be tested. So we must rise above public opinion or public applause or whatever it is, and especially serving God for positions. But that is what is really, really testing our people. We think, you know, if we have a position, we have a title, it's going to help us. No, no, no. In the when when we look at the reward here, um, it's not based on based on what you did, not the title or the position that you held. So very important, brothers and sisters, to know that everything we do is going to pass through that supernatural fire to test everything we have done. So let's pray that whatever we do as we leave to go to Kadiani for the mission, as we rise up today to go to church, whatever God has blessed you, whatever ministry God has blessed you, look at your motive. And have you drifted? And now, slowly by slowly, you become uh you are serving God for other reasons, but not because of Christ who called you. We do what we do because of the calling that God has put in our lives. When you do that, you can do it for a long time. You can never be discouraged. You overcome that be moments when times can be difficult, the enemy will strike, there'll be times of pain, time for grief, time for loss, but through all those, God will see us through and will remain motivated to serve because we are not doing it for men, we are doing it for Christ.

God Tracks Sacrifice And Generosity

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Number two, which I think is very, very important for us, is important, is God is keeping track of what his children do so that he can reward us. God is keeping track. So sometimes you can think, oh, does God know? That's it, cognizant. When you see the pains, you don't go through painful moments. There are times when it's serving God is tough, it's painful. And you you are like, What is painful? You know, I was laughing to be here. I was telling Pauline, you know, and it's happened a number of times. I think it was yesterday or so when in meeting, and I'm thinking I was running the playing the songs, and you know, someone came into my door and was banging it. He's you know, he's saying, I'm I'm making noise, and this happened a lot, and I always when you travel around and you are preaching from hotel rooms and the rest, and also knocking and knocking and open the door, and why are you making noise? And we have the meeting is going on, you know, the meeting is on, I was like, Oh, here we go again. Um, you know, there are times well of you know God can be tough, can be it can be difficult. There are times when we serve God under a lot of pain, and nobody understands. Um, and there are times when you seen people give for God to work the the all that they had, and a lot of luck, and you know, you feel this is this needs to be given to God and it's painful. It's only you, God will know. Nobody is around you know. Um, and you know, there are those moments of heart or pain. Because as you serve God through commitment, the reality is in this world will suffer. In this world, there'll be times, there are seasons. I think I preached about it here. There are seasons. Yeah, you know, season, there's summer, there's time for rain, some summer, winter, all these ones of life, they are here. And you see, as you serve God through both seasons, there'll be moments when you will serve God in winter. When you are at your lowest, when people are looking to you for encouragement, you yourself, you don't even have an ounce of energy left. But it's serving God through seasons. The highs and the lows, and you are there. You are you are you are there. And you know, you can wonder God see this. And I want to encourage us, brethren. You know, God is keeping track of what you are doing. Those dark moments, those tears, the pain that you've that you go through when you, oh my God, why am I going through this? And you show, you still show up. You don't feel like even waking up, but you still show up. You are there in church, um, you know, serving, you know, leading praise and worship, playing the instruments, it's painful. You every part of you is saying you can't, but you know, you are there, um, you know, uh because it is important for God. You know, God is seeing all that. Brethren, God is seeing that, he's seeing everything that we do in Krem and we'll he'll reward us. In Luke chapter 18, 22, he says, When Jesus had this, he said to he said to him, You still lack one thing, sell everything you you have and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me. Um, this is the story of the this this young this man was asking God, I've done everything. What more can I do? And then told him, Go and sell everything, and then give to the poor, and then you'll have treasure in heaven, then come and you know, come to me. And the rich man went home sad, and he could not grasp what God was, what God was saying. And you see, you cannot outgive God in this lifetime. God is keeping a good track record. He told this young man, God sell everything, give the poor. That man was dejected. You know, God is giving a good track record, and there'll be a lot of surprises in heaven. The money you've given, the sacrifices you've made for God. I've seen people sell land, give it the work of God. I've seen people take the entire salary, give it out. I've seen people take loans, um, you know, to support God's work because you know you you you feel convicted that's the right thing. You know, brothers and sisters, God is doing a good job. God is doing a good job. The records are in order, and one day we'll stand before God and He's going to reward us. Um in Luke, uh Luke 12 33 says, Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide passes for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near, no more destroys. And say, This is important. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. There's something about the poor. Um, you know, in Luke 18, 22, Jesus is telling you, sell everything, give to the poor. Uh in Luke 123, sell your possessions, give to the poor. There's something about being concerned about other people that God loves. Uh, and you see, the poor is not necessarily the poor is those who need you, basically, those who you can't, you know, when people who cannot pay you back. I think during the 30-day challenge, we kept challenging us, saying, give something to someone who cannot pay you back. That person is in a position of poverty, you know, is serve people who can never pay you back. And this is what Jesus um was telling them this way come and sell, provide for yourself and uh and sell, give the poor because when you do that, you're actually putting your treasure in heaven that will never. There no thief comes, no more destroyed. The angels are doing a good job, brothers and sisters. Every single thing you've done, you could get rewarded and should be encouraged by that. Um, um, there's a there's a reward system that transfers from this planet to heaven. So if you want to find it in heaven, the process of transferring from here to heaven is not through technology, it's through giving back to the poor, it's through serving people. That's how you transfer from the the you know down here to heaven. That's the method, that's the path, that's a ticket. If you want to find it in heaven, then give it out. You know, serve God, serve the poor. Um, whatever you are doing, if you do this, you're going to find it waiting for for you in heaven. In 1 Timothy 6 18, he says, Command them, as 1 Timothy 6.18, he says, Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

Breaking Transactional Christianity

SPEAKER_00 45:00

What a powerful statement. Uh, in 1 Timothy 6.18, you can read it all. But Paul summarizes, he says, command them to do good. Brothers and sisters, let's do out their do good. Anytime you step out of your house, whatever the circumstances, whatever the pain, whatever the season, determine, be determined to do good, be determined to do good. Um, be rich in good. Um, and he says, be generous and willing to share. You know, we are living at a time when people don't want to be generous. We are living at a time when there's so much individualism in our country, in our nation. There's so much individual individualism. And we can we can get caught up in it, brothers, if we are not careful. Even in our own families, everybody is on his own. You know, people want to be on their own. It's me and me and me and my family. There's that in that that spirit of uh individualism and it's from the enemy. It's absolutely from the enemy. Where people want to just be on your own, um, you can be in the you can be in the middle of people and you can suffer. I'm telling you, you can suffer without anyone ever being able to reach out to you. You can be in the middle of people, and you can be going through a lot of pain, and nobody can ever be able to know. Why? Because nobody has time to just pause and say, Hey, my sister, how are you doing? What's going on in your life? What's when her things, you know, just having a conversation um to get to know what is going on in the other person's life. We are we we can be so transactional that even to build a constant um you know a relationship that allows you to know what's going on in my life or in your life, I don't get to know. Because we are in a hurry. Running, you're not paying attention to each other. I'm with you, but you are not here. You are you're not you're not you can't reach me. You're you're not able to go through the phase, and that's not right. The Bible says, be generous and willing to share. Whatever little you have, I'm okay. I can you take it, I'll stay without you it's okay. Let's share. Whatever I have, whatever little I have, I am willing to share. Will you be generous and willing to share? Um, Matthew 10 42 says, and even one gives even a cup of cold water to one of the little ones who is my disciple, truly to you, I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward. Um you know, God is is is is saying, even a little cup of cold water to one of these little ones is being recorded and not lose the reward. And you know, we need to move on from being transactional. And I've seen it happen. You know, we are maybe I'm I'm sure I'm not the only one you've seen it. Uh you know, I see I get a lot of messages sometimes that you know you can find someone, somebody I've never talked to for three months, one year, you know, all of our blues. When he has a problem, when he has a problem, that's the time when the person is saying is sending you, say, oh, uh, can you help me here? Can you in between you've not been bothered to know actually what's going on in my life and where I am, what I'm doing, because you are transactional. You know, I'm talking about individualistic. We are so individualistic, we are thinking about ourselves. The only time we think about other people is when we have a problem and we need help. And that is wrong for Christians. We need to be so interconnected so that, and I'm not saying everyone, you need to be in the social setup that you have in be so interconnected so that we can be able to pick it out when people are hurting. When people are going through hard things, you can extend a hand. Sometimes it's just a hand, sometimes it's just talking, it's just that communication, that that knowing genuineness that this person is actually a friend. This person is actually interested in me. That's the generosity I'm talking about, yeah, brothers and sisters. Being generous, that generosity of time, just being generous to me to be able to know where I am and what's going on in my life. Um, yeah, let me I need to wrap up so I can hand over. Um, you can I can hand it over to uh my brother to be able to wrap it up uh tonight. But

God Wants Workers Who Serve

SPEAKER_00 49:36

let me finish. Um say God is looking for people who will work, he's not looking for gifted people. God is looking for people who will work, he's not looking for gifted people. Yeah, he's not looking for people with good intentions, but workers. In Matthew chapter 9, verse 13 says, Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. You know, there are many that uh you know, you know, there are there are people um that uh I've seen people say that once you want to enjoy the world, uh the world first, then get saved later. You know, um people are waiting, you know. They they they uh we we sometimes we wait for gift to be discovered. Oh, I'm not gifted in that, but I'm telling you, just start working. God is looking for workers. I want to tell you, and you have had us give that testimony here, brothers and sisters. I I never thought that I would be preaching. I never thought that at any one point in my life I will be sitting somewhere and I'm a preacher, let alone uh uh you know, the number of things we've done. Uh I used to lead praise and worship, I used to uh, you know, do there's nothing we haven't done. Um but I I didn't imagine I didn't I didn't imagine that one day we'll be doing what we are doing. All we did was just start working, serve people, do what you can do, don't wait for a puppy, don't wait for a platform, don't say, oh wait, one day when they you know, just get out there, do what you can with what you have. Um, you know, and that's why God created the church for this purpose. The church is an environment where we can work as a team, where we can experiment, you can try this, try that. Go to the media where you see there's a there's a the need. And you see, you need to be tuma. And as I don't want to say, that attitude of can I help? How can I help? How can I what can I do to help you? How can I help you in your ministry? How can I help you? And I think it's the same spirit at home in at home with your spouses and your children. How can I help my wife? How can I anything I can do to help you? Please tell me. I'm willing to do it. You know, just that spirit of serving, God is looking for workers, God is looking for workers, people would work, um, you know, who just can who are there to help whatever is there. Whether it's cleaning the church, I'm there, I've done it. Changing the seeds, I've done it. You know, anything that you can ever do. God is looking for workers, he's not looking for gifted people. Now, once you once he finds you, then he'll provide whatever you need. Um, we need to serve, just serve where you can. Don't sit idle in the church or start putting conditions. Just serve people, go out there, do it. Serve with all humility. Don't recognize you because it's not them. The people, this is why people fight is when you don't know who you are serving. But if you know I'm here for Christ, I'm here because God has called me to do. You know, you you you'll do something. Um, just serve. Just serve, brothers and sisters. Serving, just have with joy. You know, as you go to Kadiani mission, whatever God blesses you, just step out there, allow the Lord to use you, don't be complicated, don't become a complainant, have low expectations. Just serve the spirit of how can I help you? How can I support you? You know, we go to church, or it fanny, and I'll let people have find the book to be used. God is looking for workers. And when he finds those, I believe God is going to take us places, brothers and sisters. I'm sorry we've taken a lot of time, but I felt it should be important to encourage us because, brothers, there's gonna be a celebration.

Final Charge And Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 53:29

One day they will stand before a great celebration, and that celebration is God Himself who's gonna be rewarding us. So for now, you may serve maybe a painful, painful prayer, whatever it is, but let us encourage one another, brothers and sisters. Whatever pain we are going through, let's stand in there, let's allow the Lord to walk us through. Because one day we're gonna stand before him, and he's gonna say, Well done, good and faithful servant.