Revival Season 9 Day 2 - Encountering God: A Journey through Biblical Narratives and Personal Experience with Rev. Janet Kariuki Wahinya

Rev Janet Karyuki Wahine is the deputy senior pastor at Christ is the answer, ministry's sitam Thick Road.

She sensed God's calling in her life just after high school.

Her desire at the time was to help a friend who was struggling in their faith to enjoy a relationship with Christ similar to the one she had.

Shortly after joining Egerton University, where she got a bachelor's degree in sociology, she met a missionary couple.

The couple encouraged her to participate in door-to-door witnessing on campus.

Later, through the couple, she joined African Christian Outreach, a para-church organization that reaches out to university students.

In 2014, she joined sitam as a pastor.

In training, she then attended African International University, earning a Master's of Divinity in Mission Studies.

She also holds a diploma in counseling psychology from the Kenya Institute of Professional Counseling.

At sitam, she got a fast opportunity to preach on the pulpit on a Sunday.

She thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was certain that this was her area of calling.

In 2019, she was employed at sitam as a pastor on a full-time basis.

Reverend Janet is passionate about missions in urban areas.

She firmly believes that everyone has a role in building the society.

Her role and purpose is discipleship of people who will transform societies.

She extends her discipleship through writing and teaching the Word of God.

She has written a twelve-week devotional guide on the basics of salvation, titled my Heart, your Home.

She hopes to one day invest in an institute for emotional wellness training.

She loves to sing and play board games.

Reverend Janet is married to Mr James Wahine.

They are blessed with three children Steve, sam and Tugi.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Reverend Janet Karyuki Wahine.

Amen, amen, amen, shall we stand, shall we all stand in Jesus' name.

Reverend Janet, we are so excited that you're here and, by the way, my mom is called Janet, so this is an amazing day.

My mom will be talking to me.

I want to say a few words, amen, and she's here with her husband James.

Let's just give God a big, big, big hand for this family.

And welcome to Parklands Baptist Church revival season nine Karyukusana.

Thank you, sarah.

Praise the Lord.

Good evening, thank you.

Thank you may have you sit.

I am so honored and humbled to be on this pulpit today.

Thank you for allowing me the leadership of Apaki Asanteni Sanna, for having me this day to bring the word of God.

Reverend Ambrosi may not know me, but I met you when I was a fresher.

You came to preach.

You came to preach.

I had met this missionary couple of the Stignes I don't know if you knew them, so I was under a program I might have been in first year or second year and they took us to Brackenhurst for training, for discipleship thing, I think for a weekend, thursday to Sunday, and I don't remember anything.

There was so much food.

I had never seen so much food in my life.

I just ate, you know.

But funny enough, the one speaker I remember was Pastor Ambrosi and you talked about prayer and you talked about how we should come confidently and you are.

You know how he has a sense of humor and you are talking about how we can't be Jesus, lord I am coming to.

I still remember that because it impacted my life.

So thank you for your ministry.

I'm also a beneficiary of your ministry and for me, I'm humbled, really humbled, to be the one bringing the word of God to us today.

All right, the topic I was given to handle is the response, and very specifically the response to the encounter, to the encounter, the encounter we are trusting God to give us.

And we are going to be reflecting on the story of the Good Samaritan to see lessons we can learn from that so that we can examine our responses to God and then just learn from how.

So the topic is the response to the encounter, the response to the encounter.

If you may, media team, if you can also help me, let us get to John, chapter two.

I'm going to be reading sorry, john, chapter four.

I'm going to be reading from verse four all the way to verse 30.

Can you help me project that?

That's where I'd like to start.

I'm going to be reading from chapter four.

I'll be reading all the way from verse four to verse 30.

And if I can use NIV, I will appreciate.

If I can get NIV, I will appreciate.

All right, thank you.

Now.

He had to go through Samaria, so he came to a town in Samaria called Syker, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.

It was about noon when a Samaritan woman came to draw water.

Jesus said to her will you give me a drink?

His disciples had gone to the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him you are a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman.

How can, how can you ask me for a drink, for Jews did not associate with the Samaritans.

Jesus answered her if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you live in waters.

Sad, the woman say you have nothing to draw water with and this well is deep.

Why can you get this live in water?

Are you a greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drunk from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?

Jesus answered everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, water I give them will become in them like a spring of water wailing up to eternal life.

The woman said to him Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

He told her go call your husband and come back.

I have no husband.

She replied.

Jesus said to her you are right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is, you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband.

What you have just said is quite true, sad.

The woman said I can see that you are a prophet.

Our ancestors worship on these mountains, but you just claim the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem, a woman.

Jesus replied believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

You Samaritan's worship what you do not know.

We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming, and now has come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father and Spirit, and in truth, for they, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is Spirit and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The woman said I know the Messiah called Jesus is coming.

When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

Then Jesus declared I the ones speaking to you.

I am he.

Just then his disciples returned and was surprised to find a hymn talking.

That is Jesus talking to a woman, but no one asked what do you want or why are you talking to talking with her?

Then, leaving Hajja, the woman went back to the town and say to the people come see the man who told me everything I ever do did.

Could this be the Messiah?

They came out of the town and made their way towards him.

Thank you, thank you, immediate him for helping me go through that.

So this we are going to look at the topic.

As I've said, the response to encounter.

I would define an encounter as a meeting with God or an experience with God that is profound, or even there is profound or extraordinary, and most of the times when we are talking about an encounter, we are talking about something dramatic, you know, like there were angels involved, there was a miracle, you know, there was light coming down from heaven, there was a big sound talking, you know, talking to you and that is an encounter.

But for the sake of this discussion today, I will also stretch the definition of an encounter to include even when you're in your quiet time and the Lord talks to you and stuff something with it within you.

That too could be an encounter, even when you look at this, the story of this Samaritan yes, he made Jesus face to face, but there was.

It was just a conversation and at times, that's what happened in our car times.

So that is what should happen in our time a conversation with God and God can start something and therefore, for the sake of this, our our discussion today, even that, I want to include it among, include it in the definition of an, of an encounter.

I will also want to state that whenever God gives us an encounter, or whenever God encounters us, it's always for a reason or a purpose.

He does not give us an encounter to entertain us or to make us feel spiritual, you know, or to make us tell people, have a story to tell people.

Every time the Lord encounters us is because there is something he's trying to do, something he's trying to say, and the purpose of the reason can vary from basic to encouraging you.

You remember Elijah when he was discouraged.

It can be to convict you of sin and calling you to repentance.

It may be because he wants to deliver a promise to you and he wants you to believe in him because of that.

He may want to to to reveal himself to you.

Every time God encounters us, there is always a purpose.

Have that on the back of your mind.

God does not encounter us for encountering sake and if there is a purpose for an encounter, then there's an expectation for an encounter, because if he has a purpose, he expects that that purpose he has will be fulfilled.

Then there is an expectation and therefore, for every encounter there is a response that is right.

If it's according to expectation, or a response that is wrong, I would use.

Otherwise, a response that is appropriate or a response that is not appropriate.

That is where I'm going to dwell in my discussion today about responding appropriately to the to God when he encounters you.

So let if the in the in this story I have read of the Samaritan woman, it's not we're not told a vacuum what the purpose of the encounter with the Samaritan woman, but we can in fact, from the conversation they had, one of the things they talk about.

Or Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, of course he starts like a small talk, you know, this woman comes to the well and of course his god, he's able to know who this woman is and he's like just start a small talk, you know, can I have water?

You know and then goes ahead and one of the first things we he reveals, we can see comes out of this conversation, is that the reason.

Sorry, let me go to the next slide.

We are not told of what that, but one of the things is he introduces the concept of eternal life.

You know, he says that there, if you knew who I am, I will give you living water and this living water will spring forth to eternal life.

So introduces the concept of eternal, eternal life.

The other thing he does is also he talks about himself as the source of eternal life.

He points to himself as the Messiah.

The other thing he does in this conversation when he asks the woman go and call your husband, and the woman and the Samaritan woman says I do not have a husband.

He points out the sin in this Samaritan one when he tells us you're right, even this one you have right now is not your husband.

You know, we don't know exactly what was going on in this Samaritan woman's life, but the fact that he says that this fifth husband you have is not yours might mean that this was somebody else's husband.

Maybe he was, she was living with somebody else's house, but maybe she was even a prostitute who used to bring men in his house, you know, for some financial gain.

We don't know exactly, but sin is pointed out.

And then also, jesus talks about true worship.

He talks about worship.

That worship that follows is that follows this new life.

This eternal life is a life lived walking by the spirit.

So, if you want to to, to look at this conversation very keenly, we could see like Jesus was actually evangelizing to this woman.

You know he wanted this woman to turn from her sin.

He wanted this woman.

Jesus wanted this woman to have eternal life, to believe in him, the Messiah, and to have eternal life.

And the best thing about this story about the Samaritan woman is that we see the expectation of the Messiah was met, what I would call a right response, an appropriate response.

One of the things is like we see that he, she actually comes to believe because she says, sir, give me this water so that I won't be thirsty and keep coming.

When Jesus says I'm the source of living water, she's like then give me this water.

We see her come to believe, we see her repent.

We are not told she repented of, actually, again, neither do we see a sin as prayer, the way we do it, when us we come to faith.

These days, in our society today, we there's usually the sin as prayer, what we call the sin as prayer.

But you know, the sin as prayer is really not in the Bible the way we say it.

It's something that has developed over the church and this was not a church person.

You know, she was a Samaritan woman.

So she might not have said with the words, you know that I repent, but her actions speak of her repentance one.

Most people have argued these things and I argue the same, that the reason why this woman was at the well alone at noon was because most of the 10 people will go to the well to draw water early in the morning or late in the evening when it's not very hot, because this was a hot zone.

This was a desert, like you know environment, so they would go very early in the morning or late, late in the evening, and most of the time I come from a village.

When you go to the river you'd call your neighbor.

You know 20.

You know we would go, all of us.

But she was alone, most likely because she was an outcast.

That is why she was alone at the, going to the river alone.

So she was ashamed of her life.

She was at outcast.

Maybe if she came out when everybody else was coming out, you know, somebody would have picked a fight with them, especially, let's say, the husband of this fifth husband who she was living with, who was not her husband.

She might have met, you know, the other wife.

You know, and even if it was me, if I meet you and you have my husband, I will.

We will have a fight, you know.

So, to avoid all this drama, she was alone by the well.

So this woman who lived a secluded life like an outcast, after this conversation, after what we have seen, maybe she believed by saying you know, give me this water, we see her go back to the same people she was avoiding.

You know, that is a sign of repentance.

It's like her sins had been forgiven.

You know, she had found forgiveness and now she's going back to places.

She will not go back and even watch what she says come and meet the man who has told me everything I have ever done.

Do you think they were talking about her education, you know?

Or the?

You know?

Everybody knew when she said come and see what the man who has told me everything I've ever done.

They knew what she was talking about.

This is a person.

There was no way this woman was planning to go back to that lifestyle she had.

You know she would not have gone public if she had not gone to a place where she had repented, that she was turning away.

She would not have found, she would not have gone public about it.

So she goes public about it and not only had she repented, I would even argue she had found forgiveness.

You know, because when you found forgiveness, the Bible says if anybody, if anyone is in Christ Jesus, he's a new creature.

The oldest part has gone and behold, the new has come.

You know your sin, don't hold you back.

You know you're not ashamed that you are prostitute.

What you know right now is that the righteousness, I am the righteousness, I'm the righteousness of God.

So, with this proof by her behavior, her behavior, that there was repentance, that she had left, she had left her old way and she had found this living water.

So that is what I would call God had an excuse.

Sorry, jesus evangelized.

Yes, jesus is God evangelized.

And we see the response according to the expectation.

It's like when you go door to door, you know, when you go and share the gospel, you expect that somebody will give their life to Christ.

You know they may not.

They may not, but that is your, the expectation.

So because appropriate response, right response, is where I want to dwell on a little bit.

So allow me to further show you how important appropriate response is.

Let's look at some inappropriate responses.

Okay, let me not use the wrong responses that we can see in the Bible.

That's what some wrong responses or not not appropriate responses that we see in the Bible?

And the first one I would want to look at is the rich ruler in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 13, and I'm not going to read the the story we're told about this rich ruler who came to Jesus and he told Jesus what can I do to have eternal life?

Matthew 19:13

And Jesus tells him you know, keep the commandments, thou shall not kill, thou shall not murder, thou shall not commit adultery.

And this young man, very proud of himself, says tells Jesus, all this I have kept, you know.

And Jesus, actually the Bible tells us, god really tells up that Jesus looked to this young man with so much love because it was not an easy thing he had done, that was quite something that he had achieved and Jesus tells him one thing remains so that you become, so that you may become perfect, go and sell everything that you have, you know, and then come follow me.

You know, and we are told, this young man dropped his head and and walked away and went away.

So I will call that and a wrong response.

One of the wrong response we can have to an encounter remember, we are talking about an encounter with God is to walk away from God when he encounters us, because of the truth of the matter is that God sometimes asks us to do hard things.

Actually, that scripture tells us he walked away because he was a very rich man.

You know, he was not seen how he's given out, giving away everything he had, and therefore he walked away.

You know, have you ever walked away from God?

Me, I have.

That's the ministry I was telling.

I was mentioning the missionaries I worked with.

One day After I camped, the Lord put in my heart.

I joined, I was sent to more university.

It was not working out.

I tried 10 months.

It was not working out.

I remember exactly where I was standing, where I felt, so I was done.

I said me I'm done, I am going.

I didn't even say bye to anybody.

I packed my things, I'm going.

I said I'll go at the end of the week.

By the end of the week I just I can't even do the end of the week, I'll go tomorrow.

I remember the spot I was standing when God told me don't go and I walked away.

I just said you know what me?

I'm out of this.

And you know what happened.

I wasted two years.

I came because you know, at that time you finished camp.

Everybody's looking for a job.

You are there serving the Lord.

Because it's most stupid.

I was feeling like I need to go to the wild.

I went to the wild, tried the wild and after two years God brought me back.

So I wasted almost two years of my life.

God took me back.

Every time we walk away from God there's a consequence.

You know, like this, this, this, uh, rich ruler.

You know there was something God was going to do, you know, in his life, and he walked away from that.

You know, at any time we walk away from what God is doing to a life, it is not to the benefit of you, for you, it's not for your benefit.

So walking away, you know when God asks a hard thing because the Lord will.

We are classed in God to be world changers.

The Lord will ask hard things for us, hard things from us.

You know we cannot walk away.

I was just thinking of example.

God can ask you to leave that married man alone.

Yet he's the one paying school fees and paying the bills.

You know it is a hard thing to do.

You know God can ask you don't bribe that judge and it might mean that your son will go to prison.

You know, and you might be tempted to walk away.

You know God might be saying to you leave those friends and spend more time with your family.

Those friends you're spending too much time with.

You know, and spend more time with your family.

You know, resign your job and get into ministry.

Give that money you have been saving, you know, for two years, to go to Dubai.

Give it to that missionary.

God requires hard things from us.

Forgive that relative, the ones who treated you so badly.

Those are just examples of some hard things God can ask of us.

You know I pray that you do not walk away.

I really wish this young ruler would have, you know, lingered a little bit.

You know, even in the account of the Samaritan woman.

You know she had questions, but she sat there and asked the questions.

You know, what is this living water?

You know she did not just.

You know she didn't walk away.

She lingered in the presence of God and asked the questions.

I wish this young ruler could just have stayed in the presence of God longer and asked you know, okay, everything, you mean everything.

You know, if I have the wife, how is my wife going to survive?

You know, ask the questions when it is hard.

Linger in the presence of the Lord and ask the questions.

Do not walk away from the Lord.

The other response, that is a wrong response to an encounter with God, is an insincere response.

But King Saul was asked by God, through Samuel, to destroy the Amalakites.

We find this in 1 Samuel, chapter 15.

1 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

God sends Samuel to tell King Saul to go and destroy the Amalakites and he says totally, destroy everything and all their property.

But Saul we know the story very well Saul spares the king I think it was called Aga and spares the best of the cattle and the sheep.

And when Saul, god rebuilds this to Saul and God tells Saul I mean to Samuel and tells Samuel that I'm very mad with him.

I chose him, you know, when he was nobody, and made him somebody.

I'm going to remove him.

And Samuel, very mad, goes to meet Saul and you know what?

The first thing Saul says I have carried out the commandment of the Lord, you know.

He says that.

And Samuel brings it up to him and says no.

So actually Samuel says what is that?

I'm hearing?

The bleeding of Of the sheep.

What is that I'm hearing?

And then he goes on it and, you know, shifts blame and say it was us people, the people I went with.

The soldiers decided to spare some of the cattle and the sheep for the sacrifice of God.

But someone insists that it was not their command.

Saul insists I didn't do anything wrong.

You know, it was the man.

It was because of God that we spared this, this thing.

But eventually Samuel, in first and first summer, chapter 15, verse 24, confesses and says I have seen I have violated the Lord's command and your instruction.

I was afraid of the men and so I gave inch to them.

Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me so that I, that I, may worship the Lord.

It looks like a good response, but go to verse 30.

It says so there's a conversation that goes on.

But verse 30, as Saul talks again, he says I have seen, but please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, come back with me so that I may worship the Lord.

The only reason Saul was confessing is so that let's get over this story.

You know, you come with me, go and let's go and sacrifice so that you can honor me in front of the elders.

He was not repentant at all.

The only reason he was saying sorry is because he wanted so I mean Samuel the priest to accompany him to God, make sacrifices the way it used to be, you know, like the like beginning.

He did not want, you know, to to, to, to go through the consequences of his sin.

So he makes a very insincere and sincere response, you know, or insincere confession, very specific to this situation, you know.

So that is another way we can respond.

You know we are insincere in our response and as Christians, you know, we know the right things to say.

You know when somebody says this, you need to say some this or that, or do this and that, and sometimes we can very, very, very insincere.

In Matthew, chapter 21, we also see a parable of two sons who are told by their fathers to go to the vineyard and we are told the first one says no but goes later, you know.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

But there's one who says yes and had no.

He was just saying yes to get over the motions, you know, with the father.

You know, but does not go, you know.

So you would rather not give a response than give a response that seems right.

But in your heart you have not made a decision.

You know you found yourself in sin and you say God, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we'll not do that again, but you've not really thought about it.

You know, and made up a decision that I want to get out of here.

And in sincere response and in sincere response, we need to be careful not to respond in in sincerity Is that chapter 29, verse 13, and says these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away.

You know, you can be in church long enough.

You know Christian is, you know it's the general way to speak, but remember, god sees the heart.

So in sincere response is another response we, you know that we should not have towards the encounters we have with God.

The third one I want to talk about is the unsatisfactory response.

I will bring this story of first summer, chapter 2, verse 20, 2, verse 25.

We may not agree with me on this one, but I will let you, you know, be a bit rare and go and study.

So we're sorry, we're sorry of of of of.

This is early and we are told how his children had become very wicked.

You remember, ellie was a priest and his children, backstanched on, were priests, you know, because they came from the family, the priestly family, and we are told they had become really, really, really, really wicked in whereas it was supposed to be.

When people bring their sacrifice, they're supposed to boil and the priest was allowed to bring a prong and put it inside on whichever piece of meat comes, that is yours.

Then, before people sacrifice, they would demand they would send their men and tell their men give me the best, go and pick the best.

Today I want the thigh or I want the ribs.

They would pick the best even before it is boiled, which was an abomination, you know, in the eyes of the Lord.

More than that, they were even sleeping with the women who worked, you know, at the temple.

They were really doing a lot of wickedness and we are told that this got to the ear of their father.

That is Ellie.

And this is what Ellie says in first summer, chapter 2, verse 22 to 25.

Why do you do such things?

I hear from the people of this wickedness of yours.

No, my sons, the report I hear among God's people is not good.

If one sins against another another, god may mediate for the offender, but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?

There is put on.

You know, we can see that from his heart.

You know Ellie is is grievous, as in his feeling, bad about the sins of his children.

But later on we see another prophet is sent to, is sent to Ellie, and this is what the prophet says why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling?

Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourself on the choice paths of every offering made by my people, israel?

You see, this was wickedness.

It's like allow me just to use this, this example it's like Pastor Ambrose hears that half his male pastor sleeping with the girls in the church before pastors pray for you in this church.

You know you have to give them something, a good envelope for them to pray.

And then Pastor Ellie calls his pastors and says pastors, but they're pastors.

This is wickedness, you know, if you're sinning against God, you know God.

You know.

If you're sinning against another person, you know God can have mercy upon you.

But this is really great wickedness.

You know, it sounds like a good response but really look at it.

Ellie had the power to stop this action.

He had the power the same pastor Ambrose.

If he has that, he has the power to put all this power on disciplinary and even suck them.

You know, because this is an abomination going in.

There was a great wrong going here.

This is wickedness, you know.

Yet he just goes to his children, my sons.

This thing I hear you're doing, it's not good, you know it's not.

It's not good.

That is basically what he's saying.

So much as it looks like almost a right response, it lacks the, the way it's, you know, of the matter in this and therefore I would call that an unsatisfactory response.

And at times that's how we respond to God, you know he points out something in your life, wants you to do something, but the way you do it, you know it doesn't carry the agency of the matter, it doesn't carry the.

You know the emotions, you know, or the depth, or whatever God would want you to do.

You just do it, you just do it lightly and I would say we might not call it outrageous disobedience, you know.

But the fact that judgment came, I believe if Ellie I don't know but maybe if Ellie had done something at that time, that judgment would not have fallen.

God would have had, maybe God would have had Massive, but it was just an answer.

It was a response that looked okay, but it was just unsatisfactory as all.

Going back to Saul, that is another example.

He was told to destroy everything, yet he destroyed and left some things.

So when we do we respond to God's call or an encounter with God, with God, and use our own knowledge, where, as he wanted us to do it using his knowledge, or go with our pace as opposed to their pace, he'd want us to do it our way as opposed to his way.

That may look like that is an unsatisfactory.

I would call that an unsatisfactory.

You are obeying, but you're really.

It's not enough.

You know you could have done more.

Those are some of the things you know I want us to think about when you talk about our response to God.

Let's go back to this Maritian moment, the one I've said, which was an appropriate response.

It's like God, god's word.

Jesus got what he had wanted from that encounter.

You know God's repentance.

But what was when I was reading this which came to me afresh?

It was that like this was just not from the conversation we see, it was just like a evangelism, you know, asking as in wanting the fruits of repentance, wanting this lady, a Maritian woman, to have eternal life.

But this Maritian woman does more, more than that.

You know there's no way in this conversation we see, jesus says then, when you believe, go to the village and tell everybody to come to me.

You know, we don't see that, but this woman goes above.

You know the expected response.

I wouldn't.

I wouldn't know exactly what was going on in Jesus' mind.

I don't know if that was an expected response, but let's look at it.

Human beings, we are limited in that say, we can't see the depth of that story.

But let's just look at it as human beings.

That was not an expectation.

The Maritian woman went above, you know, above, over above, what was expected to come from that encounter, encounter with God.

So I want us also to move.

There is what we have seen the wrong response or the not appropriate response.

We have seen this what is appropriate.

But today I also want us to look at going over and above.

You know having the extra.

You know when you can say somebody's extra you mean Sometimes we don't say it in a good light you know they're just extra, they dress them, they just dress extra.

But today we're going to be talking about I try to get the right word, but I'm not a linguist, they escaped me.

Maybe I should have asked William.

William was very helpful in a lot of things as an extravagance when it comes to a response to God.

I want us to look at some other examples from the Bible of people who were over and above in their response towards their encounters with God, and one of such people was a Kias.

We found that story in Luke, chapter 19, verse 10.

Luke 19:10

We're told the Kias was a chief tax collector.

In those days the Israelites were under the.

They were being colonized the rulership of the Romans and the Romans demanded taxes from them.

But what used to happen of the tax man would go and collect tax.

Maybe it was supposed to be one coin, they would collect maybe two coins and then the pockets, the other coins.

So they were really hated people.

They were evil people, they were hated, they were the corrupt, just like.

Forgive me, but sometimes how we see the cops, you know we see a cop, even if they're not.

We just associate them because of what we have seen them doing.

You know we just you know, we see them, we see corruption.

It was the same thing.

You see a tax collector, you see wickedness.

So we're told that Jesus was passing his way and he decided to go up a sycamore tree because he was short, so that he may see Jesus.

And as Jesus was passing the way, he stops passing that way.

He stops and looks up and sees the Kias and tells the Kias, come down.

Today I'm going to your house, you know, and people were shocked because they knew they were sinners.

People complained how is he going to our Sinner's house?

But the Kias was having his encounter, you know, and I can imagine what is going through his mind.

You know this teacher, he's supposed to be a holy man.

How can he even talk with me?

Same thing with a Samaritan woman.

How can this Jew talk with me as a Samaritan?

And I'm thinking he's thinking how can Jesus, you know, have time to talk?

Talk to me, come to my house, never long.

Talk to me, come to my house for a meal.

You know how can he come to my house for a meal and is convicted.

Another situation, a scenario where we don't see him saying the Sinner's prayer, you know.

But his actions speak.

And whereas if he had just told Jesus, from today on, I will collect only what I'm supposed to collect, that would have been sufficient repentance, it would be still, it would have been okay, you know, maybe it would have even better.

Says and from everybody I have stolen, you know, I was wondering when he had records of everybody.

Anyway, he says, even if he had said from everybody I have stolen from, I will return, that would have been amazing.

But look at what he says.

He says half of what I have I will give to the poor, and for everybody I have stolen from, I will give four times.

Talk about being extravagant in your, in your, in your, in your response to God, or being up and above that.

God says something you know and you respond, not just how, the minimum you know, but over and above you know that response.

A very good example, another guy is Abraham.

So Abraham, we are told his wife could not conceive.

They could not conceive his wife because he could get a child with the hugger could not conceive.

And then, after 25 years of waiting for a child, after the promise of what, they were already old, they had already had a sufficient time of waiting.

When they are old, you know they have their promise.

And then it takes 25 years to get the son, the son.

And then one good morning the good Lord appears to him and tells him Abraham, I want you to take your son, in case you're confused about your only the son, whom you love, and go and sacrifice.

If it were you, what would you have done?

Just think about your saving in your bank.

And then God tells him what would you have done?

And then we are told early the next morning it's like he could not wait, you know, early the next next morning at the mountain to sacrifice.

What a response.

We would have understood if you would have postponed.

Not today, maybe the Lord was changed his mind, not today.

You know how?

Can it be that the same God who gave me will take it away?

I refuse, that is the voice of the devil.

I would even understand him, but there was an eagerness, you know, to go and respond to this, to this call that has been put in his life.

And another instance, I would say that was an extra hour over and above response to God.

I want to divert a little bit and look at Abraham's servant.

So later on, like in two, three chapters, this son who we know, god intervened, you know, and Isaac was not sacrificed, so he's of age, isaac is of age to get of age, to get married, and Abraham sends his servant to go and look for a wife, a wife for Isaac, and he says I do not want Isaac to marry a woman, so go back to our family, you know, to my uncle's house Was it my uncle?

A brother's house, and get away from my son.

And this servant goes and when he gets to that place, to that land, at the well, he makes a prayer to God and says God, I pray that you give me speed.

And then he says that I will.

The woman who comes here and I ask her to give me water, and she gives me water and over and above, she waters my animals, that will be the wife.

If a human being can demand that of a human being's wife, she will see God.

She'll also get up and above, over and above in our response.

If this person, this servant, expected that of the wife of Isaac, doesn't God have a right, or should not have a right, to expect such responses from us?

You know that when he asks us to do something, we will not just be content with doing the bear minimal.

We will do Over and above, will be extravagant in our response, in our response to God.

I want to also and this one, I will read 2nd Samuel, chapter 23, if you can help immediate him to project 2nd Samuel, chapter 23.

I'll be reading from verse 13 to 17.

During the harvest time, three of the 34 years came down to David at the cave of Adulam, while a band of Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rafa.

At that time David was in the stronghold and the Philistine garrisons was at Bethlehem.

David longed for water and said all that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.

So three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it.

Instead, he poured out.

Before the Lord.

Let me go to the next verse.

Oh, so for me it's sorry, yes, for me, lord, to do this.

He said it is not, is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?

So we are told about David.

He had mighty men and one day he's just desiring that he may get water from this particular river.

But it was in a place where for you to get that water you need to go through the enemy's camp.

And these three men, when they heard David just mentioned he was not even asking, he was just mentioning he risked their lives and went through the enemy camp and got the water.

I was reading this, I was thinking imagine if God had such an army of people.

You know that when he just asked something, you know we just have an idea that the Lord would like us to do.

To do that, you know we risk our lives.

You know we go the extra mile.

You know and go and respond.

You know, to whatever God wants.

You know, without blinking.

You know being the mighty warriors of God, and that is my challenge, we are trusting God.

You know, to take over, to put an empowered takeover, you know, and God desired it Isn't it God, who, isn't it not the Lord, who told us he wants this to use us to do that?

You know that is very consistent with his word.

You know that his kingdom, you know, should spread to the ends of the earth and us, as believers, should be the agents of that.

But for that to happen, you know we need to respond to God, like this mighty man, you know, when he says we need to be ready to.

You know, to go past the boundary lines, you know, to the enemy's camp.

You know, and advance, you know and go, or else we'll just be limited.

If I can just take us through the summary of the things, even as I, as I conclude, you know the first thing we talk, we talked about, is walking away, not appropriate responses or the wrong responses.

You know, if we are going to be to take over and we are going to be an army of the Lord that will go and do the purposes of the Lord in the world, you know we cannot be the kind of people who walk away from the Lord when he asks us, because he will ask us the hard things he will ask us and he will ask us both on the front of making us to be like him and also on carrying out his purpose and his task, on becoming and in doing.

God will ask us to do hard things.

But if we persist in walking away, if we persist in being in insincerity, if we persist in unsatisfactory kind of responses, we will not do the purposes of God, you know.

It will limit us and therefore we have to examine our lives.

How are we responding?

How are we responding to God?

Because that is disobedience.

When you really look at it keenly, that is, that is disobedient.

Have we been disobedient?

You know, and sometimes, as I've said, unsatisfactory response at times does not look like, you know, disobedience.

But are we that kind of?

Are you, very specifically, that kind of people?

As I said, like the two sons we learned about, you would rather have a negative response and turn it to a positive response.

The second reflection I want us to make when God asks you, as I said earlier, to do something that you consider hard, linger in the presence of the Lord.

You know, you remember Moses.

You know, when God came to him through a burning bush and told him to go and deliver the children of Israel, he was not necessarily willing.

It was a hard thing.

He didn't even think he can do it, you know.

But he lingers and asks the Lord no, I must amara.

And God says am I not the one who gives speech, you know?

And then he says and who will I tell them you are?

And God tells him tell them I am and I am.

And when he passes it, god said okay, even I will give you, I will give you your brother Aaron.

You know to go and he will be your spokesman, you know, in the presence of the Lord.

Don't be in a hurry to walk away.

You know when the Lord asks, because I promise you he will ask hard thing.

So let me go back to the story I told you when I walked away from the Lord so it was one year and something and God, so this is what happened.

So actually, one of the incentives I was working, I had I that was making me get out of ministry then to go, was because there was an NGO, there was a prospect of I will get a job, and as soon as I left the NGO collapsed.

So I did not get the job.

I came to Nairobi like most village people I come from Kitale.

I came to Nairobi to look to a job and for most first time seekers of job, I got a sales job.

I sold insurance and it was looking like it was something that was that was taking up, I was making a few sales and it was looking like I could do that.

But that was after a long time of job hunting, you know, and one day I just I was just depressed, you know, and I prayed.

One day I used to say with my sister I go home, and I was just feeling like a duck, I couldn't walk, whereas initially I was very enthusiastic about the sales and potentials and falls.

Just one day there was this heavy cloud.

So I go home and my sister is not there, the house is locked and I spent.

I just take time and I pray and God tells me you remember where we left.

Go back and remember.

I told you I had not even said bye, I parked my things and I just went.

So I'm telling God so how am I going to go to those people?

You remember how I was not going back and I told God, god, if you, god, if you, if you want me to go back, let one of them call me and I'll stick me.

The next day called me One of the missionaries and I went, I went back.

So after some time they used to give us something small.

It was really small, but it was.

At least you could do one thing.

No, that sounded bad.

No, that is not why it was, for the story, not for saying that.

I'm not accusing people.

So it was, it was helpful, you know.

So I started doing business.

Business, I used to make cake.

My sister used to make cakes.

I started doing cakes with her, you know.

And then one day I had God telling me stop doing this cake thing.

I had cakes on me and you remember I had disobeyed before I had learned my lesson and if I dare disobey I will waste my time.

I think that was the hardest thing Because, as I asked, because I also lingered and asked God, you actually mean that I should just quit everything.

But by that time I had already left the stick in the ministry.

I was trying to do it on my own.

So if I say now to business, it's like I have no income.

And I was so sure I asked my questions to God and I was so sure God is saying just quit.

Luckily for me, my parents had a house, at least I had accommodation but they were living in Kitale but they had bought a house in Nairobi so I was staying there.

I ate dry rice Was my portion.

I really survived on dry rice.

And then the other thing that saved me my mom was a coin collector, so she had a cateen that had just coins.

So in Likwada, chikoyon, I know I'm chelle and you also adore her when she comes to visit she notices that you've been stealing, because that is stealing.

But that was a hard time, just been stealing, and I used to wake up at night and I have panic attacks because it didn't make sense.

And then you meet everybody who has gotten a job and they're asking you what are you doing?

The Lord has told me to quit and just wait.

So the Lord has asked me to do hard thing and I'm trying to say that to.

The Lord will ask you I am not a prophet, but I can prophesy that one.

The Lord will ask you to do hard things concerning his goal.

We are calling ourselves empowered world.

Oh, my God, you want to go to the world.

The Lord will ask you to do hard things for him, and sometimes it's also about your character, as I said things about.

Live that scene, you know, live that relationship.

You know things about your life.

He will ask you hard things.

Linger in the presence of the Lord In case you have doubts.

He will help you.

You know, and step out and do the other things.

But even as I talk about lingering and asking the why and why, now do you mean it?

Let me put out a question to that.

There is this story about Elizabeth and Mary.

You know, almost same thing happened to Zachariah and Mary.

Same thing happens to them A promise, an angel comes to them and tells them that they will have a child.

And Mary asks you know, I'm a virgin, how shall this be to me?

As I've said, there is room to ask.

When you don't feel you know that thing, just linger in the presence of the Lord and ask the questions and let the Lord minister to you.

And Mary asks how shall it be?

I'm a virgin, and all that.

But the same thing happens to Zachariah and Zachariah asks how shall this thing be?

I am old?

And he struck with Dumbness why?

I think it's because Zachariah was expected by this time and you have been taking too long.

Tell the Lord today.

I respond to that.

I don't know how?

But I'm going to get out of this place and I'm going to be obedient to you.

What is it?

Just talk to God.

God has spoken to you concerning, but it's gonna cost us if you're going to be world changers.

It's gonna call more from us.

You know more than just being children.

You know who is always arguing with God, always giving God the minimum.

You know that's the bare minimum to be called a Christian.

You know it will call us to do more for God.

You know to respond with extravagance, to respond with so much love.

What is God telling you today?

Just speak to God.

Just speak to God.

Just speak to God.

Just speak to God the same name.

Just speak to God, to God.

That's the um mike to the véna theme.

Father, we ask you to walk with us.

What is your response?

The word of God has come forth.

Maybe you are one of those people that God has been talking to to receive salvation.

The Samaritan woman responded and tonight the call to salvation is here.

If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, the response is yours today.

From where you are sitting or where you are standing, step out.

The pastors at Dickens are here.

Come forward, let's take that step, because we're going to pray for you in a moment.

Maybe you are in that state of saying, hey, I'm going to walk away from this encounter.

Like Reverend Janeta said, don't walk away, it will cost you.

Don't walk away.

God has us an amazing plan for you and even online you can make out that response and God is waiting for you.

Have you ever given your life to Christ?

If you haven't, if you don't even remember it ever happened, and today you want to remember, in the name of Jesus, step forward.

Come.

We'll just take a moment as we sing, because this is now for you Worship to him.

Come Upstairs, downstairs, come.

I'll be praying for you in a moment, but come now, respond.

Somebody will be praying for you.

Come, come, come the call is clear Come Come and drink living water, come Come.

Come, come, come, come Come.

We also want you to come.

If there's some business in your heart that you need to change your life, you need to repent.

You're born again but, like my sister was saying, there are certain things like soul deeds.

Disobeyed God, the sons who were sent, one went when they had said no.

The other one said no, but then they went.

What is it that God is saying to you that in sincere response?

The unsatisfactory response?

Are you like Zacchaeus who said hey, I will do this and I will do it extravagantly?

Do you think they're just so arrogant?