20th September 2026 Sunday 1st Service - A Call to Discipleship by PBC ADeacon, Francis Wairagu.

So I'd like us to read the word of God this morning.

So if media, you can give us the scripture for today.

We are reading from the book of Matthew, chapter 4, verse 18 to 22.

Matthew 4:18–22

Then we will also jump from there to Matthew 28, 19 to 20.

And I have backup here just in case my eyes, you know, we also have to admit years are moving, eyes are doing what they are doing.

But in case I have a challenge, I have a backup.

But let's read the word of God.

Matthew 4:18.

Matthew 4:18

The Bible says, as Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew.

They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.

Once at once they left their nets and followed him.

Going from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebede, and his brother John.

They were in a boat with their father, Zebedee, preparing their nets.

Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Let's go to Matthew 28, verse 19.

Matthew 28:19

Yes, there we are, Matthew 28, and we are all familiar with this.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

And that is the word of God.

And people say it, let us pray.

Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us to this service.

Thank you for the blessings that you have bestowed upon us this far.

And Lord, as we delve into your word this morning, I pray the Lord you speak to every one of us.

And Lord, I surrender myself to you that Lord you may use me even to communicate to all of us and bless every one of us this morning, even as you remind us about the call to discipleship.

In Jesus' name we pray.

And the church said, You may have your seats.

And if you had not said hello to your neighbor, you still have an opportunity again to do so.

My name is Francis Wairagu, for those who may be meeting me for the first time.

And I serve here as a deacon, and I thank God for that opportunity.

I am a married man with a wife and children, and I also have grandchildren, and quite a number of them.

And I thank God.

Amen.

The other day I had some communities, they don't count their livestock, they also don't count children.

Therefore, I leave numbers out.

Let me not go that direction, but I thank God for his goodness.

For the first time, I'm standing on this pulpit, and my wife is not here.

She's in county number 27.

For those who know counties by numbers, county number 27 is where?

Is Wasinegishu.

So she's following the service online in Wasinguishu because the demand for work could not allow her to be able to come and join her.

I joined me here, but she sends her love.

And I left Eloret yesterday to come for the service.

And the Lord is good.

Amen.

This is also Maturity Week, and we want to thank God for the maturity team for the good work they have done through the week.

For those of you who have followed, we can come up for them actually.

For those who have followed up the activities, they've been doing Bible exposition of the book of Philippians.

And if you want to understand the book of Philippians or know what Bible exposition is, please go back online and follow that.

That team has done an excellent, excellent job.

And therefore, it will be good for you to do that.

So, on behalf of maturity, I'm standing here and also appreciating the work of our spiritual leaders in this house, our senior pastor on leave, and hoping he's also following this one online.

And our associate pastor, Reverend Dr.

Simon Mwangi.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do this as maturity.

And I'm also doing this on behalf of Pastor Kiniti, who is on sabbatical leave, and also standing here on behalf of Pastor Susan, who is the acting maturity pastor.

So the protocol is well laid, and therefore I am a man under instruction.

So we will go straight to what I'm supposed to do so that we can be blessed this morning.

Amen.

And it's a great pleasure to be here, you know.

I just resumed.

I was also on sabbatical leave for one year plus, and I've rested and I prayed, and I had the opportunity to retire completely.

But the spirit told me to continue a little.

So I'm here by the strength of the Holy Spirit, and I want to continue serving the Lord because He is good.

Amen.

And it is very nice to see all of you.

And from where I'm standing, because you are sitting, you are looking very good.

From where I'm sitting, standing, and you are sitting, you are looking very and thank you for coming.

Therefore, today our topic is a call to discipleship.

A call to discipleship.

And we've already read the lead scripture for the day, and we're going to break it into four key points.

And I don't know how I don't know how they have arranged themselves.

I can see number four has come to the top.

I don't know whether they are like that on the screen.

But anyway, the number one, the key points we are going to be talking about is number one the call, number two, the word, number three, the communion, which is now prayer, and then number four, the great commission.

Because many of us may not be familiar, or you already are aware what discipleship is all about.

And in most cases, when we talk about discipleship, because it's going out doing what we have read in Matthew 28.

Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and all that.

And many people, when they look at that, they say, No, that is not my work.

That is the work of a pastor.

That is the work of bishops.

That is the work of apostles.

That is the work of the super spiritual believers.

You know, we have believers who are super spiritual, you know.

There are some who look very serious even when they are walking around.

They are full of the Holy Spirit.

Very serious.

And I think I shared with one of you sometimes back.

We had one such brother when I was in college.

Right today, he's a bishop.

So those days you pass him and you greet him.

How are you, my brother?

And he doesn't respond.

So later, when you meet, you ask him, brother, I greeted you.

Did not respond.

He says, No, no, no.

My eyes were fixed in New Jerusalem.

So, and I can see Brother Jimna here because we were in college together, he knows whom we're talking about.

My eyes were fixed on New Jerusalem.

So I told him next time, my brother, when you are walking, when your eyes are fixed on Jerusalem, don't walk in the streets of this world.

Because you are making people in this world think we are not normal.

So when you are walking here, greet us.

But super spiritual.

But the Lord is good in all these things.

So some people do not think that discipleship is for them.

But I want to confirm to us this morning that discipleship is for us.

Because discipleship in the Christian circles is more than attending church services or simply believing in Jesus.

It is a lifelong journey of growing in our fellowship with Christ, surrendering our lives to Him, and becoming more like Him.

It is about walking closely with our Savior, learning from Him, and allowing His transformative power to shape us from inside out.

Now it is very key.

Inside, out, because it is from the depth, from the abundance of the heart, the mouth does what?

So it is from inside out.

Now, and you cannot be able to do all these things we are doing alone.

So discipleship is also supposed to be a community.

And when you say to grow to be like Christ, that's when we qualify to be called Christians.

Not right now, when Christian is a form of religious identity.

Which religion do you go to?

Then you say, Oh, I'm a Christian, I am a Buddhist, I am a Muslim.

But all those things may mean nothing.

But when you have gone through discipleship, is that you have followed.

Because a disciple is a follower, a disciple is a student, a disciple is an enterprise, somebody who has be who is walking and following another one.

There is a difference between a follower and a stalker.

You know, a stalker is somebody who will just be going where you are going and you don't, and they don't want you to know you they are following you.

You know, they don't talk to you.

Okay?

Even if they did, they will pretend as though they had not met you.

So there is no communication between you and a stalker, but there is communication between you and a follower.

So you must communicate, you must understand one another.

Because two cannot walk together unless they agree.

I like the fact that you know the scripture because you are saying them even before I finish.

Now showing you have been well discipled.

Praise the name of the Lord.

And therefore, we will be visiting these things.

So let's go first to the new to the first point of the call.

And we have read now from the book of Matthew, chapter 4, verse 18 to 20.

Matthew 4:18–20

We've talked about, we have seen about the two pairs of brothers whom Jesus called.

And the Bible has told us that when Jesus, we can go back to that, that as Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew.

Okay, and they were casting a net into the lake.

And okay, yes, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish people.

Once they left their nets and followed him.

But before we can go to that, to the next lot of the brothers, the issue is this he found people who were busy.

He found people who were doing things.

Now, I want to emphasize to each one of us Jesus calls us from our ordinary lives, from our special lives, the way we would like to look at them.

Because you find among the people Jesus called, he called fishermen, he called tax collector, and later he trains people like Luke who followed him, who were doctors.

But every one of them, after responding to the call, their lives were transformed.

And it is not by coincidence that he was calling these two in pairs.

It is the need for us to know that discipleship is not an individual business.

While commitment is individual, we do it as a community.

Jesus expects that as we follow him, we will follow with one another.

As the Bible tells us, do not neglect the gathering together.

Why is that important?

It's so that we can be able to encourage one another.

So that you know in this journey you are not alone.

So when Jesus calls us, he would want us to also form teams.

And the first church, as you know, it was not held in congregations like we are seated today.

People were meeting in homes, eating together, breaking bread together, and sharing the word of God.

But now these days we have Christians who say, I practice my faith privately.

That one is not Christianity.

I practice my faith privately.

Now, Jesus did not come privately.

Jesus is not reaching out the world privately.

So if you have a faith in Jesus, it cannot be private, it has to be public.

That's why in some places where people work, you go and ask, I'm looking for brother so and so.

Says, are you his younger or older brother?

Because the only way they can say so he or she has a brother, sister, is only because there is now brotherhood of Christianity that has been demonstrated where they work.

But the other places you go and ask, I'm looking for so-and-se, brother so and so.

They are the ones who tell you, brother, and they are not born again, but they know that is a brother.

Why?

Because when people come to that office and they have a problem and they are looking solo, he tells them, please, I may not be able to help, but I think we can pray.

Even if you don't believe it, I will believe for you.

Let us pray.

And they pray for them.

And maybe that time the person is so discouraged, but that prayer will transform that person.

Eventually, you find all of them in the office calling him pastor, calling him brother, calling him bishop, calling her the sister.

Because they are exercising their faith publicly.

Now, when a call comes, it changes our lives.

And when that is done, if you look at the if you recall now in the book of Genesis chapter 12, that is the call of Abraham.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

The Bible says that when he was called, he was asked to leave his people, leave the place where he was living, and go to a place that God was going to show him.

Now, what he did, the call on the life of Abraham was what we call translocation.

He was moved from where he was living to go to another place.

Some of us, we are unable to practice our Christianity because of our background.

You are brought up by people who are so bad to you.

You simply find it very difficult to believe anybody can be good.

So even when you find people are good, you are suspicious.

Because you ask, can there be a human being who can be kind?

Because you grew with a very harsh father, a very hard mother, and your brothers, and maybe you are the last born.

They they use you as a kicking ball.

So a kipiwa who when they are coming back, get out.

So you every time you stay like this, your antennas are always up because of the way.

So when you now find people who are kind, people who are good, you wonder, are these real human beings?

Because the human beings you are familiar with, so you need a translocation.

Some of us grew in places where people did so bad things to you.

You find it so difficult to forgive, so that when the Bible tells you forgive others, so that even your heavenly father can forgive you, you say, Aye, that one, let's sort it when we get to heaven.

Unfortunately, there will be no rooms for sorting out when we get there.

You'll either be there or not, so you forgive here.

You show kindness where?

Now, when a call happens, it brings a real change.

And because you have to move first on this one, the next thing reference that I want to look at is in the book of first Kings, chapter 19 and verse 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

Let's read another man who was called, and so you see what the call does to our lives.

1 Kings 19, verse 19.

1 Kings 19:19

So Elijah went from there and found Elisha, son of Shaphat.

He was ploughing with 12 yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the 12th pair.

Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.

Elijah then left his oxen and ran after Elijah.

Let me kiss my father and my mother goodbye, he said, and then I will come back.

Elijah replied, What have I done to you?

So Elijah left him and went back.

He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them.

He burnt the ploughing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate.

Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

Now, look at this call.

Somebody is ploughing.

He was a serious farmer.

This is what cost 12 yolks of oxen.

And usually, every yoke in most cases is pulled by two bulls.

Two bulls in most cases.

Two.

So if you use those mathematics, he was already, if there were 12, he had 24 bulls.

And usually it's not not small bulls that pull yoke, it is strong ones, well fed.

You know those things, eh?

So they are those serious kind of bulls, you know.

So when the cloth was drawn onto him, and for us, it's not the clock.

We have been splashed the blood of Jesus, and that is what signifies our call to salvation.

When the clock touched him, he went back and asked for permission.

Quick submission, immediately, they had not met before, but immediately he was under authority.

Says, please give me a chance to go kiss bye-bye to my mother and my father, then I will follow you.

Quick submission.

Yet we wonder why, after we have come to the knowledge of the saving grace, we still are struggling to submit.

Even some people, and the Bible is so clear.

Wives submit to your husbands, and submitting is not slavery.

If you don't understand it, that's why you should go to a Bible study for families, so that you can understand what it means to submit.

Because other things submitting is crawling on your knees, it is burging and giving way, and giving your opinion quietly, not violently.

And it's just accepting you have a leadership and honor it.

That's submission.

But some people think that when you submit, you become a domain.

That is your own interpretation.

It is not the scriptural interpretation.

That's why you should join a Bible study on family.

Join other ladies to study what it means to be a wife from the scripture, not from TikTok, not from Facebook, not from I don't know where.

That one cannot make you mature.

Because then they will bring you the quarrelsome.

The ones who say, ah, me, cook for you.

You will try another one.

Now, if that is where you are nurturing your growth, I can tell you as early as now, you are lost, and you will get even further lost.

You know, one time we went we went to look for some flows in Anuki.

Because so when we missed the road, and when we missed, we went, we've met some guys on the road and we asked for direction.

So we told them we are going to such and such a farm.

So gentlemen looked at us.

You'll excuse me, I'll have to say it in mother tongue first, then uh let you then those who are close can interpret for you.

So the man looks at us and says, Whoa, thagoma.

For those who understand that French, he said, Oh, you are lost like the devil.

Now, meaning, even unbelievers know the devil has no direction, he's lost.

But can you imagine that is somebody who is trying to help us?

But he starts by killing our morale that we are lost like.

Now let's go back.

Elijah is touched by the clock and immediately submits.

Because my emphasis is on the call so that we don't miss it.

After that, he slaughters the livestock and uses the yorks to cook the meat.

And now bid bye-bye and left.

Now, the issue is this he burned his bridges of ever going back to farming.

He did not preserve anything to go back.

So if you get to Christianity, the Bible says, once you are in Christ Jesus, the old has gone.

And behold, the new has come.

You must be a new creation in your speech, in your doings, in your kindness, you must be a new person.

And the only way is to ban those bridges and allow the Holy Spirit to make you new.

Unless you respond to that kind of a call that way, you will not be able.

Now, some of us, even though we were called and were farmers like Elisha, some of us say there is one bull I was given by my father.

That one I cannot slaughter.

You carry it along.

There is also a very good jamb that does not hold, it doesn't catch soil.

You say, just in case I follow this man, and one day I may need to even farm for ministry to grow food for the ministry.

No, you justify.

Then you come with those things, and those things become a barrier for you to respond to the call.

So the first point of being a good disciple is respond completely to the call of God.

And therefore, if there is anybody here today, you have not responded to the invitation of Jesus.

For God so loved the world, the call is for everyone that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is your opportunity today to respond to the call.

Amen.

Now, after the call, we have to proceed.

The next one is the word.

Because after you have now become born again, you are like a baby in the kingdom.

And therefore, you need to be nurtured so that you can grow.

And in that, we need to take in the word of God.

And we are told in the book of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 8 and 9, if we can read there, Joshua was taking over the mandate from Moses after he died.

Joshua 1:8

And the Bible says, Keep this book of the law always on your lips, meditate on meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, and do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Now, for the Lord to go with you, for you to be courageous, for you to be able to stand firm, you need the word of God.

Amen.

And why do you need the word of God?

Because it is the breath of God, it is the power of God.

Because the Bible tells us in the beginning was the word.

And the word was with God.

Now, meaning the word is God Himself.

When you have the Word in you, you have God in you.

So you need to take time and read.

And here Joshua is being told, meditate on it day and night.

And just in case some of you think, oh no, that is old testament stuff.

Let's look at 1 Peter 2.2.

1 Peter 2 2.

The Bible says, if we can jump there, yes.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.

Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Amen.

Crave for the pure spiritual milk.

For you to grow, a baby without milk will not grow.

Alright?

So it is important for us to take the word of God in our hearts.

And and how how will you do this?

That's why we have Bible studies in this church.

In between the services, we have room for you to go and do Bible study.

Over the week, we have people who meet on Thursdays, we have others who meet on Fridays and they do Bible study.

We also have Bible study in house groups.

People meet and study the word of God.

Like I belong to the Lovington House Group.

And that's why we study the Bible and we challenge one another.

And we also, ours is online most of the time.

So we have people from all over the world joining.

And we encourage one another.

And we do not only study the Bible, we also go out when something happens to you.

We come along with you.

We also go to visit our parents.

So that it's not just studying the scripture, it is standing and walking with one another.

And sometimes we only meet to eat.

Yes, we fellowship.

And I can tell you, some of our members cook very seriously and we enjoy ourselves.

Yes, like Pastor Simon would say, a good meal is good.

And it is nice to have a good meal, yes.

And especially when it has been cooked by somebody you trust.

Now, we it's the same.

When you get the word from somebody you trust, it will minister to you.

These are people who have worked with you.

You know when they are sharing what they think should be done.

If they are talking to you about love, you have seen them showing love.

If they are talking about care, you have seen them showing care.

It is not theory.

Some of you, I'm sure, were here, you are hearing me for the first time.

So you may not have a lot of reason to trust me just because Pastor Simon trusted me here.

But imagine the people you walk with.

When you share, and they tell you, by the way, it is not easy to be a husband, it takes the grace of God.

Because you are taking care of somebody who was brought up by other people and you are supposed to lead them.

Some are willing, others are not willing, others are every kind of thing that you can find.

But because you said I do, you walk with them.

You only think it is difficult for ladies, it is not easy also for men.

Submit yourselves to one, and you do so that your home can be blessed.

You know, we have to continue, but the issue is this you need to study the word of God, you need to carry the Bible with yourself, have a plan for yourself, and these days it's easy because it's available everywhere, even on your Bible plans, even on your on your phone.

Take time to read the word of God if you want to grow.

Amen.

Because even when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, when he was faced by the devil, he responded by the word.

In Matthew 4, 11, if you read Matthew 4, chapter from verse 1 all the way down to 11.

He says, When he was given the first temptation, he said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

That one he was quoting Deuteronomy 8.3.

He was quoting the word of God.

Even you, when you're faced by situations, you better quote the word of God.

It will sort you.

And then in Psalms 119 and verse 9, we are asked, and I think we read that one.

Let's read this because it's not long.

Psalms 119 from verse 9.

How can a young person stay on the path of purity by living according to your word?

Let's read the other one.

I will seek you with all my heart.

Do not let me stray from your commands.

Let's go to 11.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.

Now, if you don't want to sin against the Lord, just put a lot of God's word in your heart.

It will give you wisdom, it will guide you on how to respond.

So that even when somebody wrongs you, you are vibrating from inside.

Yeah, with range.

You go some people, it moves from anger to what?

Range.

When it is range, it can explode.

Some are not even able to talk because they have moved from anger, because it starts from being annoyed, then you get angry, then you get range.

And some people now react with wrath.

So when that happens, you will hear the word of God telling you vengeance belongs to the Lord.

Vengeance, and then you start now breathing, your eyes start opening, and the next thing you say, let's discuss that tomorrow.

Let's discuss that tomorrow.

Because the word has ministered to you, pack yourself with the word of God.

But if you pack yourself with movies, I can blow your head out.

You're giving me no nonsense.

Now, if those are the things that are fooled in your house, because that's what you keep watching all the time.

When somebody I know is you, you say, I don't know blow your head.

Package yourself with the word of so that you can respond like somebody who is a disciple.

Thank you for packaging us with the word of God.

Yes, it helps us.

Praise the name of the Lord.

I must proceed and go to point number three, which is prayer.

And because prayer doesn't have so many things, I know you people are prayerful.

Number three is prayer, and that one, Jeremiah 33, 3, is the clarion call.

Call unto me and I will.

Yes, Jeremiah 33, verse 3, call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Now, God has invited you to be conversing with Him.

You know, prayer is communication with God.

But some people have made prayer look like something so strange.

You must change your language, you must change your voice.

You know, like God is so far, heavenly further, we come to your presence.

Now that is not the way you talk to your friends.

Even when I meet Pastor Simon, he doesn't tell me, Praise the Lord.

If we start by saying, Hey, Reverend Simon, how are you doing?

Hey, the conference, nice to see you, and we start from there.

But you know, we need to pray right.

God is our heavenly father, and therefore we can approach him without fear.

God is our friend.

If there was time, I would let you know the many postures, you know.

But the one that amiss me is when Jesus was going to raise Razarus from the dead.

I think we read that one so that we okay.

Let me just paraphrase it for you because so that we it is in John 11.

John 11, let's read this.

Yeah, I think so.

John 11 from verse 41.

Media, can you give me this?

Yes, they took away the stone, then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I know I knew that you always hear me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with stripes of linen and a cloth around his face.

Let's stop from here, so that now I tell you, you know, I can imagine today, if it was me who had been sent to go and pray for Razaras to get out of there.

I it doesn't go like this.

You can imagine it is the current apostles and the archbishops, they will stand and say, God of fire, God of resurrection.

We're calling for drama, it is unnecessary.

Because Jesus was in communication with God from the moment he got the report.

Lazarus was dead.

You don't have to be in a closet, and the closets are very important, by the way.

But you don't have to be in closet to communicate with God.

You can communicate with God when you are driving to work, and when you are coming from work, when you are going to see your friends, and even when you are doing your laundry, when you are cleaning your house, you can be in communication with God.

Because he's your friend, but it has been made drama so that prayer looks like it is only for a few who can speak loudly in tongues and make life look very challenging.

But prayer is communication with God.

But there are several postures, that is just one.

You remember when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, he fell on his face, he lay prostrate.

Because whatever he was praying about was not a simple math.

So sometimes we have to take those postures, other times we will kneel down, other times we'll do whatever we have we have to do.

Even Elijah, when he was praying one time, he had to put his head between his knees.

I wonder how he did it.

Today, challenge me to put my head between my knees, my friend.

I need to go to the gym for another few months before I can attempt that.

Because even the ground keeps running away to tie shoes, the ground keeps running away.

But Elijah, Elijah, he prayed and he put his head, Reverend Simon, in between his.

Not all of us are physics who can be able to do that, but moments can occur.

But the issue is this communicate with God.

You cannot be a follower of Jesus and you are not communicating with him.

Bottom line.

And finally, finally, we go to the Great Commission.

And that one we read from the book of Matthew, chapter 28, just verse 19 and 20.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Just in case you forgot, the Bible says, Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you and remember with you always to the end of the ages.

Now you can look at this kind of a person.

They have received the call, they are walking daily with Jesus, they are reading the word, they are praying, they have stocked their themselves with the spiritual power through the Holy Spirit.

Then they have no assignment, it will be wasted energy.

So our assignment today is to go, go e therefore.

So some of you have been sitting in these pews for the last five years or ten, and apart from coming to church, there is nothing else you have done.

I stand here to challenge you as I finish.

This is not acceptable.

You need to move beyond what you are doing.

It is a call to action.

After Jesus grew the 12 disciples by walking with them, teaching them, when they were left, they were ready even to be sold into two, to be put in fire because they were convicted.

Can you imagine with all the effort of the sermons, the theme visions, and everything, that you cannot withstand a five-kilo temptation?

How you have no impact.

So that now we are looking, like you know, buoying 7-7, 300 series engines.

You know, the ones that uplift air planes when they are taking off, full of 300 or 400 people with cargo.

And I know we have pilots here, they know the details better than I do.

Because for me, I'm only a rider.

What happens?

I have no details.

But what I know is that the thing is extremely powerful.

Because if you are given 10 kilos to lift, the farthest you can throw it down however strong you are, you cannot throw it 10 feet upwards.

But that thing does when it is time for taking off.

And the thing is carrying all those people, and some of them are 80 kilos, 110, others are 45, and others are 26.

They are still carrying food in the plane to eat because they need to add a little weight.

But they are all there, we are all inside.

So, some of you who have been here since Ojijo time, can you imagine how much energy has been packeted in you?

And you are just roving in the parking yard.

You test with one minute, then you come back.

That is when you have been idle the whole day, then you say, Let me today go for Wednesday prayer.

May the Lord redeem us.

Amen.

Some of you are not in any Bible study, you are not even in a house group near you.

Yet, Pastor Mashina is here all the time saying, Please join our house group.

We are like the US U US and SUV's vehicles.

4.6, 5.7 CC.

You know when they when they are turned on, you it feels like it's going to fly.

Before they can feel pressure.

Then it's suddenly keeps quiet.

You wonder where was the car that was making noise?

It's gone quiet.

It was talking power.

Then can you imagine after that?

All you do is make one round in the parking.

Then you come back to the parking lot and then you put hazards.

With all that power, and well is just being consumed.

That is the way you are if you do no ministry in this church.

Therefore, when we finish this service, go by the tents and register to join a Bible study.

Go by the connect tense to register to join a house group.

Go to the connect tent to join any other ministry so that you can serve in this church according to your giftings.

Anyone who feels that they need a prayer so that they can reconnect and use the energy packed in their life.

Are you there?

Just a show of hand.

Whatever they don't fear, just just so that I can invite Pastor Simon to come and pray for us.

Even me, I need that prayer.

We all need, I could do better than I'm doing.

Are you there?

Let's stand.

Reverend Simon, please come over and commission us to action so that we can go and do the works of the Lord.

Praise the name of the Lord.

And I believe that the Lord has spoken to us, and we can appreciate Pastor Simon as he comes.

God bless you.

Hallelujah.

Let's appreciate.

Uh Bishop Bairago, thank you very much.

God bless you.

God bless you again.

Thank you very much.

I thank God for the sincere faith and genuineness of faith with which the message has come across.

And uh thank God for men and women that God is raising in our generation who speak from a very practical point of view and communicate a message in such a refreshing and so present and living way.

And so uh my brother Deacon Wairago, thank you very much.

Um, on an everyday uh basis, he trains uh peacekeepers, the ones who go making peace around the world from Kenya.

That's what he does.

He's also uh a businessman, a very avid uh one at that.

And uh, you see, he can find time to also come to the pulpit and share what the Lord has put in his heart.

This is because he's a practicing disciple of Jesus Christ, and this is because there is something in him that he can share with us.

And John 7 38 says, Out of you shall flow rivers of living waters, and so discipleship, like he said, is for everyone, and the great commission is for for everyone.

He is in the marketplace doing an everyday job, but you can see that he's able to come and stand here on a Sunday and share from the overflow out of the abundance of his heart, he has spoken, and that is to say, in terms of the altar call, if Deacon Wairago can do it, you can also do it, both men and women, and in these last days, the outreach we are doing, it requires all hands on deck, it is uh everybody involved, and the great commission is for all of us.

Let me just say this as part of this altar core because he has raised the question uh who will line up for Bible study.

When you studied the first century, it was everyone out after Pentecost, everybody was mobilized.

But 100 years after Christ, the council of Nisea disenfranchised the lady and uh dichotomized the clergy and the lady, and there was a space for the for the clergy who were supposed to have gone to school, and they really understood everything, and because of the socialization of some people sitting that side and some people sitting this this side, all the time the mandate was removed almost from the people to a small group, and actually that created actually it was 300 after after Christ, the council of Nisea, that created the lapse we got for a whole thousand years between 300 after Christ and 1300, until some men started coming up, Akina John who among others, and Tyndale uh translating the scriptures, bringing the Bible back to the people, and some of them were burnt at the stake for trying to bring discipleship back.

They were boiled in tanks, some of them were cut into pieces, but thank God they were dedicated.

This Bible you see now translated in all the languages, people died in the process, and because of the Bible coming back, then the revival of every believer engaged in the front lines started showing showing up.

And so I thank God for you that you would pick this call again in our time and encourage us to engage.

So, discipleship is not for a few experts, discipleship is for all of us.

Thank you for defining discipleship through your sermon.

First of all, number one, you said it is someone who has answered the call of Christ to follow.

But number two, you have said it's somebody who is growing in three ways.

Number two, growing in the word, growing in prayer, communion, and growing in service.

The Great Commission.

They understand the assignment.

And so these are very simple definitions, and then you distinguished it from a stalker.

I like that.

I wrote it.

In fact, that one speaks a lot to me.

Yeah, because it makes it easy to understand that a disciple is not a stalker, because a stalker follows from far.

If you turn, they want to escape this way and the other way.

But a disciple is this one, what we just uh have had today, and that's a great, great definition.

Now, how many are answering the call to be disciples?

You don't have to raise a hand, is a question for us to carry home, but also a question to lead us to the connectant, which is outside, I believe, through this door, discipleship uh maturity department already have people there.

You can go there, the call to follow, the call to the word, uh, the call to prayer, the call to the assignment, and you can go there and put up your name.

I put your name there as a church.

We shall connect with you.

A DNA signature of Parklands Baptist Church is making disciples.

And I pray from this sermon is a jubilee sermon.

We are being called back to this to the basics, and we shall go back out there and actually enlist.

This could be the beginning of a great, great life, and I declare somebody is going to walk a rich life, a beautiful life, a peaceful life, a joyful life, a serving life.

You are coming from the nominal, you know, to somebody engaged, somebody is going to make a difference, and therefore, the future is bright for Africa, the future is bright for all of us.

We are going back to the Bible now.

For today, as part of a charge and also a commendation, I give you a scripture.

I love memorizing verses.

Acts 22, 20, verse 32.

It says, Now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to grant you the inheritance among those who are sanctified.

I repeat Acts chapter 20, Acts chapter 20, verse 32, a powerful verse to commission us and also to charge us.

Acts 20 · chapter mention Acts 20:32

Now I commit you, or I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

We can make it a personal commitment.

Go back to the scripture, go back to that scripture.

You can say, Now I commit myself to God and to the word of his grace, which can build me up and give me an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Let's try it now more confidently.

Now I commit myself to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build me up and give me an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Give yourself a hand clap.

I think we've done it very, very well.

Thank you.

Now we can lift our hands to God.

You are blessed on Monday, blessed on Tuesday, blessed on Wednesday, blessed on Thursday, blessed on Friday, blessed on Saturday, blessed on Sunday, and you'll be coming back with a powerful testimony in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And we all say, we all say, and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and foremore.

Amen.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever and ever and ever.

Amen.

Shalom.

God bless you.

Thank you.