Live Sabbath Worship | September 11, 2021

[Music] good morning and happy sabbath it is a wonderful and beautiful day that the lord has given us today aren't you happy to be alive today we praise god for the life that he has given us and that we are able to come before his presence this very beautiful sabbath morning we want to invite you to join us as we go through our services today and may the lord bless you as you will be partaking of what he has prepared for you we will open with a word of prayer before we start our various singing issues and our various activities and with me up here we have choristers who will assist us with the singing on my immediate right we have sister florence sophia she will be doing the alto next to her we have brother tom achia he will be singing the tenor and next to him we have brother kefa awino who is our base and at this time i'm going to invite our brother kepha ueno to offer a word of prayer before we begin singing i would like to invite you to prayer and those who are in church please you can rise up for a word of prayer let us pray our loving father in heaven we want to thank you for this beautiful sabbath day you have given us to come and worship you you've taken us through the week and through the chaos of this world and now we have gathered here just to commune with you and to hear from you we invite you all his presence to be with us as you start this morning service and that your holy angels may come and then camp around us and that our worship may be acceptable before you we want to sing praises to your name we pray that the songs you are going to sing may be accepted before you as a sacrifice offered and we pray that as the day progresses may your presence continue to indwell us and that we may be we may be worthy to be called your children forgive us our sins heavenly father encounters righteous before you because you ask all this in jesus name amen amen amen thank you thank you i now invite us all to take our song books sda hymnal we will begin with song number 195 showers of blessing please sing along and enjoy the blessings of the sabbath [Music] there shall be showers of blessing this is the promise of god there shall be seasons refreshing [Laughter] show us how blessing we need blessings precious [Music] [Music] show us all blessing we need mercy drugs [Music] there shall be [Music] [Music] show for that today they might fall blessings [Music] amen amen we will continue again with our song uh 620 song number 620 on jordan's stormy banks 620 in our sda [Music] hypno oh [Music] [Music] [Music] for is promised land [Music] [Music] away is [Music] [Music] when shall i reach the top forever [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] no is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] church and dear viewer we trust that you are finding this day restful you know guys we are told that the sabbath is literally the golden class that unites god and his people and and that is today for us right it reminds us of the redemptive power of jesus man right yeah it reminds us of the redemption redemptive power of jesus so we welcome you very warmly to today's sabbath school if you're a visitor and you're joining us feel very very welcome would very much like to study with you welcome to nairobi central sda church i i look to my left and i look to my right and i see soldiers don't brightly with smiles we would very much like to to to know their names uh right ladies first okay uh my name is aniango esther and and it's it's a pleasure my name is anjango ester and i'm really happy to be here to worship with everyone thank you esther and my name is ely oduk happy saba my name is david bruchara and it's a pleasure to be here studying the word of god with my two friends and with all of you thank you okay we'll begin with a word of prayer let's let's bow down and pray our kind and our loving father in heaven we come before you this morning thanking you for the gift of life thanking you dear lord because you're good oh lord and that your mass is in jail forever even now as we want to get into this lesson i pray to your lord that you may speak through us oh lord and i pray for our audience i pray for those in church physically i pray for those who are at home that you may you may speak to them in a very special way oh lord may we have an experience with you today or lord that will not leave us the same oh lord and and and may your glory may your name be praised forever and ever so it is just say my dear friend believe amen amen amen thank you so much this has been a quarter filled with rest right it's in a quarter filled with rest um in fact the very topic of this quarter's lesson is longing for more uh-huh that's that's our topic for today for the quarter is rest in christ rest in christ and we we have learned so many lessons and my hope and prayer is you have experienced this rest perhaps in an all different way and i'd like to take this opportunity to ask pandalists to share to share a short in a short sentence you know what lesson have you learned about rest that has impacted your life so far from the lessons we've been learning the entire quarter wow uh well you know i i i study a lot with the teens of this church and something interesting that i'm learning about rest in particular is that god himself rested when he instituted the sabbath rest now god doesn't need to rest but he did it to be an example to us and that's something we'll be talking about today and you know it's just taught me that there are many things i might not need to do um but it's good for the good for me to do them for the sake of other people and to lead others especially the young people that i particularly work with so that's just something uh i've learnt about trust wonderful wonderful how about you i think for me this lesson um and especially the lesson of the rhythms of rest really and i think i had gotten so sucked up into the emotions of sabbath the weekly you know it's it almost became a formality i know i i had forgotten the meaning the who behind the sabbath and going through this lesson i was reminded that sabbath was given to men and it was supposed to be a delight and a blessing to humankind and it's that that that week's lesson really impacted me in a beautiful way because i think i had forgotten and god reminded me yeah wonderful thank you personally i i am learning to wait patiently um on the lord yes i am lying to read patiently on the lord it it makes you just want to rest in his promises it has such a calming effect by the way that's such a calming effect to our online audience um you may share in short sentences the lessons you've learned about rest so far a practical one in your life it can help someone else it can help someone else go to facebook go to youtube or digital platforms uh there's another way ah sorry sorry this should be good youtube and put your comments there and we will be sharing some of those comments here after all right so all those experiences and we're not even about to stop right i mean you you'd think after we've spoken about rest all this time maybe it was time to stop but the lesson writer is telling us we're just getting we're almost just getting started yeah we're almost just getting started our topic for today is longing for more longing for more yeah and to that point early you know uh in first corinthians chapter 12 paul is speaking to the church and he's speaking of all these wonderful gifts that god and through the spirit has given the church yet at the end of that chapter when he's about to start the 13th chapter which i think we all know the chapter of love he says yet i show you a more excellent ways of all the good things that you've learned about spiritual gifts yet there is more and uh i'm excited because we are longing for more so i'm sure god has more to fulfill that longing in fact he literally says the voice literally says desire the best gifts and yet assure you a more excellent way a more excellent way a more excellent way so to start us off today um uh we'll ask ourselves a question in in your personal life are there certain positive lessons our dear viewers if you if you if you went through the lesson you know we will be talking about a number of themes today um in your personal life have you heard certain positive lessons you've picked from other people that you've applied in your life or certain attitudes or behaviors you saw that were examples to you but you said no no that one i will not use in my life david uh well mine is negative i don't know if you should start with a positive that's that you understand okay okay in my personal life i think i think some of the positive lessons i have learnt and i think i will have mentioned a pastor pastor c d brooks some adventist pastor and how he lived his life this complete utter trust in god gives me encouragement that i can actually live my life and give my all to god such that each and every single decision that i make i can consult god and god i can literally walk with god you know and and i don't think sometimes we we realize that it's possible to order your life so closely to god um so i think that's one of the experiences and and positive influences in my life personally yeah okay well i'd also like to share one but yeah please let me change this to a negative one an example as a young person or as young people growing up were often bombarded with um advices from our friends and um you know it is easy out there for somebody to ask you hey do you do you drink it is a very common question i meet most of the time and people just don't seem to understand why it is such a normal thing how is it that you don't do it yeah i think that is an example that um i've seen people an advice that people share with me but i choose not to take it awesome yeah i think for me one thing maybe on a lighter note is that growing up seeing many people around when i'd be having a conversation with somebody and the phone is ringing and i'm talking to them and their phone is ringing you know they'd be talking and be like hello hello and you know it was just something i was used to but then i did it once with my wife and she's from another country and that was very rude [Laughter] she preferred that i first say play it may i please take this phone call excuse me and i'd take the phone call and so i realized that yeah maybe there's some examples we don't even know that we're learning from and at some point we are to assess whether this is an example worth following or this is an example worth leaving so just on a lighter note and and in like manner there are so many examples in the bible from the story of the children of israel that the writer wants us to learn about today so how about we all open our bibles to the book of first corinthians chapter 10 and esther will read for us uh we will read a good chunk of it from verse 1 to verse 12. okay yes and the bible says moreover brethren i would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all each the same spiritual meat indeed all drink the same spiritual drink for they drunk of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was christ but with many of them god was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness now these things were our examples to the intent we should not last after evil things as they also lasted neither be idolaters as was some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand neither let us tempt christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents neither mama ye as some of them also muhammad and were destroyed of the destroyer now all these things happened unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come therefore let him that thinketh his standeth take heed lest he fall there therefore let him that think at the standard take heed last year lest he fall so that verse 12 literally tells us there's some really critical lessons listed from verse 1 to verse 11 that we can learn from right and in the book of first corinthians there's literally two places verse six that says now this were our example examples there were our examples and then it repeats that in verse 11 where it says now all these things happen to them as and some examples and samples and samples and god is saying that in they're not just lessons that we should that we can learn you think the lessons we must learn yeah we must because verstappen says we might think we stand but then fall if we don't take it we don't take it so god is saying the examples from the life of the children is both good and bad yeah and we want to see a few of them yeah when i see a few of them today um i'd invite david to tell us the meaning of this and samples what that we've just met yeah models types and then give us an example of something positive that we can learn from the children of israel yes so what's interesting is the writer in the lesson actually speaks or he defines the word examples further and he calls it types and symbols now what is a symbol what is the type i think of a common one is the kenyan flag the flag is it's yes it's a flag but it points to something that's what a symbol or type does it points to something often more greater than it so the flag would point to the people it points to our history it's something that it should remind you of when you look at that symbol and similarly we see that in scripture so in exodus chapter 25 god commanded moses to create a sanctuary out of the pattern or in the type that i will show you right and in hebrews chapter 8 we learned that the sanctuary the earthly sanctuary that was built by the hebrews was a type or a symbol of an actual sanctuary in heaven right and so particularly in today's study in accident in first corinthians chapter 10 verse 3 here it says and they all ate the same spiritual food or same spiritual meat now okay so it's a spiritual meat what meat did they really eat in in the desert and we hear of the manna that they were eating daily from heaven that fell from god right and i think it's interesting that in the desert where there was no other form of sustenance you see we're seeing a a symbol it's pointing to something that god was the one who provided for their needs who provided for their not just their physical needs but also for their soul needs yeah and i did teach them about depending on god right yes and it showed them that god cares and protects cares and protects them esther yeah please tell us what is the what is the spiritual significance of that and especially applying it to our life today especially when it comes to christian faith yeah the answer to that is found in john chapter 6 verse 47 to 51. i will read a portion of it the bible says verily verily i say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life and verse 48 jesus says that i am that bread of life your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die the the point was that jesus is our bread of life and each and every one of us should take a portion like each and every single day god requires us to take a portion of his word of life because it's the living it's the living word that gives us that gives us life that helps us to go through our daily challenges and if you remember the story of mana how they were they were told you know they could collect a certain portion of their food each and every single day so god invites us that i have given you my word eat of my word and whereas the physical food you hunger god tells us to take his word that we may eat of it and never hunger nor i mean i won't go into the drink and not trust but never hunger because this is living word and um and basically that was just the spiritual significance of the manna and the food that god provided to the israelites interesting interesting um and allow me just to mention shortly about the spiritual drink i mean where did these guys get their water from yeah it's interesting the source of their water was literally supernatural we all read all the time that the israelites drank water from a rock but that doesn't just happen today right the bible says in isaiah chapter 48 verse 21 that they fasted not when he led them through the deserts he caused the waters to flow from the rock for them he claimed the rock also and the waters gushed out and the beautiful part is sam goes ahead to say psalms 105 verse 41 says that he opened the rock and the waters gushed out they rain in dry places like a river but the waters rain in dry places like her river like a river there's an old rabbinical tradition [Music] that a rock were literally full of the children of israel as they were moving i mean i don't know what what is the is there fundamental truth behind that tradition yeah i mean i i don't think it was a physical rock uh maybe they would have noted that down in the scripture but we did read here in verse four i believe that the same for the drunk of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was christ right and we know that the first place where um water flowed from a rock was at horeb in the desert but each time as they continued through the desert water would flow from the rock right but it's symbolizing that it's not necessarily the physical rock but it was who was providing the water from the rock and it was christ and i think a lot of times in life we we focus so much on the means by which we get sustenance of providence but not on the person who provides that sustenance and it's like wherever we go as long as we have the person we'll have the water flow from the rock would you like to tell us a bit about this person yeah yeah we know the bible talks about christ being the rock of our salvation and um and you remember how how when the rock was meeting and it gushed forth water so isaiah talks of christ in isaiah chapter 53 verse 45 says that you know christ was was he was he was beaten he was bruised for iniquities he was smitten and and he was wounded for transgressions and out of his out of his his afflictions and um and everything that he went through flows his blood his blood that gives us salvation um and gives salvation to all men and um and it just it just to remind us that our rock is christ number one and and when we do believe in christ then he offers us salvation and that's that's in essence is the salvation that um that that god was trying to teach the israelites in the old testament that i am the rock you know and out of me comes this stream of living water and this stream of living water is essentially our salvation that he gives to each and every single human being who believes and who decides to take a hold on the savior yeah amen oh the ba it's beautiful the bible says jesus is our redeemer the rock of our strength he calls it he calls him a rock of habitation calls him the rock of my heart the rock of my refuge the rock that is higher than i we sing that all the time all the time we sing that all the time now i'd like to quickly summarize the next part i'd just like to conclude the next part which is about the sanctuary and and and remember in the olden days the israelites if you had sinned then you needed to take a lamb to the sanctuary yeah and there was this entire process where you had to put your hand on the on the lamp and confess your sins it was so particular it was so particular and i think god was teaching the israelites something through that being very particular yeah and for us today who is our lamb jesus right it is not just our lamb but he's also our high priest so remember when the high priest used to used to go into the sanctuary he would bother the saints of the children of israel so our sins weren't just going anywhere after they left us into the blood of the lamb they went to the priest who went with them to the sanctuary awaiting the day of atonement and that is what jesus is doing for us today and i think that requires faith to understand that jesus takes away our jesus takes away our sins and when he takes away our sins he gives us rest amen esther would you like to talk about this rest that jesus gives us yes yes indeed i would and just picking up i mean just concluding on your section uh the new testament in the book of john talks about you know jesus is the lamb um who takes away i mean john john saw jesus and he remarked that here is the lamb that took since the sins of the world it's just amazing how when you read the story of the israelites you can clearly just see the points god was trying to drive across but it's just very unfortunate how the hearts of the israelites were hardened and they were not able to appreciate the intimations of god's love and his you know and his salvation so entering into the into the topic of rest now remember when when god uh delivered the israelites from the pro from egypt rather he told moses in exodus chapter 33 verse 14 that my presence shall go with thee and i will give the rest and israelite the israel had every right to believe this promise because of the afflictions that they had under god in israel if you read exodus chapter 1 the bible talks about all these afflictions that the israelites had endured they their task masters you know would load over them so much work they were they were afflicted they were they served with riga and and this made their hearts of the israelites very very bitter and remember israel were the people of god these are vast in i think that psalms chapter 56 verse 8 i think that the bible says that god collects the tears of his people you you you're afflicted you're aggrieved and you think that the lord doesn't hear but god collects your tears in a bottle and essentially that's what the lord did the lord looked at the israel and looked at his people and he had promised that he was going to deliver them and so he speaks to moses and he prepares moses for this particular work and he said to moses um in exodus chapter 3 now therefore behold the cry of the children of israel is come unto me and i have also seen the oppression where with the egyptians oppress them come now therefore and i will send thee unto pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of israel out of egypt the lord wanted to give the children of israel rest and there was the ultimate rest of the promised land but there was also the rest from the slavery the last the rest from the afflictions from from the labor and so for 40 years god the israelites walked through the wilderness and each and every single day they yearned for this promised land they looked forward to that day where they'd have a home a place to stay a place where they were they were no longer pilgrims without a place without you know without i mean feel like a place where they were you know they were settled yeah and so um and so for 40 years god remember god had promised that he was going to be with them and give give them rest and god did not go back on this in exodus chapter 13 you see that you see that god went before them by day as a pillar of cloud for 40 years i mean just think about it for each and every single 40 years god was before them as a pillar of cloud by day and in the night as a pillar of light and each and every single day of those 40 years he provided them with mana he gave them food their clothes never went you know they never wore out their food their their feets and their sandals remained you know speak span i mean it would be really nice to i mean if you think about it who i don't know who likes shopping sometimes i i really don't like shopping but it would be nice if i had clothes that would stay for forever you know uh and and god just wanted to tell the israelites that i am with you people and the promise that i gave you i gave moses initially will carry you throughout the 40 years but all too often the israelites missed the point they totally missed the point you would have guessed that if if if ever there was an israelite who doubted the presence of god all they had to do is look up at the and they'd see god as a pillar of cloud and at night they just see the pillar of fire and that was supposed to be a reminder to the israelites that god essentially was with them but they missed their point they always missed the point now their obtaining of rest involved a work of faith and an utter belief in god that the israelites sometimes just failed to learn they were they had enemies to contend with in this wilderness they did have enemies to contend with but god was not god was not ready to fall back on their promise that he was going to take them to the promised land all the israelites had to do was to believe now israelite the israel was more interested in in entering the rest than in fulfilling the conditions of entrance into into rest they remembered the promise that there was that was given to them about entering into into rest but they forgot the conditions and because they were not willing to fulfill the conditions of rest they had to wander for 40 years it was never god's plan for the israelites to wonder for 40 years but because israel had forgotten that there were certain conditions for them to meet before entering the promised land god had to make them wander and perhaps his hope was that they would find themselves and fulfill the conditions of rest and eventually enter rest now initially the people who were promised the promised land never got to see the promised land because they had to die and it was only the offspring who got to enjoy this rest now we'll go into the next section but remember when you read hebrews chapter 4 verse 11 the bible says let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief there's usually a work to be done before entering into rest there's a work of believing there's a work of implicit trusting in god and in his instances and his you know his his evidences of rest that before we can ever enter into an ultimate rest there's a work to be done that the israelites did not want to do they were lazy in that aspect to to do this work and so we will get into and get into the bible to look at the life of the of the israelites and to see the evidences or the or the intimations or the evidence or the instances of rest that god had given to israel freely but we will learn that because of the unbelief the israelites failed to see the point and they failed to enjoy this rest that the lord was giving to them so elio would you like to start us off oh yes oh yes and and uh there's a there's a comment from from our viewers on youtube uh about um uh focusing on on physical rest but then there's also the aspect of permanent of of permanent interest so we're we're actually coming to that and there's another beautiful comment from lydia that says every repentant sinner finds rest in christ and we're gonna see a little bit after this how something we don't find rest because we we we don't we're going to see that after this i don't want to preamp what david is going to talk about so thank you so much for that comment lydia every repentant sinner finds rest in christ for us to receive rest we do not have to harden our hearts when he calls we should accept that invitation you know and another mary says don't we always miss the point don't we always miss the point our souls truly needs in the hands for jesus christ amen christ and so now i'd just like to give an example of the the the instances of rest when god actually gave israelites rest in the bible so i'd like to read joshua chapter 21 verse 44 okay please open and let's go there joshua 21 44 245. now what was happening here is the israelites had been fighting and fighting and fighting they were constantly in war with with their neighbors yeah but if just before joshua 24 21 and 2019 we now see them settling in the land of canaan and look at what verse 44 says and the lord gave them rest rest round about according to all that he swear unto their fathers and their stood not a man of all their enemies before them the lord delivered all their enemies into their hands amen they have failed notes out of any good thing which the lord had spoken of and to the house of israel it all came to pass to pass amen you know even today the lord has promised that um soon and very soon yeah he's going to come and take his what oh home please let not your hearts be in trouble all these promises that god has given one day he's going to he is going to fulfill the failure so he gives israel um physical rest but then he also promises them a father for the rest and that is that is a rest that that that not only comes from you know from the from the seizing of war but also a rest that comes from trusting in the lord after he has fulfilled all these promises for you yeah you know it says none of them failed everything that he said came to us to pass him came to pass now i'd also like to touch that just a little bit on um on uh on moses uh moses was asked to speak to the rock but what did he do he struck the rock and struck the rock and and god was not very pleased with that right yeah god is not very pleased that in fact in in the book of numbers chapter 20 verse 12 it it shows and david is going to be expounding on this a lot it shows why why god was not pleased with with moses somebody's in numbers 20 verse 12 number 20 why god was not and why sometimes we may not find rest for our souls as well you know yeah why was god not pleased with moses number 20 verse 12 what does it say says then the lord spoke to moses and aaron because you do not believe me to hallow me in the eyes of the children of israel therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which i have given them because you do not believe believe me because you do not trust amen amen um and just you know um just building on on that um not only did god give them rest you know from their enemies but also god gave them special rests of sabbath yeah and and we know that sabbath was not instituted you know with the with the israel israelites it was a blessing that was given upon creation and so i'll ask david to look at the sabbath observance in the children of israel how did they keep it how did god intend for them to keep it and what lessons can we learn um from that today yeah so it's interesting that god instituted the sabbath uh at the beginning of creation so he creates you know the herbs the trees he creates everything for man and then he also introduced the sabbath and it's in whatever is in god's order of creation is for our own good and that's something that i believe the israelites knew at first because in is in egypt as esther said they were not able to keep the sabbath because they were slaves and so the sabbath was to them a symbol of their freedom even in deuteronomy verse 5 chapter 5 is 15 it literally says that you know uh because there was i therefore saved you from the slavery of egypt therefore keep my sabbath so it was in a way a symbol of their freedom they were going back to god's order of creation and i'll encourage you to go research where the weekend came from though many of the reason why we're here is because our work has not asked us to report on the weekend so i'd like you to go research go and research where the weekend came from the concept of the weekend it wasn't always a concept we didn't always have the weekend and you realize that it has something to do with the sabbath i'm not going to say it here but even secular institutions and secular systems have realized that we thrive best and we operate best when we have days off to rest yeah weekly yeah that was in god's order of creation and not just the actual weekly sabbath that was created for our own good but you also find in exodus chapter 23 verse 10 we might not read it today but you can go read that later is that every six years on the seventh year god asked the people not to till the land not to plow the land to give the land time to rest and there are actually non-christians as well who implement this the same example for farming and they end up getting more productive and better yield yeah so following god's order of rest through sabbath is actually for our own thriving for our own good amen amen and so now looking looking um to the israelites and looking at how the blessings of rest that god gave to them my question now is what is what is the what is its significance to us who are living today because we are the spiritual israel so what what is true rest for us what is true rest for me what is truest for you early what's true for you david what's true rest for us all christians and i'll start with the fact that true rest is basically a state of mind it's a state of heart that comes when we believe in god if you read hebrews chapter 4 verse 3 the bible says for we which have believed do enter into rest as he said i have sworn my wrath so belief in god is actually like when you believe in god then god gives you a rest now god's rest is a spiritual experience into which the soul enters upon conversion and this was the rest that was promised to the to the israelites back then when god says i will i will be with you and i will give you rest god just wants you to believe in him and he will give you rest and we we we like this verse and we it's a common verse matthew chapter 11 verse 28 where god says that come unto me all ye who are weary and are heavy laden and i will give you rest not one person not two people but each and every single person who comes to christ then god will give them rest but despite this warm welcome very many of us have hardened our hearts if you read the book of um is it romance god says that he has he has shown us himself to each and every human being but we deny him god has revealed himself in nature but it is the hardened hearts of human beings that we cannot see god we have failed to see god but god has really literally poured himself out for the human being and so i'll just end my my my my section with with a quote that i found very beautiful and it says that in the unregenerate man there is unrest and there is strife an evil conscience makes life a burden the heart is filled with wicked thoughts and worldly ambitions hold him sway envy and pride heartache and sorrow impurity dominates the mind and man is at war with his fellow man with himself and with his god then comes the blessed day of surrender the soul casts himself upon the mercy of god and the lord accepts him the former things are passed away all things become new and all things are of god he enters a new world becomes a new man has a new name he's a different person at last there's peace in his heart and his sins are forgiven at last his soul is at rest he has found god when we find god god gives us rest and it's a rest and the bible talks about peace you know god gives us peace and god gives us rest not like the world will give the world will define peace as you know no no wars no strife but you know it's an outward form of peace but the rest that god assures us the rest that god gives us it's a rest that is inward and that permeates to the outside so god is inviting you to come unto him all ye who are weary who are restless about um a million thousand things to find rest in him because you can find rest in him even in a pandemic even when there are so many uncertainties god is promising us rest and just like he promised the israelites he promises us rest so um ellie what other what is true rest what is another form of true rest for we who are spiritual israel right now in fact it's interesting you ask it like that because uh there's a comment on um from from lily [Music] on youtube she says true rest for me is complete trust and surrender to god and total surrender to god you know but that for her is his complete is his rest is true rest and and it is true the the human heart can never find peace until it is submitted and molded by and by the spirit of the spirit of god that's why esther you read you just told us that the unregenerative man to the unregenerative man there is unrest there's undressed and stressed yeah yeah yeah david yeah um i think god heaven yeah i think also as well like similar to what you said uh there's a wonderful quote from one of my favorite books the desire of ages that says as through jesus we enter into rest heaven begins here heaven begins here we respond to his invitation come land of me and thus coming we begin the life eternal heaven is a ceaseless approaching to christ sees us approaching to god through christ yeah and we find that you know when we first surrender to god he frees us from the penalty of sin then as we continue to grow in him we find him freeing us from the power of sin and obviously when we get to heaven we will now be freed from the presence of sin and so the rest is just getting more and more as we continue and finally when we get to heaven when all tears will be wiped away well be no more sorrow no more shame and so that's the progression of rest i see but i'd like to quickly move on to this other area of of the relationship between rest and disobedience radiance yeah um why why does disobedience lead to rest unrest and another thing that in hebrews we read is that disobedience is often replaced in hebrews chapter 4 and even chapter 3 by the word unbelief so in hebrews chapter 4 verse 6 it said [Music] those whom it was first preached did not enter the rest because of disobedience but in hebrews chapter 3 verse 19 it says they did not enter because of unbelief so what did they not enter because of disobedience or did not enter because of unbelief which one happened right yeah but we realized that belief is unbelief is related to disobedience why we see that israelites they complained they would always complain about the food that was not being given to them they'd complain about uh the fact that um they were you know they were not able to eat all the nice foods and stuff but also they complained that there were giants in the land that god commanded them to go into yeah right yeah and so as a result they did not obey god's command to enter canaan when they were actually finally at the borders of canaan they were complaining and so that disobedience was actually as a result of the belief they had about god and what was that belief that belief was that god does not love us god does not love me and when you believe god doesn't love you yeah it's going to lead to disobedience it is because why would you trust someone why would you give your life to someone who you don't believe loves you loves you and so yes they did not enter because of unbelief yes they did not enter because of disobedience because of the lack of trust that they had in god and so i'd like to ask that question to to you guys because i i see myself having those similar situations in in life that when there's something i don't believe about god something i don't trust about god's love it's it it removes rest from me it causes me to be restless it causes me to be worried so ellie would you like to share is there something in your life that causes you unrest when you don't believe something about god i think for me saying thank you david for the there's there's this this this thing we call the future right yes this thing the day after tomorrow and the week after next week and the year after next year yeah and and and sometimes in life we just don't have a handle on on the future i think a lot of people would like to be certain about what will happen to them yeah next year they want to know that their families are going to be safe yeah and secure as they are today next year right and and when when you realize that you don't have control over the future then you then you begin begin to doubt or you begin to to be very busy to to to and restless to try to get a handle of things so that you know you you compensate for that i think that's that's something that often makes me to sway off of god's way because because i just want to have control and soon i have control but god is telling me god is telling us that hey you can you count the number of hair in your head but he can count the number of hair in our head and he says we we should not worry about should not worry about tomorrow and i think i've seen examples a lot of examples of of christians who who have put their complete trust in god and that that is really encouraging we draw from one another about that man what about you i think i think for me it's uh i should i probably will call it presumption you know thinking that what i want is what god wants for me you know so you know you pray fervently and say god this is what i want but uh the events in your life show you that clearly this is not a good one so it's very restless because you're thinking what god i really want this you know how would you not want this for me to you know so i think just that lack of implicit trust knowing god god god has a thousand ways to provide for us so which we know not one it's very easy to say but i think practically it's not it's not the easiest thing to to do yeah yeah and for me thank you for sharing that i'd be curious to have the any comments online as well but for me uh ironically sometimes obedience causes me unrest now that may sound a little weird but we just read that disobedience causes you unrest so why would obedience cause you to lack rest and it's interesting i like it made sense for me when i read the story of the uh of martin luther and uh there's a wonderful book from the great uh called the great controversy you should also go read it very good and martin luther was someone who was so obedient yeah he tried to be so obedient to all god's requirements but yet he did not find rest yes why yeah it even says he sought by his own works to obtain pardon and peace with all his efforts his burden soul found no relief he was at last driven to the edge of despair why would his obedience lead him to despair and you realize when you read his story and when you read the gospel that he was fine he was obeying in order to earn god's love in order to earn god's acceptance but the bible tells us we love because he first loved us that because god loves us that we are now constrained by the love of christ to obey him to trust him because of his love not in order to earn his love but because he loves and then the obedience is restful but if we do it in order to find love then it will always be a burden because we will never be measuring up and we always be looking to our own works to prove our worthiness of love but god says i already love you trust me obey me i already love you amen amen and so to conclude i think we we learn here that there is rest in the gospel there is rest in the good news that christ loves us and gave his life for us and as we respond to him in love because of his love for us in obedience we can find rest for our souls now as we live our lives in trusting him and trusting in his love and obeying him but also in eternity when we're finally free from the presence of sin interesting allow me to there's a few comments as you as you were mentioning from from from youtube uh gary very much he says in a natural world the wicked run where no man chaser yeah the bible verse that says we could run but no one is chasing them and she said gary says that is a sign of restlessness yeah that is that is a sign of restlessness there is no rest for the weekend there's no rest for the weekend there's no rest of the weekend and then and then critical um this is a comment from our dear phoebe that says issues of illness and grief cost unrest yeah they may cause and that is true because today we we lose loved ones our loved ones are somewhere in hospitals ventilators [Music] fighting for our breath and and and fiona says worries about tomorrow and very common uh but also says christ says look at the birds of the air so she says let's continue to trust god each and every day as we do our part in in labor as we do our part in labor we could have gone on and on and on yeah but our time is up and i think the appeal that we can make to everyone is there are so many lessons from the life of the children of israel they went through the entire 40 years journey but eventually god fulfilled every single promise everything that he made to them fulfilled every single promise that he made to them that he made to them except that small parts that that final rest in heaven which we were all waiting which will always there's another rest for there's another rest for us let's hold on to that as a promise yes yeah okay all right you'd like to yeah is there another comment before we no i just i just i just thought it would be unfair for us to finish without without encouraging ourselves you know we are adventists and we are we're longing for this state this ultimate trust in heaven and and when when the comment came in about how how illness and and fear of illness causes us rest i just wanted to take us to the book of revelation where we know that there's a rest that's coming the heavenly rest and whereas we don't know very many things you know we can't even imagine how heaven is going to be like we can know for sure that god is going to wipe away all tears from our eyes there's going to be rest from sickness there's going to be rest for illness and so for those of us who are struggling with and and all of us you know we are in a pandemic where and we have lost loved one that it's not very easy and it can really literally shake our faith my prayer is that we may look and long for that day and though it tarry it shall surely come god is going to come back again and take us to a place where there shall be no more sadness and sickness we we shall never have to part with our loved ones and i pray that that belief and that longing may keep you steadfast and walk narrowly in this way where in israel is chapter 6 verse 16 says there is a road there is a way that god has given us in which is rest and may we walk diligently knowing that god is going to come back again and um and we shall our eyes shall behold him and may that day come soon and may you hold fast to that promise amen amen the way of the lord is better right yeah let's pray father in heaven lord we ask that you forgive us forgive us where we have walked in disobedience as a result of not trusting in your love for us it's not accepting the great love in which you've loved us lord we might not have dwelt too much on this verse in the lesson but we hear in psalm 95 that you are the good shepherd who leads his flock lord why not trust in the hands of a good shepherd who would even lay down his life for the sake of one lost sheep therefore we ask that you will soften our hearts today that we may not harden our hearts towards you but that we will trust in your everlasting love for us and in response may we seek you and love you in return that we may find rest for our souls in living a life ordered by christ now and in eternity this is our prayer in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] happy sabbath everyone happy day uh welcome to this sabbath my name is elijah owino the principal maxwell adventist preparatory school and i'm on this podium to share with us a special thought and the special thought today is about education and about the education of your child now we look at the life of jesus christ and all of us who have studied keenly about the life of jesus christ we know that jesus christ learned how to work he learned how to read and he learned how to get along with people in fact that is captured in the book of luke chapter 2 verse 52. which says that jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with god and all the people around him what i want us to know as parents as siblings of children as uncles and aunties of children that live around us is the role that we play in terms of their education and how they are brought up and when we are talking about education of children we we don't only look at in the line of how they school the question that you should ask yourself that you should ask ourselves in this is what is the end or what is the aim of education of your child and in the current world we know that the bible the truth to this question is in the bible having seen that even christ went to school that christ learned how to live with people and even learned how to do things but these things and the truths in the bible have been neutralized by the systems and in conformity to the worldly patterns and so we don't give children the right education that we need to give them three questions that you need to ask yourself about this is do our children receive from the teachers in schools if we are to look at it in line with the schooling do they receive from teachers in school so you can put it in private schools public schools do they receive ideas that are in harmony with the word of god and question number two that you ask yourself as a parent is is sin presented to them clearly as an offense to god because many at times we are we are in schools where there are certain sinful things that will continue and no one will care that there are sinful things is there clarity that this is not right before god which is known as an ethics and the third question that you need to ask yourself is is obedience to all the commandments of god taught as the beginning of all wisdom to these children because in taking your child to school you don't just take them to school to have what is engraved in the adventist philosophy of education as intellectual we don't only consider the intellectual part we consider three other parts other than the intellectual part and so teaching them to obey the commandments of god is part and parcel of this kind of education that they receive in schools in churches at home and everywhere around them as i conclude them maxwell adventist preparatory school is one of the schools that is geared towards giving learners and children this kind of education but as i conclude we have a clip i don't know whether it's going to play to all of us yeah we have a clip that is going to play just to take us through what we offer as a school and what adventist education should should offer thank you [Music] christian greetings everyone christian greetings my name is elijah ouino the principal maxwell adventist preparatory school this is a school which was started in the year 1940 offering the international education system under the british we we later split letters because of the high demand of the kenyan system which was then 844. and currently we are offering the kenyan system the international and the 844 branch was left here so maxwell adventist preparatory school is a caring learning community committed to developing personal excellence through academics as well as leading students into a personal relationship with jesus our school provides nature promotes excellence and instills values for many school is about classes it's about homework and it's about academic standards but our aim at maxwell adventists prepare to the school is not only to provide quality individualized education but also to support students in developing skills to cope with life to find where they belong and to understand how they can make a difference in the world our focus is to go above and beyond these practical dimensions to a higher purpose assisting students develop a balanced life where personal skills and talents are nurtured friendships are enjoyed and positive attitudes are also developed we understand dear parents that you want the best for your child and we also understand that children learn differently for this reason we focus not only on what your child learns but how they learn and of course within and verbal students to teacher ratios we are able to meet children's individual needs and assist in optimizing their academic achievements we also recognize that learning goes beyond the classroom that it extends to building confidence and resilience taking responsibility and engaging with others these aspects of learning plus more are explored through our pastoral care program the supportive environment at maxwell adventist preparatory school facilitates spiritual academic and social growth in all members of the school community by choosing maxwell advantage preparatory school for your child you'll be placing them in a safe and intimate learning environment that supports their learning not just their talents and encourages their development into a confident and capable citizens of the community maxwell adventist part of the school is making a difference in the lives of children and their families a difference that has far-reaching effects but i'm thankful for god's presence in our school and his blessings upon it welcome to maxwell may god bless him you [Music] [Music] good morning and happy sabbath i'm happy to hear the presentations that you've just had because it reminds us that indeed in life we need to be aware and we need to know the outcome that we desire for our children and as parents we need to be sure of the path that we want to take them through to be able to achieve that outcome because that is what makes our life and that is what will be able to enable us achieve the results that we desire time for announcements before we start can we have a wider prayer we thank you heavenly father for being good to us indeed we are grateful because you've been good to us this far as we're going to go through announcements this morning we ask that you lead us continue to guide us each day for we ask all this believing and trusting jesus name amen first announcements announcement church membership register i believe this has been with us for quite some time anybody who has not had a chance to be able to confirm where their names fall of course these are these are for all the members and there is another for absent members please if your name falls in the absent membership yet you are actively part of the church just confirmed from the notice board outside the church here for those who are within the compound and for those who are watching virtually you can go to the church website under confirm and please get in charge in touch with the church leadership for correction today is education sabbath and again we've been having a week of family life togetherness [Music] this afternoon we'll be having a talk a panelist talk on education or adventist education at the same time we should be starting from two o'clock after that from four o'clock we'll be having the climax or the closing ceremony for the family together next week you are all invited to participate and also be blessed by the programs that arranged during that time baptist small and possible classes are ongoing every sabbath morning whoever would wish to be part of these programs or classes please get in touch with the church leadership you can also go to the church website to be able to confirm the details of how you can be able to link up with the teams that are concerned the next announcement is wedding bands there will be a wedding ceremony between brother eugene welluvengo of narutobi central sd church and sister mina a church on 19th of september to the year 2021 2021 at nairobi central city church as from 10 a.m this is the second reading the next wedding barn is there will be a wedding ceremony between brother nathan ortien odera of nairobi central hd church and cesar sarah akini of the amble of paklan's sga church on 3rd of october the year 2021 at nairobi central sda church this is the first reading may we all be blessed as we prepare to feast together with christ this day thank you and be blessed happy sabbath happy sabbath those of us in the church god is good all the time yes he is good all the time and we want to welcome you again as we worship him in song you know singing is as much a way to praise god as is reading his word and praying so please get your books and let us sing we will be singing uh aki swahili song song number 79 in our nimbus a cristo which you can follow along with um in your sd hymnal song number 533 o for our faith nataka imani he join us as we sing this [Music] [Music] me is [Music] [Music] [Laughter] oh [Music] me [Music] oh oh oh he [Music] is [Applause] amen may god give us such a faith let's move on to our sd hymnal song number 452 what heavenly music four five two [Music] is [Music] he's the voice of the angels [Music] [Music] is [Music] always [Music] is the foreign amen amen a much lighter song this love that makes us happy song number 579 please let us sing this joyfully in the congregation here in church let's hear you sing praise to this love this love that makes us [Music] is little children is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] this world is full of sorrows for sickness [Music] is [Music] it makes us kind to others every day and when this life is is little children god is [Music] [Music] is indeed when god is with you you will just exude his love we will sing again from our kiswahili song book nimbus a crystal song number 27 tenna or cozy unfortunately it is not in our sda hymnal so just enjoy the music and try to follow along [Music] oh [Music] my new body [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] away [Music] [Music] [Laughter] is [Music] me [Music] me oh [Music] [Music] crystal song number 52 in our sda hymn now you can follow it in song number 272 give me the bible [Music] foreign um oh oh [Laughter] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] foreign okay [Applause] [Music] amen praise god for that beautiful singing thank god for each one of you good morning church and good morning viewers from wherever you are you may be any nairobi or any part of kenya or any part of the world this is nairobi central hda church we are coming to you live from the heart of the city of nairobi and our time in kenya is just 12 minutes after 10 o'clock in the morning feel welcome today is 11 september the lord's year 2021 and we are glad we are happy we are excited that you could find the time to join us in worshiping our lord jesus christ and so feel welcome wherever you are so that together we may be blessed i want to ask you as much as possible to share your links if you are on youtube if you are on facebook share that with your friends share that with your relatives and above all if they are in kenya or anywhere you may ask them to tune to kbc tv so that together we can be blessed they may actually be saving their bundles if they could switch off the youtubes and all those attitudes to the national national broadcaster kbc tv so together we can be blessed we have been having the entire week the family life togetherness prayer week which is ending today and so this shall be the climax and to preach to us today will be pastor lavan moyu if you are tuning in the week and i believe you must have been blessed the same way i have been that ends today with the pastor lavan moyo you will see him when that time comes i wish you all a happy sabbath and a blessed sabbath good morning again thank you happy sabbath it's another wonderful time god has given us to come together and worship i want to welcome you for a prayer and i would like those who are in the sanctuary we will kneel down and pray and those who are out there on other platforms they can just humble themselves and pray with us let's pray our kind loving father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done or not as it is in heaven in such a wonderful morning lord we come before you and we are thankful because you are our creator you are our savior lord jesus died on the cross for us so that we may be called the children of god this morning lord we come humbling ourselves that you may forgive us our sins we've gone astray like sheep who have wandered away from their shepherd but lord today we've come whatever we've done lord which is contrary to your will we pray that you may forgive us and give us power to hear your voice give us power to obey what you've instructed us to do this morning we rededicate ourselves into your hands that you may mold us after your likeness that you may fit us for your kingdom that our lives may be lives with peace knowing that you are with us and you're carrying us throughout all the challenges and all the situations we go through this morning lord we thank you because of the week we've had a wonderful week of family togetherness the messages we've had through your servant are still resonating and i pray that you may continue speaking to us even today as we listen to your servants and as we begin a new week of education lord we dedicate our children before you we who are in various schools our children who are in away from our homes in different places of study that lord you may not leave them but visit them stay with them teach them hold them in your hands as they are taught by other parents and other teachers who may not be fearing your name lord i pray that you may hold them and mold them may you remind them the truth and the knowledge we've imparted in our homes that they may not go astray wherever they are and so today lord even those who are worshiping you in various parts of the world we pray that you may bless them as you pass through remember them i also pray for those who are not feeling well those who are sick those were in various hospitals those who have challenges those who have lost their loved ones lord i pray that you may come for them may this day be a blessing may you be with us from now till we end because we're praying trusting and believing in jesus name amen good morning again and happy sabbath i would like to remind us that as we are culminating the family togetherness week we've been asking or requesting anybody with prayers to be able to forward that through the platforms that we are working from or presenting from at the same time those who are within the sanctuary you can be able to uh put your prayer requests within the boxes that are provided up front here you'll be given a chance to be able to do so so during the time we'll be having the closing or the climaxing of the family life together this week in the afternoon a joint prayer would then be held to be able to ask our father god and his son jesus christ to come forth and touch each and every person that needs to be reached so that they too can be able to have the joy of being in christ it's now time for tights and offerings as we continue to be able to remember what god has done to us we also need to remember that we have a responsibility participate together with him in reaching out to many that are yet to know about him and indeed it's now a chance for us to be able to worship our god through tights and offerings and indeed the various avenues that are available that we can be able to give through for those who are physically within the church you'll be given envelopes which you can be able to use you'll be solved by the deacons for those who are watching or participating virtually the details that can be used or platforms that can be used are displayed in your screens we have the mpesa platform we have the airtel money platform and we also have the bank account please feel free to use any of those platforms to be able to return what god has given part of what god has given unto you but remember that indeed what is most important to him is that you give your life to him fast even as you give can we then pray as we give kind of how kind of loving heavenly father we can't be for thee with thanksgiving and with praises for who you are to us indeed you blessed us in many ways and we do appreciate the goodness that you have given unto us this far as we are going to give this morning we are such you bless whatever we give so that it can be able to do more for thy kingdom remember those who will be able to give and even those who may not be able to have something this moment please provide for them also help them so that they can be able to give their lives fast and for us to be able to know you and to work with each day for we ask all this believing and trusting in jesus name amen thank you this [Music] [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] okay [Music] [Music] for oh for [Music] let's me out as you pray thank you love for this service give us courage to speak your word and uh help us to to listen to our word and bless us and just pray amen good morning and happy sabbath to you boys and girls at home and here in church last sabbath we were taken through a very very interesting journey of paul moving all the way from one island to another and finally ending up in jerusalem and while in jerusalem he was apprehended and met the very rowdy group of people but before we continue with today's book that is acts chapter 22 i would like to introduce the guests who are here with us this morning and to my far right is mike momani tamara mora jesse bahati we are the at greater adventist preparatory school well said and my name is teacher mary welcome once again today's theme is go spell in chains well done gospel in chain so while paul was in jerusalem apprehended he was taken all the way up to the fourth from one step to another and paul decided to take heed to the orders of the commander when he was a few steps away paul turned back and looked at the commander and requested to make a defense against his accusations tamara yes suppose you were paul what sort of defense would you make i am indeed a jew born in texas in sicilia but brought up in this city at the feet of gamalien taught according to the sickness of our father's laws and resilience to god as you are all out today well saved tamara very good indeed we have had paul's spokes using certain language tessie what sort of language do you think paul used paul used hebrew language well done and why do you think paul used hebrew language paul used hebrew language so that the people can know he's one of them very good it was very important for paul to have used hebrew language so that the people there would know that indeed he was one of their kind hmm mike yes there was a name mentioned there what name was that gamaliel very well and who was gamalio the model was a respected man of the law and he was the teacher of paul very good therefore it was very important also for paul to have mentioned the name gamaliel because he was very acquainted with one the mosaic law and two the customs of the jewish people well done and well done indeed ma would you tell us the next defense that paul made i persecuted to death the people who followed this way i arrested men and women and threw them into prison the high priest and the council can prove that i'm telling the truth i received letters from them to fellow jews in damascus so i went there and arrested those people and brought them back in chains to jerusalem to be punished ah well done sit down good boy isn't it so sad to note that paul arrested people and then took them all the way to jerusalem to be punished oh it's indeed very very sad tasty yes how are you fine good jesse so would you like to tell us more of the defense that paul made as i was traveling coming near damascus about midday a bright light flashed from the sky i had a voice saying to me soul soul why do you persecute me the people with soul did not hear the one who was speaking to soul but saw the bright light what shall i do get up and go to damascus while you will find what the lord has determined for you i was blind because of the bright light so my companions took me by their hand and led me to damascus in that city was a man named ananias who was respected by all the jews living there he came to me and said brother saul see again at that very moment i saw again i looked at him and he said the lord of our ancestors has chosen you to do his will and you will be a witness to everyone who has heard and seen why wait any longer get up and be baptized and at that moment i went to the temple to pray back in jerusalem and as i was praying i saw a vision and in that vision christ was telling me to quickly move out of jerusalem because people there were not going to hear what i was saying and before paul could finish the mob started chanting and screaming crucify him crucify him he crucified him he is not fit to live he is not fit to live and the soldiers kept on pressing so hard against paul and pushing him further and further to the fault and at that point in time again paul turned and looked at the soldier who was there and requested to make just the last point tessy do you think he's saved he said is it right for you to whip a roman citizen well done was paul persecuted was the crowd allowed to kill paul was he thrown in a dungeon well boys and girls be sure to join us next sabbath as we shall be looking at the book of acts chapter 23 but for now is good morning church happy sabbath okay the scripture reading comes from the book of deuteronomy chapter 6 deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 6 to 9. deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 6 to 9 these words which i command to you shall be in your hearts you shall teach them diligently to your children and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up you shall bind them in a sign as a sign as your heart you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontless between your eyes you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates that's the word of the lord [Music] hey me [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] she me [Music] now [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] good morning church amen now your amen is not warm enough after such wonderful singing what does the church say amen happy sabbath and i want to welcome all those who are here present in the church and all those are watching us on our national broadcaster kbc we want to welcome you those who are joining us on facebook and on youtube happy sabbath saints and what a blessing it is to be in god's house amen my wife and i have totally and thoroughly enjoyed our time here and we pray that as we have come to the conclusion of our family life and family togetherness we week of prayer that god will continue to bless us i also want to highlight the fact that today is education day and isn't it providential that we have education and family life amen so our message today will be based on the two concepts of education and the family and so as we begin our message i pray that god's spirit may speak to us in a special way i want to recognize the presence of our pastors pastor pastors nyaga and pastor uh ogeda welcome thank you for joining us and i know that while one of our pastors is not feeling well let's remember him in our prayers let's bow heads as we pray this morning father in heaven we thank you for yet another privilege that you have bestowed upon us father we thank you for the gift of salvation we thank you for the blood of jesus christ that is able to redeem us from our sins this morning father as we open your word please do not allow my own experiences and my own interpretation to eclipse the meaning that you intend to come out so speak to us for we are listening in jesus name we pray amen and amen i must confess that mrs moy and i have totally enjoyed our time here in nairobi for the past uh 10 days it has been such a blessing and thank you for the east african hospitality what does the church say amen god bless you nairobi central church and those who are watching me from the balcony may god bless you i i enjoyed the music from the young people amen wonderful may god bless you i want to draw your attention this morning to the book of deuteronomy deuteronomy chapter 6 it is our key text our key text for the week of prayer was in songs of solomon chapter 2 and the bible says catch the foxes catch for us or catch us the little foxes the little foxes that spoil the vine and to close this wonderful wee week of prayer i want to draw your attention to deuteronomy chapter six we will begin with verse 4. i know that our our key text is from verse 6 but just to give context to our message i'm reading from the new king james translation of the bible listen to what the bible says hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength verse 6 and these words which i command you to today shall be in your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up and uh and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates may god bless the reading of his word amen our message this morning is entitled education and the family education and the family we have two contesting mindsets and day i say to conflicting my mindsets and even as i stand in this podium this morning i want to suggest to us that these two conflicting world views or these two conflicting mindsets on one hand you have the word of god the biblical worldview and on the other hand you have the worldliness or the carnal mind these are two worldviews two mindsets which influence education even in uh even in our time the biblical worldview and the biblical model for education is based on the wisdom of god for the bible says to us that the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom amen but the worldly mindset is premised on man's wisdom when you look at the education that the world gives it is premised on f on philosophical assertions and positions where the focus of the individual is not on selflessness but the focus of worldly education is on self uh darwin when he introduced the theory of evolution which was in direct conflict to the word of god or what scholars call the creationist model where the bible says to us in genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth but the evolution or the theory of evolution says there was some big bang or man has evolved from an inferior state of existence i recall when i was doing my high school and we were learning about the evolution of the human being and we moved uh uh from the from the homo sapien to the homo sapiens sapien and and all those things and the zinc anthropos all those philosophical and weird things all these philosophies attempt to totally strip god of his proposition and so we come here in deuteronomy chapter 6 and the basis of biblical education is the realization that there is one god amen moses says to the israelites hear o israel and understand this that there is how many gods talk to me church how many gods one god there is one god let me unpack that further the children of israel were coming out of a pagan religion what theologians what theologians will call polytheism we believe in what theologians also call monotheism that there is one god but politician poorly for many polytheism suggests that there are so many gods and so moses as he takes the children of israel out of egypt and as god begins to establish the theocracy where god is king god begins to imbibe and to inculcate in the israelites his model of education and true education those who are watching and those who are listening is premised on this one fact that there is one god in heaven will the church say amen there is one god if education or if the purpose of edge education is to amass a list of certificates then that education is meaningless in fact i am a seventh adventist preacher and i i'll tell you that as the seventh-day ad adventist church we believe and we stand on this truth that education must not only benefit this earth or education must not only prepare us for service on this earth but education must prepare us for service in the new heaven and in the new earth i remember in my country in real re religious circles there are people who say do not be of uh uh do not be so heavenly minded to be of no earthly youth are you away with me to church the purpose of education even in the religious context is not for me to bring out so many verses but the purpose of education is for you to witness a transformed life a life that is testimony of the presence of jesus in my life as the apostle paul says christ in me the hope of all glory so moses comes back and i want to reveal something to you from scripture i want to reveal something do you know that and the bible says this in the book of deuteronomy do you know that when god appeared to the children of israel he did not appear in form amen but what they heard was what a voice why because god wanted to remove the idea of religion based on substance of a god that day they could see and so god appears to them in inner voice and god does not give them a form why because god knew he wanted to disabuse them from the pagan way of doing things and so the bible says says to us yeah o israel the lord your god is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength let's come to verse six and this is where our sermon starts now listen to what verse six says and these words i command you shall be where in your heart some people have said that the religion of the old testament is not a religion of the heart i contest that the really that the religion of the old testament is a religion off of the heart parents are you here with me if you are here if you are here i want you to hear i want to hear you saying amen parents let me talk to you just for one one moment now i want you to realize something one preacher spoke about this but this is a biblical concept and i want you to move with this i'll slow down here when the temple of israel was being built the rocks were cut and shaped at the quarry there was no sound of a hammer on sight hello yeah uh you know the churches i'm used to where you were used to smiling and being happy i mean god has saved me why can i not be happy amen now we can't see the mask but i can see he's smiling through his mask amen and those are watching from home listen carefully the stones were cut and shaped at the there was no sound of a hammer at the temple listen carefully this place is not a place to shape you you are shaped at home don't expect the kindergarten teacher to teach your children what you can't teach them at home and i'm hearing the image from the mothers especially but i want to bring it closer i also want to speak to the fathers if you find yourself making noise at church it means at home the work has not been done if you find yourself looking for relevance at church it means that the concept of relevance has not been achieved at home stop making the church a place where we make noise with hammers to try and shape you when you have not been shaped at home can i go further listen to what the preacher is saying one preacher gives a very good example can i i need to talk to five fathers i grew up in an adventist home and my father is a pastor he's a retired pastor now men i want to talk to you my mother would sing o happy day that fixed my choice happy day happy day when jesus washed my sins away he taught me how and then my father would come in and he would hold a black leather bound bible with indexes under the side and the impression i got when my father would open the bible and begin to read the bible it left a lasting impression on my mind men and fathers you don't understand the power you yield and and the power you wield and the influence you will when you open your bible and your children and your wife are before the altar of prayer and as you open your bible as you begin to read in the beginning with that masculine voice with that authoritative voice in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and as you close your bible and expound on the precious jewels of truth that are embedded in the bible and as you lift your hands and pray it has power there is nothing that beats a father who prays with his family so one preacher uses an example and he paints a picture i do not like snakes myself let that be for the rare record but what the preacher said to today this preacher we were listening to it totally rebuked my attitude one day our puppy walks into to the house with uh was it a lizard or a worm in its mouth and the first person to run was me and the kids and my family are saying but what's happening and with a bit of wit i said i was going to look for the broom to beat the thing but this preacher paints a picture and he says imagine a snake comes into your home and imagine the father is the first one to jump on on a chair and to tell his wife kill the snake to tell his children kill the snake he says shame on you men and he hits this point home the devil has entered our homes and yet it is the fathers who are standing on chairs and telling their wives and children killed the snake no it is the responsibility of the father as the priest of the house because the devil like a snake has entered our homes and is causing he he is wrecking havoc how dare the men stand on chairs you're not with me and those who are watching from home you as the men who are in your homes it doesn't matter whether you're in mombasa or nairobi or wherever you are it doesn't matter what post you hold in life you must put your family before the throne of god and yet you hear men saying go to church i'll remain be behind children go go to church mama go go go to church there are even some men who tell you there's only one church that my family will go to that is church a b c d church x that's the only church and he's at home i want to tell you something men who are here this is not about culture this is not about education this is not about influence this is about our salvation you may you will never understand the power that a man has when he prays with his family did you ought to understand the influence of a father who prays amen the devil has come into our homes we must stand it is not foolishness do you see all these men who are dressed here satan hello and they are all here amen and they are seeded yeah and they're listening listen listen to to me listen to me all the pastors who are here and myself included we will agree we did not come to be pastors because we had nothing else to do in life hello it is not because we failed in school for your own information we are quite intelligent but the bible tells us in the book of first corinthians for the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of god it is the power of god that makes a man sit in his right mind and hold the bible and be faithful to his wife why to the world it is foolishness but to us who are being saved it is the power of god never underestimate the influence of a praying man amen so i want to suggest that my father's influence lest left an indelible impression on my mind and here i am by god's grace amen and the bible says to us teach them amen teach them listen teach these things you cannot give what you do not have hence the bible says to us these things must be in your heart we ought to teach our children at home character traits like kindness peacefulness integrity and i recall one day when when one of our children went before their teacher i think that would be a bit of an argument and the teacher says who taught you these things and he says my parents but can i bring it closer we are not perfect yes one day our own son says to us i do the things i do which are not so good because i learn from you now in my mind i'm saying how can this boy say this to me and then it hits me that he can only learn what he has seen you can never bring up christians if you yourself are not a christian but listen to what verse 7 says you shall teach them ah this is where education comes in you shall what teach them what diligently now though the word teach in the english construction is a verb hello it is not a noun because a noun is a person place or thing but a verb is something you do so to teach is not something you sit and say i've identified no no no to teach means taking a conscious effort a deliberate effort to instill values but listen there's another word there teach them diligently that is an adverb an adverb is a word which describes a verb and it is telling us not only must we teach but it is telling us the kind of attitude that we ought to have when we are teaching we must be diligent in in other words we must never leave anything to chance let me talk to africa just for one moment what is happening to the male child the male child it appears has a sense of entitlement church are you with me a sense of entitlement i tell young men that if you cannot manage your affairs you do not have the right to take another man's daughter amen if you can't pick your clothes after yourself your wife is going to marry a child if you can't have enough sense to take you have used the plate you are the one who has eaten in that place you are finished you leave it dead what kind of a mentality is that what kind of a mentality are we creating and just because you come from the tribe of chiefs you think that you can have everything done for you shame on you and who's creating the problem is parents oh we fight sonny pick up hey and the worst is you do your business in the trailer you forgive me i'm very candid you do your business in the toilet and you leave your your stuff in the toilet and you want someone to come and flash young people are you with me we are creating a mentality now now now now people are quiet now am i being too hard oh come on church move with we're moving together nicely we are creating a sense of entitlement and guess what is happening to the girl child the mother is waking the girl child up in the morning and teaching her that you wash your plates you pick up after yourself and we now have two kinds of people who are being launched into society irresponsible young men and some irresponsible young ladies and on the flip side irresponsible young men and responsible young ladies that's why some of your marriages are difficult because you are dealing with children pastor is this too hard i tell my young men if you have not learned to manage your affairs don't take someone else's child and unfortunately our young men and and let me balance this out even some young women affluence is one of the greatest plagues which is hitting our people affluence hello affluence when i was growing up my mother would say clean your own room i did not like it but i realized that my mother was helping me affluence the bible here is saying teach these things to your ah talk to me church teach them to your to your children i'm praying for a time when we can have young men and young women who are launched into society and you as a parent can be proud to say yes we did the best we could do we created a product that the world will be proud of that will contribute not only to this kingdom but that will be useful to the kingdom to come teach your children and so when we move to the churches we're pastoring to now when we move to the churches we're pastoring now we're staying in a very aptman market you know complex and we had a fundamental problem the fundamental problem was that our boys would just wake up and think of playing hello and to those who are watching i want you to to to listen our boys will just wake up and think of playing and i say to my wife there's something wrong so we prayed the prayer and we said lord please take us to a house with a big yard and god granted that prayer what we wanted to do was to teach the kids some gardening and to twitch and to teach them the responsibility to perform house chores without infringing into their rights without it being child labor you have to be careful these days there are conventions and conventions and chat chatters i'm not mocking those things but you have to be careful so we said no and she she would advise no no no this is child labour i'll say okay okay but when we grew up my father used to wake me up at 4 00 am and he would say you need to work and so some of the chores were um like washing the car i would ask them boys come and watch the car and i'll pay you because also to teach them the value of money hello which is another thing we need to teach our children what is the value of money because if you say i'm just giving you an allowance for what just because you're my child you're creating a sense of entitlement so there has to be a level of education how do i teach them to appreciate the value of work hello and so god blessed us we began to do a garden and one of our sons is saying when i grow up and mommy when i grow up i want to be a businessman so we say to him okay how do you want to be a businessman he says i want to plant seeds and i want to watch things growing and the fruit i want to sell so we gave him a parcel very small parcel and we said plant your seeds nurture your plants and harvest food for yourself and then sell amen so that you appreciate the value of hard work the bible itself says that he who does not work must not eat i want you to understand church that the concept of education in in the biblical context is not about profit it is not amassing certificate but the concept or the purpose of education within the biblical context is character formation amen character for formation this is what god says teach them diligently which means that the first teachers or the first teacher for a child is their parent but unfortunately some of us as parents we were not taught well but this requires that god helps us to come into that mode where we teach our children and i know i know this is not easy but the bible says we can do all things through christ who gives us strength and listen to what verse 7 says you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you want when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up verse 8 you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets before your eyes you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates amen but listen to what verse 7 and 8 say you shall teach them what you shall teach them when you sit in your house i'm looking for verse 8 you shall bind them as a sign on your talk to me on your and they shall be as what frontlets between your eyes and when you walk what is our philosophy of education we teach the head hello and the hand and the do you see that all those facets of christian education are encapsulated in this text they must be in your heart amen why because the heart is desperately wicked and rightly that david said thy word ever hid in my heart that i might not sin against thee it is david you say he's creating me a create in me a clean heart oh god renew in me a right spirit and ezekiel says that a time will come when god will remove the heart of stone and put in us the heart of flesh through education trains the hands the hand and the heart and you can be confident that a complete person has come out and so i submit this morning for those who are here present and those are watching from the comfort of their homes our homes are the first schools in zimbabwe they have gradings for schools they have what they call the a schools group a schools now i don't know the the the parameters for that grading but i believe that we also understand that then there are the b schools and the cc schools and everyone in their lifetime in zimbabwe desires amen to have gone to a group a school for whatever reason i don't know i guess it's mainly because of the quality of education and the quality of culture i i guess but our schools which are our homes are neither group a nor group b schools but they are heavenly schools one writer says our homes must be little heavens on earth amen imagine your children and yourself when the necessary training has taken place at home in the in the quarry imagining coming here imagine coming here and becoming a temple of praise where god can look down from his throne above and declare there is a place of worship where each member of the church is relevant and godly minded i want to suggest to all those here present and those watching let us turn our homes into quarries that chisel out the negativity that chisel out bad language that chisel out bad attitudes and begin to shape our children not only for society but for the kingdom to come will the church say amen we want to enter into a season of prayer i want to invite my colleagues pastor peter yaga and pastor jack or gegeda to come forward we want to have a season of prayer during the week we have had prayer requests coming through and the prayer boxes which have been come coming through families pouring out their hearts asking god to intervene asking god to fight for their families we may not have had the opportunity to go through each and every prayer but our prayer requests and our desires are as clear as day before god amen church for the bible says to us that even before we ask god already knows what we need i'm inspired by the story of daniel and that angel for the angels declares even though i was delayed by the prince of persia but from the moment you opened your mouth to pray i was sent to you what an inspiring text i want to thank god for the support that we have received in this week of prayer and as we have come to the close of this wonderful week of prayer we're going to present these before the throw throne of god pastor peter yaga will pray for us as we raise these prayer requests before the presence of god so our two pastors will pray for us we'll start with papastanya and then pastor or we'll close after which we'll have the benediction and i know that there are those who have joined us on our platforms present your prayers before god because he answers prayers let's bow heads as we pray this morning our gracious within heaven what a privilege to turn our eyes to you and cry out for your help amen in this box all manner of requests directed to you have been presented this has happened in faith from the promised ask it shall be given amen and seek you shall find and if you knock the doors shall be opened for you it is on this platform of faith the lord we have the papers put in this box to petition for the interventions in the situations of your children's life and so my father i stand in the gap to lift them before you conscious of my unworthiness and seeking for grace the lord you will look upon us with your favor and give your love that indeed this will not be another ritual but this will be a turning round of somebody's life when they look back they can say god answered my prayer when i moved in faith to drop that prayer request in the box amen our families are crying lord and i am praying today lord you may come and wipe away their tears as your man savant has said the snake is right in our houses and we ought not to stand on the chairs but to strike it for we have the power you have given us the spirit not of fear lord i pray that nothing that has been requested of you this week will go unanswered i pray amen in jesus name amen amen our lord and father god we want to thank you so much for lots of blessings that we have received this week you've spoken to us lord through your servant pastor moyo and mrs moyo and father out of that many people have been convicted and they are presenting themselves before you trusting and believing lord that you'll answer to their needs and their concerns as you continue living in this world of seeing father we trust and believe that you will reveal yourself to us in many ways and one of the ways to attend to our concerns those things lord that are really troubling us father we commit them to you this hour in prayer amen we commit our families lord that you may remember our children father may they grow up to know you and they may they have your your word in their heart we also praying lord for our mothers oh lord they are having a very difficult task to take care of our families and most of them are seeking you every morning and evening father may you listen to their prayers and return to them we also pray for our fathers oh lord that they can know that the priests in our homes that they can turn to you and seek you and humble themself lord and accept you fully as the living god as they seek you in prayer lord may you listen to their prayers and may you answer father as a believers a family of believers lord we come before you as a church asking you lord that you may continue blessing us may you bind us in unity and in love and father we may continue to do that which we know how to do best is to proclaim you as our lord our savior and our redeemer amen now father as this meeting is coming to an end may you release your blessings to each and every one of us and we can also not forget to pray for our country we are praying for our leaders oh lord and the entire country father bring all our leaders to understand that you are god and you are one god who needs to be worshipped be with us lord and bless us now for this i pray believing and trusting in the name of jesus christ our lord and savior and let all the saints say amen amen father in heaven we thank you for jesus we thank you for the blood of your son we thank you for the holy spirit and we thank you for your plan of redemption father we pray for the families thank you for my two colleagues who have brought the petitions of your children before your presence father we have come to the end of this week of prayer i'm praying for kenya as a country bless this wonderful country bless the leaders bless even the resources of this country bless everything that that is done in this country according to your will father we thank you for nairobi central church and this opportunity to broadcast this on kbc on youtube on facebook thank you for even the digital platforms that mankind has created which we are using to spread your word pray and we pray for the families bless them father may they chase the foxes away and may you keep us in mind and may you keep our minds in tune with your word father when all has been said and done may glory honor and majesty be given to your name in jesus name we have prayed let all of god's children say amen and amen may god bless you bless you kenya and may god bless nairobi central church amen amen amen we thank the lord for the message that has come through to us and we'll finish this session i invite you all to stand up with song number 652 this has been our theme song throughout the week let us all rise and sing love at home [Music] there is joy in every please when the days [Music] [Music] all the earth [Applause] oh [Music] oh is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is oh [Music] is thank you thank you very much christos for that number what we say to our pastor can we say a bigger man than that amen pastor lovan we want to thank you we want to thank you pastor and mrs moyo you have been such a great blessing to this congregation and to all of us in this country and beyond we have had a blessed week and the lord mightily used you for his purpose we just want to give glory and honest wisdom thank you for concluding it so aptly combining education and family life together what a way to end the week we just want to give glory and honor to the name of our lord pastor is not done with us yet what we say we still have pastor coming again later in the day at four o'clock and we want you to continue tuning in so that we can conclude the family week family life week of prayer in style so we'll have a pastor again at 4 o'clock you are all very much invited to come over this afternoon from two o'clock we will have a stimulating panel discussion led by our experts in education the topic they have chosen is emerging youth careers implications on education and character i'm sure you don't want to miss that so at 2 o'clock please tune in so that we can continue with our services you are most welcome for that also at two o'clock for now we are now coming to the end of our uh morning session and on behalf of the pastors and the leadership of this church i just want to thank each and every one of us who has made this to be such a successful day beginning with our pastor as i have mentioned and mrs moyo the national broadcaster kenya protesting cooperation and the communication team and the seamless manner in which they have coordinated the events of the morning we want to thank you more sincerely the sign language interpreter sister joyce thank you for your services as always we want to thank our foresters for the beautiful voices and the beautiful songs that we have enjoyed and we'll continue to enjoy even beyond now the map square and the violinist it is a wonderful service that you have displayed we just want to thank the lord for you we love you our children please continue to serve the lord we want to thank the pianist and the congregation in church also we extend this appreciation to our virtual congregation in kenya and beyond please keep joining us every single sabbath that we may worship our lord together so we want to come to the conclusion of the service but soon after the grace we will have the choir i mean the christians take us on for a few more songs before we come to a complete end of the service so may we just post as we give the grace so may the grace of the lord jesus christ the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us now and forevermore amen and amen be blessed and continue worshiping with us as the choir blesses us most welcome amen amen we want to thank god for the blessings we have received so far and we will do two more songs two or three more songs before we break up let's open our hymns to 6 56 656 this has been a week of family life and this is one of the songs that we sing when we have family life 656 o perfect love [Music] [Music] one i throw foreign [Music] [Laughter] me oh is [Laughter] [Music] is day [Music] wish peace [Music] glorious boys [Music] amen amen 371 lift him up 371 please join us and sing joyfully [Music] leaving for yet the prince of heaven through the blood of christ [Music] speaking [Music] lift him shall salvation [Music] i am you free from wrong [Music] all his glory is [Music] and from [Music] shall bless his name lift him up he beats you free from [Music] singing live [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] now [Music] we will do one more song six hundred 368 368. watch man blow the gospel trumpet [Music] oh lord [Music] every property may be blue full salvation is [Music] may be free [Music] is oh [Music] says we [Music] see oh [Music] [Music] m amen may the lord bless you and we invite you this afternoon again to sing with us again may god bless you [Music] you

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Published: Sat Sep 11 2021