Bishop Mosa Sono

00:01 So we are focusing on the theme breaking out of limitations, which by the end of this year, there will be things that will have happened in our lives as a church, in your life as an individual. 00:16 Places where probably for a while you went in circles and somehow you were limited. 00:25 But you are breaking out of it in the name of Jesus. 00:28 I said you are breaking out of it in the name of Jesus. 00:31 You have a reason to say amen. Just tell them. How? 00:44 We know you have been limited for a long time, but you are coming out of limitations. That's coming out. Coming out of limitations. 00:53 You know, I have a dilemma, and I think, you know, I love Mamuta. She's such a wonderful lady. She gave me a beautiful gift, my birthday, you know, when we were at the stadium. 01:09 because she knows what it is. She gave me, you know, this old school t-shirt, beautiful. She went and printed it at the back, 65. So I said to her, you are creating a dilemma for me. 01:34 I want to show my gratitude for the gift, but you think I'll never wear Skipper Sakeh's achievements. 01:42 It's a dilemma. I don't know what to do with this t-shirt. 01:48 I'm grateful. You know, I'm grateful Mama Wan Tata. I love her so much. I love Skipper Sene. I was a lot. 01:57 I'm not. But no. But yeah. 02:04 Anyhow, anyhow. 02:08 Give it. How Musa Sono and how 65? I'm not going to give it to you. Test my name on it and my number 65. How? I won't give it to you. 02:21 All right. So this month we are talking about a never give up attitude. 02:28 And today, I want to focus mainly on that expression, don't get weary. I mean, don't get weary. 02:43 Don't get weary. 02:45 Our main text is Galatians 6, verse 9, and it reads, let us not grow weary in doing good. 02:55 For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 03:02 We've gone through that to show how Paul was identifying with the believers in Galatia in exhorting them not to get tired in doing good. Paul is not pointing a finger at them. 03:17 He's saying, let us not grow weary because he identifies with the reality that in our walk with God, there are times when we become tired There are times when we want to throw in the towel, we want to give up. 03:34 You know, I was thinking about it when I was with Pastor Don Phillips. You know, I'm so glad we got to know them before they even became pastors of the church. He was an associate pastor under Pastor Marius. 03:45 When I first went to go and preach the Comtata, they were in a cinema at the time. 03:51 And to have seen the journey they have walked, And at one point, the building they're in, they just had the steel structure standing there for almost 10 years. 04:03 And they had tried to construct. 04:06 They had lost a lot of money through contractors who had come in, taken the money. 04:12 And the sad part is they were Christian constructors. 04:20 Yeah, you know, don't be weary in well-doing. 04:28 And the building was standing there to a point that some of the steel was almost getting corrupted. And they had to kind of start from scratch. And I remember so many times we were talking together about this building project. And remember, people who don't know the story, they blame you as the pastor. 04:46 All kinds of stories. You should go and see their building now, Bazalanda. It's one of the state of the, I tell you, state of the art, number one. So I was walking there on Thursday and Friday and I was thinking, look at all this. I want to encourage you, okay? I want to encourage you. There are no failed projects. 05:07 You understand? Yeah, yeah. Project might fail in a sense that it might not be completed, but you learn something from that experience. 05:17 And whatever happens, But the key area, don't be weary. 05:26 Problem is people get weary. 05:31 That expression, let us not be weary in well-doing, can be articulated in this manner, in the following manner, in some other translations and some commentaries. This is what they say, and I quote, in doing beautiful things, let us not turn coward, let us not lose heart, And so tired at some hilly or difficult ground because of weakness and infirmity of heart. 06:00 This means in doing the beautiful in life, let us not turn coward. 06:08 Let us not lose heart. 06:10 We must not portray cowardice or the flagging of the soul. 06:16 We mustn't faint. We mustn't tire. We mustn't cave in on the inside. And I tell you, the condition of caving in on the inside is the most difficult to deal with. 06:32 Because you can have someone walk around, do everything but hollow on the inside. 06:39 Nothing in them that has initiative. 06:43 Nothing in them that has drive. 06:46 Nothing in them that gives them a push. 06:50 They just become a shell. 06:52 Just a walking corpse. 06:55 They're not living, they're surviving. 06:58 Their ask is to just go to bed and wake up. No dream, no thought. They're never angry, they're never happy, they're never anything. They just coast around. What happens? They've collapsed on the inside. 07:10 Even when they come into an environment that's life-giving, nothing sparks. 07:17 Even if you can give them all the resources in the world, they will take those resources and they will not use them for what they're meant for. 07:27 And I think that condition for me, it's a condition that is a very serious one. When something has collapsed on the inside of somebody. 07:36 I can tell you today, only God can be able to bring life back to a collapsed inside. Amen. 07:42 Oh yeah. This is what the presence of God does. That's why when we worship, I would like for you to get into it. Don't be spectators. There's something about the presence of God that lights up a soul. 07:55 When the Bible says the spirit of man, the spirit of man, the spirit of man, the spirit of man, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. In other words, if God's going to put light to you, he's going to light up your spirit. 08:09 Yeah. Yeah. 08:12 God lights up your spirit. He gives you vision. He shows you possibilities. Something begins to burn on the inside. May not be loud. May not be noisy. But somehow it starts to take form and shape. 08:24 You start seeing something different. Thinking differently. A thought comes that things can be different. 08:31 So last weekend we glory my brother. 08:35 I like that one. Glory, my brother. Thank you. Yeah, I'm preaching hard. I'm not saying amen. Thank you, my brother. Bless you. Bless you. You must be a pirate supporter. God bless you. So last week, we looked at the four laws of the harvest. Quickly. 08:52 One, you reap only what you sow. You reap only what you sow. Nothing else. You reap only what you sow. So if you're not sowing, you're not going to reap. Simple. 09:04 Simple. 09:06 Simple. Number two, you reap the same in kind as you sow. 09:11 We call it the law of identification. 09:14 You can't sow one thing and expect something different. 09:18 Life is a journey of sowing and reaping. 09:22 Everything we do, words we speak, thoughts we think, actions we take, relationships we form, the time that we invest, what we use our body for, who we connect with, what we read, what we listen to, the company we keep, all of that, everything you do, think about it, what you eat. 09:46 You can't eat wrong and unhealthy food and expect you have a healthy body. It's not going to happen. 09:59 There's no way you can do that. You can't watch things that are evil and expect to have a holy life. 10:05 It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. 10:10 It's not going to happen. So you reap the same in kind. 10:17 And that leads us to the third point. You reap more than what you sowed. 10:22 It's the law of multiplication. 10:24 You reap more than what you sowed. And number four, where we ended, we said you reap in a different season. 10:30 What do we mean? Don't think you got away with it. 10:34 People do wrong and they think they've gotten away with it. 10:45 Think you're going to get away with it? Nobody gets away with anything. 10:49 Nobody. Not in this life. I'm telling you. That's why eat your eerie. The verse before eerie, be not deceived. God is not mocked. 10:56 Eerie whatsoever a man soweth. 10:59 But you see, the opposite is also true. 11:02 Remember, if you've sowed right, you're going to reap right. 11:06 It's just a matter of time. That's why you mustn't be weary. 11:10 So that led us to that point that you must learn to trigger the harvest. We'll talk a lot more about that next week, I think. 11:17 You must learn. That's what I've learned. If you want results in a certain area, discover passive. Start sowing. 11:25 Sow in line with your expectation. 11:29 Sow in line with your gift, rather with your vision. 11:34 Trigger a harvest. Don't passively wait around and say, The duper might not do that. So, please. 11:43 You understand? 11:46 Don't be passive. Don't just wait. Do something. Look at you. Never say do something. 11:52 Look at you. You're not even saying amen. Look at you. 11:59 But today I want to focus on this weary part. The text says, don't be weary in well-doing. 12:07 Let us not be weary. That word weary is a compound word. By now, it's about a compound word. 12:17 It's made up of two words. The word E-N, N for north. 12:22 I don't know if we're going to have it up on the screen. Do they have it? 12:26 Yeah, thank you. 12:27 E-N. Oh, yeah. Okay, good. And the word K-A-K-O-S. Don't you just like the guy's biographic? I didn't see this behind me. 12:44 This is beautiful. Thank you. 12:49 The word E-N means in, I-N, in. 13:03 And the second word, K-A-K-O-S, describes something that is bad or evil. Something that is bad or evil. 13:14 So when you bring the two words together, When you bring the two words together, as is in this verse, it means to grow weary, to give in to evil, or to let something bad defeat you. 13:38 So don't be weary. Don't give in to evil. 13:44 Don't get tired. Don't let something bad defeat you. Don't let Satan defeat you. 13:53 This verse is giving us an understanding that even in doing well, in doing what's good, there will always be a pushback. 14:09 Imagine you are doing good. You are not doing bad. 14:12 You are trying to do what's right. 14:15 Right? 14:17 But even in doing that, there will be a pushback. There will be opposition. 14:22 We call them resistant forces. Remember I talked about that? 14:26 Yeah. 14:27 So the Bible says, don't get tired. Which also then is also giving us an understanding that the pushback might be for a long time. 14:40 So you mustn't get tired. You must keep on doing what's right. Right? 14:46 See, people get tired and give in to what's wrong. 14:50 I always think about it, when I remember this thing, I mean, was here not long ago. 14:55 You know, when we finally got someone who can help us car a loan to finish off the building, we had knocked on every door of every banking institution. They slammed it shut in our face. 15:07 Yeah. And we had signed a 10-key contract with our contractor. Time was running out. We needed to pay up. 15:15 Penalties were going to kick in. 15:19 We needed 5 million rents. 15:23 And it's at that time when every door is closed where they give an opportunity to violate your principles. 15:31 Yeah. 15:33 And they said, but you've knocked on every door. Yeah. 15:36 Have they ever come to you and say, even if you were to do this, no one will blame you? Look at your neighbors not saying anything. 15:49 People justify themselves. I see people get nervous when it comes to marriage. You know? Person says, no, I'm not finding somebody. Whether it's a guy or a lady. Then they grab anybody. No question asked. 16:06 They just grab. 16:08 When you ask questions, they become emotional. And I'm saying, no. I was just asking. 16:14 Basic things, like basic things. How long have you known them? My biological clock. 16:20 Hey! 16:35 Try that. Look at the university. Try that. Try that. 16:38 Try that. 16:42 This happens all the time when you're trying to run a church and certain things don't happen for you. 16:47 In your own life, you're doing all the right things. You're working hard. You're doing whatever, but that's not what you're saying in your life. 16:55 See? 16:56 So that it says don't get tired, it means there's a chance, there's a possibility to get tired. It's going to be a long one. 17:05 And note, you are doing right. You are not doing wrong. 17:10 You are not violating anything. You are doing what's right. 17:14 Don't ever think when you do what's right, it will just work immediately. It doesn't. 17:19 You have to do right for a long time. 17:24 How about a loser waiting for a long time? 17:32 And even then, one kg down. 17:48 So this expression gives us the idea of surrendering or giving in to bad circumstances. 17:57 So the text says to us, in bad times, Don't wave the flag of surrender. 18:05 In bad times, don't give up. 18:09 In bad times, don't allow circumstances to make you turn coward, where you give up on your dream. 18:19 This text tells us, in bad times, don't allow the uphill, because the uphill is mobile pillow. 18:25 Don't allow the healing lamp to sap the strength from your confident walk. You know, you know, you know. After you've been walking for six months, It's no longer an exclamation mark, it's a question mark by his traps, am I healed? 18:58 See, the confidence is not there anymore. 19:05 This test tells us, don't let evil get the best of you. 19:10 Don't let circumstances wear you down. See, that's the enemy's trick. If Satan can't beat you first time around, he'll try to wear you down. 19:20 He'll bring the same thing to you again and again. 19:28 Look at your neighbor who's not being honest and say, This text tells us, don't give in to the evil that intends to defeat you. Instead of shrinking back in fear, going back in worry, do something bold. 19:48 Do something bold that will break the stranglehold the devil has tried to put around your life. Do something. Instead of being weary in well-doing, keep on doing what's good. Keep on walking. Keep on praying. Keep on believing God. Keep on going to church. Keep on reading the Bible. Keep on doing what's good. Keep on showing love. Keep on forgiving. Don't get tired of it. Don't get tired of it. Am I talking to people? Don't get tired of it. 20:22 You've got to do it until it works. 20:27 Many years ago, my dad bought me a bicycle. I don't remember how old was I. Chris, how old was I? 20:34 Was I 10 years old? 9, 10. Yeah, I was 9, 10 years old. Yeah, yeah. So here's my dad. I was so happy to have the bicycle. 20:44 And the whole day, he tried to show me how to ride this bicycle. 20:49 I was already just hearty. 20:52 He even decided and said, you know what, I'll come back. Let me go and rest a little bit. It was hard. I mean, we started this early. I think it was during school holidays. We must have started around 11 o'clock. By 1 o'clock, I was still falling everywhere. 21:07 And I remember, I stayed with this bicycle. 21:11 And then I tried to, and all of a sudden, it was going. 21:17 How many of you have ever been there? If this thing is moving, you are not even sure if it's you or not. 21:22 Anybody knows what I'm talking about? Yeah, you're going and then it's going towards a tree. You don't even know how to stop it. 21:31 Anybody knows what I'm talking about? But Mara, at least you are going somewhere. 21:36 The whole day I learned how to ride a bicycle. 21:39 You know? 21:40 A week later, I was a professional. 21:43 You can shop and stuff, satay, blah, blah, blah. 21:49 Some of you, you give up on your praying. 21:52 You give up on your faith projects. 21:56 You give up on living the right way. 21:59 You've been sober. Go back two months. You've been living right. 22:17 For six months. 22:19 At least it's one year. It's a progress. 22:24 Yeah. Don't get tired. You know what the devil does? The minute you trip Taiwan, he tries to convince you that you haven't changed yet. Oh, come on, come on now. I'm talking to people. And then you buy the lie. To say, then you erase everything you've worked on. 22:46 Oh, don't let the devil lie to you. 22:49 Look at your neighbor and say, you are moving forward, neighbor. You are moving forward. Tell them, tell them like they say, go Eastern Cape. 23:03 Why do people give up? 23:05 I want to show you seven things, seven reasons why people give up. 23:12 Number one, fear of failure. 23:17 Fear of failure. People would rather not try than fail. 23:24 In Exodus chapter 4 verse 1, if I can have the scripture up on screen, God sends Moses. 23:31 Moses answers to the Lord and says, but behold, they will not believe me. 23:37 God tells him, go speak to the children of Israel. He says, no, they will not believe me. They won't listen to my words. 23:44 They will say, you have not appeared to me. Thank God he changed his mind afterwards. But you know, sometimes people just are afraid to fail. 23:51 What are you afraid of? 23:54 Let me ask it another way. What do you have to lose? 24:01 What do you have to lose? 24:06 Nothing. 24:07 The only thing you lose, maybe get into your pride. 24:12 But that's okay. 24:15 But try something. 24:17 Number two, skepticism. 24:22 People say, I am not the one. I'm skeptical about me. 24:27 Gideon had that syndrome in Judges chapter 6. I'll read it for you from verse 11. Give it to me in the NIV Bible, please. Or any other simpler translation, English Standard Version. NIV might be better. Bishop Chalo would love me for it. 24:46 I'm sure my friends did say, the angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ofra that belonged to Let me see. That belonged to Joash the Abizrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a white press to keep it from the Midianites. I'd like us to, we're going to go read all the way through to verse 17, please. And when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you. 25:19 The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior. Do you think an angel can lie? 25:25 No, next thing. Pardon me, my Lord? Didion replied, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? 25:33 Well, all the wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian. 25:44 The Lord turned to him and said, go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. 25:51 Am I not sending you? 25:54 Pardon me, my Lord. Gideon replied, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. I'm the least in my family. 26:03 The Lord answered, I'll be with you. 26:06 And you will track down all the Midianites, leaving none alive. Verse 17, Gideon replies, if now I have found favor in your sight, give me a sign that it's you really to go. You can see this guy, this guy. Look at this guy. 26:20 You know, some of you, you will not believe in anything that God tells you. 26:26 You are so skeptical about yourself. And I think sometimes it's a symptom sometimes, you know, maybe you were raised within a background where nobody ever encouraged you. 26:39 You know, sometimes people don't realize, you don't realize how much we damage children when we criticize them. Children need to be praised. 26:50 I'm telling you about that. Children need to be praised. Children are not adults like you. 26:56 But now they take certain things very seriously. 26:59 Now you may think you are teasing them. 27:01 But you can easily destroy the confidence of a child. 27:05 Yeah. 27:07 What they do might not be at your level. But praise them. 27:11 Instill confidence in them. 27:14 Give them a healthy dose of confidence. 27:18 Even your amens don't have confidence, it's all right. 27:22 Thirdly, people say, no, I'm not trained enough. 27:26 I'm not trained enough. 27:29 Look at Moses, Exodus chapter 4, verse 10. 27:32 God is sending him. 27:34 You can keep it in the NIV or King James, it's up to you. Let's have it up on the screen. 27:40 Moses said unto the Lord, God is sending him. He said, oh my Lord, I'm not eloquent. 27:46 I'm not eloquent, neither here to fall, nor since thou hast spoken unto your servants. I'm slow of speech. I'm a slow tongue. Let's have it in the NIV. Moses said to the Lord, pardon your servant, Lord. I've never been eloquent. 28:07 I've never been eloquent. 28:09 Neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servants. I'm slow of speech and tongue. 28:15 And sometimes some of the, and you know, I'm so happy today. I don't know. I'm not young. I don't hang around with children and young people a little bit, but really, I don't know that world anymore. 28:32 But I remember one of the major things, and I'm so thankful we have really, really corrected that as Africans. We always used to pick on people with African features. 28:46 bodily features, you know, your nose, your ears, your lips, your everything. 28:56 Right? Now, it's even worse when you had a speech impediment and you're a stammerer or a stutterer. 29:05 It's so painful. I never forget this story of a young person in our church. And I think we lost track of this young man. 29:14 I loved him so much. We're still at Holbeckers, I remember. 29:18 I remember. He used to stammer this young guy. 29:21 And I used to love talking to him after the service. And I'd learned from people who taught me to learn not to, you know, not to allow that to. But, you know, he'd come to me, and after the service, he'd be so excited, comes back and tries to talk to me. And I remember the one time he really stammered that day. 29:41 I mean, you could see the embarrassment on his face. 29:44 And I try to tell him afterwards, look, it's all right, it's all right. But you know, you grow up in that type of an environment, it's kind of a problem. I remember growing up, we used to have young people, have you ever heard that? Then the teachers, do you know the stigma that comes on you? 30:05 I'm trying to say some of you, maybe that's the background you grew up in. 30:14 And when God tells you you can, immediately tell God, I can't, because everybody around you has told you. 30:26 We had a teacher in one of our schools, and this is very true. I won't even tell you which school it was. 30:32 Very, very intelligent man. Every time he spoke, he'd always do this. 30:38 Yeah. 30:40 I needed to know. We found out. They made fun of his nose. 30:45 He's trying to hide it. Why are you boasting? Huh? 30:53 Because you had nothing to do with it. Come on now. Don't give us... 30:59 It's okay, it's fine. 31:02 But why boast to the rest of us? 31:05 Because you had nothing to do with the way you look. 31:09 You were born like that. 31:12 Huh? There's no status symbol. 31:16 But, you know, and I'm so glad, Pastor Anna, these days, in our country, actually, I find that the young people today own their look. 31:33 They own their look. 31:36 Yeah. 31:37 They're confident. We used to joke, and apart then, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. 31:46 Even our teachers would say, So what happens? When God tries to talk to you, you bring up those issues. 32:03 Some of you could be, you were raised in dire poverty. These things, painful as they are, right? 32:14 They become the fabric that God uses to bank us who we are. 32:21 I'm telling you. 32:24 I'm telling you. If you will just let God take you out of that period. 32:28 And don't be too taken by it. 32:31 Yeah. 32:35 Moses says, I'm not eloquent. Elijah says, I'm a child. I can't speak. Number four. 32:42 The fourth reason is we feel that somebody can do better than me. The fourth reason is someone can do it better than me. 33:11 It's a long passage, but in Exodus 4, 11 to 16, God wants to send Moses. Moses says, no, Roma, Aaron. 33:19 He says, Aaron is more eloquent. 33:22 Yeah. 33:23 Yeah. 33:27 And the truth is, most of the time, when God comes to people, most of the people in the Bible that God called, they always feel someone else is better than them. 33:38 Let's put it this way. There's always somebody better than you. 33:42 Let's just settle it once and for all. There's someone more prettier than you, more handsome than you. Come on, more stronger than you. Come on now, come on, come on, come on. Who earns more money than you, more cleverer than you, more everything. So there'll always be somebody more than you. It's as I call it today. 34:00 But nobody can be you. 34:07 i understand it so if you disappear you rob us that's what i've learned you know as i go around preaching when they've lined us up as preachers you people don't know the the pressure because they're people who are dynamic preachers There's a place I went to go some time ago. It's many years ago. Dr. Gumbi was still alive. And they had me in the program. 34:38 He wasn't even in the program. 34:40 They gave me 15 minutes to speak. Two minutes. I had spoken 15 minutes, but... 34:57 But did you know the reason why having you is because it's you that we want? 35:27 Not anyone else. You. 35:31 It's you that we are. 35:32 There will always be somebody better than you. 35:35 Just be at peace with that. 35:38 There will be somebody more eloquent than you. There will always be somebody. There will be somebody that the crowd favors more than you. 35:47 But sometimes nobody is lucky. You will be the most favorite. 35:50 Their crowd is better than the others. 35:55 Yeah. Like children. Children choose who they like. 35:59 Some children are going on. Yeah. 36:03 And then they run to the person next to you. You know, you ask yourself so many questions. Just relax. 36:15 You are the best you that you can be. And please don't deprive us. 36:22 We want you, not someone else. 36:28 Own you who God has made you. 36:32 Be the best version of you that you can be. Can I hear an amen in the house? 36:40 Yeah. 36:42 Number what? 36:44 Five. The reason we give up is because of delayed results. 36:50 Because the harvest doesn't happen in our timeline. 36:58 Number six, we give up. Number six, because of invisible labor. 37:04 In other words, we really get to see the full impact of our good works. You know, sometimes I wish I could go raise some people from the dead. 37:12 who passed on with broken hearts because they had done all the right things for their children, for their family, they never saw anything happen. 37:23 But after they're gone, those seeds they planted when they were alive. 37:28 Sometimes I kind of think about it. I wonder if there's no balcony. Your labor was not in vain. 37:38 Because when they passed on, they felt that their life was a wasted life. 37:45 Until they've left seeds behind that are good. 37:48 Same in your case. Some of you, you think some of the things you've been working hard for. Number seven, life's pressures. 38:04 Sometimes we give up because of the pressure of life. You know, life makes you lose focus, lose vision. 38:12 You know, vision is about the there and then. Life is about the here and now. 38:18 Demands at home, demands at work, demands within our communities. All these compound our daily stress. Hey, let me give you some quotations quickly. 38:28 Marilyn von Savant says this, and I quote, Being defeated is often temporary. 38:37 Giving up makes it permanent. 38:40 Just leave that quote there. 38:43 Being defeated is often temporary. 38:47 Giving up makes it permanent. 38:51 Thomas Edison says, and I quote, many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. 39:02 Let's read it again. Many of life's failures are people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up. 39:10 Let's quote from the Bible. King Solomon in Proverbs 24, 16 says, for an upright man, after falling seven times, will get up again. 39:23 Falling seven times will get up again. 39:26 That's a righteous man. 39:29 So what is the antidote for weariness? Antivirus. 39:39 What is the antivirus? 39:43 I mean, how do we overcome weariness? I want to suggest a few things quickly. We won't develop the points. I'll just name them quickly for the sake of time. Number one, remember your why. 39:55 In other words, reconnect with the core reason. Why did you solve? 40:00 When you stand at the project, what were you trying to do? Why are you helping? Why are you serving? Why are you doing what you're doing? Why did you start that company? Why did you start that church? Start with the why. Go back to the why. Ask yourself. 40:13 Because life erases the why. People get lost. 40:17 Because crisis comes, we forget why we were doing what we're doing. 40:22 Ralevala. 40:24 I have to ask myself the question, why am I a pastor? 40:29 Why? Why am I believing God for a thousand churches in my lifetime? 40:34 Why? I've got to go back to that because that question gets erased by the reality of the ups and downs of life and by the experiences of life that don't give you the outcome you were hoping for. There are times when vision looks like it's dead. 40:55 Sometimes you wake up in the morning, you feel depressed. 40:59 Go through stuff. 41:01 Yeah. Ask yourself why. Number two, rest on your purpose. What do I mean? 41:08 Remember, God's not going to start anything in your life that he doesn't intend to finish. 41:17 Now let's have it up on the screen. In Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. When he talks to the Christians in Philippi. Being confident. Somebody say confident. 41:30 Oh I can hear you. Somebody say confident. 41:33 Come on, shout it confident. 41:35 Would you have been confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ? Can I hear an amen in that? 41:50 Let's have it up in the Amplified Bible, please. God doesn't begin anything that is not going to complete. Amen. 41:59 He says, I'm convinced and confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, the time of his return. 42:14 When God has started you. 42:16 He's already telling you, I have already intended to finish you. Because I'm not going to start what I'm not going to finish. 42:25 So if it doesn't get finished, he is not to blame. It's because somebody got weary in well-doing. Yeah. 42:32 Yeah. 42:35 Yeah. 42:36 I know that's the entire time looking at the building. It started that building. 42:41 It got stuck for more than 10 years. Yeah. 42:45 Money was gone. People were gone. People were saying stuff. It's in that season where you have to guard what you say. 42:52 You have to guard the company you keep. 42:55 Yeah, we'll talk about it. We'll pray over it. Believe God for it. And we send it forward to our hotel. 43:01 Yeah. 43:08 yeah let's start again you got to have friends like that are you there some of you you are hanging around the wrong company you are hanging around people who are giving up people come on hang around people who believe in God who say we are going to do it we are going back there again don't be weary don't get tired don't give up don't throw in the towel Get back to it. 43:38 Rest on your purpose. 43:41 Rest in the arms of God. 43:44 Rest in the one who is the author and the finisher of your faith. 43:49 Rest in the one who is there for you. The beginning and the end. The creator of the heavens and the earth. The one who has you in the palm of his hands. Rest in him. 44:03 Because he's the author and the finisher of your faith. 44:14 Number three, celebrate small wins. 44:22 You know, in the early days of my life as a Christian, I didn't know this much. 44:30 As a result, we never celebrated many anniversaries as a church. 44:37 We just breezed along because when things are working for you, sometimes you think that's the way life is. 44:46 Until you get into a glitch and you realize the chances of success and failure are 50-50. 44:54 But because God is on your side, God will make you succeed in the name of Jesus. 45:00 Any small win, one week is a win mark. Two days. Two days. 45:07 Number four. 45:30 Share the load. 45:32 I love this one. 45:34 Find a community of trusted friends to lean on for strength and clarity. Sometimes what carries us over the finish line is the people who are running the Comrades Marathon with us. 45:52 When we are cramping along, sometimes they drag us over the finish line. 45:59 I'm getting the metal. Ah, you're not hearing what I'm saying. 46:06 Look at the book of Hebrews. I love this one. I never saw this from this perspective. 46:10 Let's do Hebrews 10, not 13. Hebrews 3, 13, but Hebrews chapter 10 from verse 24. Let's have it in the King James. Let us consider one another. Let's consider one another to do what? 46:28 to provoke unto love and good works. In other words, let's encourage one another and challenge one another to become a better version of ourselves. 46:41 Do you understand what I mean? That's what I do. I've got my friends that I have. When we're together, we're talking with Pastor Doan about so many things. Anytime I'm with him, anytime I'm with Bishop Chalo, anytime I'm with Pastor Dick, anytime I'm with my friends, we're challenging each other. Yeah, they get those kinds of friends. We're not talking about, no, we're challenging each other. 47:02 Yeah, we're talking about how we can be better husbands, better pastors. We're talking about what we believe God is saying to us, what we can do for our nation. Yeah, we're challenging each other. 47:13 Oh, how? 47:16 No, the other one, 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Next verse. Then I'll ask this one. Not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together. 47:29 Meeting together. 47:30 Why? 47:33 As the manner of some, but we must exhort one another. 47:37 And so much as you see the day approaching. What is he saying? He's saying, you know, there is a value in being among a people who are part of what's up group here? How? 48:01 Locate yourself. Some of you, you are walking a lonely road. 48:06 I'm telling you. You're too much of a loner. You can't trust anybody. 48:12 Are you sure? 48:17 This is why coming to church like this is so good. That's why corporate worship like this. It's very nice. But God has deposited something in your spirit. Yeah. You know, I wonder, I ask myself, I wonder what do people do when they don't have a one place, one week fellow ever young engineer? 48:49 Guthibabati exhort. 48:52 You know. Much as I like social media, I think being next to somebody who's flesh and bloody is better. 48:59 Better. You know. Being fellowshipping. So locate yourself in a company of people. That was number what? 49:06 Number four. Number what? 49:09 Number five. 49:11 Release the outcome. 49:14 What do I mean? And we'll pick up on this next week. Trust that your ability is the planting while the harvest belongs to God. 49:26 In other words, recognize this due season part. We're going to talk about the due season next week. 49:32 There's this thing called due season. 49:35 Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3.6. I love this one. 49:40 I love this one. Listen to what it says. 49:44 I have planted. 49:47 Apollo's watered. 49:49 Read it with me. 49:53 Read it with me. 49:56 God did what? 49:59 So in other words, do what you're supposed to do. 50:04 Plant the seeds well. 50:07 Plant the seeds. Leave the outcome to God. Don't be weary. 50:12 Don't get tired. 50:14 In planting the seeds. 50:18 Don't get tired. 50:20 Don't get tired. Just keep doing. Plant the seeds. Water the seeds. Look after the seeds. 50:28 Leave the rest to God. 50:32 In due season. 50:35 You touched on it this morning. 50:40 Prayer and all of that. This due season part. Most people don't understand the due season stuff. 50:46 But everybody has a due season. 50:49 Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor. 50:51 You have a due season. 50:54 God's going to help you. 50:57 In your due season. 50:59 Don't get tired. 51:01 Don't be discouraged. 51:04 God is on your side. 51:07 He is the greater one in your life. 51:13 There's no weapon that's formed against you that will prosper. 51:20 You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. 51:27 Why don't you give the Lord a big hand of praise. 51:30 Now, As I conclude, Basalana, I'm going to ask you to listen to this. Some of you are here today. 51:40 You were invited or you've come on your own. But as yet, you haven't received Christ, a Savior and Lord of your life. I'm going to give you an opportunity right now to plant the right seed by giving your life to Christ. Your life is not going to change on its own. 51:59 It's going to change because you are have made certain decisions. 52:06 God really wants to transform you and change you. 52:09 He waits for you. You've been invited. You've come on your own. 52:14 Whatever the situation. Maybe you saw us on YouTube, on Facebook, heard about us, whatever. You are here today. You've never invited Christ to come into your life and be the Savior and Lord of your life. 52:26 And right now you need prayer. 52:30 You've heard God's word. You realize, you know, my life is really not going in the right direction. 52:37 But from what I'm hearing, there's hope for me. 52:40 From what I'm hearing, my life can change. 52:44 And I want you to know your life can change. Not tomorrow. Today. 52:49 Not anywhere else. Right here in this place. 52:52 My invitation for you is not about you being a member of our church necessarily, no. But it's about you knowing Christ as Savior and Lord that he can change you and transform you. 53:04 Can we bow our heads please and close our eyes. 53:09 I know you are here my friend. 53:11 I know that God is talking to you in your heart already. It might not be in an audible voice that you can hear but in your heart of hearts your sense of prompting. 53:20 I want my life to change. I ask you not to allow pride to keep you back. 53:28 Don't sit for that life that's destroying you and settle for something that's less than God's best for you. 53:37 Don't allow pride or shame to keep you back from what God wants to do. This is a great day for you. 53:44 Jesus wants to come into your life. He wants to change you. He wants to make you a child of God. But he can't do it without you willfully inviting him into your life. 53:57 And if you are here and you want me to pray with you because you want to invite Jesus in your life, our heads bowed, our eyes been closed. If that's you and you need the prayer, raise your hand right where you are. Raise it high. Let me sit. Raise it high. Right now, just raise it high. Thank you for those hands. Raise it high. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. You don't need to be afraid of anything. You don't need to be ashamed about anything. This is about your life. This is about your destiny. This is about your future. This is about what God wants to do right now in your life. Those of you who've raised your hands, would you kindly stand please on your feet? 54:28 Just stand. And as you stand, take all your belongings in your hands. Stand on your feet right where you are. All over the place. All over the place. 54:36 All over the place. That's right. That's right. Come on. 54:39 Come on. Can I ask you, those who are standing, I want to pray for you. Can you come from where you are standing? All the way back. All over. Just come. Stand right here in the front. Come. Let's pray for you. Come right now. 54:50 Come. Let's pray for you. Give them a big hand, everybody, as they walk to the front. Come on.