Episode Transcript
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Would you guys stand and join us?
[00:00:15] Speaker B: We have a lot to celebrate.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: What God's doing across this globe.
[00:00:31] Speaker C: The spirit and the bride together testify.
All things shall be made right.
Amen.
The law shall be restored, the grave shall be no more and all the church will roar.
Amen.
Prepare the way the king is coming Enthrone on Praise the King is coming yes, he is the last, the first the living word in glory shall return we prepare the way with hearts like lamps that has light upon the earth we wait for his return.
Amen.
No fear of wants to to come Our hope said in the one who said that it is done.
Amen.
We prepare the way the king is coming he throw on praise the King is coming yes he is he's the last, the first the living word in glory shall return we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way the trumpet soon shall sound he'll ride upon the clouds and every knee will bow.
Amen.
The honor and the faith the glory, power and praise be unto Jesus name.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Prepare the way the king is coming he's enthroned on Praise the king is coming the last, the first the living word in glory shall return he's the great I am the son of man, the lion and the lamb the cornerstone who stands alone in line will lead us on we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Sing it with me.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: Prepare the way the king is coming to every nation he's enthroned on Praise.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: The King is coming yes, he is.
[00:05:30] Speaker C: The last, the first, the living word Glory shall return.
[00:05:38] Speaker D: So what do we do?
[00:05:45] Speaker A: All for you, Lord Jesus.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Jesus, Jesus we remember one more time.
Jesus, Jesus.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: That is good. Amen.
Amen. It is good to be here with you this morning. You may be seated.
If we haven't had the opportunity to meet. My name is Rob Zimmerman, lead pastor here at Westgate and I'm thankful you've chosen to worship with us this morning as we kick off our missions emphasis week for 2020.
We are super, super excited about everything that is planned this week. If you're new to Westgate, we are a part of the Christian and Missionary alliance denomination.
It is a worldwide denomination with over 6.3 million believers who are worshiping in over 25,000 churches speaking 183 different languages. We have over 700 international workers that are serving all around the world, many in some of the most diffic and least reached parts of our world going and sharing the good news of the Gospel. And as we celebrate our Missions Emphasis week together, really what it is is a reminder that not only are we called to share the good news of the Gospel in our homes and our schools and our neighborhoods, our workplaces, but we are called to be a part of the global spread, the mission, if you will, of going and sharing the good news of Jesus to the very ends of the earth. And we are excited as a church to be able to be a part of a denomination that makes this one of its high priorities.
Another thing about the Christian Missionary alliance denomination is each one of our churches every year holds a Missions Emphasis week. We do this to take time to reflect on all that God is doing all around the world. And this year our theme is all of Jesus for all the World and we are excited to share about what God is doing to bring the Gospel to some of these least reach and hard places in our globe.
This morning we are blessed because one of the international worker couples that we have with us is MAU and Janet Abaya and we are so thankful to have them back with us.
MAU and Janet have been long term partners here, sent out from Westgate Chapel so many years ago and we are excited that they are back with us today to share the stories of how God has been working in Nigeria and one of the hardest places of our globe. And we are thankful for how God has been using them and again to be able to celebrate with what God is doing as well. We'll have another couple with us from closed access country that will be sharing next week and so we're excited for you to get to hear from them as well. Because of our livestream, we won't say their names or necessarily where they're from, but you will not want to miss it. I do want to say specifically to those that are worshiping at home this morning, online or if you're traveling our livestream next week will not show the message portion because it's a closed access country and it would not be good to show that. And so we do have something else very special that is planned for you that you won't want to miss. So still tune into the live stream. Just know that during the message portion of our service that will change.
One thing that I want to make sure you're aware of. If you had grabbed your sermon notes on the way in this morning, you'll see this trifold that is in there. I'd encourage you to pull it out, take a look at it. It has all of the information of what is going to be happening this week as we celebrate what God is doing around the world, there are short bios that are there that'll tell you about our international workers as well.
One thing that I want to highlight you'll kind of see on this back fold if you will. Wednesday evening is our Missions Missions Prayer experience and it's going to be happening from 6pm to 8.30pm it's for all ages, from our youngest to our oldest. And really what it is is an immersive experience for us as a church to interact together, to do varying different activities and to experience where God is working in different places around the world and to be able to pray together over our international workers and that the Gospel would go forward powerfully with many people coming to Faith in Jesus. It's an evening you won't want to miss. It's going to start at 6pm over in the atrium with a bunch of food that'll be great and a fun time. And at 6:30 we'll begin that experience together and then wrap it up in this room at the evening with a very, very powerful moment that I promise you won't want to miss. So I encourage you mark it on your calendars, prepare to be here and invite your friends to come and join you as we celebrate our Missions Emphasis Week. With that being said, if you are a guest or new to Westgate Chapel, I especially want to welcome you and thank you. Thank you for being here.
As you go through the process of figuring out when you want to take that step to connect a little bit deeper, the best way to do that is to begin by filling out the connection card that you will find in the pew in front of you. And if you fill that out today, you can take it out to our main lobby and at our guest center we have some hosts that are there that would love to answer any questions you have about the church. But as you give them that card, they also have a guest gift to give you this morning to say thank you for being here. And so please be sure to do that as we close out our service today.
Now as always, a lot of other things that are going on around the church, but not only Missions Emphasis week, but many other things as we go into the fall. Always the Westgate Chapel app is the best way to stay connected and so please be sure to check that out this week. Now with that being said, we want to take a moment before we continue in musical worship to greet one another and welcome each other to our service. So I'm going to invite you to stand, turn around Say hello to somebody this morning and do so in another language.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: God's doing some amazing things in this world.
And we get to rejoice and celebrate.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: The glory of the Lord Forever be our joy. May redemption be the theme of our song.
For by grace we have been saved and by grace we shall proclaim to the corners of the earth that Christ is come. Amen.
Let the nations be glad.
Let the people rejoice. For salvation belongs to our God.
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord for salvation belongs to our God. Let the nation through the ages gone before through the trial and the sword.
Many saints and martyrs conquered though they died.
Still we're holding out the cross crossing ocean suffering loss shall endure all things to the crown of life.
Let the nations be glad.
Let the people rejoice for salvation belongs to our God.
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord for salvation belongs to our God. Let the nations be glad in the Holy Spirit's power With the glories of the Gospel to exclaim.
Now we pray your kingdom come and we pray your will be done for the honor and the glory of your name.
Let the nations be glad.
Let the people rejoice for salvation belongs to our God.
And let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord for salvation belongs.
You are God.
Let the nations be glad.
Let the people rejoice for salvation belongs to our God.
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord for salvation. Nation belongs to our God. Let the nations be glad.
Come all you weary.
Come all you thirsty. Come to the web that never runs dry.
Drink of the water come and thirst no more, more.
Come on you sinners come find his mercy. Come to the table he will satisfy Taste of his goodness.
Find what you're looking for.
For God so love the world that is he gave us his one and only son to save us.
Your failures bring your addictions Come lay them down at the foot of the cross.
Jesus is waiting there with open arms Open ar For God so love the world that he gave us Is one and only son to I Save us forever.
Forever the power of hell Forever defeated. Now it is well I'm walking in freedom For God so love God so love the world.
Praise God.
Praise God from whom all blessings Praise Him.
Praise him for the wonders of his.
Praise God.
Praise God.
Praise God.
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Praise Him.
[00:19:14] Speaker C: Praise him for the wonders of his love.
His amazing love for God so love the world that he gave us his one and only Son to say for God so love the world that he gave us his one and only son to save us. Whoever believes in him will live forever.
The power of hell forever defeated.
Now it is well I'm walking in freedom for God so love God so love the world Bring all your failures Bring your addictions Come lay them down at the foot of the cross Jesus is waiting God show love the world.
[00:20:39] Speaker D: The alliance has always been a deeper life and missions movement. We care about bringing all of Jesus to all the world.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: God being the good shepherd, cares about that one lost sheep. And the reality of our world today is that 42% of the people groups around the world are unreached.
[00:20:58] Speaker D: One culture alone is not enough to magnify God's name. And it's going to take all of us together. We see that in Revelation that it's every tribe and every tongue and every nation.
And that is why it's for all.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: The world, because all of us together.
[00:21:14] Speaker D: Are made to glorify God. The Great Commission is the responsibility of the whole church.
We have to send gospel presents to every part of the globe, whether that be across oceans to some of the hardest, most difficult to reach places, or in our own neighborhoods down the street.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Going to all the world is something that is more than just a commandment from God.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: It's a lifestyle.
[00:21:42] Speaker C: And if we do this, we're going.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: To actually see Jesus in all nations.
This is an invitation from Jesus and Jesus invites us to share that invitation to others so that they will get a chance to respond and become part of our family.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: Experiencing all of Jesus is.
[00:22:07] Speaker C: Knowing that.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: You'Re loved, knowing that you're never alone.
[00:22:12] Speaker D: All of Jesus, Jesus for all the world takes all of us.
Morning. Thank you for this church. As we look at that video and see faces all around the world and that sign traveling from regions where our workers are in Ukraine and in Latin America and our friends that carries in Germany and yeah, the bridge and Elisa. Lord, it's what a privilege it is to see our brothers and sisters laboring for your glory. God, thank you for a chance to come together here with one another to talk to you.
We come from busy weeks. There are heavy things going on in our lives and our families and our bodies and we want to bring those to you now, Lord, as we focus on this big idea of all of Jesus for all the world takes all of us. May we be able to just have ears to hear your voice. May we have focused minds to listen and will you just speak to us through promptings and whatever it takes, Lord. So thank you for this morning. Thank you. That we can come together, we can learn together, we can worship together, we can give, we can pray to you for your glory, God. So we just. Yeah, we give this morning to you and this time to you and may you just be glorified as we worship you. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
Awesome. Good morning. We are going to start with our offering. When we talk about a way of worship, we talk about our way of giving back to what God has given us. And so we're going to take our buckets and pass them and we are praying that these offerings again, many of you give online, but as we are passing our offerings, we are praying that things are invested in eternal, which is people.
And that is who we are giving. This is an act of worship. So our offering buckets are passed and Mao and Janet, I'd love for you guys to come up and join me.
[00:24:28] Speaker C: Foreign.
[00:24:36] Speaker D: Church.
My name is Julianne. I get to work here doing outreach admissions. I would say it's the best job ever. And truly this is like the greatest week ever and the best job ever as we just get to.
Yeah. Learn about what God is doing all around the world and be part of that story both here in our neighborhoods and then see how he's working in the nations and how we're part of that as well. As you heard Rob say, we have our friends here visiting. This is Mauo and Janet. Say hi, Mao. Hi, Janet.
They have been members at Westgate for a very long time, very well connected here, but we haven't got to see them in the last five years because of COVID and health things and all of. And so it is such a privilege to have them back here. A little tiny bit about their story is that they are Nigerian, but came as international students to the University of Toledo and have multiple degrees from the University of Toledo. And one Thanksgiving in 1988, Clint Longnecker was one of Mao's professors and invited him over for Thanksgiving with Janet and the children that were 2 and 4, 4 and 6, they were young and invited them over for Thanksgiving and said, do you want to come to church with us the next Sunday? And so Mao and Janet came every Sunday after for the next six plus years and then were sent from Westgate out as international workers.
And here they took membership. They led the college and career class, Bible studies. Their kids sang in the choir, went to vbs. This is their church. And so it's fun to have them here and know many of you and get to know many more of you. So will you tell us a little bit about your ministry call. What happened in the 90s that you were thinking academia and then the Lord had different plans. Tell us about it.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Well, good morning.
We stand here with nostalgia because to the month, 31 years ago, October 1994, the Lord called us to Nigeria and we stood on this platform and we are prayed for and commissioned to go.
So it's a joy for us to be back over and over again. But yeah, we came here to study at the University of Toledo and to get degrees to become professors. That was our dream.
And we finished and we prayed about going back to Nigeria, applied for jobs, no job openings.
And the Lord gave us opportunity to teach at Bluffton College. One hour down 75.
And we taught there for one year. One of those times we went to Cable Road alliance and we were going for midweek prayer meeting. And one of the elders of the church who is also a member of Evangelism Resources Board, came and met us and said, mawo and Janet, how about going to Nigeria as missionaries? And I said to him, look at my face, do I look like a missionary to you?
Well, he waved it up and he said, well, there's an opportunity, opportunity in Nigeria to go serve the Lord with Evangelism Resources. Long story short, we prepared. We were convinced the Lord wanted us to go through many, many miracles. And we packed up and left on October 18, 1994. And we've been there since then.
[00:27:58] Speaker D: Yeah, awesome. And you can see, yeah, there's a faithful story in there. Thanks for faithfully saying yes again. Your plan, God's plan. It is really fun to hear all the details of the way he made it clear that he had a plan for you. You can see the picture of their first desk in 1995 in their house in Nigeria, things were different. And their kids, you can see them now, you know, they started little, their two year old, they had left with a two year old born in Toledo. Now they're all grown. But it's just been fun to watch how God has been walking you guys through a little bit about Nigeria so we can picture more about it. As you can see, as we travel from Toledo over to the continent of Africa at vbs, we raised funds for the Abayas and we had everybody do this to create the shape of Africa with their body. And then this is where Nigeria is. So you guys will never forget in West Africa, it's right here where your kidney is maybe.
And so that's a way to remember West Africa, Nigeria.
And there's a lot of different Things about Nigeria. So they live right in the center of the country in Jos Nigeria. Now that's where they would call home.
And it is beautiful. If you look at a picture over Jos, you can see just this.
Yeah, this country, this city that is beautiful, that has urban and rural and people, lots of people.
And also when we talk about Nigeria, there's also a heaviness, a weight of how it is a hard place. And so a little bit about why we say that's a hard place is if you look at the next map, you can see that the country of Nigeria is split down the middle. So these top states, the northern states are Islamic states under Sharia law. So there is a whole world of Islam being preached and protected.
And then the southern states, you're free and permitted to be a Christian. And, and you can see Joss is in a blue state in Plateau State, but the one that's peeking up right in the middle. And so that's why it's such a profound place for them to serve. And one of the things that we use is the voice of martyrs as a resource to learn about what the states of the or the countries of the world and they're restricted and hostile and closed access and things like that. And Nigeria is listed as a hostile country.
You can read the definition is that there are extremist groups, family members and community members that are routinely persecuted for being a Christian.
And so we're holding the beauty and the joy and the fun of beautiful Nigeria. And also there's a heaviness of a hostile place. Can you guys help us understand what is it like to live and serve in a place that's hostile to Christianity?
[00:30:45] Speaker E: Thank you, Julian. Good morning, Westgate Chapel.
Nigeria is indeed a beautiful country. We live in Joss very lush green plateau and we love being there.
But we've had our shares of trouble of attacks and you've seen the video. Very soon how our campus, very close to our campus, were attacked.
But the thing that keeps encouraging us is because the Bible has warned us that if we follow Christ we are going to suffer persecution.
[00:31:21] Speaker A: It's there.
[00:31:22] Speaker E: And so we are in no illusion that we are going to have a bed of roses.
We know that Christ himself suffered persecution, but what keeps us going is the confidence that he's with us through this time.
And sometimes we are at a loss what to do. We don't know what the next minute is going to bring, but we keep going back to the Word and the assurance of God that I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. So you are constantly holding on to the promises of God because you cannot trust in anything but the Lord himself. And the Lord has kept and protected us.
And we know that you have been praying for us and those prayers. The Bible says the prayer of the faithful availeth much. And thank you for your prayers.
[00:32:16] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. Thanks for helping us understand that. Yes, in your state, you can. You have a church you worship. We're going to have on Wednesday night a Nigerian worship experience. And also there is churches being burnt and kidnappings and killings. And the both hand is a thing for us to wrestle with as we walk with God and pray for missions.
We're going to watch a video that kind of jumps into the story. It picks up from 1994, 1999 in the school of evangelism starting in Jos. But before we jump into that, I was just wondering if there's anything you want to say to Westgate before we jump in and then Mawa will preach.
[00:32:51] Speaker E: Thank you. Westgate chapel.
You have been a team from the very beginning.
We are part of this one team together. You have come with us to Nigeria.
Being here in Toledo, we've been warriors in this battle that we've been fighting against the devil. And so we want to thank you for your partnership. We want to thank you for the many times when we have pictures of people praying for us and Julian, who sent those pictures.
And our hearts are so encouraged by that.
And what I want to encourage us this morning is that all around the world, there's problem here in America.
But the only thing that we need to focus on, because these things can serve as distractions. We can talk all day about all the terrible things that happen in Nigeria. But if we focus on that, then we miss the very reason why the Lord has left us here singing this morning. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
And that is the reason that is a story that we need to tell the world and the world so desperately needs to hear that.
And it says in Matthew 28 that the Lord, his last command to us is go into all the nations and make disciples.
And that is what we should be looking at, and that is what we should be working on.
Because the Lord is coming, beloved. The king is coming. And so let us prepare the way.
Amen.
[00:34:23] Speaker D: Amen. Thank you. All right.
Yes. So we're gonna watch just seven minutes from a big longer video about the last 30 years of ministry that the Abias have been part of. Again, starting in Joss in the 90s and then Mawell will be preaching from the word. Watch the video in Joss.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: We started to reconnect again with the pastors and church leaders.
And very soon it was clear we needed to restart the School of Evangelism that was closed down while it was in Oweri.
The Lord helped us and were able to open the school again in September of 1999 with just 14 students.
That was all the space we had available in the dorm room where the strengths were staying.
In 2003, we bought a piece of land paid for by seeing money from our friend, late engineer Emmanuel Oswako, whose family gave us from his estate.
We acted in faith and in five months we were able to pay for the balance of the land.
And in 2004 we began construction.
Slowly but surely, funds trickled in.
God did not open the floodgates for us.
He strengthened our faith by giving a little at a time.
We engaged in building by faith.
We were able to move into a partially completed building in 2011.
And in March of that year we held our dedication service.
By September of the same year, we had our first class of the School of Evangelism in the building.
It has been a long journey of faith.
God has not failed us yet.
A new cup of students, Muslim background believers, we call them mbbs, have started to come to our school.
At the beginning, they came one at a time, then two.
Now they form the bulk of the students we train.
They come traumatized from running for their lives, losing their wives and children and properties.
But they come with courage and determination.
These have returned to their Muslim communities to preach the Gospel.
They are scattered over northern Nigeria, Northern Cameroon, Southern Niger Republic and Northern Benin Republic.
There are some in Burkina Faso and Mali. Also the reports establishing small discipleship centers and opening churches.
When danger looms, they move to safer locations.
Our alumni over the years have done exploits for the Kingdom.
They are evangelizing within and outside their churches, training believers in Portugal Bible schools and raising disciples for the churches. They are mobilizing leadership in the churches.
[00:37:48] Speaker C: They are planting churches among unchurched people in village.
[00:38:24] Speaker A: As we continue in our training of church leaders in the School of Evangelism.
The verse we have held on to is second Timothy chapter two and verse two.
But the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses and trust to reliable men who will be able to teach others. Also, we recently established the Tentmaker Institute, the youth training arm of our ministry involving the Great Commission Challenge Camps, the Inductive Bible Study seminars and the purity retreats.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: The good tell them there's a God I love.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: Our challenge to the youth as they come to us each time is from Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And I will be with you always to the end of the age. The activities of terrorists in Nigeria have impacted us in very different ways.
Once we had to close school when we were still living in town.
But again, In March of 2017, terrorists invaded the village behind our campus. They burned homes, killed people and went away with so many things.
They scaled our wall and entered our campus wielding AK47s. We had to take cover, but the Lord protected us.
Eventually the military came and evacuated all of us and our students.
We closed school for about four weeks.
When the students got back, we had to take them through trauma healing to enable them settle down to learn again.
We thank God for his protection always.
When in 2020, COVID pandemic hit the world, all schools were ordered to close down.
We were not exempted, so we had to send our students home.
While we were waiting for things to come, the Lord opened the doors for us and we received grants from our friends to distribute food and relief to the vulnerable people around us. They were poor, they were widows and orphans.
Many of them had no access to food supplies because of the lockdown.
Through this relief fund that we received, we gave food supplies to everybody without regard to religion or tribe or nationality.
Thank God that that was an opportunity for testimony for many people to know that Christ's love is not limited to only Christians or to all people.
Well, good morning again.
It's such a joy to be here to share from the word of God. Briefly this morning, as I have read through the scriptures and thought about the scripture to share with us this morning, the passage that came to my mind is Isaiah, chapter 19, verses 19 to 25, which I want to read now.
In that day, verse 19, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender and deliver them.
And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord. And perform them.
And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. And Assyria will come to Egypt and Egypt into Assyria. And the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
In that day, there will be sorry. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, and a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
I think of this text today in the context of all of Jesus for.
[00:44:03] Speaker C: All of the world.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: And look at the situation with the children of Israel at the time that Isaiah was speaking to them.
God is promising the children of Israel and the people of the nations that he was going to bring them into the community of his people.
That's an overwhelming grace that many of us cannot wrap our heads around.
Because think of Egypt.
400 years of slavery enslaving the Jews in Egypt.
And it took God's supernatural intervention to release them from that slavery.
And then they came and settled in their land.
And of course, we know the history of Israel, that they lived disobedient lives. But they were God's people.
And God in His grace and mercy redeemed them.
And in his anger, of course, in the end, he had to evacuate them from the land, from the holy land, send them to Assyria and to Babylon, until Cyrus came and set them free and told them to go back. And they went back.
But in that time, God still was having plans, not only to bless Israel, but to bless the nations that persecuted Israel. Egypt was at the forefront of this, being the first to enslave them for 400 years.
So I see playing out in this text God's overwhelming grace.
And there's hardly any passage of scripture you read from the Old Testament to the New that the grace of God will not exude out from that passage.
Because God is a God of grace.
And his plan is that when he sends His Son into the world, all people will come to believe Him.
And we know that. And we are seeing that happening in Nigeria. And that's why I want us to take a close look at this passage and see what God has promised to do through Isaiah and his prophecies to the nations, us being part of that, you and I, because none of us really can claim to be God's people until he makes us his people.
Two things I want us to highlight from this passage, the first is this, that God is able to raise monuments and trophies of grace in his world.
And we see that in verses 18 and 19 in our text. In that day, Isaiah says there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt. Five cities, monuments in the land of Egypt set up by God.
Five cities that speak the language of Canaan and swear to Jehovah of hosts.
And one shall be called the city of destruction. I don't know what that means.
In that day shall there be an altar of Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah.
If you read the New Jerusalem Bible, that's the translation there.
We know for a fact that not all of these prophecies have been fulfilled yet.
We know that some of them are still to be fulfilled. But today we are seeing fulfillments in bits and pieces.
Part of what is going on in Nigeria today I see personally as part of the fulfillment of this prophecy that he was going to bring all the nations to himself.
What God has promised to do to Egypt and to Assyria is a reminder for us to know that we should not despair when we do not see things happen the way we anticipate or have prayed for and have hoped for.
There is no room for despair when we are dealing with God.
God is at work. He worked in the past, he is working now. And he will continue to work until the nations are brought into his kingdom. And that's going to happen in the future. We see that in the book of Revelations. But until then, God is still working.
So there's no room for us to despair when we see the gospel not advancing the way we would like it to happen.
When you have prayed for your family member, your father, your mother, your wife, your husband, your children, uncles and aunts and cousins, and it doesn't appear as if God is doing anything in their lives.
Don't despair.
Don't despair. God is at work because God is at work. And his work is going to show up in the most unlikely places, in the most unlikely times and among the most unlikely persons.
The grace of God is able to subdue the powers of Satan, subdue the hardest hearts, enlighten the darkest minds, and to cast out Satan where his power is most obvious.
God is able to do these things.
All these things that we are talking about are physical, that God will perform in establishing monuments in communities that we don't expect.
And we should be hopeful.
We should be hopeful.
What we are experiencing in Nigeria gives us a lot of hope.
Yes, you hear stories of persecution and they are happening and they are intensifying.
There are times when you are driving, you have to keep your eyes on your rear view mirror because you don't know who is following you in the vehicle behind you. And they may pass you, go in front and stop and block the road and come out and take you away to an unknown destination.
These are things that are happening. But greater things are happening because even these people that are perpetrating those things are coming to faith in Christ through interventions of God that we could not dream of.
And that's a joy to us.
So let's not despair.
Let's not despair of our own salvation.
Let's not despair of the salvation of our loved ones, those who are dear to us.
Let's not despair of the final triumph of the truth, because it's going to come.
Triumph of truth is going to come. And we do not need to surrender when we do not see them happening as we want or as we expect.
Let us not forget that what has been done by God in history has been done through appropriate means.
And that's very, very important for us.
The altars that were built in the nation of Israel, at the temples and wherever God told them to build altars, they were built by means.
They were built with materials.
Those are appropriate means for building monuments of God.
Altar in Egypt, a monument, five cities in Egypt, monuments that will be calling on the name of God.
The temple was built by materials.
The gold, the silver, the cedar from Lebanon, the rocks that were hewn out of the mountains of Zion.
All of those things were materials that God used. But among those materials are human hands, the skills of the craftsmen.
So these monuments that God asked the children of Israel to build were not built by miracles.
They were through means that God used, physical means that God used.
And God is still building those monuments. But this time the monuments are not going to be to build structures.
They are to build lives.
And you and I are going to be the means for doing that. Yes, it involves money. Yes, it involves materials. Yes, it involves energy.
But God wants to use us as his resources to build his monuments.
And we must make ourselves available to God so He can do what he wants to do.
And we have hope that the role God wants us to play will be able to play it as part of the means that he's going to use to bring his mission to fulfillment. So indeed, God is able to raise monuments of grace to accomplish his goals.
But secondly, in verse 20, we are told that God is able. It is God's progressive. Pardon me. It is God's prerogative to raise up a Savior.
If you read verse 20, it talked about, I will strike you and heal you.
And it says, when they cry to me, I will hear them and heal them and send them as Savior.
What's God doing here?
We can look back at our lives.
If there have been any triumphs, if there have been any victories, if there have been any deliverances we have experienced now or even in the future.
[00:54:17] Speaker C: Through.
[00:54:17] Speaker A: The medium of creatures, God is going to use those to help us realize that they are from his hands.
He is the one who raises up a Savior.
He is the one who will save us, give us the salvation we need.
Appropriately, God's great move to intervene in meeting the greater spiritual needs of man.
An example.
Yes, we have had physical needs met, but God met our greatest need, our spiritual need.
Because spiritually we were in great need of a great Savior.
And God has provided one that is equal to the emergency of our needs.
Our need for salvation is very urgent. Time is not on our side.
But God has brought that salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. He produced the Savior.
God has shown us that even though our guilt is great, even though our danger is threatening, even though our enemy is very powerful, even though our ruin is very certain and awful, he has helped to lay that burden, all our needs on one that is mighty and able.
How do I know that.
That God has taken care of my needs, forgiven my sins, delivered me from oppression and the prospect of eternal hell.
How did he do that?
He sent His Son. Hebrews chapter one, verse one. And this son that he sent is a great son that we all could not have prayed for or hoped for.
You know, in Islam, the way to get to heaven is to do things and to impress God with all the good things you do.
And they have a list of five things that are critical for you to get to heaven.
And God says that's not rubbish. It's nonsense.
Through the works of the law, no one can see God.
The Bible says in Romans, so we see God taking the initiative to give us what we cannot produce for ourselves.
Salvation.
And Jesus is able to bring us that salvation because he's the Son of God.
Secondly, he is also able.
I'm sorry, I'm losing track of my notes here. All right.
Hebrews chapter one, verse one tells us Jesus is the Son of God, eternal Son of God, the same as God.
This is better than we can expect.
Because if anybody is going to pay for my sins, that person must not have sins of his Own to pay for. Right.
So Jesus does not have sins to pay for and he paid for mine.
Hallelujah.
Secondly, his offer of salvation, his atonement has efficacy because we are told in Hebrews 7:25 that he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to trust him to put their faith in Him.
Thirdly, from the countless number of redeemed that we can see all over the world, those who are saved by this one sacrifice of Jesus covers the whole world.
And if you read Revelation chapter 7, verse 9, we see proof there.
People from every multitudes, from every nation, every tribe and tongue and nation, multitudes that no one can number from all over. So it's not just in one corner of Palestine, a little country called Israel is across the whole of God's world and creation.
And fourthly, that this salvation that Jesus gives is complete because in First Corinthians, chapter 1 and verse 30, he says Jesus Christ is God's wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. It's complete.
Yeah, and I like the, I don't know what to call it now. The motto of cma.
Jesus Christ, Savior, Sanctifier, Redeemer and soon coming King.
That's who he is. So the salvation he offers and which we experience is complete.
God is going to make Himself known to the Egyptians.
God is going to make Himself known to the Assyrians. God is going to make Himself known to the Russians. He's going to make Himself known to the Chinese, to the Hafsa Muslims in Nigeria, to the Fulanese in West Africa, to the pagans in the hidden corners of the world. God is going to make Himself known. And we, we have that hope. And that's why we should be encouraged.
We should be encouraged that God is at work and he will finish what he has started. He may not be in our lifetime, but he wants us to be a part of what he is doing right now, wherever we are.
So we can go on and on and on. But the message is clear.
We have a sure Savior assure, salvation guaranteed.
And we have to disseminate that information to the world through our testimony.
And God wants us to do that.
And we have proof in our own lives that God is going to do it.
What's going on in Nigeria today and indeed all over the world. I will not single out Nigeria because what's happening in Nigeria is happening in many, many parts of the world.
But it's an indication that we are cascading towards the final fulfillment of the prophecies we read in the Bible.
We are really rolling down to the end times.
But I want to focus on the Muslims in Nigeria and what God is doing in our country.
Number one, there is a young man. His name is Yao Lawal Imam. Three names.
His first name actually means today Yaw.
His middle name, I don't know the meaning, but his last name is Imam.
Imam is the title of the Islamic leader, the Islamic teacher in a community.
So somebody rises to that title based on his knowledge of the Quran and his ability to teach and explain the messages of the Quran, particularly the teachings of Muhammad to people who are ignorant.
His father was the imam of his town.
And when he was born, he was singled out to be trained to become the successor of his father in that role.
Of course, he went through Arabic training, learnt the Quran, became very versed in it, proved he could teach it, and then his father died and he took over.
So Imam became the Islamic teacher for his town and he held that position for two years.
But one of the things he had to do was to marry three wives to prove that he had the integrity to lead his community.
His first wife gave birth to children and his second and third wives came in later and they had children too. But one day, Imam had a dream.
And before him stood a man.
[01:03:07] Speaker C: Who.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Called him three times and said, imam, Imam, Imam or Lawal Lawal Law.
The road you are traveling on is the wrong road.
If you continue on this road, you will end up in hell. You will not go to heaven. And the man disappeared.
Of course, we know that many Muslims are coming to faith in Christ through supernatural means, dreams, visions and so on and so forth. So this was not strange to us when he told us his story.
What's unique about this was the fact that he traveled. Now as a businessman, he traveled to Abuja Federal Capital to do business. And he had a business friend who is a Christian. His name is Ima.
So he walked to Ima. He said, emma.
He didn't tell him about the dream. He said, can you give me a Bible?
So Ima gave him a Bible and he started to read it.
Strangely, he could not put it down.
He kept reading and reading and reading until he read about the story of Jesus.
So he asked Ima, his friend, can I come with you to church? And Ima was surprised, but he said, oh, yeah, why not?
So he went with him to church one Sunday.
Next time he went with him again and had the Gospel and prayed to receive Christ.
And he got home.
Of course, being the imam, he's supposed to lead the township prayers and he wasn't there, and even in his home, he was not saying the prayer four times a day that they are supposed to.
So his youngest wife went and reported to the community that their husband is no longer praying the Islamic prayers. Of course they went and attacked him. And in the process of all that was going on, they killed his daughter, the daughter of his first wife.
So the other two women packed their children and left.
They didn't want to have anything to do with him again.
But this first wife, whose daughter was killed, said, if this is the religion, then I will have no part in it. I'm going to stick with my husband and I'm going to become a Christian too.
But they had to move to safety.
And that's how they moved to Joss and came under the tutelage or discipleship of one of our graduates who was a Muslim convert too.
So he taught him and helped him, nurtured him to some level of maturity, and recommended to him to come to our school.
So Imam came to our school with his wife. The two of them came and trained and they graduated. And today, Imam is an aggressive, and I use that word, seriously aggressive preacher of the gospel.
What he does is he goes into a community and mounts, takes a megaphone and starts blasting the gospel in a Muslim village.
Of course, the village he's going to is not a village where he has been known to be a Muslim before.
But he will preach and people will ignore him. But around the corner, people wait for him to ask him questions and ask for explanations of some of the things he said, and he will lead them to faith in Christ. And he's had pockets of disciples in different communities that he travels around now and to worsen his situation. Well, worsen Mohammed, sorry, Lawal preaches on social media, he posts things on social media, and he does not hide the fact that he's a Muslim.
We had to call him to counsel him that, yes, we like your zeal and we see the fruit of your work, but be careful, because it's not as rosy that if you want to continue to be able to serve until God says it's time for them to kill you, you need to, you know, apply some wisdom. And he listened. So he's more discreet now in posting things. He still does, but he's more discreet now. But that's Lawa, our graduate. The other person I want to share with us about is, is a Fulani guy by the name of Ali Mohammed.
Ali Mohammed. You guys have heard about Fulanis. They are one of the most difficult people to reach not necessarily because of their Islamic faith, but they mingle Islam and African traditional religion.
But also they are migrants. They are nomads. They follow their cows to wherever there is grass and they graze them there. So they move from nation to nation, community to community. They go into people's farms and eat their crops. They don't care.
All they want is for their cows to be fed.
Ali was one of these, and somebody gave him an MP3 Bible on MP3, which is an excellent way of reaching Muslims, because they play the MP3, they are the only ones who can hear what's going on. And the Bible was on it. And he played this MP3 several times, followed through, until he started hearing about Jesus.
And he did not seek any pastor or any Christian. He just got convinced that Jesus is the way.
And he accepted Christ as the Savior.
And his passion has been to reach his Fulani people, who are migrants with the Gospel. And the way to do it is to follow them from camp to camp. So he goes with them, following their cows and settles with them. And some of, because he's Fulani, speaks their language, he knows their culture, is used to raising cows, and he's there with them. He eats there, they give him food to eat, and they welcome him because he's part one of their own. And then he shares the Gospel with them.
And some of them come to faith in Christ. So now he's planted churches and those, I don't know if you've heard about mobile churches, but that's what he does wherever he goes. And there are disciples, he holds services with them, and then they move camp, he moves with them, and then he goes to another group and does the same thing. And thank God today there are many, many Fulani Christians all across West Africa. In fact, in summer, this last summer, he had a Fulani Christian conference in Niger Republic. The Fulanis from Burkina Faso, Mali, northern Nigeria attended.
And if you talk to Julianne, she will share with you a video of that conference, how they were celebrating their salvation and the fact that they now have hope in God and that their reward is going to be in heaven. So God is at work.
God is at work.
But we have not done this work alone.
In fact, we feel inadequate to do this work. But God has done this work through us. We cannot take credit for it. We cannot boast about it. We thank you, Westgate, for partnering with us, for standing by us in prayer so that we can do the work we are doing. And God is bringing the results to his glory and to our own Joy.
I want. Want us to pray now. And I just want you to join me in prayer that God will continue to advance his work so that all of Jesus becomes for all of the world.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we thank you.
We thank you. Because what we are doing in this world is very, very small compared to what you have done.
But you have given us the privilege to be a part of your kingdom building many times. Lord, we ask, who are we?
We are insignificant people.
But in your goodness and grace, you've called us to yourself, made us your own, and called us to be partners in sharing the gospel.
Lord, we do pray this morning that may your kingdom come.
May your kingdom come in every tribe in every nation, as you have promised. And Lord, give us the joy of seeing that bearing fruit over and over and over again wherever you send us to work.
Lord, I pray now for strength for those who are laboring in these difficult areas.
Not only Nigeria, Lord, but in other parts of the world where your people are being persecuted. I pray. I pray, O God, that your holy spirit will strengthen their faith in you, Lord, that they will be resilient and that they will stand fast and be steadfast so that in the end your word to us will be well done, good and faithful servant.
Thank you, Father. Father, thank you. We ask all these things in Jesus name. Amen.
