By Rev. Lilian Karinga, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya

Apostle Peter: A Father of Faith

1 Peter 1:1-2

I want to believe that we all get excited every time we receive a letter or a message from someone we care about or look up to. Can you imagine what it meant for the early Christians to receive a letter from the Apostle Peter? It must have been comforting!

A letter in my view represents much more than words; it represents the person of the writer. In the next few days, we hope to reflect on some of the teachings and instructions that the Apostle Peter gave in the two epistles that are called by his name. The purpose he gives for writing the two letters is that they may serve “... as reminders to stimulate them ‘his hearers’ to wholesome thinking” (2 Pet 3:1).

By Paul Machira, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi

One lesson I have loved teaching over the years in Sunday school classes for children is the parable of talents as recorded in Mathew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27. There is always something new in this text that makes me keep going back to it for more. Recently, as I meditated on the text, my eyes were opened to how much the parable bears a lot of similarities with the Bible account in Genesis 1:28.

In both texts, the master (God) entrusts His resources to His servants with an expectation that they will be good stewards of it and will be fruitful, increasing it to give him a good return.

In both instances:

It is the master who initiates the stewardship relationship and not vice versa.

The master does not explicitly tell them what to do with the entrusted resources

The master expects a good return on investment.

By Paul Machira, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi

1 Kings chapter 2 narrates how when the great King David was nearing the time of his death, he summoned his son Solomon to whom he was to bequeath the responsibility of becoming the next King of Israel.

“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” 1Kings 2:1-2

King David had lived a full life. He had seen it all and done it all and deservedly earned the right to advise his son what he needed to do to be a successful king, especially now that he was leaving behind a united, prosperous nation, his many shortcomings notwithstanding.

By Paul Machira, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi

Who would your son or daughter find at church if he strayed there on a random weekday looking for answers? Would they find people there to guide them or discourse their latest scriptural findings? What would they find at your local church compared with what they would find at your bank? How much information would your daughter or son get on financial services the bank offers if they randomly walked into the bank vis-à-vis what they would get at church?

Continuing with the Gospel of Luke at chapter 2:46, when the child Jesus remained behind at the temple or maybe the reason he was left behind at the temple by the parents could partly be because he found himself in good company there. The Scripture records from verse 46 that after looking for him for three days,

…… they found him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

By Paul Machira, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi

Luke 2:41-52.

Notably, the command to increase and multiply was first given to the family unit after the Lord had instituted one at the Garden of Eden. Families are at the center of God’s plan to increase and fill the earth. The Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 sheds light into a family tradition of a young Nazarene family seeking to fulfill the command from whom we can draw a few lessons.

By Paul Machira, All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi

God blessed them and said to them “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the face of the earth.  Gen. 1:28

The first instruction given to Adam and Eve at creation after being blessed by the creator, was for them to increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Interestingly, there is no mention of Adam and Eve being given some form of training on how to do what they were being asked to do. Indeed, there were no schools or colleges as yet they could enroll into and get trained on agriculture or environmental protection or marine biology or any of the disciplines they would need. One would then dare ask, “How on earth were they going to do it?” “Did the Lord err by giving an instruction he had not made provision for?”

Minister: Rev. Evans Omollo - Assistant Provost at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi

In this last reflection, we look at our spiritual responsibility to walk in purity as an integral part of our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul in Ephesians 4:17-5:17 challenges believers not to live as they lived before, with darkened understanding and a life separated from God (Eph 4:18) as well as indulging in every form of impurity (4:19). We pick two lessons from this passage:

Firstly, that believers must put off the old self (sinful nature).

Minister: Rev. Evans Omollo - Assistant Provost at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi

Over the last three days, we have reflected on discovering our spiritual possessions and spiritual position in Christ. We note that discovering our spiritual position in Christ endows us with some enormous spiritual responsibilities as believers. In today's devotion, we reflect on our spiritual responsibility to walk in unity as Paul teaches in Ephesians 4: 1-16. The following are some key lessons from this passage:

One, that as believers, we are to preserve our Christian unity.

Minister: Rev. Evans Omollo - Assistant Provost at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi

Yesterday, we reflected on our spiritual position as believers and learned that we are seated with Christ. This means that as children of God, we are not citizens of this world; rather, we belong to heaven and are challenged to live everyday in light of this reality. Today, we look at what Paul teaches on our spiritual position as that of being reconciled with Jesus. Paul reminds the Ephesians that as Gentiles, they had five things that characterized their lives before the unfolding of the mystery of God's salvation to them. That they were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship of Israel, foreigners to God's covenant, without hope, and without God (Ephesians 2:12). This described their desperate situation that depicts a people who were living in complete darkness and rejection.

Minister: Rev. Evans Omollo - Assistant Provost at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi

Yesterday, we reflected on our spiritual possessions in Christ where we discovered that our spiritual riches as believers are incomparable to nothing in this world. We learned that we belong to God and that our salvation is priceless. Today, we reflect on our spiritual position in Jesus. Paul reminds the believers in the church in Ephesus of their previous condition of sin (1-3). He tells them that they were dead in their sins as they followed the ways of the world. We were under the influence of Satan who controlled our lives and led us to gratify the desires of the flesh. It simply means, like the Ephesians, those who today follow the dictates of the desires of the flesh and submit to the ruler of this world are spiritually dead. To be spiritually dead means being conditioned to sin at will and succumbing to every manipulation of Satan to disobey God. We therefore become enemies of God.