Happy renewing Advent to you all in Jesus name. Advent is about Jesus coming to part the water of unbelief, the Red Sea of sin and hell, and anticipation of Jesus’ Second Coming. Thank you for inviting me to be part of this seminar today, I pray iron will sharpen one another.

Our anchor text for this seminar is taking from Exodus 14. The Bible says, then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israel to go forward. 16. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground (Exd 14:15-16). I believe, just as the Lord spoke to Moses in the time of old, God is still speaking to Moses in each of us today in the Young Men’s Fellowship, Methodist Church Nigeria. There is a staff of Moses in each of us and we have to be very careful not to allow the principal weakness of Moses, that is, anger to destroy our staff. My prayer is that, may we continue to harken to God’s voice in order for us to go forward, taking charge and parting the waters and others hindrances to the mission and purpose God has sent and commission us to accomplish.

Masculinity always experiences an identity crisis and spiritual misinformation. Young men like Moses are always caught between the political pharaohs and spiritual Red Sea. The church and the nation need Young men who have spiritual courage in their convictions like Moses (Ps 27:14). To take charge and part the waters, obstacles, we need true courage which comes from spiritual security, and that is only truly found in the truth about Jesus Christ (Jn 10:28). It is natural for young people to be easily overwhelmed by the details of life circumstance. To take charge and in the journey of our growth, the lesson for us from Moses is that we first need to cling to God as young people in order to make clear to us the beauty and missional relevance of our union with God and others.

The Israelites faced dilemma, trying to escape from the Egyptians and had come into a valley that led to the Red Sea, the mountains of Pihahiroth, were on one side of them and the mountains of Migdol on the other. The Israelites were caught in a trap from where there was no escape just as the church, family and the nation are caught in different traps today. I believe the Lord is saying to us as He spoke to Moses to stop spiritualising our dilemma, to stop crying but start to take action with our God given and professional staffs. The Good News is that God is in control of the circumstances of our lives, and that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think.

The natural response in life is to try to run from the dilemma. I believe, God has brought our church, nation and even family to the place where there is no place to run, hence we have to take charge and pursue the salvation of the Lord. By my own experience, “Man’s extremities are God’s opportunities.” Pharaoh’s extremities was God’s opportunity for Moses, just as Saul’s and Goliath’s extremities were God’s opportunities for David.

God is saying to the Moses in each of us as Young Men at home to lift up our staff, to take responsibility, stretch our our hands over the sea and rightly divide the word of truth in promoting Christian marriage, relationships with wife/family; time priorities; family worship – Bible reading and prayer; Internet use dangers of pornography; financial considerations, credit cards / debt issues, giving to Gods work etc.

God is calling us as Young men to take our staff, gifting and talents as Christians at work with ‘integrity, honesty, employer / employee relationships, time balance between work and family, for a workers Christian Fellowship.’ God is calling us to take our staff, take responsibility as Young Men in the church, the body of Christ taking responsibilities as evangelists, workers, leaders, elders, deacons, ministers, visitors, lay presidents, administrators, musicians, visionaries, and planners. It is time for the church to go forward in our spirituality and leadership development. We need to go forward from wealth and material and use our Biblical staff, authority to warn the people about the Second Coming as He promised. God is calling us to take up our staff, enough of neglect in our moral, civic, and social responsibilities. As Methodists, we have the staff, the theology to stop the sea of lack of human values and good governance.

What gives meaning and effectiveness to your staff, your responsibilities or degree goes beyond professional qualifications. John Wesley was an Oxford scholar, a very good staff and authority especially among the elites. He was even ordained as a clergy in the Church of England with a license, a staff to fulfil a particular role. Based on his brilliance and spiritual parenting, he was sent to the America but he returned as a failure. His ordination and academic staff was lacking something divine. On his way back to England he was in the same ship with a group of Moravian missionary who were filled with Christ’s joy in the midst of storm and sea turbulent. Upon his conversation with the Moravian’s reason behind their joy while in trouble, Wesley’s ordination and scholarly staff went through personal renewal which climaxed with his heart strangely warmed on May 24th 1738. We can also remember Apostle Paul, a trained lawyer, who used his legal staff to persecute Christians until he went blind on the road to Damascus.

Beloved, there is no lack of Young Men and women with staffs, with responsibilities and roles in our homes, churches and Nigeria but there is lack of Young Men and Women with warmed hearts. God is looking for more Mary that will sit at Jesus’ feet and not just Martha, busy but guilty (Jn 11). The state of our hearts determines the effectiveness of our staff, roles and responsibilities in the family, church, and nation. Let us prayerfully sing this hymn together as we close:

For I’m Building A People Of Power
And I’m Making A People Of Praise
That Will Move Through This Land By My Spirit
And Will Glorify My Precious Name

Build Your Church, Lord
Make Us Strong, Lord
Join Our Hearts, Lord, Through Your Son
Make Us One, Lord
In Your Body
In The Kingdom Of Your Son

For I’m Building A People Of Power
And I’m Making A People Of Praise
That Will Move Through This Land By My Spirit
And Will Glorify My Precious Name

Build Your Church, Lord
Make Us Strong, Lord
Join Our Hearts, Lord, Through Your Son
Make Us One, Lord
In Your Body
In The Kingdom Of Your Son [2]