This message was preached by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on July 8th, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.
We are not just called to be
Christians on a Sunday morning, we are called to be world changers. When you
see people and they have different outfits on, you can tell what religion they
are from.
Q. What marks Christians?
John 13:35 “By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This
is the distinguishing mark of a Christian. Love is the most important thing in
following Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak in the tongues of
men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a
clanging cymbal.
If we don’t have love, we are
just noise-boxes.
Verse 2: If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Knowing everything in the Word of
God, amazing faith, it is incredible. But without love, it is nothing. You can
have a great leader with great faith and healing and prophetic words, etc. But
if he doesn’t have love, it is nothing.
Verse 3: If I give all I
possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do
not have love, I gain nothing.
All the sacrifices we make and
good things we do, if they don’t contain love, there is no reward in doing
these things.
Many people think church is a 2
hour meeting on a Sunday morning. The church is not the meeting or the place,
but the people. these are people who are connected to Jesus and to one another.
The church is not static, it is on a mission. The mission is to bring the
kingdom of God on earth. Jesus is also interested in how we work together.
Matthew 16: 13- 18 “13
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They replied, “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered,
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and
blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Jesus makes an amazing
declaration here. Jesus is building His church on the revelation of Jesus being
the Son of God. This is a revelation from the Father. The moment this happens,
we become a part of His church.
Q. What is our role in seeing
the church being built?
The early Christians met in homes
and courtyards. The key thing was their meeting together. Throughout the
epistles we see Paul instructing them how to live. Over 50 times he says, “one
another”. Forgive, accept, love, admonish, etc. So love is an important part of
doing these one-another-ing. If we want to see the church of God built, the one
another-ing needs to happen. Real interaction happens when we meet even apart
from the Sunday. People will know we are His disciples if we love one another.
Q. How can we do things where
we foster love in our midst?
1. Forgive:
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.”- None of us are perfect and we hurt people.
Sometimes we expect people to be perfect because God is perfect. We are
perfectly righteous in position but not in action. We are being changed into
His image and likeness from glory to glory. We all have faults, sins we are
dealing with, etc. In the church, you will be hurt. Then we take offense-
either perceived or real. The way we are dealing with people is by kindness and
compassion. A lot of times people forgive and not forget. But the qualification
of forgiveness is to forgive like Jesus forgave us. He doesn’t remember our
sins. If you have been hurt talk to them about it.
2. Accept:
Romans 15:7 “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in
order to bring praise to God.” in the world people accept one another based on
social, economic or educational status. But in the church Jesus asks us to
accept one another just as Christ accepts us. We are not to have divisions
based on caste, educational background, economic status, language, etc. when
the world sees that mixture happening, they are baffled.
3. Encourage:
Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called
“Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We
have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly
to the very end.” Life can get tough. The role of one abother is when we
know that a brother or sister is struggling in a situation, we encourage them
daily so they will remain open and believing towards God. Spend time with
one another: we need to spend time with one another so that we know what is
really happening in each others lives.
4. Carry
one another’s burdens: Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens,
and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Horrific things happen
to people. But as we meet with people, we share that burden.
5. Submit
to one another: we prefer one another and don’t impose our way all the
time. If a person is placed as the leader of a team, submitting to that authority
irrespective of his age or capacity.
6. Teach
and Admonish one another: Colossians 3:16 “Let the message of Christ
dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom
through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude
in your hearts”
Romans 1:11 “I long to
see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong”.
Through face to face meeting we are able to impart spiritual gifts to one
another. I pray that we would grow in
loving one another. Ask God what area we need to grow in. Let’s pray that as
people look in here they would say, yes, these are Christians.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
