Who are our Grecian widows? | Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on May 14th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples many times over 40 days. Jesus’ prophecy over the church- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We are the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic word. In Revelation 7:9 – 10 we see the complete fulfillment of this prophecy “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”” People from every tribe and tongue chosen for salvation will be there. Praise God for that time.

Between his prophetic word and what happens in the end of time, we see the growth of the church recorded in Acts. Acts 1: 15 It was just 120 people. In Acts 2, it becomes 3000. In Acts 3, we see that the Lord was adding to their number every day. Acts 4- 5000 people. Acts 5- The Lord added multitudes. We see the growth of the church. In the midst of this phenomenal growth, imagine Peter walking down and healing people everywhere his shadow fell. People were being changed forever. Along with this explosive growth, some things happened to hinder its growth.

Acts 5- Ananias and Saphira- their deception resulted in their death. In Acts 6:1- “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

One of the amazing things about the Bible is that it records the good, bad and ugly. King David’s whole life is laid out before us. In 1 Cor 10 Paul writes, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

The instruction from the example of Ananias and Saphira, is to be holy. Then at the height of a revival, there are arguments about food. They are arguing about the chicken leg in the Biryani. The Greek speaking Jews were complaining about their widows are being neglected.

Q. who was this food being distributed to?

To needy widows who didn’t have sustenance. 

Q. Why were they distributing this food?

Once they were saved, they could not go back. So the 120 had to look after so many of them. In Acts 2 after the 3000 were saved “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” So the Grecian widows came to the apostles. This was a problem. It is important that we take care of widows. True religion is purity but also to take care of the downtrodden.

Q. What’s the solution?

The apostles could say, these people can’t handle it, so we will handle it. They say, it is not right that we should give up preaching of the word to serve tables. Each one has a different calling. Jesus himself said at the last supper that it is blessed to serve. God looks up on people who stoop down to serve. At this particular time, the apostles said that it is not right for them not to attend to the people being saved.

Q. What is so important about giving food to widows?

It is true religion. If they didn’t do that it would have hindered the work of God. Therefore, they ask for 7 people from among them.

Q. What were the characteristics of the men chosen for this?

The task was to serve food. But the apostles felt it was so important!

1.      Character- Of good repute. Men above reproach.

2.      Charisma- Full of the Spirit. Someone being led and controlled by the Spirit.

3.      Competence- Full of Wisdom.

If we want to fulfill a task in the church, these are important. Prayer and the preaching of the word is a key function of the apostles.

These names were all Greek. They chose Greeks to serve the Grecian Widows.

Q. What was the result?

The word of God continued to increase. The Number of disciples multiplied. They took care of distributing food to the widows, and this was the result.

These things are written down as examples.

Q. How does this apply to us?

Are there needs in the church to be met? Are we playing our role to meet those? Having a welcome team to greet and receive people, the Sunday school, these are all different needs.

By not doing anything, you are actually doing something negative. Jesus said, who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.

For a church, an ideal team must consist of these people:

1.      A leader

2.      A worship leader

3.      A children’s worker

We have treated the children’s work like they treated the Grecian Widows. We need to get that thing right. We are looking for someone with character, charisma and competence. Each church will have to apply it according to their situation. Our action or non- action could be hindering the growth of the church. In the kingdom, we are looking for ads like, wanted- someone to wait on tables, wipe a child’s nose, set up the hall.

This is not the end of the story though, is it? Stephen, after Jesus, became the first martyr. He had the privilege of dying for his faith. Philip, went down to Samaria and preached the gospel. A whole city came to faith because of him. An angel of the Lord comes to him. He baptizes the Ethiopia Eunuch. He gets bodily transported. The Lord looks upon such people with greatness.

Would you like to wait on tables?

Our answer should be YES.

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.  

What's Weighing you down?| Sunith N

This message was preached  by Sunith Nallala at Word of Grace Church on May 7th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Q. What comes to your mind when you hear the word, Ussain Bolt?

A Race! Ussain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter. We are very much like him in our Christian race.

Q. What are some of the terms in running a race?- Perseverence, Practice, Endurance, Strength, Stamina.

We know what we need. Let’s be open to the Holy Spirit who will bring forward the requirements for running the race.

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

In the chapter 11, we see the hall of faith- The individuals who have accomplished what God has called them to do. There are 5 things we need from this passage to finish our race:

1.      Encouragement: The cloud of witnesses are the people of the past who encourage us to run our own race with perseverance. When our body is not willing to move  forward, when you are exhausted and your carbs have burnt out, that’s when we hit a wall- we need encouragement then. We must be responsible for each other’s race.

How do you encourage when you don’t know the area of encouragement? For this, we need to have a deeper relation of talking about one another’s weaknesses. This is an area where we as a church need to grow. We need to talk about our spiritual growth and battles. Heb 10: 24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The Bible directs us to encourage one another. Let’s be radical, being deep in our relationships.

2.      Getting rid of what hinders: If you tie a rope to your leg, or a heavy backpack, you slow down. This weight hinders us from running. This includes good things as well. We do not know the things that are hindering us from running the race. We need the Holy Spirit to help us in this. How are you managing your time? Are spending much time in the office, and neglecting your famiy? Are you spending time with your family and neglecting your time with God? Are you spending too much time on social media? If it is killing your time, it is time to reflect upon your spiritual life. If you are a shopaholic, how are you spending what God has given you? Relationships- which could be taking much of your time. Building relationships is what God has called us for. But what kind of relationships are you building? Build with those who are committed to running the race.

Galatians 19 talks of the sin we need to avoid. The secret things of our heart, the sin, will destroy us from deep within. Sexual immorality, addictions, drunkenness, pornography, these lead you nowhere. We need the Holy Spirit to break the chains of sin. Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” Every time we are tempted, the Holy Spirit will guide us to walk away from it. We need to choose to listen to Him. When we do this, the chains will break lose.

3.      Running the race with perseverance. When you run with perseverance, it develops character. God will only discipline us with the things we face. James 1: 2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” These trials and temptations are necessary for us to persevere in faith and gain confidence. James 1:12- “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” God is also rewarding us for our perseverance. Noah was called to build the huge boat without seeing the water. He persevered in faith. God rewarded him for that. God might ask you to forgive someone who is teasing you. Trust in God and forgive them. That’s when God will open new doors for your to accomplish great and mighty things. 

4.      Where is your focus: when we continue in this passage, we see that fixing our eyes on Jesus is important. We are not running alone. We run with each other. We also have Jesus who has already run the race. In verse 3 of this passage, it says, consider him who faced such opposition and yet ran with perseverance. When we fix our focus on our circumstance, we feel like we are drowning. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can do miraculous things.

5.      Inspiration: Jesus’ inspiration was the joy that you and I will be with him in eternity, praising him! That gave him hope to finish the race. Have this hope to finish the race- one day when we enter eternity, there is no pain, no sickness, no barriers between us and God.

In Philippians 4:13- “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Let us encourage one another. We run a common race, even though each one’s race is their own. We need to fix our eyes on the author and perfector of our faith. Let’s pray!

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.  

True Devotion| Austine K

This message was preached  by Austine Kudalkar at Word of Grace Church on April 30th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Last Friday we gathered for a worship evening, soaking in his presence. There was a prophetic word shared to confirm the topic of today’s message. Let’s welcome his presence here.

Luke 7: 36- 50

Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house. A woman stood beside Jesus, weeping on Jesus’ feet, wiping his feet with her hair, pouring expensive perfume on his feet.  From verse 40, Jesus speaks to the Pharisee. “And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Jesus is talking about 2 kinds of people. Pharisees who make laws, called as the Holy men. They are influential. On the other hand is a sinful woman who is disrespected in the society. The Pharisee starts judging the woman. In the earlier passage, we see that Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant who was at the point of death. Then he raises the widow’s son to life. The crowd starts cheering. The Pharisee had forgotten about the miracles of Jesus. He is practicing hospitality, but he does not give water to his feet or kiss him. On the other hand, the sinful woman shows much love. She gave her honour. A woman’s hair is her honour, but she wiped his feet with them. She acknowledges that she is a big sinner who needs forgiveness.

In this passage, we see Jesus as our savior. He forgives all our sins. Isaiah 53:5- “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Colossians 1:19-22 “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”

Jesus did not condemn this woman but accepted her as she is. She is made blameless. Jesus did not say anything about the Pharisee.

Q. How can we express our devotion to God?

1.      We can spend time in God’s presence daily because he has reconciled us and made us free from accusation. He has given us full access into his presence. The Pharisee and the sinful woman could not come together

2.      Giving- when we give generously and cheerfully, we express devotion to God.

3.      Fellowship- Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” It talks about not neglecting the fellowship of believers. Let us practice meeting together and on time at every time possible. It is struggle for me to make it on time, but I am striving to get better. Meeting through the week is also very important.

4.      Hospitality- we have many in our midst who practice wonderful hospitality! I want to encourage the single men and women and families to practice hospitality.

5.      Evangelism and Global mission- sharing the gospel is a way to express our love and devotion towards God.

6.      Apostle’s teaching- In Acts 2:42, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. Express your love like this woman did.

When we don’t do these things, we may think that we have been forgiven little. He has taken all our sins. It is a big thing! We have new life in Christ Jesus and freedom to express our love and devotion. God has loved us extravagantly and we want to love him deeply.

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.  

In the line of Abraham | Ranjit R

This message was preached  by Ranjit Rodrigues at Word of Grace Church on April 23rd, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here. Ranjit leads Good News Church in Goa. 

Thank God that we don’t follow a philosophy or a dead idea, but a living person, that is Jesus. We will look at an incident that takes place in Genesis 18 in the life of Abraham. He has had 3 visitors in the story. Noon day in the middle-east and 3 visitors come and one of them is the Lord himself. We follow a living God who comes and meets with us. 

Gen 18: 16- 33 “Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.”

God wanted to judge the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But before doing that, he shared with Abraham because he is not ordinary man. He is God’s instrument in this wicked world. I verse 20, the Lord says that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very huge. We might think, no one cares about how we live. Whether we are moral or immoral it doesn’t seem to matter. There is wickedness in this city. There is one who cares and his name is God of all gods. We are living on the ground that is owned by the living God. Men and women think that they can live in this world in ways that are pleasing only to themselves. We were put in God’s creation to live in a way that pleases God. The air we breathe, water we drink, everything belongs to God. No one can make a molecule of water out of nothing. We are put here to live God’s way. When man lives on God’s planet in God’s way, things go well with that man.

Therefore, man is accountable to God in the way he lives. God is not absent from creation. He is looking at how we live. These two cities chose to live in ways displeasing to God. There is a God before whom all of us have to give an account for our lives. Many people think I’m young and I’ll enjoy myself, I don’t need to think about God. Don’t worry about the end of the world, because your world could end tonight.

God has come to Abraham and tells him about his plans.

Q. Why is he talking to Abraham about this?

Abraham was a man chosen by God to be blessed so that he could be a blessing to the nations. He says he knows my heart and he will teach my word to his children. The Bible calls us children of Abraham because just like Abraham we are called to live a life blessed by God. You and I are anything but ordinary. When the Lord looks at this great city of Pune, it is you that makes him smile. The favour of God is on you because you are a descendant of Abraham.

God’s plan is to bless you with his abundance and secondly to be a blessing. There is only one way to be a descendant of Abraham. It is by putting your faith in Jesus. You were made in the image of God, to be blessed by God. Darwin’s theory takes away the dignity of man. But we are made with dignity. And when we believe in Jesus we get put into the line of Abraham. When I met Jesus, I was taken out from the dead Rodrigues line and put in the line of Father Abraham. The abundance, prosperity and spiritual connection- that is my portion in God.

After God tells Abraham what he is going to do, the two angelic being start walking away but Abraham stays. Then Abraham approaches God. This is the language of the law courts. Abraham takes his place between man and God before the judge of all. My instinct in this situation would be to say, “I agree they are horrible people, nuke them Lord!” Many people pray for themselves and their families- us four and no more. But we are descendants of Abraham. And like him we are called to stand between heaven and earth- as citizens of heaven. A priest talks to God on behalf of man and talks to man on behalf of God- we are called a royal priesthood. India will be blessed through you. This city needs you. The destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah depended on the intercession of Abraham.

You and I are blessed so that we can bless the nation. The prosperity of our city depends, not on its government but on you and I. In Goa we have a house church in a little village. This village had two bars which was a source of great pain for us. The men would get drunk and spend all their money on drinking. The Lord said that the blessing of this village depends on us. Earth has no access to the blessings of heaven on its own. The only way earth will see the blessing of heaven is when the people of God reach up to heaven, and distribute it on earth. So we prayed for those bars to be gone. In a matter of months, both bars were shut down due to different reasons. Those men are now going home and sitting with their wives and children. We are blessed to be a blessing to the nations.

Q. Why did Abraham stop at 10?

The next chapter says that he couldn’t find even 10 people. So he poured out his wrath on those cities. There isn’t even one righteous man in the sight of God who can stand on the basis of his own righteousness. So, the one righteous man- the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world- had to come from heaven. I hope you feel the pain of heaven every time you break bread. The midday sun closed its eyes when its maker was being put to death. He did it so that we can now be that royal priesthood- blessed to be a blessing.

We have access to supernatural healing. I encourage you to reach up to heaven, and bring healing down and distribute it here on earth. The peace of heaven is another thing we have access to. Never envy the rich for they never sleep well at night. This peace is within our access. When you have someone who is troubled, you can bring down this peace. There is violence in the cities. God will solve it through you. You are a people of great influence. God Bless you.  

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.