Vision and Values: Word of Grace Church| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on August 14th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

We are very blessed. We are well, we have good health, we have food, a variety of clothes to choose from, education and shelter. We are truly blessed.

Today we will go through the vision of Word of Grace Church.

The most famous prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9 onwards. The prayer of Jesus was that the kingdom of heaven would come on earth. Not only did he ask his disciples to pray for, he also did these things. As you read the gospels you watch what Jesus did. He travelled and healed the sick, cast out demons, proclaimed that the kingdom has come and called men and women disciples. Then he did what only he could do, he died on the cross and rose from the dead.

Before he went to heaven he gave the great commission, to go into all the world and make disciples of them baptising them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded Matt 28:18- 20.

Jesus is in heaven, but his body is here on earth.

Q. So how are we at Word of Grace doing that?

The other side is the great commandment. We want to make disciples and bring heaven on earth. Our tag line aims to nail those- Enjoying God, Making Friends, changing lives.

1.      Enjoying God.

Matt 22:36- 37 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Let's look at loving God. This is our priority- to pursue the presence of God. It's not about singing a few songs and moving on. In Exodus 33:14-16 Moses said that if God's presence does not go with us what's the point?

Q. What is it that distinguishes us from others?

It’s the presence of God! We should value this more than anything else.

Throughout scripture people were marked by the presence of God. When God'sPresence is with us, people notice. Will you be one who desires Gods presence? In order for this to happen we need to keep in touch with the precepts/ the word of God. That's why we have the GYM groups, IDT, etc. We seek the power of God. We don't just want to sing songs but do the stuff.

One way we get joy in our life is when prayers get answered. How powerful is a prayer meeting? You can tell by the prayers that get answered.

2.      Making Friends

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself. One of the things we want to foster is good healthy relationships in the church. Your background, age etc does not matter. One way we do this is by eating together. This is something Jesus did. He had the last supper with all his disciples. He cooked breakfast when he rose from the dead.

It shows that we accept them and they accept you. In our nation that is so divided based on caste we want to break those barriers down. In villages, the lower castes are not allowed to draw water from the same wells as the upper caste. We are all one in Christ. In Word of Grace, if you are new, you will almost always receive an invitation to lunch.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting many countries and churches. But this one church we visited in Holland stood out. After the service, someone came and invited us for lunch at their home and it had made such a huge impact, in this foreign country where we hardly spoke the language, to be accepted into their home to eat together and spend time.

Jesus didn't call us servants. John 15:15- “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” He called us friends. Our proof of this is as we demonstrate love to each other. Invite people and make friends. We are all different. But friendships and relationships are important. 

The number one problem in the world today is loneliness. You can have 2000 facebook friends, but how many will show up for their funeral. Invest your time and money in making friends.

3.      Changing lives.

If we only did the above two we would be a happy clappy club. We have a mission- To bring heaven on earth. To be changed and to change lives. Being born again is just the first step.

We do the discipleship blueprint:

·        Born again

·        Baptism in water

·        Baptism in the holy spirit

·        Added to the church

·        Serving

·        Giving

I have told you Abdullah's story. But they are many like that. We have a get connected course for new people.

Num10:29- “Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.””

If you are new here I want to extend the same invitation to you. Come with us and we will do you good. We want to help equip you to be involved in the lives of others.

2 Cor 5:14- “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” Jesus died for you and now he wants you to live for him. The prophetic word over us is that we will disciple people and then send them to the nations.

So, this is it- our priority is enjoying God, but we don't do it alone, we are making friends. So that together our lives can be changed and the lives of others can be changed.    

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.