Leadership redefined- Part 1| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on October 9th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

We see the beginning of mankind in the book of Genesis and the end in Revelation. We are somewhere in between the beginning and end.

Q. What is your role to play in this great God story?

If you have trusted in Jesus as your saviour, a miracle has taken place. All your sins have been taken away on the cross. But before we get to heaven, we have a job to do. To make disciples of all nations- this is our mandate.

Q. How do we go about fulfilling this?

1 Cor 4:17- “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. ” He is saying, I can’t come to you, but I’ll send timothy who will represent what I wanted to do.  That is what Steve has been doing in RegionsBeyond by gathering us and training some of the leaders.

These are some of the core values that I have learnt in Regions Beyond:

1.      The presence of God- we want to be a peoplcoline filled with God’s presence. Ex 33:15- 16 “Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?””. This is our distinctive. When we worship, we don’t just want to sing songs. We want to speak about the glory of Christ- God exalting songs. Part of this is also wanting to see the power of God

a.      The power of God: As we have more of the spirit of Acts1:8- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” We want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

b.      Prayer- as a church, we have weakened in this respect. In 1 Tim Paul urges men to lift up holy hands. I appeal to the men to lead yourself, your family, and participate with the church in prayer.

c.      Prophetic in our midst- we want to hear how God is leading us.   Acts 13:1- 2 “in the church at Antioch, there were prophets and ...” the bible is clear that there were not only teachers, but also prophetic voices. In the context of worship, they heard from God to release Barnabus and Paul. They went ahead from nation to nation.

2.      Sacrificial, humble, servant leadership: John 13:3-5 “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” Before going to the cross, what was Jesus’ preoccupation? Jesus, being secure in his identity as the Son of God, did what slaves would do. Let’s be a people who serve. We are used to serving those above us- a CEO, manager, etc. But are we as willing to serve those who are our peers and those below us. That’s a biblical model. If there is any part of the body that doesn’t function, something is wrong with it. So is it with the Body of Christ. If you have not found out your function, find out what it is. Find your place in the Body. The model we follow is far from one man ministry. It is the whole body being involved in the work of God.

3.       Multi-cultural multi-generational community- At the cross, the dividing wall of hostility was broken and unity is now possible. Caste system is huge in India. But in Christ, these differences are broken. When we take it out there, the nation will change. Gal 3:28- “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Women are equally valuable as men. They have a huge role to play. The churches we want to build are multicultural. Part of this is multi generational- in the world today, above 40 years, is too old to be employed. Preference is given to younger people. we want to be a church where everyone has a role to play, whether you are 8 years old or 67 years old. This is also very well modelled in regions beyond. When we go for these conferences, there are 4 generations that preach.

I want to encourage you to embrace these values. A new humanity will be one in Christ.

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.