Biblical Giving| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on November 27th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Sometimes in life, we are waiting for a breakthrough- maybe in the area of health, finances, etc. most people are looking for it- to see something supernatural. Most people would say that breakthrough is related to finances. We will look at an account in the Old Testament where there was a lady who wanted a breakthrough. These things are written as an example for us.

1 kings 17- there was a lady who lived in Zaripah. She was a widow, she had a son and they didn’t have enough food to eat. She just had a little flour and oil.  After that, they had nothing else. Do you think she needed a breakthrough.

Maybe you are also in a bad situation this morning. Let’s look at what happened.

This is the background- 1 Kings- Ahab received a word from God through Elijah that there won’t be any rain till he orders it. Then, Elijah was fed and looked after by ravens. They brought him food.

Then God asks him to go to Zaripah where he commanded a widow to provide for him.

“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.””

A piece of bread was too much to give for her.

““As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

So, she needed a breakthrough. God provided her with an opportunity for a breakthrough. Elijah asks her to first make a small cake of bread for him. Here is the test. First, give me a piece of bread. Then he gives her the promise- “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”  Elijah asks her to give him the little. The Lord is going to give you enough to sustain her till the rain comes. The widow could have asked for him to first bless her. When you have stacks of bread at home, giving something out of that is no big deal. Giving when you don’t have it, that’s faith. This widow had faith.

Elijah- God would have provided by other means. It wasn’t Elijah who was in need. It was the widow’s opportunity for breakthrough. The miracle took place! They ate and survived for a long time. They had abundance for a couple of years. That wasn’t the end of her blessing.

In Verses 17-24- “Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.””

If the woman turned Elijah away, her son would have died and there would have been no resurrection. She received in kind, sowed in bread, and received bread, but also breakthrough in her son’s life.

If you’re looking for a breakthrough, give sacrificially and generously.

Q. How should we give?

In everything we do, we want to be biblical. We can give to just fulfill an obligation. This money goes towards uplifting the poor, meeting the needs of the poor, education, preaching the gospel, to  fight human trafficking, to meeting our own needs, leadership training, development and making disciples, strengthening marriages, etc.  

Q. So how do we give biblically?

1.      Give passionately- passion has everything to do with giving. John 3:16-God is a giver. Everything we have comes from God. He gave his son to die for us, because of love. Our giving needs to be accompanied with much love. In 1 Cor 13:3- “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.” Love, that’s the way to give.

2.      Give proportionately- The amount is not as important as the proportion. It’s how much you’re keeping back. For some people, 10000 rupees may seem like a big amount. But it depends on who is doing the giving. Mark 12:41- 44 “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” The key thing here is that Jesus was watching and keeping track of all that was happening. Imagine a father taking his son out to McDonalds, orders a nice burger, fries and coke. Then the father goes and asks for a French fry and he says, no! We are all born inherently selfish. Kids do that, saying it’s mine. But the father is the source of that wonderful meal. The child has not realized that the father can just take it away and can buy himself ten such things without thinking. The father is asking to teach the child to give. So let’s give proportionately.

3.      Give generously- This is New Testament giving- like Mary and the alabaster Jar. The Jar was worth one year’s wages. Zaccheus, when Jesus came into his life, he gave half of his possessions to the poor. That is generous giving. Barnabus sold the land he had and put it at the apostle’s feet. This is New Testament giving.

4.      Give Sacrificially- David is offered by Araunah to take his stuff and offer to God. But David says, I can’t offer what does not cost me anything. Ask yourself, is this costing me? That is the attitude with which we give. Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. There is a cost in giving. The Macedonian churches, their extreme poverty welled up in riches. How does that happen?

5.      Give in faith- Give believing that God will do something with my giving. In the Bible there is a principle of sowing and reaping. If you want to get bananas, sow bananas, to get apples, sow apple seeds. Genesis says, as long as the earth endures, sowing and reaping does not change. As you sow money, you get back money and you get much more! It is an act of faith. Paul reminds us this- whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously, you will reap generously. God promises to give us abundantly.

1 tim 6:18-19- Paul says, talking about the rich, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

Q. How do we get our money from earth to heaven?

Western union? What is the IFSC code of heaven? God says, as you give to God’s work, you will lay up for yourself, treasures in heaven. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Giving is like breathing out. You can keep breathing in but you need to breath out to be happy.

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.  

Spare Part Anyone? | Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on November 13th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

In many cities, we see people begging. These people are incomplete- either they have no hands or legs. They are human beings, but they’re not complete. Some of them have deformities. Some may have extra organs. There are another kind of bodies- like in the 2016 Olympics, the gymnasts doing amazing things.

This morning I want to talk to you about the Body of Christ. While Jesus was on earth, he was the Body of Christ. But after he went to heaven, we are his body on earth as it says in 1 Corinthians 12:27- “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

We are a part of the body of Christ. Jesus did amazing things when he was on earth. He walked the water, people were saved and delivered, miracles took place. He died on the cross and went to heaven. So who’s going to do his work? There is so much need in the world. 2-3 weeks ago, in New York, I saw homeless people everywhere. Where is the Body of Christ? The way Jesus works is that he uses the church to do his work now on earth.

In creation, God first forms. He separated the earth from the sea, the water from the sky. First he formed and then he filled it. He filled the sky with stars, the earth with vegetation, the water with animals, etc. After he fills it, he gave it a function.

Man is a special creation. Throughout Gen 1, he created just by speaking. When he created man, he fashioned man with his hands. He then breathed life into man and he came alive. And then he gave him a purpose. He said, increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.

Q. What about the church?

In the same way, God operates with the church.

1.      He formed the church: Jesus’ disciples came together.

2.      On the 50^th day, on the day of Pentecost, he filled them with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:2-“”

3.      The next thing is that they started functioning. Before the day of Pentecost, the disciples 

were hiding and praying. They couldn’t fulfil their function because they haven’t been filled yet.

It is the same thing with us. The day we come to know Jesus as our saviour, we are born again, we are formed. When you trust in Jesus as the only God, and no other God- you believe and repent, you are born as a spiritual being. Then we are filled with the spirit, which gives us different gifts which relate to our function. But we need to work together with these gifts. When we do this, we are the body of Christ.

Q. Which kind of body would you want to be like?

Do we want to be like the body that is deformed or sick or like a gymnast’s body which is strong and flexible and able to do great things? It depends on each one of us what kind of a body we are.

Q. What are the different parts of the Body?

1 Cor 12:28- 31- “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts” There are multiple gifts in the body. God has given you something.

1 Cor 12:14- 18- “Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” No matter what your personality and gifting, God has formed you, filled and given you a purpose which is different functions.

Q. Which is the more important part of the Body?

We all need one another. In fact, in verse 22 it says, “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable”. We have to find out, what our gift is.

Sachin tendulkar has scored thousands of runs. He has done it with his hands. But if his hands were not connected to the body he wouldn’t have done anything. Whatever gift God has placed in you, for it to be brought into fruition, you need to be connected to the body correctly.

Eph 4:16- “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” As we are rightly connected to the church, we will grow.

Another list of gifts are given in Romans 12:3- 8. There are more gifts than these because the Holy Spirit is limitless.

One of the values I spoke about earlier is that we are there for one another’s success. We identify the gift of people and bring it into maturity. We are in this together. There is no competition in that. In a car, there are wheels without which the car won’t even move. They are indispensible. So find out what your gift is so that it can serve the body.    

There is also a caution:

Acts 20:31- Paul preached the word and warned them about certain things. Matthew 21 is one of those warnings- Jesus and his disciples saw a fig tree. Jesus was expecting fruit and fruitfulness from the fig tree. But when it didn’t, he cursed it an it withered.

Jesus is keeping note of what we are doing with the things he gave us. Rev 2:19- “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” Here is the lesson for us. Jesus is keeping score. Are we serving, and are we serving faithfully. There was an increase in what they were doing. We need to keep growing in what we are doing.

Rev 3:1-3: “These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Jesus speaking to the church in Sardia- these are some strong words!

Rev 3: 14- 16 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

We are privileged to be a part of the body of Christ. So let’s do and do increasingly, what 

God has called us to do. And for doing it, we have a heavenly reward.

Rev 22:12- “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” The good news is that Jesus has chosen us. Our response is- what did you give me and what do I do with it?

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 Worship: Part 1| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on November 6th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Have you ever seen the “wanted” page in the newspaper? The requirements for a job are quite high. But imagine of God placed an ad in the newspaper. What is God looking for?

John 4:22- 24: “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.””

This is taken from the account of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. The father is searching for true worshippers- the one who worships in Spirit and in truth.

I.       To worship in spirit- God is spirit. To communicate with him, we need to worship in spirit.

a.      Our spirit needs to be alive: We all have a body, but we also have a spirit. Every human being has a spirit but it is as good as dead until Jesus makes it alive

John 3:6- “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” When we come to Jesus- we realise we are sinners, and trust in Jesus alone, that day, our spirit comes alive. In order to worship God our spirit needs to be alive.

b.      The other thing is our heart being fully involved. Matt 15: 7-9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”

The Pharisees were going through the externals. But their heart was not in it. They were just following rituals and going through the motions.

2 Chron 16:9- “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

Q. What is the greatest commandment?

To love God with all our heart, mind soul and strength.

II.     Worshipping God in truth:

Worshipping God in truth means that what we say, read and think is aligned with the truth of God. It is important what we worship. We look around and find 50 understandings of who God is, but scripture tells us what God is like in truth.

We can engage our minds in worship as well. Christian worship involves the heart and head. If you don’t have the head, it can just be a frenzy. If you don’t have the heart, it’s just a ritual. We need both.

Our heart is affected means, we are thinking deeply about the truth. we can come boldly before God. in the Old Testament this wasn’t the case. Once when the sons of Aaron, offered unauthorised incense- dead. Aza touched the ark- dead. Thankfully for us, Jesus has made the way.

We need to think about how Jesus has forgiven all our sins. We will look at an example of a great worshipper. King David- was a man after God’s own heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you have a record of what someone has spoken we can know what is in his heart. David spoke in numerous psalms. His heart was set on worshipping Jesus.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
 we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

These are instructions on how to be a man or woman after God’s own heart.

1.      Shout: The word ‘Shout’ signifies a glad shout as when a king approaches.

Q. Do we need to shout?

Whether you’re timid or bold, we are called to shout, just as it says, don’t commit adultery or don’t steal, we are instructed to shout. People at football matches shout so much.

2.      Gladness: this is an attitude of the heart. We are called to worship him with gladness in our hearts. 

3.      Joyful songs: we are not at a funeral. We are here as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. God loves to hear you whether you are in tune or out of tune. In the same way that the parents are overjoyed to hear their child speak, God loves your voice.

4.      Thanksgiving: we’ve got to be a people who are thankful. Everyday write down 5 things you’re thankful for. Romans 1: 21- “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” By not giving thanks to God, it affected their minds and spirits. There are many opportunities to give thanks.

5.      Praise: to declare his qualities, his name. There are hundreds of things about God in the Bible. This is worshipping him in truth. in Psalm 22:3- God enthrones the praises of his people. as we praise God, God’s presence is manifest. To see miracles and healings, as we enter into worship and praise him. Then there is power to heal.

We enter into worship. Thanksgiving is like knocking the door, praise is ringing the bell. And then we enter his presence. The father is looking for worshippers- not for a tall dark and handsome guy, a beautiful girl, or an intelligent person. A man or woman after God’s own heart- that’s what God is looking for.

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.  

Jonah: To obey or not to obey| Sunith N

This message was preached  by Sunith Nallala at Word of Grace Church on October 30th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

We will look closely into the life of Jonah today. Jonah 1: 1-2: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.””

A short history of who Jonah is- 2 Kings 14:24-25- he’s a prophet of God. He belongs to the 8^th century BC when Jeroboam 2 was ruling Israel then. Nineveh is build by Nimrod after the flood. It’s the capital of Assyria. They have invaded Israel for many years. They are brutal and cruel.  

Gen 6:5-6 during the time to Noah, God wiped away the entire mankind. And during the time of Abraham, God also destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. We see God as an angry God in the Old Testament. But here in Jonah, God is being merciful. This reminds us of the love of Jesus who came down for the sinners.

But Jonah ran away. In verse 3 it says “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” Jonah knew about the Assyrians who were cruel and saw their brutal behaviour towards the Israelites. This might be one of the reasons why he fled away. Tarshish is a city in Spain.

·        God is all powerful. He sends a storm where Jonah was travelling in the ship. There was fear in everyone except Jonah. He shook Jonah to say- I’m there, obey me. In verse 5- “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” Jonah was so reluctant to come back to him. In addition to that, he goes off to sleep when there was a storm. At times we too disobey God’s word and his call. We are reluctant to go back. We could have found ourselves in the same place that Jonah is right now. 

In Verse 9 Jonah announces God’s character- “He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.””

·        God is a mighty God.  The sailors ask him, what should they do? Jonah knows the answer, but he is reluctant to do it. Pleasing God is the first purpose of our life.

The Sailors disobeyed by not throwing Jonah into the water. God made the storm wilder. When they obeyed, immediately God calmed down the sea. Obedience changes situations in our lives. God uses our situations to discipline us. God develops our character using the difficult situations in our life. So, God gets all the glory. When Jonah was thrown into the water, God sent the fish to protect him.

We see Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2: 1-9. When we cry out to God and seek for forgiveness, we come into new life with Jesus. This is also a picture of baptism. Jonah is immersed into the water where his old life has died and is now a new creation. He rose up from the water when the fish vomited him onto dry land.

·        God is a saviour. In Jonah 3, God commissions Jonah again. He is charged with the spirit. He boldly goes and proclaims to Nineveh their future and the forgiveness of God.

·        Our God is compassionate. In verse 5, the Ninevites believed God- they mourned and repented. Obedience to God leads to salvation from destruction.

Jonah 4:2- “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity”. Jonah was not able to forgive the Ninevites. He pleads with God to take away his life. God says, have you any right to be angry?

God did not send Jonah to condemn Nineveh, but to bring it to salvation. God shows us a wider picture of what his will is. He is concerned about the salvation of his people. Preaching the gospel is very important to us.

Matt 28:18-20 is the great commission he has given is to make disciples of every nation. His assurance is that he is with us till the end of the days. God is merciful, all- powerful, gracious, compassionate and rich in love.

We need to obey God- his word and his call on our lives. When God speaks to you, just obey what he says. He will reveal his mighty purpose and his will into your life.

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.