Are your indicators working? | Colin DCruz

This message was preached by Colin DCruz at Word of Grace Church on October 21th, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Are your indicating lights working?

How many have traveled in a plane? Have you seen a light bulb?

In 1972, a plane crashed because of a light bulb.  On December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar serving the flight crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities. The pilots and the flight engineer, two of 10 flight attendants, and 96 of 163 passengers died; 75 passengers and crew survived. The crash occurred while the entire cockpit crew was preoccupied with a burnt-out landing gear indicator light. They failed to notice that the autopilot had inadvertently been disconnected and, as a result, the aircraft gradually lost altitude and crashed.

What does this have to do with us?

We sing about how we have been saved, our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. We are going to heaven but God has a plan for us here. What are the light bulbs that we need and that would keep us from crashing? 

I will talk about two.

PERSONAL WORSHIP

God has used many people greatly and some of them at some point slipped and fell. They all had one thing in common – they missed their quiet time. Why do I need to this?

Jesus is our model. He is the one that is very close to the Father. If there is anyone who did not need to pray, it was Jesus. However, he prayed a lot.

Mark 1:35 – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed

Jesus went to a solitary place to pray

Luke 22:39 – Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him

From the word “as usual”, it is understood that prayer was a part of Jesus’s daily routine and habit

The light bulb we need and take care of is Prayer and Reading the Word

What prayer does is that it brings us in communion with Jesus.

There are two parts to it.

When you meet a friend over coffee, you have a conversation. It’s a two-way communication.

How does it work?

If you want to hear God’s voice, you need His Word – The verses in the Bible speak to us.

A caution – Do not read the Word randomly by just flipping the pages and finding a verse. Read systematically and regularly.

Martin Luther would pray more on the days he was very busy.

Some tips:

i.                 Set a time – Fix a specific time so that it becomes a habit

ii.               Set a place – Find a special place where you meet with the Living God

iii.             Make sure you have the Bible and a journal. Write down each day what God says to you.

iv.             Have a reading plan – Read through Old Testament, New Testament, a particular book

This is something every Christian ought to be doing.

Prayer is powerful.

Last month we had 11 people looking for jobs. Today almost all of them got jobs. Things begin to happen as we pray.

2.    PUBLIC WORSHIP

Is meeting together as a church every Sunday important?

Acts 2:42-46 - … devoted themselves to fellowship, to the breaking of bread… Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

The early church did this – met in the temple courts and broke bread in homes.

Is Sunday a custom and a habit for you, in a good way, or is it something that I do when I don’t have anything else to do?

Luke 4:16 – He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.

Meeting together as a church every Sunday is not a law but a good practice.

Acts 17:2 – As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures.

It was a custom with Paul too.

Sunday is Lord’s Day! Let us meet together!

Psalm 122:1 – I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”

Why do we need to gather?

When we come together, there is great anointing and power.

1Cor 5:4 – So when you are assembled and I am with you in Spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present…..

Do not miss out from this grace. Watching on TV is different

Heb 10:24-25 - … not giving up meeting together

Some have made it a habit not to be regular.

What do we do when we meet together?

1 Cor 14:26 - ….. When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up

When we meet together, we encourage each other.

Everyone has a part to play. We can do many things when we come together.

In a Play, there are 3 groups of people:

Actors, Audience, and Prompters

We are the actors, God is the audience, the band is the prompter.

So, ask yourself – Am I in the Word every day? Do I journalize? Do I pray?

Make sure you are a part of Sunday meeting every week.

 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 has 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.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.