Raising the dead | Colin D

This message was preached by Colin D at Word of Grace Church on June 23rd, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Can anyone here go to a graveyard where there are hundreds of graves and pray and raise the dead?

It feels impossible. The world out there may not be physically dead but they are spiritually dead.

Your job and my job is to raise the dead.

The first thing we need to do is to:

Change our mindset – sometimes we think of evangelism as something we do only when we know the scripture and how to answer questions. We think we’re not good at speaking, I am not able to answer questions or I don’t know my Bible too well so we feel hopelessly inadequate. In reality we need God to come in and do something.

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.

Ephesians 2:4-5 - But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

We were dead, but we’re now alive.

Colossians 2:13- 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[a] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

The world says the reason the world is in a mess is because people are not educated. But the real problem is not a lack of education but really – DEATH. They may be the most brilliant minds but dead.

John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Jesus is saying that to raise some one from the dead we need God, we cannot do it on our own. No matter how adequate or knowledgeable or how appealing your personality. 

How are people dead?

Romans 8:7

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

The mind is hostile to God – the moment we speak about God, hostility comes out. There is an inability for man to submit to God.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

There is no proper understanding. They cannot understand because they are spiritually dead. They may be brilliant in every other area of life but they cannot understand this.

There was a guy who decoded the DNA. He was brilliant but when asked ‘where did life begin?’ his answer was “Maybe some aliens from space did something.” The most brilliant mind who decoded the DNA couldn’t accept the fact God created the heaven and the Earth but rather aliens. Lack of understanding is not lack of intellect

2 Corinthians 4:4

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

There is an Enemy blinding people from seeing the truth. Telling an unbeliever to believe is like telling a blind person to see something or trying to talk to a deaf person. Unless God comes in and does something, we cannot do anything.

Matthew 9:23

23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,

We struggle to put a thread through a needle. It is impossible to put a camel through the eye of a needle. The same way for a natural man to come to God it is impossible. With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible. We can do nothing – God needs to do something.

We need to understand what the problem is before we can understand.

Ex. A man went to a doctor and said doctor, “I am in pain and I need help.” Doctor said “what’s wrong?”

The man said “I touch my head it hurts, I touch my chest it hurts, I touch my toes it hurts, Everywhere I touch it hurts.” Doctor examined him and said – “you know what the problem is? You fractured your finger!”

We need to know what the problem is before we can give the right medicine.

What can we do? How can we raise the dead?

1)      To raise the dead we need to be connected with Jesus.

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing

If you want to bear fruit – If you want to see people whom you love and care for know Jesus, you need to remain him. The modern version says ‘connected’ – you need to be connected to Jesus.

John 15: 7-8

⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

How can we be connected to Jesus?

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.

Connection with Jesus is spending time everyday with Jesus – With the word and in prayer. Jesus says if you do that, you will bear fruit. I want to encourage you – have a daily quiet time with Jesus. In that time, read the word and spend time praying.

I recommend one thing – maintain a journal. When you read the Bible, you are looking for a SPECK

S – Sin to avoid (Ex. Do not commit adultery)

P – Promise to claim (Ex. Dwell together in unity, there god commands a blessing)

E – Example to follow (Ex. Jesus went down to pray for the sick)

C – Command to obey (Ex. Love one another)

K – Knowledge to rejoice in (Ex. God created the Heavens and the Earth.

2)      Connecting with his people.

One of the ways we connect with one another is being part of the Sunday service – make it a habbit to be here on a Sunday and make it a habit to be here before time.

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. He stood up to read,

It was his custom – it was habit to go to the synagogue.

Acts 17:2

As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Meeting and connecting with Gods people was Jesus and Paul’s custom, will it be yours?

So in order to raise the dead I need to be connected to Jesus by reading the word and praying and be connected to God’s people.

3)      We need to love one another

When we share the gospel, we are telling people that someone died 2000 years ago and his death was significant because he rose from the dead and all our sins are forgiven.

John 17:20 – 21

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus is praying for his disciples, for us and the people we will reach out to and he says may he also be in us so that the world may believe that he saved me.

Jesus said the way to get people to truly believe in the gospel is to be rightly linked to God and rightly linked with one another. If we love one another and are connected, somehow people who are blind and don’t have the holy spirit, God will touch them and make them believe.

John 17: 23

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

How will the world know Jesus was sent by the father? When we are in complete unity.

What does unity mean?

Unity does not mean uniformity

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love

Romans 1:12

That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

Romans 12:16

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Romans 16:16

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

Galatians 5:13

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

As we meet one another, we need to bare each other’s burdens.

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one anotherin love.

There can be people around who get on your nerves. Somehow they always say and do the wrong thing. But knowing what the Bible says, it says be patient with one another.

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

A lady once said to me “I’m not going to get close to anyone in the church, I’m just going to come, worship and go.” The Bible says ‘Forgive one another’.

I want to give you a 100% warrantee and a 100% guarantee, in church you are going to get hurt. We say the wrong things and do the wrong things. We need to learn to forgive, to submit and to encourage one another.

Hebrews 3:13

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

1 Peter 4:9

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Have people over for meals and coffee, open up your homes and your hearts to people who are in need.

Jesus says as we are united and as we love another, and we go to our friends and neighbours to tell them about Jesus, somehow they will believe that God sent Jesus.

We have a great assignment, it is an impossible assignment: it is to raise the dead.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

One day we will leave this earth, and the question is where are we going when we leave this earth?

A few weeks ago, we attended a funeral for a friend of mine; 68 and just died. We may have a long life but one day we are going to leave this earth.

Our loving father has made a provision for us so that our sins are forgiven and we can go and be with him in heaven.

If we don’t trust in Jesus, we are responsible to pay for our sins and that payment is the separation from Jesus forever and ever. Today if you say Jesus I believe you died on the cross and I’m going to follow you, the dead will be raised to life and this new life will come forth.

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. 

Who is a father? | Colin D

This Father's Day message was preached by Colin D at Word of Grace Church on June 16th, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

I am going to share why a father is so important and why, if you are a father, you are important. In America, 90% of the prisoners are male. 75-90% of those prisoners grew up without a father. Suicides – 60 % of suicides take place where there is no father. 90% of homeless and run-away children are from fatherless homes. 80% of all people who commit rapes are from fatherless homes. A father is a very important person. Our role is vital. There can be another instance, you can have an absentee father. When you remove a father from a home, society become sick.

Fathers are needed even with animals. In kruger national park in south Africa, the elephant population was growing so much that they were endangering other animals. They moved some elephants to another park where there is more space. Moving elephants is a problem. So they only moved only the mother and baby elephants. At that other park, the white rhino was becoming endangered  because they were being killed. So they set up cameras to find out who is killing the rhinos. They found that the young male elephants were going on a rampage and killing the rhinos. SO they moved some of the adult male elephants to that park. These elephants fixed the problem! If you’re a father this morning you are the adult male elephant that will shape the life of your children.

Q. What is your role as a father?

1.      To protect your family: Men and women are different. Sadly the world is trying to go into a genderless society. They are confusing function with equality. We are equal but we have different function. Men are more aggressive. Women say lets understand one another. When the person who is supposed to defend the family starts attacking the family, it is not okay. We protect the family by taking on the heavy duty work.

2.      To be the provider: in Genesis when God created men and women, God said the men had the duty to tend the garden and to bring food to the table. Sadly, in our Indian society, the women are working and husbands are gambling. You wife may or may not work, but you are responsible to provide for the family. 1 Tim 5:8 “if anyone does not provide for his family, he has denied his faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. Looking after the garden was the primary job of the man. Earn the right to lead your family by

3.      To be the promoter: Your job is to take your children and train them up to become the best that they can be. Proverbs 22:6 “train your children in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it.” The first part is overwhelming love. Discipline is also needed. Either extreme is difficult. Eph 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” These are the 2 things sons and daughters are called to do. The command to fathers is this – in verse 4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” So you discipline out of love and not to exhaust them. You exasperate children when you promise and don’t show up.

a.      Hug your children and tell them I love you. Communicate love. Daughters who don’t get love from the fathers seek love out there. So beware of that.

b.      Love is spelled T-I-M-E. No matter what age they are, make sure you’re spending quality time with them.

4.      To be a priest for his family: it often happens that the women in the home are more inclined to follow God and the men want to do something else. In Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. So fathers, your behaviour will determine the outcome of your children.

Today we know better and we can strive to be better fathers. We have been given an amazing privilege and responsibility from God to lead our families.

Let’s pray!

What is prayer | Austin K

This message was preached by Austin K at Word of Grace Church on June 2nd, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

What is prayer

Matt 6:5-15

We see 4 important things in this passage.

1. Authenticity
2. Pray
3. Ask
4. Forgive and seek forgiveness

1. Authentic

Being authentic is not to be like a hypocrite. What is the opposite of a hypocrite? It is to be genuine, honest and real. What do hypocrites do? They go in public and put on a show. Hypocrites get their reward from public adulation.

Matt 15:8 - “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

This verse says, "Honor me" 
God is looking for honest, sincere and authentic people.

2. Pray

Jesus says go to your room, shut the door and pray to your Father. 
This is totally opposite to what the hypocrites do. They go in public to show off. But we're asked to go into a room, shut the door so that nobody could see us except our heavenly Father. The hypocrites get rewarded by the public but we get rewarded by our heavenly Father.

Matt 6:6-8 - 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

What do we need to avoid while paying?
Do not use empty words, do not babble.
When we lose intimacy, we stop ministering from our encounter with God but we start ministering from our memory. 
We stop relying on the Word but start relying on our own experiences.

Matt 6:9 - 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

He is our Father because He created all of us and called us His own. This happens when we put our faith in him.

Gal 3:26 – 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

1 John 4:15 – 15  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and them in God.

This morning if you have put your faith in Jesus, He lives in you. 

Matt 6:10 - your kingdom come, will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Kingdom comes – His Kingdom is where healings, demons fleeing, miracles, wonders, signs take place. When we pray this, we're surrendering our lives to Him.

3. Ask

Matt 6:11 - Give us today our daily bread.

Is anyone's birthday coming up? Will you ask your dad for a cake, gifts etc? Sometimes we don’t. Our God knows what we need but that does not mean we don't have to ask.

Mark 10:46-52- Blind Bartimaeus

As soon as he heard that Jesus was going by that side, he started shouting and asking Jesus to show mercy. Even when many rebuked him, he didn’t give up asking Jesus to heal him. He asked and Jesus healed him.

James 5:13-15 - 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

These verses clearly tell us that we need to ask. When we ask, God will heal the sick, raise the dead and forgive the ones who have sinned.

4. Forgive and seek forgiveness

Matt 6:12 – 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

When we sin, God expects us to take responsibility to accept it and ask for forgiveness 

1John 1:9 - 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

It's true that our sins, past, present, and future are forgiven. But we need to take responsibility for our own sins committed, repent and seek forgiveness.
We not only seek forgiveness but we need to forgive others just the way God forgives us. 
Sometimes, we may forget to do it. So keep a short account to ensure to seek forgiveness and also release forgiveness.
We will be tempted in every way.  Jesus said, "Pray!"

Matt 6:14 – 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

If you have anything against anyone, today is the day to set yourself free. Confess to one another, apologize and ask for forgiveness.
Don't stop praying for yourself and others. Let all the unanswered prayers rise again. God is faithful in answering them. Make biggest prayers boldly. God alone is able to do it for you. Maybe you prayed for a very long time and gave up. Let it rise again now.

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. 

Sharing from Marathon Part 1

This message was preached by Colin and NavazD at Word of Grace Church on June 2nd, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

As you all know we went to Greece for a conference and we met at a place called Marathon

There's a history behind this name through which the running long distance is named as Marathon.

Years ago there was a war between Persia and Greece which was called The Battle of Marathon. When the Greek people won the war, one of the Greek soldiers ran to Athens to announce the victory of Greeks. 
So, when we meet there, it was like heaven because there were people from different countries, speaking different languages.Today we're going to share some of the important things that were shared in the conference.
Some of the prophetic released were -

* New Era We are entering a new era. It’s not going to be old but totally new. Seasons are recognizably what we have experienced before. However, an Era is something new that we have not experienced. You have to leave somethings behind and adjust to what is to come.

* Build a legacy - shared by Navaz

We have been used to doing things in a certain way. God wants to break the mold and do something new. We have put God in a box and he is saying take the boxes off. We are going to do movement and Regions Beyond like something we have never done before.

Regions Beyond is not about a slick structure but it’s about being led by the Spirit. The Spirit will mark and make us distinct in who we are.

The eternal principles in the Word of God will always be our plumb line but the practice outworking – the practice of what each church looks like will be different for each one.

For each one of us we are called to build and leave a legacy. A legacy that will last forever form one generation to another. Each of us have a mandate and responsibility to do this. What version of Christianity will we leave behind? Will the next generation stand on our shoulders and take it even further, and this is the charge God is giving us.  We should be able to say I have fought the good faith of faith; I have 


Steve Oliver's sharing:
Neh 1:1-4
When we see our city, do we see it with our eyes or through the eyes of God?
Nehemiah was in a very good position. He had good food, good clothes because he was very close to the King. He was the cupbearer of the King. 
But he was concerned about Glory of God. He prayed, fasted and mourned for his city. Do we look at the city of Pune as God sees?

e.g. London is a very beautiful city 
But initially it was not like that. There's was an area called Devil's Acre. It was notorious slum. A man by name Samuel Martin, along with 25 people decided to move into this place. They faithfully preached and worked for the poor, cared for the sick and prayed for them. The result was - within 20 years, things changed and the church grew to 1000 people. It's a transformed place and is famous now.

Steve gives us 3 insights -
Faith like Nehemiah and Samuel Martin. To transform people, cities and nations.
1. Look at our city through God's eyes
2. Nehemiah and Samuel Martin acted upon what God has put on their hearts.
Let's ask God to use us to transform our city. We must love and serve people of this city
3. Lean into God
The task we're given is very big. We need supernatural help. Hence its very important to lean into God


Sharing by Daniel _  A vision of Jesus that will sustain us Revelations 4&5
We must lead in confidence and purpose in ourselves.
We often lean on wrong people and wrong things. But we need to lean on God and that's when we see God's glory.

In chapter 4, John refers to the throne of God 19 times. HE cannot get over the throne. Every time the saints get a glimpse of heaven they see the throne. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw the throne and were changed. The one who sits on the throne is the one who is in charge.
 We can feel overcast by governments, politics et cut we are told that there is a throne to which every throne will bow. Even Satan will bow to this throne one day.
In chapter 5, scroll with 7 seals.

John weeps that there is none to open the scroll.

This new era will be marked with weeping. When did we last week over our nation?
While John was weeping, one of the elders tells him to stop weeping.  Behold! The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. Jesus is the lion – born in humanity under the power of the Holy Spirit. He walked on the earth like a lion – he owned everything, spoke with authority and lived without fear. Jesus the infinite lamb and lion were strength and meekness 2 diverse excellences combined in one being.

What do we do and how do we do to transform the city?

John lived a fulfilled life and was confident of the promises of God for the future.

At the end of the 7 letters to the churches in Revelations John writes - lift up and see the glory of God. John saw the glory of God. We need to see the glory of God. When times are hard we need to see Jesus. John saw the glory of Christ.

On the scrolls is the purposes and the judgments of God for all the nations. God has a plan to bless us. The scroll sat upon the right hand of God and God is holding it out open toward heaven.

Who is worthy to open the scroll? The angels eye all of heaven and find no one can open and look into it. Imagine the descending realization- no creature, no angle could step forward.

Theological accuracy is not enough. We need doctrinally shaped minds and hearts that break over the nation.

When did we last break over our nation?

The way Jesus displayed his lioness is by becoming a lamb.

Ch 5 v9-11 the Lamb opens the scroll. Jesus could have exercised his lioness on earth .But he chooses to be the lamb t the slaughter.

Satan thought he could get the better of the lamb. Col 2;15  

But the lamb was orchestrating everything. Death thinks it has won but the lamb gets up and ascending, sits on the throne – the lamb that once was slain.

This is what we should remember – in all that, we do. We lose everything if we do not have our hope in Jesus. We can go in confidence and tell people that their names race written in the lamb’s book of life that their debt has been paid for.

The 100 year prayer of the Moravians was amazing. They were lion sin confidence willing to die as lambs.

May the lamb receive the reward of his suffering” This used to be their prayer.

We are embarking on a new Era- we don’t know what before us but this can be our prayer in all we do.

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.