.jpg)
This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 8th 2023 by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.
GET COMMITTED
Session 1
The purpose
of the Get Committed series is to commit to Vision, Values and Mission as a
community of believers and to use your giftings for the advancement of God’s
Kingdom.
On the first
day of your job, you get to attend the orientation programme. If you don’t have
that orientation programme, you get lost. The Get Committed is like an orientation.
What is Word of Grace? What are its Values, Vision and Mission?
Did you know
that airline pilots go through a test which needs to be taken up every now
and then to get recertified?
How many are
in the habit of hiking? We don’t do it every day. We plan the hiking well in
advance and then go for it. Every day around my house, I see people running.
They are the army people who don’t have a choice but to run daily.
Are you a
part of the church as a hobby?
We have
renamed Get Connected to Get Committed as most of you are already connected to
the Church. When you join the army, you get a lot of benefits. Some of them are
canteen, medical, concession and many more. If you are an army officer, you get
people to serve you. Does anyone join the army for benefits alone? If that is
so, will you even be considered? No! We get prepared to work and undergo
training.
As
Christians, sometimes, we can only attend church meetings for our benefit.
There’s a calling for each one of us. But some Christians are content with only
enjoying the benefits and not committing to anything.
What does
God expect of me?
Today, we
would be looking at some of our values.
When Andrew
and Jessica were kids, we used to go to a DVD shop, spend around half an hour
selecting movies, rent a video, come home, and watch together. Families have
values and cultures. Each family has its own culture. What are the things you
all observed in the Word of Grace church?
Worship,
Hospitality, Serving, Not being judgemental, Sunday School etc.
Word of
Grace is -
1. Faithful to scripture
2. A Gospel preaching church
3. Full of grace
In the world, there are many thoughts about what is right and what is
wrong. Any form you fill, it has the gender – Male, Female, Transgender etc.
Our standard of living is the Word of God.
2 Tim 3:16 - 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Acts
13:47 - For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have
made you[a] a light for the Gentiles, that you[b] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[c]”
God
saved us so that we could be light to the world, proclaiming the gospel to the
ends of the Earth. We are saved because someone left their nation, came here
and preached.
How
do we do this in Word of Grace? We proclaim the gospel through Friendship Sunday,
Christmas Carols Sunday etc. God also wants us to individually share the
gospel. We want to do it personally and also as a church. There are different
ways to do it.
·
Going somewhere - God
may tell us to go somewhere and proclaim His Word. God told Navaz and me to
move to Pune from Mumbai.
·
Giving – we as a
church gave towards many causes. As the church gives offerings, it is being
used for the extension of God’s Kingdom
·
Praying – As we pray
for the unreached, different groups and churches will advance
Imagine
you have a lovely car. It has excellent leather seats, a dashboard, a screen that
displays music and a rear view while reversing and many more features. With all
these amazing features, if the car is unable to move, then it’s useless.
The
primary focus of the church is to proclaim the gospel. Even in the midst of
persecution, the gospel always advances. As a believer, you are called to
proclaim the gospel. It may not be to a large group, but even if it is to 2 or
3 people, we must always look forward to proclaiming the gospel
3.
Grace
When
you walk into Word of Grace Church, you breathe in grace. It is the foundation
for our church. Even unbelievers use the word ‘Grace’ but they don’t know what
true grace is.
Ephesians
2:8-9 - 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Salvation is a gift. If you are a believer, that’s because
God chose you by His grace and saved you. Most people stop there. It
doesn’t end there. Grace is more than that.
Ephesians 2: 10 - 10 For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Daily, our question should be, “What
do you want me to do today God?”
·
Grace is not saying, “I’m saved and I
don’t have to do anything.” We are saved by grace to do good works. God is
going to reward us for all the good works we do.
·
Grace teaches us to say ‘No’ to
ungodliness. We receive grace and forgiveness when we sin. The other side of
this is saying ‘No’ to sin.
·
Grace is being able to forgive oneanother. Sometimes we take offence. By the grace of God, we don’t go around
judging people. But we forgive one another. We must also speak the truth in
love. God loves you just the way you are. He loves you too much to leave you as
you are.
No comments:
Post a Comment