Get Committed Part 6

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 29th 2023  by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

GET COMMITTED - PART 6

Word of Grace church history:

In 2002, Colin, Navaz, Andrew and Jessica moved to Pune to build up and strengthen a church. At the right time, God spoke to us and we came here in June 2002. We’ve been here for the last 20 yrs. Pune is a city where people come to study or jobs and move away. But God continues to send people. Our vision is this - to make disciples. God gives us different capacities. But the function is the same. We are called to take the life of Christ within us, to deepen it, grow it and share it. God has called us here, so we have invested our life in making disciples of Jesus Christ. We are not alone. Word of Grace church is a part of New Frontiers International. This became 16 spheres and we belong to a sphere called regions beyond. Regions beyond is led by Steve O . In India, we are led by Franco who leads one nation church in Mumbai. 

Why are we a part of regions beyond? It strengthens us and we are able to reach places that we are physically unable to reach by ourselves. 

What are we expecting from every member of the Word of Grace? 

1. You need to be part of a GYM group. 

2. Growing in all these areas of discipleship like hospitality 

3. Commit to growing spiritually. We want to help each one of you grow spiritually. Once a month we have In-Depth Discipleship training(IDT). All our leaders have attended that and have a solid foundation because of that. Be part of something like this to build yourself up.

4. Build relationships with one another. 

5. Serve in some capacity. We are not a restaurant, we are a family. If you have health in your body, praise God and offer your body as a living sacrifice. 

6. Giving - God expects you to give your tithes and offerings. Tithe means 10% of your income. That is the starting point. We don’t pay tithes, we bring them because it belongs to God. He says to test him in this and that he would pour out a blessing over us. In addition to this, we have 'works' among the poor. Once a year we take a special offering called gift day. This is for giving towards the mission, Regions beyond, etc. 

7. Prayer - there is so much persecution in India. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. So we want to be praying for people. 

8. Reaching out - all of the church is our training. And this training is for the purpose of making disciples- so that we can reach out to people and share the gospel. It is for their benefit. We’ve got to go into the world and befriend people so that we can share the light of Jesus to the dark world. In the way we speak and behave we bring light to the world and God will use us. But do not become like the world. 

9. Be discipled by someone in the church. Jesus is very clear about the model of discipleship - he had 12 who were discipled by them and they in turn discipled others until 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.