Setting Worthy Goals as a Church

  This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 12th 2025 by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

Setting worthy goals as a church

Last week, Colin encouraged us to set worthy goals from the passage of Philippians 1 which includes our personal goals – developing humility, growing in spiritual maturity, striving for holiness. Today we will look at some of the corporate goals that we need to set as the body of Christ. 

Why do we need to set corporate goals? 

When the New Testament refers to church, in 80% of the cases it is talking about a local church. We have this idea that the “church” is this abstract amalgamation of all believers from all times, but when Paul or Peter or Luke talk about the church, they are referring to the church in Ephesus, the church in Philippi, the church that meets in someone’s house… it is not either or, but it is focused on the local with a vision of the global and eternal. We are born on our own, but we are born into a family just as in the natural. This family that we are born into is the church. The church is not an organisation, it’s a spiritual body – it is the fellowship of the redeemed. Romans 12:5 “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

We need the local church in order to obey Jesus. Both the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-39 “7 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”) and the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”) are rooted in a place. In fact, the promise is that when the holy spirit comes upon us, we will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  

You and I are here by design to meet the purposes of God in this place and time. So as we step into this new year, let’s look at what is the role of the this church in this place and how do we set ourselves up to obey God. 

Q. What are some of the new year’s resolutions you’ve ever set that have actually stuck? When you reflect on it, what is the difference between the resolutions that stick v. the ones that don’t? Illustrations of gym or eating healthy, etc. 

• Commitment 

• Custom 

• Compelling vision 

1. Commitment. 

Q. What is Jesus committed to? 

Matt 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Q. What do we need to be committed to? 

Acts 2: 42- 45 – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

So there were some things that the believers were committed to (devoted to) – to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to prayer, to giving- and they did all this in the context of a community.  

a. Apostle’s teaching – not just doing our bible reading in our personal devotion, but corporately. Do we come expecting God to speak to us through the word each Sunday, or do we go searching online for whoever the latest or most favourite preachers? 

b. fellowship – not just friendship but an intentional togetherness. Illustration – fellowship of the rings. It is coming together for a purpose - for mutual edification. Ephesians 4: 15-16 “speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and help together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” 

c. prayer – most underused gift of the church is corporate prayer.

d. giving – tithes and offerings belong in the local church first. Giving is beyond this – it is giving of your time, resources, meeting the needs in the church. Many times, the needs are not monetary. Are we a generous community? 

2. Custom – our commitments need to turn into custom 

just saying we are committed to something is not enough. the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Jesus and the disciples had certain customs:

Luke 4: 16 “And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.”

Luke 22:39 “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him” (prayer) 

Acts 17: 1-2 “7 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,”

Acts 2: 46-47 “ 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people”

Q. What are some of our customs? 

Is attending church on a Sunday a custom, it is something that is non-negotiable? Is prayer a custom? Lets look at how to turn our commitments into customs. 

A commitment requires good intention, but a custom requires good planning. Illustrations - how can we make it to church on time/ be there for corporate prayer. 

3. Compelling vision:

Q. What is Jesus’ vision for the church? 

Ephesians 5: 25-27 “25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”

Revelation 21: 2-4 “ 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

Q. What is our vision? 

Colin will tell us next week. 

But it has to do with being salt and light in this place. it has to do with loving God and loving our neighbours, it has to do with make disciples of the nations starting with NIBM, Undri, Pune and to the ends of the earth. In all this, we are the hands and feet of Christ. when God thinks about the darkness and evil that is prevalent in this area, his answer is, let me send word of grace church there. 

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

Worthy Goals for 2025

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 5th 2025 by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

Worthy Goals for 2025

When we enter New Year, we make resolutions. We want to believe that the old has gone and new has come. 

As we began the New Year, our hearts need to be filled with gratitude for God's faithfulness. We are all alive today and that's because of God. We need to be thankful to God. Let us look at Philippians chapter 1.

Let us look at some worthy goals to put forward for the year.

Philippians 1:1-2 NIV - [1] Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: [2] Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was used by God in an amazing way. He calls himself a born servant. This actually means a slave. We can see Paul's great humility here. 

Let us look at this attitude of humility. As Christians we must cultivate it. According to the New Testament, if you are saved, you are a saint. This letter is addressed to the overseers, deacons and saints. 

Philippians 1:3 NIV - [3] I thank my God every time I remember you.

What a beautiful thing to say. In our lives, there could be people who cause pain when we think about them. 

Philippians 1:4-8 NIV - [4] In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, [6] being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [7] It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. [8] God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Here we see that Paul was filled with deep love towards these believers. That's a wonderful example to follow. 

Acts 16:6-7 NIV - [6] Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. [7] When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 

What we see here is that Paul and his companions were led by the Spirit. Discernment was needed to differentiate between right and wrong and also God's will and their will. Going to preach is good but what was God's will?

Even in our lives, we must know the difference between Good and bad and also God's will and our will. That's why we must be connected to God by His Spirit.

Acts 16:8-14 NIV - [8] So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. [9] During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” [10] After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  [11] From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. [12] From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. [13] On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. [14] One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 

For salvation to come, we must go and preach and also God's must touch their hearts to put their faith in Jesus.

Acts 16:15 NIV - [15] When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Salvation is always followed by baptism which is a public declaration of faith in Jesus.

Acts 16:16-17 NIV - [16] Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. [17] She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 

We see that when the demonic spirits we're sharing the gospel. 

From verses 18 to 24, we see that Paul and Silas were arrested and clogged for sharing the gospel.

Acts 16:25 NIV - [25] About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 

Even in the midst of their trial, Paul and Silas chose to praise God. 

In our lives we are going to face struggles,  trials, sickness and persecution. But we must continue to worship God and praise him. 

Acts 16:27-28 NIV - [27] The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. [28] But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Those days if any prisoner escaped, the jailer was executed. Here, when the jailer realized that the prison doors were opened he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He knew he'd be executed. So he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul stopped him.

Acts 16:30 NIV - [30] He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

These are the golden words which we long to hear from the unbelievers - "What must I do to be saved?"

Acts 16:31-34 NIV - [31] They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” [32] Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. [33] At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. [34] The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

After the jailer asked them, Paul and Silas shared the gospel and the jailer and his entire household were saved and baptized. Amazing! 

When they left Philippi, there were just a few believers gathering and Paul was thanking them for their partnership with him. 

We can also partner in 3 ways - 

1. Going

2. Giving

3. Loving 

The Church of Philippi partnered with Paul by finding the gospel. Let us pray for the people who attended the Carols event that God touch them and open their hearts. 

We have to be friends with the unbelievers because Jesus was a friend of sinners.

When we come to faith, that's just the first step but not the last.

It is good that a baby is born but when there's no growth its not good. Similarly, when a new Christian is born, he or she must grow and mature. 

God's Word is our food to grow spiritually. Let us be a people of book - read God's Word. 

Joshua 1:8 NIV - [8] Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

As we give ourselves to feeding on God's Word, we will see the difference in our lives. 

One thing that's connected to feeding on the Word is Prayer and the other is Fasting.

Philippians 1:7 NIV - [7] It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 

Here we see Paul's love and deep affection for the believers. This is the quality of love God wants to see in His people. 

We must pray that God would help us to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

We must grow more in loving one another. We are all in WIP - Work In Progress.

We all have shortcomings and failures. Till our death, we will have these. But when we sin, we must recognise it, repent and seek forgiveness and keep moving forward so that we may be pure and blameless. 

When you commit a sin, don't be surprised as that's a sign of pride. We must be humble enough to say we're wrong. 

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