The 1 Month Challenge

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on May 7th 2023  by Colin D Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here

The 1 Month Challenge

We will not meet like this for 30 days now as we take a summer break. Will it not be amazing if we all are transformed in these 30 days?

“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.” - Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭37‬ ‭ESV‬‬

4 things:-

1. Physically - Love the Lord with all your strength - on one extreme, there are people who are completely focused on the body. On the other extreme, people don’t think about the body or care for the body at all. Neither of these are good. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

If you borrowed someone else’s car, you would be very careful driving that car. In the same way, our body belongs to God, so we need to take care of our bodies. 

1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ‭‭

So there is some value in physical training. 

1. Dieting - don’t eat what is not good for you like sugars 

2. Exercise 

3. Sleep well 

2. Relationships - can we invest in spending time with someone who is not a believer? 

Psalm‬ ‭126‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” ‭‭

We are here for the lost. Then do something with someone who is a believer. Encourage one another, spur one another to good works, build up one another. 

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,”‭‭

So whatever you do the must be an exchange of love. 

3. Spiritual - what can you do that can take your spiritual life to the next level? 

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 

We are commanded to grow spiritually. 

1. Bible reading, Prayer and Fasting - add fasting to your spiritual regimen. It is powerful and we are commanded in scripture to do this 

2. Pick up a book to read or pick up a sermon series and go through it 

3.  ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬  - “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

What is the spiritual gift that God has entrusted to you? God has given you a gift. Over the next 30 days how can you sharpen that and grow in your spiritual gift. 

4. Mentally - AI is taking over a lot of routine things that we would have to spend time on. We need to learn new things and new ways of doing this. For this our mind needs to be sharp. 

We have 30 days before us. How can we love the Lord with our strength (body), soul (relationships), heart (spiritual) and min (mentally).

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.  

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.