Crossing Over Into 2021

 This message was preached by Colin DCruz via zoom at Word Of Grace Church on  January 3rd 2021. for the audio please click here.  TO listen to the worship please click here

Phil 3: 10-

¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Paul is writing to the Phil and talking about his great desires: know Christ, power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.

Paul wrote a large portion of the New Testament, he went up into heaven, and encountered Jesus in person. He was an amazing person

What can we learn from this passage for the New year

1.    Desire for more V12 Paul was dissatisfied with his spiritual progress. Imagine that. He was still looking forward to something greater.

We need to have a holy dissatisfaction about what we have accomplished things for God. We can’t settle for less if we want to grow in maturity.

Often when we go for a buffet, we fill ourselves with the appetizers.

Ps42 As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul longs after you.

There is great desire expressed by men and women in scripture for God.

The way we move ahead is a desire for more of God

2.    Forgetting what is behind. v13 Sometimes things in the past hinder our spiritual progress viz failures – you can feel hopeless or paralyzed. We need to put it out of our mind. That does not define you

Success can also hinder you. you feel you have arrived – I am serving, giving etc.

With failures we humbly confess and with success we humbly thank God

3.    Strain toward what is ahead. Paul loved sport. He gave a lot of sports examples. Straining/press on. Those are not walk in the park terms.

1Cor 9:24-27 Run in such a way as to get the prize.

How are we beginning the New Year? We need to get hold of Christ, we need to make an effort

What does this mean for us? We need to have a plan like an athlete who trains for a marathon. They train months in advance,

Have a plan to get into God’s word – read, meditate, memorize, study it.

Prayer – I do not know anyone who is happy with their prayer life. This is something we all can grow in. When we pray God will act. It may be slow but God acts like the nation of Israel in the desert. Of like Daniel and the writing on the wall, The Medes invaded that very night.

Consider how you can increase your prayer life. This is how we push back the darkness.

Developing relationships – the lockdown has been a challenge but we need to find a way through it. We need to build relationships across the church to encourage others, to build a friendship. In every encounter let us express love

 

 Giving -Many of us have not been affected by the COVID-19 19 crises. But many industries have been severely affected. WE need to be intentional about growing in our giving. We thank God for our finances. We are intentional about increasing our giving.

4.    Reach the lost – People are in great need. We need to reach out. If people do not receive the gospel, shake the dust off your feet and leave. It is no reflection on you.

 

5.    Serving – Many served to make the Christmas Carols evening a success. Look at how you can serve. We are not doing this for public recognition but serving for the audience of one. People may or may not acknowledge it but you serve faithfully

We had many amazing prophetic words for this year. Here is the video link.

New wine is not put into old wineskins. We have to be ready to adapt to change. In the book of Acts, the church grew rapidly but they did not leave Jerusalem. Then in Acts 8 the church got scattered and the Word spread. With COVID-19 we have been spread out too. Jesus said when 2 or 3 are gathered he is there. He did not say 200 or 300. This year we want to strengthen the gathering of 2 and 3.

 

    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. 

The Future Will Write Your History | Navaz D Cruz

This message was preached by  Navaz D'Cruz at Word of Grace Church on  January 6th 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

THE FUTURE WILL WRITE YOUR HISTORY

INTRODUCTION

I have a message, the burden of which has been increasingly growing in my heart as each year goes by. This year I have felt that God has laid this as a prophetic message for Word of Grace and maybe even beyond.

I believe there is something in this message for everyone – a new believer, a not so young Christ follower and a seasoned Christian like myself.

This is also in line with the series that Colin is taking us through but coming from a different angle.

TEXT

Proverbs 29:18  Where there is no revelation/vision, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction.

 2 Tim 4: 7-8 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Phil3:12 -
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me

The title of my message today is this : The Future will write your history.

What will it say about you?

 Last Sunday we heard about Jim Elliot. The whole of Christendom knows about him. His famous quote is “ He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose!”

Such amazing passion, dedication and fixed focus. We may never become a Jim Elliot and that does not disqualify us or excuse us from living with purpose, passion and a perspective that ends in eternity.

What legacy will you leave behind? You will leave one behind either unintentionally or by design.

To answer that question we first need to recognize that:

1.    We were created on purpose for a purpose.

 A creator who has a design in mind created you.  You are not here by chance or by an accident. You are not a mistake.

Psalm 139:14-15 13For You formed my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.14I will praise You,for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Eph 1:11 -In him we were also chosen,^[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Eph 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.

This is critical to your purpose. Unless you are reconciled to your creator, you will never be free from a useless existence and be able to begin to live this purposeful life and fulfill your God given destiny here on the earth.

As Christians, we too can live like this – carelessly, without vision/purpose and a revelation of why we are here on the Earth.

Being saved is only just getting off the starting block of this eternal relay we are all running in. How then do we run this race? Many Christians sadly have lost their first love; their hearts have grown cold, distracted with the cares of this world. One day we will have to give an account for how we have lived.

 1 Cor 3:12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

Proverbs 23:4 warns us not to wear ourselves out in trying to get rich.

2.    The second issue is sustainability.

Finishing strong is vital. Can we keep the fire burning after 2 years, 5 years, 10 years twenty 40?

If I do not stay connected and rooted in Jesus my spiritual fervour, can wither off and die.

3.    Building a legacy is in God’s DNA.

 Apart from the fact that God created you for a purpose, we need to understand the character and nature of God. He has put the same DNA in us as we are “His image bearers”.

We have been created to create, care for and contribute to the earth.

The command that God gave Adam to steward and multiply still holds good today.

We are still commanded to create and care and contribute. This has to do with every area of our life: personal, at work, in the home, our marriage, children, neighbourhood, our material possessions, our spiritual life, church community.

Jesus spoke a lot about stewardship and multiplication. Just look at the parable of the talents, the wise manager etc etc. God is always looking for ROI( return on investment)

It is there in Genesis and is there is Revelation 22:12"Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ, you are serving.

More than 40 verses talk about rewards. Look it up. This must be important.

Before we get it twisted. We know that we have been saved by grace.

We have not been saved by works bur for works

We function from acceptance not for acceptance

We lives from the identity of sons and not to get identity

We have been blessed so that we can bless

We live from victory and not for victory

When we know our identity, we will know our destiny.

SO NOW WHAT?

 What version of Christianity will your children or grandchildren enjoy because of what you invested into the kingdom?

Will it be a diluted version or even better than what you have known and experienced.

Our ceiling should be the floor that the next generation stands on. Legacy builders think about the quality of their life not so that they can enjoy a good life on earth but so that generations after them can reap the fruit of it too. Are you a legacy builder?

Mature sons and daughters in the house of God will learn to broaden their shoulders and be burden bearers rather than be a burden.

When we know that, we are children of God bought at a high price we will realize that our lives are about stewardship and not entitlement.

This is a difference between stewardship and Entitlement. Which column do you have more ticks?

STEWARDSHIP – A child of God with good identity	ENTITLEMENT- A child of God with poor identity.
Surrendered life	Self-centered life
Seeks to serve	Wants to be served
Contributors	Consumers
Gratitude	Feels entitled
Wants to please God	Wants God to please them
Blesses others	Seeks to be blessed
Generous	Stingy
Multiplies resources	Depletes resources
Giving	Demanding
Involved	Disconnected
Submitted	Independent
Handles resources in a kingdom way	Handles resources in a self-indulgent way
Others oriented	Self-focused
Satisfied	Always needy
Dependable	inconsistent

Word of Grace can be like a greenhouse- as long as you are in this church you thrive spiritually or may appear to thrive.

This is because the external environment is influencing you and acting upon you. But if you move away from WOG will you continue to burn hot for Jesus?

How much you internalize of the values you enjoy at WOG depends on your capacity to absorb and put into practice and make it your DNA.

You have to forge your own history with God.

Everyone’s character will be put to the test in the crucible of crises. Will you come out as pure gold?

This, will be tested when the storms of life hit us and they will. Will we be like the wise builder or the foolish one?

My prayer is that we like Paul will be able to say I have fought the good fight, I have run the race and now there waits a crown for me.

HERE ARE SOME KEYS THAT WILL HELP IN YOUR LEGACY BUILDING.

1.    PRESENCE – I cannot emphasize this more. That is why the first phrase in our tag line is Enjoying God. Apart From Him, we can do nothing. We need to stick close to Jesus every day. Practice his presence as a lifestyle.

"Relying on God has to start all over everyday, as if nothing has yet been done."  –C. S. Lewis

2.    PROVIDENCE – Know that God’s favour rests upon you. He is your provider and will give you more than you can ask or imagine. “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” –Hudson Taylor

3.    PERSPECTIVE – Do not live just for today or for the next 5 years. Where do you see yourself when you are 70? Where do you see yourself in eternity? "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." –Jim Elliot

4.    PURPOSE – Do not be a drifter. Before you know it, 5 years have done by ad you will have little to show for it. Have goals. IF you fail to plan, you will plan to fail. Have goals personal, professional, family, spiritual. God is interested in all of our lives “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” –Francis Chan

5.    PASSION – Put your might behind everything you do. Do it as unto God. “If you can’t fly, then run, If you can’t run, then walk, If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” –Martin Luther King Jr.

This passion can only be sustained and fueled, in the presence of God.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Col3:23

1Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them— yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

So let us life this life worthy of our calling in Jesus. Let us fight the good fight of faith and not give up or get tired of doing good, because what we build will be a legacy that will last forever and one day the future will bear witness to it. LET’S PRAY

DISCUSSION POINTS FOR GYM MEETINGS

. Do you recognize that you have been created by design? What unique gifts and talents has God blessed you with?

. HAve the core values we talk about at Word of Grace become yours? Or is it an extranl influence?

What are some of the goals you have for life?
. Are you a legacy builder? 
What will you change to become more focused and live purposefully? Do you have a year plan and a 5-year plan?
. What will you do differently in your Christian calling to leave a legacy behind?

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. 

Living from the INSIDE OUT- 4 | Karen W

Karen W from Heart of the Matter Ministries International is a friend of Word of Grace Church and has been a blessing to us over the years. This is the second part of the message that was preached by Karen W at Word of Grace Church on July 16th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. 

There has been a supernatural shift in the atmosphere. The days of doom and gloom are over. The way we do church won’t be the same. We are going deeper in the depths of his love. This month, we have been talking about the theme- INSIDE OUT, who are you- identity, where are we going, healthy relationships, etc- which we need for growth and development.

I love to encourage people just how powerful they are. God is getting ready to do something very specific. Colin is going to share something about what is to come to this church-“Through the worship, God laid this word on my heart. The season has changed, just as it has in the natural. 2 things need to happen. We need to be prepared to accept this new season. Secondly, in the summer there was no water, but now there is an abundance of water. I feel God is pouring out on us spiritually. ”

The same night, my testimony was to get some finances together for something I want to invest in. And all of a sudden, I went out with someone and they blessed me with Rs. 30,000. God is up to something big! When you give praise to him, it builds up anticipation for- what are you going to do next?

1.      We need to have an expectancy. Change is now! Everything that Donna and I came to impart is a part of the change. We can get stuck in the drought- we stay stuck in the past.

I have been amazed with Evan Raphael! When I gave candies to him, whenever he sees me, he expects candies. He doesn’t say, I’m a worm. We need to come expecting from God. the reason why we read the word, pray, study, etc. is because we are people who are in love. We do crazy things when we are in love, no matter what country you come from. It is not because we are an extrovert or introvert. It’s because he has grown up in love.

We serve a mighty God, a good God who loves you no matter what. We are no longer going to have any part with any religious dark deeds. We have freedom, so we need to be free. We judge saying that’s just how they are. I am a woman who is forgiven. So I am not ashamed to bless him name

2.      Preparation- you have to be prepared for it. God sent Donna and I to come, and we didn’t realise we were carrying gold from heaven. We were going to simply serve. When this word was released, the words and the training and everything we did came to prepare you for the season. So we came with words for the season. You need to recognise that we need to live from the inside out. We talked about toxic relationships and how in the kingdom people know how to deal with conflict and develop deep-heart relationships. It is just like developing a deep-heart relationship with God. You don’t need to do puja to get to God.

a.      Identity- do you know who you are what God has called you to do? You need to recognise the change when it comes and you need to know who you are when change comes. If not, change will walk right past and you will say, I didn’t see anything happen differently. Understanding who God has called each of us to be, we have to have identity

b.     Empowerment- to be empowered is not to be dependent but to be inter-dependent with one another. I need to be equipped for the things God has put inside of me. Being empowered is very important. I am empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what I am called to do. We don’t work for God- we work from God. we work from connection, in relationship. Jesus saw what the Father was doing out of relationship and did as he saw. Truth is the directional part of God. But we also need his presence. I can hear about Evan all day long, study him for years and now know him. We can do the same thing with God. I was that way in the early years of my Christianity. You can preach and quote scripture, get revelatory words and still not know that God loves you. Revelation brings width, connection brings depth to the relationship. It brings you closer to the one who has called you close to him. How many of you want to experience his presence and know that you that you are in his presence? You can literally feel the presence of God. Religion is a fear-based theology. We have covenant with the one who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Whether you speak English or not, we are all equal in the sight of God.

c.      Depth of relationship- if you don’t know him, you won’t realise the change. You have to have a relationship so you can experience the king of glory.  We are empowering you. In Mumbai, I have a dream about a foot operation. So I gave the word of knowledge. There were a lot of people who stood up. I am still talking about relationship- knowing the Father. So, instead of me praying for all of them, since we are all powerful and all God’s children, I had people in the congregation turn around and pray for their brothers and sisters. We will begin to develop life-long relationship with one another. It’s a new day.

Isaiah 43- 18-20 ““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,”

Q. How many of you struggle with being stuck in the past?

When we stay stuck in the past, we give more power to the past that keeps us from moving forward. This change requires understanding the Father with an expectation. Being aware of how you show up and how people experience you.

God is calling us to wake up. Wakey wakey! Wake up and be aware. Be self-aware. Be aware of who we are, how we affect people around us?

We did an exercise where the team got to evaluate the leaders. One of the things that is powerful about that is that we literally had the leaders leave and we evaluated them for 20 mins. They opened themselves up in a place of vulnerability and said, tell me, how are you experiencing us? We got to experience some amazing truths in love. This is real Christianity- to have a safe, authentic relationship where we are able to show people our blind-spots.

Q. Have you ever felt when someone left, thank God they are gone! Or felt like they were around for longer?

So, awareness of what this new thing is- this new thing is freedom in God, freedom in your worship and praise, in your thinking that when you have a problem, you don’t have to be a victim. We understand that relationships are messy, but in this change, you will learn that the more you have identity, you can overcome. So you can make a choice of being a victim or an overcomer. Your income level doesn’t determine your position in God.      

My father worked 3 jobs in the 60s and raised 5 kids by himself when there was racial discrimination. And the greatest gift my father gave me was the gift of identity, that I could do anything. It is you getting to know the father- that is the change.

Imagine with me- the Father- this is not the fathers who might have hurt you or abused you, but the Father who created you. Ask him, who you are and why you were born.

Q. What is your purpose in life? Why did God create you?

Repeat after me- Holy Spirit, who am I? Why was I born? We are going to let him speak to you.

Some of you are going to get that answer today, or tomorrow, but you are going to get an answer. This is what the Father said to me. In 1984 He said, you haven’t chosen me, I have chosen you. And whatever you ask for, I will give it to you. My purpose is to equip the body of Christ. This is the greatest season of my life. When I get ready to leave India, I say, this is why I was created. The flow of the Holy Spirit comes easy to me because I am doing what he created me to do.

In the days to come, Colin and others will hear from God as he begins to download what this change is all about. How many people want to live in Destiny? How many are tired of just existing?

Word of Blessing- I prophesy greatness in this house. I see greatness in everyone. I release destiny and favour over each and every young person in this house- that they will not have low-self esteem. I release identity- the favour of God in this house. These are not people who happen to be from India, but they are sons and daughters of the king. I release that everyone in this house matter, no matter where they come from. I break the spirit of personal preference done in an unhealthy way. I break the spirit of superiority in Jesus Name. I break the spirit of inferiority in Jesus Name. I break the spirit of poverty and lack in this house. For jobs and better jobs and better economy and dreams creativity will come in this place. We welcome reconciliation. I break the spirit of gossip, of victimization, and I release that you truly have identity, truly have fire in this house. I release dreams and vision in this house. I break the spirit of criticism. I pray God, that people will understand their gifts and know what to do. In Jesus’ name.

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 have 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. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.