Back to Basics - Part 1 - Who are you following?

 

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on June 2nd 2024 by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

Who am I following?

Let’s start with a quiz - what were Jesus’ first words to any of his disciples? 

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 5:18-19 

About 10 times in each of the gospels, Jesus says, ” Follow me” to his disciples. 

You can be a social media follower of Jesus- enjoy his teachings, subscribe to his beliefs, and tomorrow if you see something that doesn’t align with how you think or feel, you can unfollow. 

University style of following - listen to sermons, learn the Hebrew and Greek but don’t actually know how to put it into practice. Spiritually obese.

A disciple is a life-long learner: not an academic acquiring information about God, but a craftsman acquiring skills in the faith.” –Eugene Peterson

Apprenticeship- In the Jewish culture of apprenticeship, the apprentice would go with his master everywhere, learn from him and one day, become like him.

Matthew 8: 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Does this model work? 

Illustration of the Meenakari work, Stradivarius violin, Kintsugi art centuries old crafts that are still alive today. It’s not because of a university, but because of apprenticeship. Each master in his lifetime will only take 6-10 apprentices. Is he ineffective? No, these crafts have lasted centuries without compromising the quality. This is the model of discipleship that Jesus laid down for us. How did Jesus take on the world? By taking Peter, John, James, Andrew and other disciples.

Each of them left something or someone behind to follow Jesus. How do we think of following Jesus today? 

There are 3 steps - the tagline of Word of Grace. 

1. Enjoying God - Being with him/ beholding him 

1. The primary call of God is to himself. Mark 3:13-15 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

2. How can you be with someone who is invisible? John 4:24 - God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

3. What do you do with him? Thank him (Psalm 100), Listen to him (my sheep listen to my voice), talk to him (prayer- ask and you shall receive), delight in him(behold, contemplate the glory of the Lord)

4. Reflection question - What rhythms do you have in your life to be with Jesus? What is your sacred space, time? Do you have times when you will not touch your phone or any digital devices and completely turn your attention and affection towards Jesus? (Not just Sunday morning worship)

2.               Making Friends - Do as he did.

 

a.               Imitation - we are so scared of that word because we all want to protect our individuality. 

                                     i. But we are called to imitate Him. John 13:14-15 “14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. ” 

                                    ii. In fact, we are called to imitate those who imitate him! 1 Cor 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Illustration of an artisan. What are we supposed to imitate? Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb.13:7).

                                  iii. Reflection Question- Who are you imitating? 

 

b.               Picture of apprenticeship. Eric Metcalf - 5 stages of apprenticeship - 

i. I do , you watch, we talk  

ii. I do, you help, we talk

iii. You do, i help, we talk

 iv. You do, i watch, we talk

  v. You do, someone else watches. Jesus did this with his disciples.

 

c.               Meals not meetings - Christian life is lived around meals not meetings. Jesus was always eating. With his brothers and sisters(those who were for him), with his enemies(those who were against him), with noted leaders of the synagogue (those who were socially above him), with sinners (those who were beneath him). 

Reflection question- What meals are you putting off with any one of these categories of people? 

3.     Changing lives - Becoming like him 

          

Q. What is the goal of your Christian life? 

Believe → become?

Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”

 

Believe → Behold → Behave → Become 

Salvation Sanctification

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

“Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2 ESV

a.               Who transforms us? So just as you would go to the doctor and ask why I am not losing weight, when we feel stuck in our spiritual growth, we need to go to his word and spirit and ask where I am stuck

b.               Jesus is committed to finish what he started. But what did he start in you? Not your job, your finances, your fame, or even your ministry. Jesus is not committed to your success. He is committed to forming Christ in you. 

c.               This is a long road. So much so that it is not going to be complete on this side of eternity. But it can be an indicator of who you are following. The partially formed version of Jesus that is in each of us. 

d.               Reflection Question - Are you more like Jesus today than you were a year ago? 

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.   

Plus One

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on October 13th 2022  by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

PLUS ONE

We are just a few weeks away from Christmas. People around this time of the year just get into a relaxed mode. Imagine a marathon. People finish it in 3 ways  

1. They collapse and don’t finish 

2. They finish with a lot of difficulties. 

3. They see the Finnish line and put in an extra burst of energy to finish well

We need to pick the 3rd option. A lot can happen in 7 weeks if we give ourselves to it. Maybe this year has not been good, maybe just moderate. But we can still finish strong. We will look into the lives of people who lived this way to inspire and envision us. We need to enjoy God, make friends and change lives. 

1. Enjoying God - Cornelius - Acts 10: 1-4 “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius." And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”‭‭Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭4‬

1. He was God-fearing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is a good fear. One aspect of enjoying God is to be devout and God-fearing. We have been delivered from the wrath of God only because of Jesus. God doesn’t change. But because we are in Christ we come into his presence. The fear of God is a good thing. Exodus 18:21 - Moses was asked to find men who feared God. 

2. He was Devout - which means he was faithful. Cornelius was faithful in giving to the lord and to the needy. Would you describe yourself as one faithful to God and to His church? Will you be faithful in the things of God? PLUS ONE- We are not to be content with where we are but to keep growing in faithfulness. Aim to do something that you’ve not been doing yet. Cornelius was devoted to prayer which reached God. 

2. Making friends - Christianity is not a religion but a set of relationships. We are adopted into God’s family with other brothers and sisters. Acts 18: 24-28 ““Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”

1. Humility of Apollos- he received from Priscilla and Aquila. It later says that he was of great help. This happened because he was taught by Priscilla and Aquila. Heb 10:24 Let’s spur one another to love and good deeds. There is a little bit of pain involved. Let’s encourage each other towards godliness. Start talking about spiritual things when you hang out. Ephesians 4:15 “instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is Christ.” Bridge illustration - first build the bridge and then spur one another. 

2. Action point - who will you schedule a coffee, a tea, dinner with? Will you invest in them? Pray for them. And we need to also be humble to receive like apollos which only made him better. When is the last time you spurred someone onto godliness? 

3. Changing lives - Acts 8:4 - 8 ““Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.”

But how did Philip get started? He was chosen to serve at tables. In acts 8: 29, he was walking or running alongside the chariot. He hears the guy reading scripture and started talking to him. “So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb, before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭30‬-‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here is a person who was not yet in Christ. But Philip reached out and God used him to bring the Ethiopian eunuch into the kingdom. So pray and ask God to show you people who should be invited. 

John 4- Jesus himself was in Samaria and had a conversation with a woman who came to draw water. Jesus is asking her for help. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. That simple statement of Jesus opened something up and the gospel went to the entire village. Her testimony made a way for many to believe. 

God has placed you here because he has a purpose for you. Part of that is to share the gospel with people. We have a great responsibility. Make a list of people and start praying for them. Look for opportunities to initiate contact with them. 

Imagine if you make these 3 changes in your life in these 7 weeks, do you think you’ll grow? What’s stopping us? Our spirit is saying yes, but our flesh can say something else. Paul says he beats his body to obey the spirit. It is helpful if we have accountability with one another. You will grow stronger as you do this and the church of Jesus Christ will be built. Amen. 

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.  

Changing Lives

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on July 24th 2022  by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

CHANGING LIVES

Over the last few weeks, we looked into "Enjoying God" and "Making Friends". That's what is Christian life about. It is about one another. We need one another. We invest time, effort, and money into building relationships. Meeting in GYM groups is very important. Sometimes impromptu meetings are wonderful. The other day, Lasya, Andrew and I decided to go for ice cream. On our way we called up Deepa and then coincidentally met Brian and Michelle. All of us had a lovely time. We need to use opportunities to build relationships with one another. Meeting people during the week could be difficult as we are busy with work. But on Sundays, use lunchtime as an opportunity to build relationships. This is what is investing in God's Kingdom.

Today, we're going to look at "Changing Lives".
Our lives are changed. As we encounter the Word of God, people of God, our lives change. We can never be perfect in this life.

What is God's calling upon you to change lives in this world?

Matthew 4:17-23 - 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 

We all love messages about God's love. They are powerful and foundational to all that we do.  There are a lot of things that God does for us every day. Things like protection, provision, healing, health etc. God wants us to respond in a particular way.
From verse 19 - We are called not only to worship, but also hear the Word, serve etc. We are here to save souls.

Here's a question to all of you - Are you a fisher of men?

If we are following Jesus, he will change us, transform us so that our goal becomes to fish for men which means we proclaim Jesus, the good news. We tell people about His love and preach the Gospel. What is the Gospel? If you confess your sins with your mouth and accept Jesus as your one and only Saviour, you are saved.
Let us read a parable - Parable of the Life-Saving Station.

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost. 

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station so it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge for those saved from the sea.
So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they re-decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club.
Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work.
The mission of life-saving was still given lip service but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally.
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people.
They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin, some spoke a strange language, and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of the shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club.
But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the life of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. They evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded.
If you visit the seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, only now most of the people drown.

Does this remind you of anything? Yes, The Church. The purpose of the church is to save lost souls. We are so caught up with our jobs and another routine that we forget our purpose. Saving souls is the purpose given to us by God the Father.

Luke 19:10 - 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 

Jesus came to seek and save. 

Saving souls is our top priority. Paul was very concerned.

Rom 9:3 - 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race

Moses had the same heart too.

Exo 32:31-32 - 31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

John Knox prayed, "Lord, give me Scotland, ere I die."
George Whitefield prayed, "Lord, give me souls or take my soul."

We need to be clear. The issue here is life or death. Eternal life or eternal death. Our colleagues, friends, family and others don't get saved if they don't hear the Gospel. They will go to eternal hell. We got to see our end goal of ours.

We have a great opportunity on Friendship Sunday. Ask God to touch our hearts to invite people. Ask God to touch their hearts to come here.

Why do people not like evangelism? Fear of failure and many more reasons.

Matt 16:25 - 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 

There is a cost involved in evangelism.
Most of us are from middle-class backgrounds. Our desire is to have a good job, wife, kids, house, go abroad, get a green card etc. That's the dream. There's nothing wrong with that. End of it, what's the point in achieving all that but losing souls given to us? When it comes to us, are we willing to pay the cost?
As we stand for Jesus, Jesus says we'd be rewarded.

John 16:1-2 - “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.

John 15:18 - 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

Evangelism is a sacrifice but the rewards are great. When Jesus comes back, He will reward you.

Heb 12:2 - 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is going to be rejection and opposition like what Jesus faced and endured.

Pro 11:13 - The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.
Dan 12:3 - Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 

When you turn people to righteousness, one day you will shine.
In 1 Cor 15 there are different types of glory depending on what we've done.

Luke 15:7 - 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

This morning, we had a wonderful time of worship. Jesus said that when one person comes to faith there's more rejoicing than what we all do together. Evangelism pleases God.

Looking at the world, we may feel hopeless. Can we make a difference? If you are able to share the Gospel with one person and that person comes to faith and then you disciple that person. End of it you're just 2 people. If 2 of you share the Gospel then it's 4 and then the next year it's 8 people. I'm 38 years there would be 8 billion people saved. God doesn't want you to share the Gospel with 8 billion people but just one. Bring one person on Friendship Sunday. Pray and ask God for that one person. When Jesus called the disciples, there were just a few. But now, there are so many Christians across the globe.

2 Cor 5:20 - We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 

Sadly, the statistics show that 95% of Christians never led anybody to Jesus. God's Word for you is that he wants you to get yourself involved in evangelism. There needs to be some kind of training for that. But for now, on Friendship Sunday, we have an opportunity to invite one person. We sow somewhere and the fruit shall be reaped somewhere else.
Jesus says, "Come follow me. I will make you fishers of men." What we need to do is, pray, fast, follow, share, meet, invite etc. The greatest thing that you can do for an unbeliever is sharing the Gospel.
Jesus doesn't need PhD people. He takes ordinary people.

Acts 4:13 - 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Application:
1. Let us pray for the lost
Make a list and start praying that God would touch their hearts
2. Do something to interact with them
Invite them for coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner etc.,
3. Talk about what God is doing in your life
Let it be a natural talk. As you share, they start opening up. When they share their troubles, ask them if you could pray for them.
And then later, invite them to our Friendship Sunday followed by lunch.

This is what it is to follow Jesus. You are here because somebody shared the good news with you long back. Now you have a responsibility.

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.