What is the goal of your faith?| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on the November 29th, 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here  . To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

In 1 Timothy 1, Paul outlines the key objective of his teaching and preaching. In 1 Timothy 1:5 he says “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Paul had a goal. He was not aiming for a great reputation. He wanted life transformation.

Today many Christians become conference junkies going from one experience to the next. It is good to feed ourselves. Be discerning about what you feed yourself with. But in the end, it must result in a transformed life. Ezekiel 33:32- “Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.” It is like when you go to a concert. You love the experience but it doesn’t change your life. Jesus speaks of this about King Herod. He loved listening to John. But his heart did not change. In fact, he beheaded him.

Paul’s goal was to change lives and not move hearts. This needs to be our goal as well.

Paul had a method to reach this goal- through instruction. The Word of God is critical to have our lives transformed. Worship is important. Worship based on the word is very important. 

The Bible is important. Make sure you have some access to the Bible. Early Christians did not have a big black bible. But Paul spent all his time and energy in preaching. He says in Acts 20:31- “So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears”. In Acts 20:20 Paul says, “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house”.

In Acts 5: 28 the High Priest spoke to the Apostles, ““We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Teaching is important. Paul preached so much. Acts 20:9-11 accounts this incident when Paul was preaching all day and night, “Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.” 

The word is important. Don’t neglect your quiet time. The method Paul used was so that he could produce a community of people who had certain characteristics. What are these?

It’s love.

1.       Love for God- Paul wanted to show people that God loves them so much. Will you respond in love to him? He reminded people of God’s love.

2.       Love for one another- this is the mark of a Christian. Is that love being produced in our life? 1 Corinthians 13:1-3- “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” Love is important

Q. How do we get people to love God?

As we feed ourselves with the word- where he says he is not going to leave us, that we are loved abundantly and infinitely in our lives, we respond to his love.

Then, we love our brothers. Going a step further, we even love our enemies. Paul is trying to produce a community of people who receive the love of God and show that love to everyone.

Today we live in a throw away world. We throw away everything that doesn’t work. Sadly we are applying this to wives, friends, jobs, church everything. This is not love. Agape love is a choice to love. Jesus demonstrated this. His love is consistent. This means bearing with one another, forgiving one another. There is acceptance. Ephesians 4:3 says make every effort to maintain the unity of the spirit. It takes work!

Where there is sin, someone has to bear the pain of it. Irrespective of whether they let you down or not. Christmas is a wonderful time to express this.

Loving the ones who are enemies- of God and so to you- we love them by making every effort to bring them into the knowledge of God. The love of Christ compels us to share the gospel with others.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Are you living for your pleasures and comforts? Paul calls us to live for him. We are ministers of reconciliation between man and God. What a privilege it is to be ambassadors of Christ. The God of this world has blinded them but we are called to bring them out of this.

We are not tolerating but accepting one another. We are to deeply love one another.  So let us put this into practice. Ask yourselves and one another: What can you do to grow in your love for one another, for unbelievers and for God? Discuss these things- spur on one another. When people see us, they should marvel at our love because we are disciples of Jesus. 

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.

The Power Series - 2 The power of Pentecost | Colin D Cruz

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the April 12 th 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here

Easter is the greatest day in History- we see how Jesus died and gave up his life for our sake. Then on the third day, he rose from the grave. Now, put yourselves in the shoes/ sandals of the disciples. What would they have felt when they met Jesus rise from the dead. What was their life like? These were the same disciples who deserted Jesus. Jesus was arrested, falsely accused and finally sentenced to die on the cross.

Now the disciples are in hiding. Let’s look at 3 instances to tell us what the disciples were doing after they came to know that Jesus is alive.

1.      John 20:19- 20 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord”. We see that they were fearful. They are scared that their master of 3 years is now dead and it is their turn. Through the locked doors, Jesus appears in his resurrected body to them. When they see Jesus they are overjoyed. We can be a group of Christians like that- secret Christians. We know Jesus is risen but we are fearful in front of others to proclaim the Gospel or be open about our Christianity.  

2.      John 20:24 represents another group of Christians like Thomas. He says that “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” He felt, seeing is believing. Many people need proofs. But what does Jesus think about it? Next week the doors were still locked. They were still fearful. Then he asks Thomas to check and asks him to stop doubting and believe. This morning, we have not seen the risen Jesus, but we have his word, his activities in people’s lives, and we can believe. Here again we see surprisingly, that the disciples were fearful.

3.      In John 21 Jesus has appeared to them twice already. Said many things about the resurrection. Then in verse 3 we see Peter saying, ““I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” In the beginning when Jesus called them, they left their nets because he said that he will make them fishers of men. But now they have gone back to fishing. Their faith was not strong enough. They do not catch any fish. Jesus calls them from the shore and asks them to throw their nets to the right side of the boat and there they suddenly  found a large number of fish. This must have been déjà vu for the disciples. Then they recognized him. You can have some Christians who have heard the good news but are caught up with their own life- their own work, etc.

If we fast forward to Acts 4-these same group of Christians who were fearful behind locked doors, suddenly, their lives are transformed. They start preaching and healing outside Solomon’s temple. Acts 4:8- “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!”. By the power of the Holy Spirit he answers before the high priest, and all the people who put Jesus to death. The disciples began to be questioned- and Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit does this. They do this over and over again in public.

From being afraid and not knowing what to do with their lives, they now have purpose and boldness-

Even after they have been beaten, they don’t care. They just go ahead and preach. What caused this difference? The Holy Spirit! The resurrection was the beginning. There is more to the resurrection other than Jesus rising from the dead. Many Christians are at that stage. They have put their trust in Jesus and received forgiveness for their sins. But they are living like the disciples lived before Pentecost- living fearful, doubting, or busy lives and missing out on what God has called us to do.

Jesus was with the disciples for more than a month but it was only the third time that he met them that something went into them. Jesus gave them many convincing proofs that he has risen from the dead. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God. He told them that he is going to be seated at the right hand of God that we are the agents of the kingdom. He gave them other instructions too. He asked them to wait till they were clothed with the promised Holy Spirit.

In the bible, Jesus is called the Lamb of God only once. But 4 times, he is called the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. For the advancement of the kingdom, we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Martin Lloyd Jones, in his book ‘Joy unspeakable’ says that the Holy Spirit is in us, who has lead us to Jesus, who has caused us to be born again, be regenerated, it’s all the work of the spirit. But that’s only the first step. The next step is to be immersed in the Holy Spirit after which we are totally different. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is very important.

One of the things that the baptism of the Holy Spirit does is fills us with an assurance of God’s love for us. DL Moody preached a lot but was not baptized with the Holy Spirit. When he did receive the Holy Spirit, there was a renewed power in his ministry. In Luke 24:45- 49 Jesus appeared to the disciples and says to them “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

That’s the instruction. That’s Jesus telling you this morning that we are to be His witnesses. Do you know the difference between a witness and an advocate? There is much more credibility in what the witness says.

In fact, Acts 19, Paul meets a group of believers- the first thing that he asks them is if they had received the Holy Spirit. A qualifying mark of a true believer is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in their life. We want to be a people of the Holy Spirit. 

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.

Spurgeon Nuggets

If the Lord be among us, the consequences will be, first, the conservation of true doctrine. The true God is not with a lie: he will not give his countenance to falsehood.

God is with those who speak the truth faithfully, hold it devoutly, believe it firmly, and live upon it as their daily bread. May it always, be said of this church, the Lord is there," and therefore they are sound in the faith, reverent towards Holy Scripture, and zealous for the honour of Christ!

Truth must be written on the heart as well as in the book. If the Lord be among his people, they will cling to the eternal verities, and love the doctrine of the cross, not by force of law, but because divine truth is the life of their souls.

Where God is present, the preservation of purity will be found. If the Lord is there, holiness will abound, and fruits of the Spirit will be seen on all sides; but if the Lord be once withdrawn, then flesh and blood will rule, and gender towards corruption, after its own manner; and the church will become a synagogue of formalists. Pray, my brethren, continually, that the Lord may dwell in our Zion, to maintain us in all holy obedience and purity of life.

Where God is, there is the constant renewal of vitality. No human power can keep a church from the frostbite which numbs and kills. Except the Lord be there, growth, life, warmth—are all impossible. Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, but cry day and night to him, O Lord, abide with us. Go forth with our armies. Make us to be the living children of the living God"!

When the Lord is there, next, there is continuing power. With God there is power in the ministry, power in prayer, power in all holy work.

Do you not all know persons who are not peculiarly gifted, and yet are eminently useful? You do not remark anything about them that is especially noticeable, and yet their whole career enlists attention by its power. Their words tell, for there is character behind them. 

A consistent life gives force to a plain testimony.

Furthermore, whenever it can be said of an assembly, "the Lord is there," unity will be created and fostered. Show me a church that quarrels, a church that is split up into cliques, a church that is divided with personal ambitions, contrary doctrines and opposing schemes, and I am sure that the Lord is not there. Where there are envyings, jealousies, suspicions, backbitings, and dislikes, I know that the Holy Dove, who hates confusion, has taken his flight. God is love, and he will only dwell where love reigns. He is the God of peace, and will not endure strife. The children of God should be knit together. It would indeed be a shameful sight should children of his family fall out, and chide, and fight Saints who dwell with God love each other "with a pure heart, fervently." Some professors act as if they hated each other: I may not say, "with a pure heart," but I will say, "fervently." Where God is present the church is edified in love, and grows up, like a building fitly framed together, to be a holy temple in the Lord. Oh, for more of this unity!

Where the Lord is there is sure to be happiness. What meetings we have when the Lord is h