Who am I? My Identity Part 1

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace please click here.Church on  April 27th 2025 by Navaz D. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

INTRODUCTION

What are some of the things that have shaped or formed your identity? Think back to your childhood, school days, neighbourhood, etc. For me I grew up in Bandra West, Mumbai, which was predominantly a Catholic, Goan, East Indian neighbourhood. What about you?

How many forms of ‘self’ have you gone through? X the sporty type, or the Nerd or the fighter or the joker or the bully, etc., etc.

These are all false selves we put on to cope with our environment and give us a sense of worth. It comes from what is affirmed by our culture, environment, family, education, and significant others say about you.

So, we are multidimensional beings; besides that, have a body, soul, and spirit. Life is not black and white and does not move in one straight line. Many things shape us, colour our lenses, and create filters for how we perceive information. For example, there is a yellow board, but if you look through red lenses, you will see orange; if you look through blue lenses, you will see green.  (SHOW SLIDES)

However, there is an identity which, when we find, we can truly begin to thrive, flourish and come into all that God has ordained for us. Before you dive into how to find our identity in Christ, we must first see what is wrong with the ones we have formed that are not shaped by Christ. We can't fix what we don’t know is broken.

Ps 139:13-16

Eph 2:10

Rom 8 :14-16

As followers of Christ, other worldviews can still shape our Christian thought and beliefs without us even realising it. We don’t recognise them because they are cloaked in Christian language. For example: find your calling and pursue your destiny in God. I am a winner, I am the head, I am blessed. You don’t need anyone to tell you what you should do; God has put His Spirit in you! How would you evaluate these statements?

These statements are all true, but they are not the whole truth. We will examine them in detail and unpack them as we go along. When taken out of context, these can become selfish, individual pursuits. At the outset, I want to say that our identity, purpose, calling, and destiny are all part of  a grand design of God that is much bigger than just you.  So, we need to get out of tunnel vision called Me and come up higher so that you can see the grand picture with WE in mind. We will zoom out before we zoom in.  

Your design: who created you and how you were created determines your purpose and destiny.

LET US QUICKLY LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES IN THE BIBLE:

Adam and Eve were created with the identity of image bearers to rule, dominate, and subdue the earth. At its heart was a grand design to crush and defeat the fallen angel Lucifer. 

Abraham 

Jacob to Israel 

David 

Simon to Peter 

Saul to Paul

So, I want to start by laying a foundation of true biblical identity—its purpose and destiny.

God’s ways have always been contrary to the world. We cannot wipe down and makeover the world's belief systems and call it Christian. 

Jesus says that if you want to find yourself, you must first lose yourself." he who wants to find his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" is 

THE CHRIST FOLLOWER

So let us begin to understand who we are in Christ, what it is, and what it is not.

Col 3:3-5 (READ) V8 – put off, v12 – put on. What are some of the false selves we need to put off and put on our new self in Christ? Even though it is known to you to ask the Holy Spirit to highlight some things, because we are all a work in progress. Amen! 

 As New Creations, we have a new DNA (Divine Nature Activated). We are called to put off our old self and put on our new self. There is something we need to do. His Spirit in us changes our propensity – once we could not help but sin, but now, when we sin, we feel horrible because it is not in our nature to do so. The inclinations of the heart have changed.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF OUR FAITH IN JESUS?

Salvation 1 Peter 1:9

Reconciliation with God  2 Cor 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

Transformed new life 2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Freedom from Sin Rom 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."

Participation in God’s Kingdom 1 Pet 2:9-10

IDENTITY and SELF & WORTH

All this is great news. But why do I still struggle with self-worth, competition, jealousy, comparison, perfectionism, addictions, etc., etc.

 Self is who you are at the core, what you live for, and what matters most to you. That will always come through in whatever you do.

Worth comes from who validates you and whose validation matters the most! Who affirms what you live for, your ideals, is good or bad.

We all need validation from outside. If you don’t believe it, look at advertising. It appeals to your need for validation.

A note on self-validation

Self-validate: You must be 100% consistent, correct, and constant. Do you know any humans like this? Do you know anyone who fits this description? Yes, only God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Only He is perfect in all that He says and does, and only He is 100% reliable. 

Consciously or not, we all have a plumb line outside of ourselves. For a Christ follower, it is Jesus Christ in you. That is why we must learn to walk or live being led by the Holy Spirit and remaining close to Jesus.

Our identity formation is not about self-actualisation but about conforming into His Son's likeness.

So, when God says something about you, who you are meant to be, etc., it is the highest form of validation you can ever receive. This validation is in sync with your design and your purpose or destiny. It cannot be worked out in isolation but in the community and for the community, and it is a part of a much bigger and grander design than yourself. God called a person, but his destiny was fulfilled in community and never in isolation or independence.

The Christian worldview is this: 

There is a creator. There is His creation. It has a design, and the design determines the purpose. God is our creator. We are His creation, designed or fashioned in His image, and we aim to show His glory through how we live.

The Cross changed our identity and destiny in an instant. It also changed our position as children of God. 

You may say all this is very good, but right here and now, I am struggling with many issues. Today I want to talk about Identity that comes from Intimacy with the Father. So now we are zooming in on you as an individual.

 Jesus came to give us life in all its abundance. The devil wants to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to reveal the Father, and His main mission was to reunite us with Him.

There has been a steady shift in our culture worldwide in the past few decades. Never have we seen the issue of fatherlessness in our life experiences as we see it today. Fathers are absent because they have fathered children but not out of covenant. Fathers are lacking because of addictions. Fathers are absent because of their jobs, where they work long hours and sometimes 7 days a week. We are Fathers who are emotionally and mentally absent from the home. This has given rise to a whole generation of young people who do not have a healthy relationship with their fathers.

Nobody has had perfect parents or fathers. Say I have not had perfect parents, say I am not a perfect parent, say I will never be a perfect parent. But we aim to become healthier ones. We have only a good and perfect Father, and that is Father God. Today, we all carry a father wound that was knowingly or unknowingly inflicted upon us by our earthly fathers.

Today, I want us to look into the face of the Father and tell me what you see there. Growing up, several things could have tainted our view of the father.

FATHER	EFFECT
Distant and uninvolved	become independent and self-reliant.
Angry man	relate to him in fear, guilt and shame, and had to manage his anger.
Negligent in providing,	insecure and with a poverty mindset that there will never be enough
Cold and distant	grew up not knowing how to bond
Never affirmed you	You struggle to know who you are and what you are capable of.
Always critical	You grew up with poor self-esteem and learned to defend, justify and cover up your mistakes
Physically or sexually abusive	You grew up with fear, shame and a deep distrust for authority because the one who should have protected you violated you.
Showed approval only when you did things right	learn that acceptance is based on performance and would work hard to please and earn his love.

Any combination of these sets off a whole pattern of thinking and behaviours that can start very early in life. As adults, we sometimes don’t know why we are fractured in certain areas or cannot respond healthily in relationships or to authority. The father is not necessarily a good word for you.

Today, God wants to heal that wounded heart and reveal his father's heart to you—that is for you, who loves you with an everlasting love and gives you more than you can ask or imagine. His love is unconditional.

The Bible tells us that when we are born again, we become children of God. We are adopted into his family.  But we carry some of the ways and effects of the old kingdom into the new kingdom, and those ways must be replaced. We are children of God, but deep down, we struggle to comprehend that God loves us.  We need to be healed from those effects. The orphan heart is one of them. It is not cast out; it gets replaced by truth, truth that transforms the way we think, which affects how we behave.

Satan fears our relationship with the Father and uses orphan thinking to create distrust and distance. He makes us believe God is holding out on us and not giving us the best. Part of orphan thinking is when we feel God is not looking after our best interests, we feel jealous, envious, and bitter toward others. We must recognise, repent, and replace those thought patterns with Christ-like ones. This is a daily, ongoing process of renewing the mind.

We must choose to embrace sonship, i.e., what we have optionally, and now we need to walk out experientially. Through the cross, we are reconciled to the Father. We can be Christians but still function like orphans. More about this next week.

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. 

The Greatest Exchange in History

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on  April 6th 2025 by Navaz. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

INTRODUCTION

We are in the season of Lent, and it is good for us to reflect on the Cross and some of the things Jesus did for us.

As we know from Genesis chapter 3 to Calvary, God has been patiently pursuing lost humanity. Rebellion, waywardness, self-centeredness, pride, and self-rule are so deeply ingrained in our hearts that humans often run away from God, disobey Him, fall into trouble, and then cry out to Him as though He has neglected to look after them. God would rescue him with His mighty arm, and you would think that they would have learnt their lesson, but no. A few years later, the same downward spiral of rebellion and self will start, and the whole nation of Israel will be in a mess again.

But God. Thank God for the But God!! God had a plan set in eternity where the Lamb of God was slain before the foundations of the Earth were laid. Rev 13:8

Jesus, in the fullness of time, came to reconcile us to the Father (2 Cor. 5:18). He came to redeem humanity, which was enslaved to sin and Satan’s rule (1 Cor. 1:30). He came to restore us to our divine calling, which was given in the Garden of Eden – to rule, have stewardship of the earth, and increase and multiply so that, as God’s image bearers, God’s glory would fill the whole world. This is what we have been saved for!

But for all this to happen, another perfect human, a perfect second Adam, needed to come and show us how to be truly human the way God intended all along. Only He could pay the price, live a perfect life, redeem by one selfless act and surrender life that Adam had gambled away.

THE EXCHANGE

OUR PLIGHT		WHAT JESUS DID FOR US
·      Two Trees Where Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that led to death	Jesus hung on a cruel cross to give us life. 1Pet 2:24
·      Rejection We rejected God in our wayward rebellion and became orphaned beings.	Jesus took upon Himself our rejection so that we could be accepted. Matthew 27:46, Jesus cries out, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?", which translates to "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Is53, Eph1:5-6.
·      Sonship We were sons and children of God who became children of the devil.	Jesus, the Son of the Father, had to become a son of man so that we could become sons of God. Gal 3:26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith."
·      Unrighteousness	Jesus took upon Himself all our filth, our unrighteous acts, so that we could be clothed in His garments of righteousness. Zech 3:4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
·      Sin ·	He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5:21. God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Shame We were filled with shame because of what we had done.	Jesus took our shame and gave us glory. Heb12:2 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
·      Guilt We were guilty as charged and needed to pay the penalty for our sins, which is death	. Jesus took our guilt and washed us clean. Is 53:6 and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. What is the difference between shame and guilt? Shame is an emotion you feel around something you may have done or about how someone makes you feel about what you have done. Guilt is focused on action or behaviour.
·      Punishment We deserve punishment because we are guilty.	But our punishment was laid upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed from everything. Is 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."
·      Curse Adam and Eve were cursed for their transgression, and that curse was passed on to all humanity	Jesus took our punishment, guilt, shame and curse on the Cross. Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'
·      Wrath A Holy God cannot stand sin. He was angry with sin	Jesus allowed the Father’s wrath to come upon Himself so that through the Cross, we might have peace with God. Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Bondage ·	Jesus took all our bondages, oppression and pain on himself so that we could enjoy freedom. John 8:36, Gal 2:13-15, Gal 5:1 5 Stand[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage
·      Mourning and heaviness ·	Jesus took our despair, mourning, and heaviness and gave us joy, hope, and beauty. Ps 30:11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off [a]my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,”. Is 61:3
·      Eternal Death and Damnation We deserve to die and be eternally separated from God	But Jesus paid the price so that we might have Eternal life. He died in my place so that I might live. He took our damnation and gave us destiny! Rom 6:23, John 10:10, John 3:16

THE PASSOVER LAMB

·      God’s timing is perfect. Jesus dies at the time the Passover is being celebrated. Did you know that lambs slaughtered for the Passover were reared in Bethlehem?  One perfect Lamb was also born in Bethlehem.

·      Where lambs were sacrificed every year, the Lamb of God was sacrificed once and for all, an atoning sacrifice for all of mankind’s sins for all time!!  (John1:29). This Lamb, just like the other Passover lambs, was without spot or blemish, and not a bone was broken or out of place.

·      Passover was about the liberation of enslaved people. The blood of a lamb was put on the wooden doorposts to save them (Ex 12:3). Now this Lamb shed His blood on a wooden cross to save us from death.

·      The firstborns of the oppressors were struck dead, while the firstborns of those under the blood were spared. God’s firstborn was struck in our place, and His shed blood protects us who believe.

·      Right from Eden, blood was sacrificed as a covering. Throughout the OT, we see blood spilled in sacrifice for repentance and atonement.

·      When Jesus died, blood and water flowed from His side (Jn 19:37, Zech 13:1) - blood for atonement, for the forgiveness of guilt.

Water – purification to wash stains.

This is symbolically displayed in the two ordinances or sacraments we are asked to follow, namely the Breaking of Bread and Water Baptism.

·      Sacrifices were made in the temple. Jesus talks about Himself as the temple when He says in three days, he will tear it down and raise it up. John 2:19 -21 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The temple was associated with sacrifice (Jn 2:21). Blood and water flowed in the physical temple. There is blood sacrifice and ceremonial washing. Blood and water flow from Jesus's side into the world out of the temple.

Jn 7 -Rivers of living water will flow out from you

In Ezekiel 47, you see the water flowing out from the temple into the world, giving life wherever it flowed.

·      While the Jews were looking for liberation from Roman rule, Jesus liberated us from Satan’s rule. The former had bearing only in a particular time and space. The latter has implications for eternity.

CONCLUSION 

·      The Son of God became the son of Man so that we, the sons of Man, could become sons of God.

·      The eternal living one dies so that those condemned to eternal death might have life forevermore. 

This is the greatest exchange of all history. Let us stand and worship and take part in one ordinance instituted for us, which is the Breaking of Bread.

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. 

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church Camp on February 17th 2024  by Nigel Pereira. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

ENLARGE – PART 1

It was 1982 when I was at a house group. I wasn’t saved but was just being exposed to the Gospel. I was very intrigued by who Jesus was and the people of God. God was doing something inside me, and I enjoyed the house groups. So, I kept attending it. I was seeking God but I was very comfortable till one day a leader took me out and asked me what I thought about Jesus. He asked me if I wanted to give my life to Jesus. Outside I said “Yes”, but inside, I said, “I’m not coming back here again.” I ran away for 6 months. I bought a Bible and started digging into it during those 6 months. As I read, the Word started speaking to me. It felt as if Jesus was leaping out of the pages and talking to me. I would weep everyday as I read through the Bible. After 6 months, I knew I had to return to the church. As I came back for the Sunday meeting. I saw the leader who met me and asked what happened to me. Later I realized that all of them were praying for me during those 6 months. God works through prayers. On 6^th June 1983, I gave my life to Christ. Since then I’ve been with the same church in New Frontiers. I knew if I ever walked away from you, the problem is me not someone else. So I want to say when Jesus comes through, we are captivated by him and nothing can stop us from walking with Him.

As we sang this song which says, “He’s calling sons and daughters back to Him”, I was stirred and I believe, Jesus is going to restore His church in an amazing way. I’m looking at 2024 as a year where in the church of Jesus is going to be stirred by who we are and what we can do, who He sees us as.

During these 2 days, let us get a glimpse of who He is and who we are. As Hazel brought that word on guilt, let us get rid off the shame and guilt. We are free. Jesus loves us. He understands our failures, temptations and when we fall. Even when Peter denied Jesus, He didn’t come back and say that Peter would not be an apostle anymore. Instead, He said, “Go tell Peter and my brothers…” That’s how He sees the church.

Psalm 84:10 - Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

One moment with God is enough for us. In these 2 days, come to God.

Isaiah 54:1-5 - “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.
² “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back; lengthen your cords,  strengthen your stakes.
³ For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
    your descendants will dispossess nations
    and settle in their desolate cities.

⁴ “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
    Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
     You will forget the shame of your youth
    and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband—
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
  the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    he is called the God of all the earth.

I want us to capture this spirit of Isaiah speaking to Israel in captivity for 70 years. Verse 7 says, God abandoned for a brief moment. That’s what they felt.

1.        Sing, barren woman

Isaiah says, “Sing, O barren woman”. He also says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.”

King Solomon time was glorious as people across the world would come down to that kingdom. But now, Israelites were uprooted from the God given land and put on a foreign land as captives. What would be their mindset? – defeated, enslaved, dominated, hopelessness and questions about God’s promises. Into this, the prophet is saying, “Sing”. It sounds strange as what’s there to sing about? God wants us to have a sense and understanding of who we are and who he is. It looked like God was punishing them in Babylon. He tells them to sing as their maker is their husband. Even though he was punishing them, He loves them. He cannot separate himself from them. He says “more are your children” – churches across the globe. Pune church must understand that they are a part of God’s church.

Isaiah 54:6 - The Lord will call you back

God can never let go of us. He’s bringing back everyone. We must sing at all times. Even when we don’t understand things or when things don’t go according to the plan, we must sing.

He wants us to see that something is written over us. As His people. We have a purpose. A barren woman is someone who can’t have fruitfulness. God says, “More are the children of a desolate woman that the one who’s fruitful”. He also says, “Spread out to right and left”

We must sing because there’s fruitfulness written over us. We are a fruitful people. Our DNA is fruitfulness. He says, “You will forget the shame of your youth”. What was their youth? 400 years of slavery was their youth. When they were formed, they were in slavery. God says they would forget that shame and widowhood. Shame is the slavery they were in and widowhood is the captivity in Babylon.

Can we forget what we had gone through personally and as a church? This is the truth. We are going to smile and laugh because we’re going to be fruitful.

Are you in a hardship? Start singing. Do you have a problem with your children? Start singing. Because it is not going to be there permanently.

As a church you may go through a time of desolation. But something is coming. His fruitfulness. Because the church will always recover lost ground and gain even more.

God has got a church, not just leaders. Let us catch this sense of churches being caught in this understanding of fruitfulness. In Regions Beyond, there was a prophetic word about low hanging fruit. If we can prophetically for each one of us, our prayer life will change. There’s no struggle. We will receive the fruit without struggling for it.

2.     Enlarge the place of your tent:

Let us look at the background. Israel was in captivity and God wants them to enlarge. As a church, we may in a place where nothing seems to behappened. But we must enlarge – start dreaming, start thinking, start praying, get something into your spirit.

God’s plan for us is to be fruitful. Every church should be thinking about this. We come to church not just to survive and to have friends who would comfort us. God wants to change you, transform you and use you to transform your city, village and a nation.

Praise God, it is not because of what we are. It is because of what He is. We all know what we are when we are all alone. We know what we do in the quiet place. And because of that we know that God shouldn’t be using us. But that’s okay. God wants to use you anyway.

Matthew 28:19-20 -  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He’s not asking us to stay and sort out things. No, he’s not saying stay and resolve issues with your wife or husband. He’s saying, “Go”. When we go, things get sorted out. That’s one of the principles I follow. Even if people have issues, I pick people and tell them to go. But I tell them to change in those particular areas.

Jesus’ command for the church is to be fruitfulness by going, not to one place but to all nations.

The command for fruitfulness is “Go”. The promise is that God will be with you.

How do we enlarge when there are bottlenecks and no resources? God’s promise is that He will be with you as we step out.

Go! God provides. God shows. That’s faith.

Matthew 16:18 - And I tell you that you are Peter,^[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[c] will not overcome it.

God says I’m with you and when you go, I will break open the gates of hell. I will give you new ground and you will possess it.

Jesus had already set an example. He didn’t stick to one place. He went to different places. He was sowing something and moving on. We got to be on the go. Wherever he went, he healed the sick and forgave sinners. He was touching one person at a time and that one person brings the whole village.

Acts 2:46-47 - Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The early church was not static. Their homes were centres for mission and everyday, people were saved and added to the church.

Acts 12:24 - But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

The early church caught something – Enlarge.

Look at 2024 afresh and ask God, “How can I enlarge personally, as a family and as a church?”

God is going to use some of you as leaders and others as faithful men and women as the strong core of the church who would stay with the church – a core of 30 to 40 people who would stay but not go to other places for better opportunities.

Vision cant be just about numbers but quality is necessary too. It is about values.

3.     Stretch your tent curtains wide

When you see a tent being stretched, you see that every part of that tent is being stretched wide. When Israel was captured, the tent was a stone construction. Tent was only in the wilderness. Tents are stretchable. Solomon’s temple was fixed. Isaiah was referring to the tent because it meant growth and expand. Stretch is not just for the leaders but for every part of the church – every person who is a part of the church.

Acts 2:42-47 - ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

It's not just about what they did, it’s about their hearts from where they could do all these things. We find this in verse 42 – devoted themselves.

If were going to enlarge, there’s a quality that we need. That is “Devotion”. The stretchingSe job, family, etc. It is not about getting saved and going to heaven. The stretching has to be with a zeal. The early church was full of zeal and passion which was committed. The commitment was to apostles teaching, breaking bread, eating together, sharing etc. The early church had people who are devoted. We need people who are here to be together. Jesus called His disciples to be with Him and then He sent them out.

As a leader I’m not looking for people with talents. I’m looing for people whose hearts are here with the church and with me.

If you love Jesus, you will be like His disciples who stuck with Him. When we are stuck with the church, there is a devotion.

The early church met in homes which means everyone’s church was open. Everyone was serving. They waited on tables. They were ready to fully serve.

It is not just about being a part of good church, having a good worship and what the church offers you. God is looking for your devotion.

Let us look at Jonathan and his armour bearer. Everyone was discouraged. Even King Saul was discouraged and sitting under the pomegranate tree. Others were hiding in the caves. There were only 2 weapons, one was with Saul and the other was with Jonathan. Philistines were all over the place. At that time, unless God said, “Go” nobody would go. Jonathan says, “Perhaps, God is with me”. He’s got that fruit hanging over him. He got that. The armour bearer, at the risk of his life says, “Im heart and soul with you. Do what’s in your heart.”

Now, we understand the word, devotion.

We saying, “God, I’m for you.”, is church membership.

How many of you want to see a big vision for Pune? God is saying, “Can I get your devotion?”

Get into who you really are. You are going to see things which you’ve never seen before.

God wants phenomenal and radical people whom he’s pulling out of culture and catching us up into city mission, global mission, worldwide mission.

When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, it was not about the Israelites. It was about everyone, the new Israel.

The apostles were given the task to unlock the church, showing who you really are. You are no longer slaves. We are no longer slaves. We are heirs of God, co-heirs of Christ. We have inherited promise of fruitfulness.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

We always take it personally for our own self. But no, it is for the church, a whole new church. The apostles teaching has captivated the people into this glorious vision.

Very often the world looks at church as soft and timid. We are not a timid people. We are the tough and robust people of God. The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it.

Can we be a people of God who are devoted?

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.