Peace, Purpose And Power Through The Cross

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on April 4th 2021 by Colin D via zoom. For the audio please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

John 19:

On Friday, we looked at the sufferings of Jesus. When we watch a movie, if the good guy gets beaten up, I get angry. On Good Friday, the most innocent person was beaten, spat upon, whipped. He suffered an excruciating death.

Jesus suffered physical agony, emotional trauma and spiritual separation from the Father

Was Jesus a victim? No, he was the Victor!

John 10:8 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.

When we look at the crucifixion, all the players were part of the Cross's plan. He said, "It is finished!" Not I am finished. He was in control of His life. He gave up his spirit. Jesus needed to suffer for you and me. Why? For the joy set before him.

 John 19:38-

Jesus is taken down from the Cross in a hurry and placed in the tomb. There was no time to embalm him.

Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb.

What is resurrection – Jesus was raised to life again in a new body, never to die again. Jesus raised many to life, but it was not a resurrection. They all died at some point.

The greatest enemy of man, death, was conquered that day.

Look at the devotion of Mary Magdalene.  While it was still dark, just at sunrise, she went to the tomb because she wanted to embalm her body. Her devotion was rewarded. She saw two angels in the tomb who gives her the good news, and as she comes out, she meets Jesus Himself, and He talks to her.

 

Matt 28:2

The stone over the tomb was huge. The angle was sitting on it. Imagine how big the angle was. The guards fell as though dead.

Do you know who was expecting a resurrection? The Chief priests and Elders

Matt 27:62 - They secured the tomb.

1Cor 15 – the resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith. So believing in this is very important.

 

3 THINGS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION

John 20: Go to the other disciples and tell Peter. Imagine Jesus singles him out. What amazing grace, forgiveness and love?

V19-  the disciples were in, the doors were locked, and they were fearful of the Jews

Jesus comes through the walls, and he shows his side and hands. And Jesus says peace be with you.

Peace is peace between God and us. We were enemies of God before we know Jesus. Rom 8:7,- the mind that does not know God is hostile to God

Rom5:10 – if when we were God's enemies.

The Cross reconciled us to His son

Col 1:21, we were enemies in your mind because of your evil behaviour.

Now we are reconciled, and we are a part of His family, and we are his friends, and He calls us His sons

Now we can have peace bet us and others in Christ. Gal 3:28 – we are all one in Christ. God has broken the dividing wall of hostility.

We need to preserve that peace and love. No matter where we meet Christian s we become family because we have one Father.

 PEACE

There is peace with ourselves as well. Jesus gives us peace that the world cannot give. Heb9:14 – How much more ….cleanse our conscience. The power of the Cross is that God can cleanse us of any sins. We can rely on the work of the Cross, and the penalty of sin is taken away, Not to sin but to serve the living God.

This peace is received by receiving God. John 1

Rom 5:1

 PURPOSE

John 20:21

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. We are saved for a purpose. Between our conversion and heaven, there is a purpose fr our living. We are being sent just like Jesus was sent. – to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

Our purpose is to serve the body and to share the good news. In our busyness, we need to make time for our primary purpose. Let us not lose sight of this.

 POWER

Jesus gave us peace, purpose and power. He gave them the Holy Spirit. John20:22

Acts 1:4 wait for the gift my Father promised. V8 You will receive power when the Hole Spier come s on you to be my witnesses to the end s of the earth.

IF you forgive, they will be forgiven; if you don't forgive, they will not be forgiven. I.e. when we preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is Jesus speaking through us, and if anyone does not receive our words, they miss out on the forgiveness that He has to offer and vice versa.

Jesus suffered died on the Cross not as a victim but as a Victor. He rose again from the dead, and what happened to him will happen to us. This is what Easter is about.

  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. 

 

 

Don't Stop At The Cross

This message was shared by Debbie Vartak during the time we shared Communion together. This is part two of a two-part series. This was shared on Easter Sunday.

You have made me new…NOW life begins in You.

The Lion of Judah is roaring over us this morning. He has the victory !!!!!

Let us celebrate the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus as we come to the table

Luke 22: 19 – 20 Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Even as He knows that He is to be the Passover Lamb and with this, our sin and past would be forgiven and forgotten, our sickness – healed, our names – written in the Lamb’s book of Life.

Death would Passover and hold no sting, the Grave would have no victory.

The question is are we still at the cross?

The Israelites were in their home eating the Passover lamb, (a shadow of the very same sacrifice that Jesus would be for mankind) the shed blood was on the doorpost when the angel of death passed over them, but they could not stay there. 

Their deliverance entailed that they leave their homes and go with Moses through the Red Sea into the promise of God, into freedom and liberation and to the promised land -a land filled with milk and honey.

We need to move from the cross into the newness of life.   Three days had passed since the resurrection. Jesus joined the 2 men going to Emmaus in Luke 24. They had left Jerusalem and Golgotha physically, but mentally and emotionally and spiritually they were at the cross. “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know what happened?” They were speaking to the resurrected Jesus who was present with them. Jesus said in Luke 24:25, “Oh, Foolish ones, was it NOT NECESSARY that Jesus suffers all these things AND ENTER INTO HIS GLORY?”

Today if we must enter the glory of the resurrection life, we must after experiencing the cross, leave the cross and go on to the next step, the next place, the next encounter with Jesus.

Vs 30 “When He was at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

Vs 35 they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Their eyes were opened, their eyes were unveiled.   

As we come to the table, ask the Lord to open your eyes. Even as you experience salvation, You are now the righteousness of God, so bring your dreams, your desires, your aspirations, the prophetic words that were spoken over you, bring your lack, your fears and take a step from the cross and enter into his glory with him as sons and heirs of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

When they broke bread, their hearts burned within them. They forgot their sorrow because Hope had risen, and they immediately responded and returned to Jerusalem.

“The Lord is risen” they said 

Let us drink the cup as part of the new covenant having experienced the forgiveness of sins and as we move from the cross into the glorious resurrection of Jesus, let the resurrection power and life of Jesus, seen in us, be the very reason people believe in 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 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 Table Of The Covenant of Peace

This message was shared by Debbie Vartak during the time we shared Communion together. This is part one of a two-part series.

Luke 22: 19 – 20

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

As we come to, This Table of Covenant, the Lord is saying “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Through the elements of the table and His sacrifice, we remember that WE ARE NO ORDINARY PEOPLE. Remember my table represents the Covenant of Peace I made with my people….. I WILL BE THEIR GOD AND THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE.

Eze 27:26 – 27.

I will make a COVENANT OF PEACE with them. And what is this Covenant :

-        It will be an everlasting covenant. (for always, even for today….).

-        I will establish them (we his people).

-        I will MULTIPLY THEM and INCREASE THEIR NUMBERS  (This is the most opportune time)

-        I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 

-        I will put my dwelling place among them forever…i.e. I will be WITH THEM (not disappear as some leaders in this world during this difficult time).

-        I will be their God (to worship, to deliver, to protect, to provide…. Anything HE CAN DO IT ALL).

-        And they will be MY PEOPLE (He owns us… we carry HIS NAME as the blood on the doorpost so the angel of death will pass us by).

At the cross this was fulfilled. Jesus became our God and we His people. He took away the fear that seizes our hearts in these distressful times, he took the stress, anxiousness, and unrest and worry of today and tomorrow…

I will be your God. When he said “I” he did not designate a third party to be the source of our provision, protection and salvation, but HE promised us HIMSELF.

-        I won’t allow you to experience the threatening, fearful plague we see surrounding us.

-        I , He says, am amongst you…..and will be that wall of protection, the antidote to this disease, the provision for anything you require.

Through the blood he made a covenant, a promise, a promise of peace that bridged the gap between a holy God and a sinful people.

-        I will set up my sanctuary in the midst of you. He lives in our hearts.

-        I will be your God and you my people.

This is my body…. Jesus then took another cup …. The cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement, confirmed with his blood, poured out as a sacrifice for us for the forgiveness of sins… a Passover from the old to the new.

Thus through this COVENANT OF PEACE…. He brought us Peace that IS THE ANSWER AND COVERS EVERY SITUATION in our lives… I WILL BE THEIR GOD and THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE.

Take up you cross | Augustine K

This message was preached  by Augustine Kudalkar at Word of Grace Church on July 22nd, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Luke 9: 23-27

In Luke 8 Jesus calmed the storm, set free the demon- possessed man and raised a little girl from the dead. Then he calls his disciples together, and gave then power and authority over demons and sickness. Huge crowds were following Jesus and he welcomed them. When the crowds were hungry, he moved with compassion and fed them with 5 loaves and 2 fish. After than He asked his disciples, what do the crowds say I am? Then he asks who do you say I am? Peter got a revelation and said he is Christ, the son of the Living God. Then Jesus reveals the father’s plan for his death and resurrection.

Luke 9:21 “Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.””

In Luke 14: 25-26- the crowds were following Jesus but he was not impressed with the crowds. ““If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple”

There is a cost to following Jesus. In Luke 9:23 he says “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” this means submitting to God’s will and His authority.

Q. How can you do that?

·        Spending time in His presence

·        Meeting with His people

·        Serving the Body of Christ

·        Serving the poor

We can do many things to follow Jesus. But we must take this on daily. To take our cross daily doesn’t mean to wear a cross around our neck every day. In those times, when someone was carrying a cross, it meant it was a death sentence for them. When you see people carrying a dead body, it means they are taking it to burial. That’s what carrying a cross means. It means suffering or perhaps dying for

Q. What does it look like to follow Jesus?

1.      Jesus fasted and prayed. We could do that by joining the weekly fast and pray for our country and the world.

2.      Jesus ate with Sinners- we are called to relate with the people around us- not to be isolated. So we follow Jesus when we do as he did.

3.      Jesus healed the sick- So we are called to lay hands and heal the sick.

In verse 24 Jesus says “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”  Jim Eliot was a missionary to Ecuador. He went deep into the jungle and reaching out to a tribe there. He was killed with a spear. As a result of his death, thousands of men and women signed up to go to the mission field.

John 12: 24-26 “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

In Luke 9:25 “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”

2 Timothy 1:8-9 “So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time”

In our company, when someone does a good job, they are appreciated and acknowledged before everyone. When we acknowledge Jesus before our friends, Jesus will acknowledge us before the Father. Jesus paid the price for us on the cross and it cost him everything.

So what can we learn from this passage?

Are you a part of the crowd or are you a disciple? Even Peter messed up, but he sought forgiveness and Jesus forgave him. On friendship Sunday we have an opportunity to acknowledge Jesus before our friends. Jesus wants us to take His love to this dying world.

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 Great Exchange| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on February 26th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Q. How many of you have exchanged something?

You give your old phone and get a new phone. Earlier, people would knock doors ask for old clothes in exchange of vessels. That is not a great exchange. Today we will look at a great exchange.

We are not unfamiliar with this but it is important to remind ourselves of it and value it. Secondly, as life gets more and more busy, we sin. We do things that are wrong and don’t do things we should. This great exchange gives rest to our souls. God is for us even when we fall short of His standards.

2 Corinthians 5:21- “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This verse is said to be the essence of the Bible. We will look at 4 things from this verse. We are sinners by nature and by action, right from birth. The evidence for sin is tremendous. The result of sin is a life without God and hell. But in this verse, there is good news. This is the solution to the sin problem.

1.      Begins with God- There are no men saying where is God. The solution started with God. Romans 3:11-12 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one”. This is God’s judgment about man. John 18:11- “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” Who planned that Jesus will die on the cross? It is the father’s plan for our sake. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2.       Jesus was the only one who had no sin- Romans 3:23 says all have sinned. But Jesus was blameless. John 8:46- Jesus could not be blamed. In him there is no sin. No man could pay for another man’s sin. We can’t help one another. So God sent Jesus to come to earth and he lived a sinless life. Heb 7:36- “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” Heb 4:15- Jesus was sinless from the beginning to the end.

3.      God made him to be sin for us- this is the great exchange. It does not mean that Jesus sinned. Isaiah 53:6- “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” All our collective punishment was put upon him.

In the Second World War, in a Nazi Prison, there were a group of prisoners who were to shovel and come back at the end of the day to the prison. Everyday the prisoners and the spades are counted and one day a spade was missing. The police threatened to kill one person if they don’t own up to it. Someone steps forward and owns up to it. He is killed immediately instead of the other guy he was going to kill. Later that day they find that all the spades were there and that it was a miscalculation. This man gave his life in place of another. This is exactly what Jesus has done for us.

It was horrifying that he was separated from God the Father.

4.      In him, we might become his righteousness- The word is imputed. The benefits of his sinless life are credited to each one of us. You are as righteous in your position as Jesus is. We can come before a Holy God because of this righteousness.

We can respond in two ways. Take it for granted. Can I go on sinning then? If we ask this question, we haven’t understood the gospel. Our desire needs to be to please Jesus. We are a new creation. The second response is in 2 Cor 5: 15- “and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” We evangelise. We reconcile people to God. We want to share this news with everyone we meet. Jesus the sinless saviour died in my place.

Q. When was the last time you shared this message with someone?

In our nation and across the world, we are living in dark times. Things are not getting better. The only solution is taking this message of Jesus to the world out there. You are here for the purpose of telling people about this great exchange.

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.  

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Two Trees | Chris B

This message was preached  by Chris Burton at Word of Grace Church on February 19th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

I find instant replay tends to spoil the joy of watching sports except in two instances. These two instances are exactly opposite. First, when something truly amazing happens. Second is when something horrific happens. Today we will do an instant replay of the fall of humankind- and then see something amazing.

When we read it quickly, it doesn’t seem that horrific.

Genesis 3: 1-10

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.””

In this passage, we see the entrance of a new creature. Right from the beginning he is dangerous. Let’s look at this passage play by play. 

1.      Verse 1-3: Eve was already in Peril because she did not attend to God’s word. God said that she could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. But she says to the serpent that they could not even touch it. The psalmist says” I’ve hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you”. Knowing God’s word, attending to it carefully, keeps us from sin. When God’s word is twisted, it becomes easier to contradict itself.

2.      Verse 5-6 a half truth and a lie: The devil deals in half truths and lies. A half truth is that they will be like God. Yes, they will know good and evil but not like God. Because Eve would have entered into experiential knowledge of evil- which is not the way God knows good and evil.

3.      Verse 7-10 Shame embarrassment, covering and distance from God- When Adam and Eve eat of the fruit that God commanded them not to, sin enters humankind. The result is shame and embarrassment. They hid from God and made coverings out of leaves. And ultimately, God drove them away from his presence.

4.       The other part of this story: Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”God has already made man in his image- in his likeness. Adam and Eve took what they already had and abandoned it. They did not want likeness, they wanted equality with God.

5.      Insurrection of God’s word- It is a rebellion. It was more than just eating a fruit. They used it from their own damage. In Genesis 3:24 they were cast out of God’s presence. It came at an extremely high price.

In this chapter we also have something amazing! God reveals his plan of salvation. While Adam and eve tried to grasp equality with God, Jesus, who is the Son of God, comes to earth and enters a garden- and even though equal with God, did not grasp equality, but laid it down and said, “not my will but yours be done.” At that moment we see how different he is from Adam. In Philippians 2:5-7 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

In Gethsamane Jesus is tempted not to consume something. He says, take this cup from me. For Jesus, the cross was becoming like the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He didn’t want that separation from the Father. But he said, not my will but yours be done. The Cross becomes the tree of life to us and the curtain is torn to enter it.

Romans 8:29- “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” We are now recreated in the image of God. Jesus too enters a garden when he is tempted, but he does something different from Adam and that makes all the difference in the world.    

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.