Vision –The Nuts and Bolts Part 8 : Mission

Part 8 Add caption

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 2nd of June 2013. You can listen to the audio mp3 by clicking here.
This is the concluding message of an 8 part series. You can  read all the related blog posts by clicking on the label Vision 13/30

Isn’t is a wonderful thing to have your mortgage written off or paid by someone else? We have an eternal debt to pay but the good news is that it has been paid in full by someone: his name is Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins. We should be the happiest people on earth.

However now we have a responsibility to tell others that the debt has been paid.

Over the last few months we looks at 7 values we hold dear. In life we can’t stop the rain and the floods but we can make our home water and storm proof by building on the Rock and not on sand.

To sum up the 7 values”

Private Worship: this is about building a relationship with Jesus by spending time in the Word , prayer, meditation and worship. May I encourage you to spend time with God. If we don’t have a relationship with Jesus we have nothing.

Public Worship: When we come together we see God’s power being released in our midst. God can change us in an instant.

Hear Worship: the Bible says where your treasure is there will your heart also be. We need to be good stewards of all the resources God has given us.

Small Groups: This  is the pulse of the church. Here is where the church gets built up and where you grow. Make sure you are a part of some life group.

Obedience to God’s Word : knowing is not enough. We want to be doers of the Word. An ounce of obedience is worth far more than a ton of knowledge.

Love: We can have everything but is we are not loving we have nothing. We need to be filled with the love of God to love others.

Servanthood: the  Son of man did not come to be served but to serve. Jesus is our greatest model and everything we do is serving.

The  8^th value I want to talk about today is MISSION

1.      The Father sent his son. Think about what heaven must be like. It is a perfect place. He left the beauty of heaven to live on earth.

John20:21 Jesus tells the disciples that as the Father has sent me I am sending you. Jesus will bless but we also need to fulfill what He wants from us. We are the most entertained generation that ever was but there is still an emptiness inside. The reason is that they are missing out on knowing God and knowing their calling in life. Imagine if you made a cow try to be a watch dog, what will you get?”

Acts 1:8 The Holy Spirit is not there just to give us a feel good factor but He is there to make us effective in the world. Jerusalem is your own people. Judea is your neighbourhood and the ends of the earth – is everywhere else.

You may feel you don’t have the courage to witness but the Holy Spirit will give you the power. Aren’t you glad someone shared the gospel with you? In the same way be that some one to somebody else now.

We are not sales people trying to sell something in a clever way. No. We have the greatest news of all – out of love we go to our friends, neighbours and tell them the good news. The great commission is for all not just for the super pastor.

There is not greater joy than seeing someone come to faith apart from your own salvation.

The whole world is struggling with sin- we can’t save ourselves and we can’t live up to the requirements of the law either. Rom 3:22-23

Jesus said He who does not gather with me scatters!! That’s serious ! We can’t be neutral.

2Cor5:9, 10. Hell is real and horrible therefore we persuade people.

Verse14 Christ’s love compels us. If you have the love of Jesus in your heart no one needs to arm twist you – you will love to do it.

V15. No longer will you live for yourself but you will use your resources for God’s glory.

V18. We have this amazing privilege.

We are God’s ministers. We are here to bring peace between God and man.

Only the gospel can bring peace. We have a responsibility – let us impact our neighborhood.

Matt 28:18-20 We should all have the desire to make disciples. One day Jesus will return and then it will be too late. There are also amazing rewards for us.

Everyone will not go to heaven so while we have time let’s make Jesus known and famous!
Word of Grace Church is a spirit filled (charismatic), evangelical  ( Born- again) English speaking church that preaches from the Bible as God's inspired Word of 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. 

Vision : The nuts and bolts Part 7 Serving

Part 7 Serving

This message was preached by 

 Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace church on the 21st of April 2013. You can download the audio mp3 by clicking here

We have been going through our Vision for our own personal lives and for the church. Our goal as a church for 2013 is 30/13 .

 A group is you and one other person with whom you are sharing about what it means to follow Jesus. We have already reached that target.

God’s plan for each one of us is to become more and more like Jesus and be fruitful. If we are not doing this we are missing out. We need to become more like Jesus in our character. This is to the Father’s glory – that we bear fruit that will last.

Therefore the job description for every Christian: to become like Jesus. So how do we do this? The blue print for our lives is given in Matt28:18-20 i.e be a disciple who will make disciples who in turn will make disciples.

Who is a disciple of Jesus? There should be 4 essential foundations i.e faith in Jesus, repentance from sin, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38  ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We see that there was faith, repentance, then they are baptized in water and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is not one of the many Gods that people add to their lives. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The Christian faith needs these 4 elements just like a chair that needs 4 legs to be stable. If one is missing it will be rocky.

Then we looked at 8 things to build up a disciple. They are:

1 Personal worship: Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus and not a religion. 1Cor1:9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2. Public worship Heb 10:25 the Bible speaks about meeting together. Acts 2:42-46 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,

3. Heart Worship – Giving. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. We are only stewards of what we have. God has entrusted us with resources- we are to use them for His glory.

4. Small Groups – the Sunday celebration is good but the sharing of life happens in the small group. Acts 2:42. Be part of a group- whether it is a life group or groups that is reaching out.

5. Love  we can do all of the above but if we do not have love we are nothing and gain nothing.

6. Obedience- Are we building on rock or on sand? Are we a wise or foolish builder? The difference between the two is obedience – putting into practice. It’s the hinge on which your Christian life rests. Obedience is more important than sentimentality.

Today I want to talk about the 7^th thing we look for in a disciple of Jesus i.e Servant hood.

The seventh building block is servant hood. It is important for us to become like Jesus not in his deity but in his humanity. Matt 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

There are 6 things about servant hood:

1-     Matt 4:10 For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. We are all serving someone – ourselves, the devil or God. Right from Eden to heaven it’s about serving. Adam in Gen 1:28 was given a command to be fruitful and subdue the earth. Adam had to work in the garden. Work is good and was there before the fall. Work became hard toil after the fall. The echoes Jesus command to go into the entire world and multiply. In Rev 19:10 the angel refers to himself as a servant. He referred to John as a servant. Rev 5:10 “to serve our God” Friends we can’t get away from serving whether its Eden, earth or heaven.

2-      God gives grace to serve. We have heard of saving grace. Rom 12 and 1 Cor. 13:7 talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit given for the common good. 1 Cor. 12:11 the Holy Spirit determined what gifts you and I received. Rom 12 has another list –v.6 according to the grace given us. Serving the body of Christians is the highest privilege. You may work of the best multinational company but one day that will pass way. We have the privilege  to the serve the body of Christ the church which will last into eternity forever and ever. Today you have an opportunity to serve.

Many confuse maturity with knowledge. It’s not what you know but what you do. God’s plan is for each one of us to serve Christ body.

3-      Family – The church is not to be confused with a restaurant. At a restaurant you order the food, you wait to be served; you have a right to complain if things are not to your taste. Some people treat church like this. They don’t fit in – they want to be served. They complain a lot. But if you think of it as a family you will have a different experience. At home you help around; you are expected to chip in.

So the response is how you can chip in. Servant hood helps you integrate. This is your family. We have folk who have joined us since just the past 4 months but because they have thrown themselves into serving, the life groups the reaching our groups, doing hospitality etc they are fully integrated in such a short while. Its upto you. Word of Grace is a very fertile places that provides for plenty of opportunities to grow.

4-     Stewardship Matt25:

Talents were given to three different men. Jesus has given each one of us gifts. Verse 16 The talents man with 5 talents reproduced. The man with one talent hid it. Are you multiplying what God has given you? The master will come back one day. One day Jesus will settle accounts with us. Jesus acknowledges the man who multiplied the talent – he was also rewarded. Here is an opportunity to gain infinite rewards by serving in the local church. The one talent man mis- judged the master and called him harsh. Jesus calls him wicked and lazy, He was thrown out of his masters presence.

5. Fulfillment and rewards. We are gifted differently. Eph 2:10 says that there are good works prepared in advance for us to do. Is it craft, music, cooking, administration. Teaching etc etc. You will be most fulfilled when you find out what God want you to do and you do it.

Not only that,  Jesus promises rewards as well.. Jesus is coming back. Rev 22:12 “my reward is with me” Salvation is free but you have to do something about the rewards. Many say we will serve God when we are old. Jesus says serve me not when you are old but all your life. Think of the rewards Jesus has for you. Earth is a pale shadow compared to heaven. Paul had but a glimpse of heaven and he was staggered by what he saw. Now is the time to earn the rewards

.

6. John13 Jesus knew he was going to die and this is what he did. He washed the disciple feet. This was a slaved job and Jesus did it to set an example. V12 “ you also should…”

We don’t wash feet today but there are many other things that you can do. I want to comment all those who are serving in different ways in the church. Well done. Some come in at 8:15am to serve and some stay back to serve. For those who are onto involved, jump in and ask how you are get involved. When we embrace this we become more and more like Jesus. Phil2

My prayer is that we will grow more in servant hood and train others to do the same.

Vision 13/30- The nuts and bolts Part 6

Part 6

This message was preached by 

 Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace church on the 10th of March 2013. You can download the audio mp3 by clicking here.

Today we are going to look at  the 6^th thing we need to do individually and corporately  to make our vision of 13/30 happen. One of the key things that needs to be addressed in the church today is obedience.

 The problem with the average Christian and the church is disobedience. Today I want to address this issue- obedience to the Word of God and surrender to His will. We saw this come through the worship and Sunny’s prayer this morning too.

Obedience is the hinge on which all the commands of the Bible rests.

Matt 21:28 Is about a story of two sons; one who obeys and one who does not. There are two kinds of people – sinners and the religious people. The religious people paid lip service to the Word of God, whereas the tax collector repented and turned around. God wants us to grow in obedience. Today obeying God’s word is confused with legalism. We confuse grace with license to sin.

Legalism is striving to earn God’s love through going good work. You can’t earn his love. Its agape love, not dependent on what we are but because he loves us. Read Romans 5:8 – Graces loves unconditionally.

Where does obedience come in then? It’s about us loving God. 

John 14:15  “If you love me, keep my commands.”

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.

John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

It is crystal clear here. Word are easy but actions are harder. This is not legalism but a demonstration that we love Jesus.

Titus 2:11-14 describes what Grace is .  For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. “ As we are filled with the grace of God we can live self controlled lives. He gives us the ability to change and not be lazy.

 Therefore discipline and  grace go hand in hand.

Luther who was so strong on grace said “ We are saved by faith alone but faith that saves is never alone”

Faith and works – the faith that saves works.

1 Jn 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. ⁴ Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Over and over again in scripture the proof of our belonging to Jesus is a transformed life.

Abraham  was an amazing man. There was quick obedience in his life. He moved from Ur to Haraan and then to Cannan. Ur was the cradle of civilization. The equivalent today would be asking you to move from London or New York or Mumbai and go to a small town or village. But Abraham did it. In Genesis 17:10,23  God asks this 90 year old to get circumcised  along with his household.  Imagine that! Abraham obeyed  immediately “on that very day…”

Gen 22:3 God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son. There was no waiting , debating. “Early the next morning “ v.15

James 1:22-25  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Jesus is our perfect model. He is not asking us to do something he has not already done. He was obedient to the point of death. Let’s get hold of this attitude of Jesus.

What is God speaking to you this morning? Maybe you have put your faith in Jesus. Maybe you have trusted in him and you need to get baptized.

Maybe it’s a sin, or struggling with loving, submission, giving etc

What motivates our obedience?

Matt 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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.”

When he commands we better obey. Rom 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

How do we do this?

1.      When we hear God we ought to obey. Maturity comes through obedience. Luke 11:27-28

Firstly we need to hear the Word of God daily in our Quiet Time. Write out a verse or two in your journal. Re write it in your words and then write down “ I will….” i.e what you will do/put into practice. Do this every time you encounter the Word of God. What will you do with the WORD this morning?

2.      Share it with someone

3.      Actually obey what you have read.

If you do this for the rest of your Christian life I guarantee you,  you will grow to maturity. Once ounce of obedience is far better than a ton of knowledge.

The Church is full of people who are full of knowledge but very little obedience. Remember we are not trying  to earn God’s love but demonstrating our love from HIM through our obedience.

Vision 2013 Part5 the nuts and bolts of 13/30

Part 5 Love each other

This message was preached at Word of Grace church  on the 24th of Feb 2013 by Colin D Cruz. You can listen of download the mp3 by clicking here.

A vision with no nuts and bolts is like all the beautiful pieces of a car not having been put together so as to function as a car . It will just be pieces that go no where.

This is not rocket science, not is this  some hi fi strategy for church growth, but its the most powerful and the greatest of all.  How do you know a sermon is good?. Its good when it has an impact and changes people. After the Sunday meeting , later in the evening,  several people put this word into practice in different ways. The message is simple, but powerful and life transforming. Read on...

What is better than raising the dead? Last week we went through the first 4 biblical values we hold dear viz. Private worship, Public worship, giving and small groups.

At first I thought I would do the balance 4 today, then I felt maybe 2 but then I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to do just one. So we will look at the 5^th one today.

 Love one another. 

1 Cor.13 says love is the highest and the grates of all. We are nothing and gain nothing if we do not have love. 1Jn 4:4 says that God is love. Why is this important? It’s not God loves us but God IS love. It is his very nature.

Matt 22:36-39 “Love the Lord your God” is then closely follow by “love one another”

Jn 13:34-35  the test and proof that you are truly a disciple is that you love one another. Your gifts don’t mark you as a disciple of Jesus, your love does.

1Jn 3:11, 1 Jn 4:20 you cannot love God and hate your brother. Love is important because God is love and it’s a proof that we are his disciples.

God loves us not because we are good but because He is love. We find some people difficult to love because they have faults, just like you and me. People let you down, people sometimes only take and do not give.

What does God do?

Jn 5:12 Love each other as I have loved you. How did Jesus love you?

Rom 5:8 gives us the standard of Jesus love – He laid down His life for us. We need to love people in spite of their weaknesses.

How do we demonstrate unconditional love?

 Word of Grace is good at loving people. But let us remind ourselves of a few ways we can express love. Here are some ways.

1.    Greet warmly- we need to love and lay down our lives. We need to take the initiative in greeting people. Greet warmly in culturally appropriate ways.

2.    Showing love – “smile, it improves your face value!”the no.1 disease in the world today is loneliness. We need to demonstrate love by having open homes.

3.    Eating together- hospitality is a great way of demonstrating love.

4.    Sick- visit the sick lay hands on them and pray for them. It’s a great way to express love.

5.    Remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Wish them and pray for them.

6.    Serving people in whatever way possible. See where there is a need- don’t wait to be asked.

7.    Partnering in God’s work – working together to reach the lost.

8.    Having fun times – Living life together. WE need to engage with the Church and the world in fun things. We are supposed to have life to the full.

9.    Love is being gentle with one another – we respect and give honour where it is due. Teach our children to greet people.

10.Loves also means correction- but this should be done in gentleness  “Teach, admonish one another” this can happen when the relationships matures.

11.Teaching the word of God.

12.We express that we miss someone. Find out why someone has not come to church and express concern and love.

13.Affirm and appreciate one another. Every morning there is a team that works hard at set up- lets appreciate them. Think of whom you can affirm.

Part of our vision is that each one grows in loving one another. Will you be a more loving person? Rom 5:5 is how this happens.

As we worshiped his love has been poured out into our hearts- lets take it and give it to the hungry and thirsty world out there ! Amen!

Vision 2013 Part 4 the nuts and bolts of 13/30

Part 4

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 10th of Feb2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here

Our vision for 2013 is that God is glorified. How does this happen? 


This happens when people come to know Jesus- God’s glory comes on these people and it spreads and fills the earth.

That is our vision – but knowing it is not enough. WE need to do it. Our aim is 30 groups that will in turn multiply. But it’s not enough to know the destination; we need to prepare for it adequately. The IPL is at hand. The cricketers are preparing for it. What are they doing? They are going through all kinds of training; they are mastering the basic strokes. In the same way we need to master some basic strokes.

There are 8 things we need to do individually and corporately.

1 Personal worship – Mk1:35 “very early… while it was still dark” Jesus set the example. 1Cor 1:9 “called you into fellowship” Following Jesus is about having a relation with him. This is a non negotiable foundation. We need to spend time with God on a daily basis with Him. Acts 19:13 the 7 brothers of Sceva did not have a relationship with Jesus. Maintaining a Journal during your quiet time is helpful. Write down your prayer needs and see them being answered one by one. You can record your walk with God.

2. Public Worship Our Christian faith is a personal faith. I cannot rely on the faith of my parents. But it is not a private faith either. God is our father and the other Christians our brothers and sisters. 1Pet 2:5 “built into a spiritual house..” We come together to offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. Acts 2:46 they met together Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together.

Meeting together is important 1 Cor. 5:4 “when you are assembled” Make Sunday morning a non negotiable in your life. This should come out of a hear desire (Matt 6:21) not of out of rules or law. It’s not “I must go” but “I want to go”

3. Giving – In the Old Testament the Jews gave a tithe i.e Ten percent. In the New Testament it’s not mentioned as a tithe though Jesus upheld the tithe. In the New Testament it’s about sacrificial, generous giving. Acts 4:34 there were no needy persons. 1Cor 16:2 what was the tithe used for? It is used to pay salaries, hire of facilities, buying equipment and funding mission/church plants. As I have said before, the tithe largely should go to the local church where you are being fed. You don't eat at Pizza Hut and pay at Mc Donalds, do you? In the same way the lions share of the tithe should go to the church you are now attending. And by all means bless other Christian work and mission.

In the New Testament it says we should give regularly and proportionately. 1 Cor. 9:14. PJ Smyth says In the O. T you were expected to give 10% in the N. T it is grace.

There is a great promise – as we sow,  we will reap generously.

4. Small groups

The early Christians met in the temple courts and in people’s homes. Acts 2:46 Paul’s letters were addressed to the Churches that met in people’s home. The large gathering is great but it’s the small groups that allows for heart to heart fellowship.

In order to go forward in the vision we need to connect together – to fellowship, to study God’s word together, share your needs, prayer for each other.

As you do this you will see God beginning to use you and you will flourish.

Let’s bring glory to Jesus. He has made it simple for us. As we follow through, with this life will become fruitful.

Joyce, Austin, Lysaya  are meeting with their friends in a park and sharing the gospel. They have started putting the vision into practice.

As we do these 4 things we will see much success in our spiritual life.

We will look at the other 4 the next week.
God bless.

The Call and the Challenge to the Vision. Part 3

Part 3 - The call and the challenge.

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 10th of Feb2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here.

John 11

This morning God has been speaking to us amazingly to prophecy, scripture readings. I ‘d like to dwell on that a bit before we see how our vision of 13/30 will be worked out

This story is about Lazarus. He had two sister Martha and Mary who were good friends of Jesus. Lazarus fell very ill while Jesus was away in another town. They sent word to Jesus about Lazarus’s condition because they knew that Jesus had healed many people from all kinds of disease. Jesus got the message in time but did not do anything about it, in fact he chose to stay there a little while longer. One would think that this is such a strange response (verse4-6) Imagine if you call a doctor in an emergency and he deliberately delays his coming to you.

What we must remember is that Jesus did not do anything outside of God’s will.

Then Jesus comes to Martha and Mary’s house and he is greeted by a funeral party. Lazarus had been buried 4 days. The Jews believed that the soul stayed on the body for 3 days and on the 4^th day it left the body. It was now the fourth day and the body should have decayed really badly.

This is when Jesus arrives.

V22 Martha expressed hope though she is disappointed. You may have dead situations viz. a job, finance, relationships etc that seem hopeless top the point of decay.

Jesus gives Martha hope – “your brother will rise again”

V25- Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life” Jesus takes them to the grave.

V 38 They come to the tomb and asks that the stone be rolled away.

V 40 Jesus prays aloud

V 43 Jesus commands the dead Lazarus to come out. This is not a fairy tale. This is history. Throughout Jesus ‘ministry he demonstrates that he is God over creation (when he calms the storms), over food (the 5 loaves and two fish), over sickness and death.

Jesus goes on to say in 12:24 unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it will not bear fruit. Jesus though Lord of creation knew what He had to do.

How does this apply to us?

Our vision is 30/13

This is the way He modeled and taught it.

We know we are going to heaven because he died and paid the price.

Jesus is saying he is the kernel of wheat that is going to die. He knew going to the cross would produce  a great harvest and rose again and the gospel has gone on for 2000+ years.

Verse 25 – It does not end with Jesus. 

Jesus is asking for a response. Are we willing to loose our lives for him?

Q. What does this mean?

We need to have a new way of living. How can we bless and serve others. When you do this it will be inconvenient. It will involve hardships, pain. We get many opportunities to deny ourselves and practice this.

This world is quickly passing by. What will we do with our time on earth? It’s only a short blip in eternity.

There is a great hope in eternity. Jesus set the example. It will cost us – our comforts and preferences.

The people you reach with the gospel will keep growing because of the seed you have sown.

Churches die due to stagnation. We can be comfortable with certain things. But the new wineskin is Church Planting Movements- where you are starting new groups. Start one, don’t stagnate.