Why Join a Church?

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on  Sept 14th  2025 by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

Why Join a Church?

In our times, many Christians wrestle with the idea of church membership. Some prefer to float between different congregations, saying they belong to the “universal church.” Others treat online services as their church—just them, their device, and their pyjamas. But what does the Bible say? Is church membership really necessary?

Jesus declared in Matthew 16, “I will build my church.” The church is not an optional extra in the Christian life—it is at the very heart of God’s plan. From the earliest days in Acts 2, new believers were not only baptized but were “added to their number.” Belonging to Christ meant belonging to His people.

Colin highlighted five biblical foundations for local church membership:

1. Accountability in Community (Matthew 18:15–17)

Jesus envisioned real, local communities where conflict could be addressed. Church discipline only makes sense if you know who belongs. Membership is a covenant saying, “I want to walk in holiness, and I give you permission to correct me when I stray.”

2. Pursuing Holiness Together (1 Corinthians 5)

Paul rebuked the Corinthians for tolerating open sin. The church was called to lovingly but firmly remove unrepentant members. Membership means accountability—not to condemn, but to restore and protect the witness of Christ’s body.

3. Following and Supporting Leaders (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13)

Believers are called to submit to the leaders God places over them, while leaders are responsible to shepherd and care for those in their flock. Membership creates this mutual trust: leaders know who they are accountable for, and believers know whom to follow.

4. Bought with a Price (Acts 20:28)

Unlike exclusive clubs with steep fees, church membership has no earthly cost. Yet it came at the highest price—the blood of Jesus. To belong to a local church is to honor His sacrifice and live out the reality that we are part of His purchased people.

5. Every Member Has a Role (1 Corinthians 12)

Paul compared the church to a body—many parts, one whole. Just as a hand or heart has no value apart from the body, so no Christian thrives in isolation. Membership is about more than being counted; it’s about being connected, discovering your God-given gifts, and serving the world through the body of Christ.

The Heart of Membership

Church membership isn’t about having your name on a list. It’s about belonging, accountability, and mission. It’s about saying:

• I want to be known.

• I want to be shepherded.

• I want to use my gifts to build up the body.

There are no “lone ranger” Christians in God’s design. Each of us has a part to play. Membership is not optional—it’s the biblical way of living out our faith in Christ together.

  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. 

Overcoming the World, the Flesh and the Devil

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on  Sept 7th  2025 by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

Overcoming the  World, the Flesh and the Devil through Giving, Prayer and Fasting.

The Berean Example

Acts 17:11 tells us about the Bereans, who eagerly received the Word and examined the Scriptures daily. They were hungry yet discerning. Colin reminds us that every believer is called to live this way: to receive teaching with openness but to test everything against the Word of God.

Don’t just attend church—bring your Bible, take notes, study at home. God transforms us when we engage His Word with humility and expectation.

More Than Blessings: The Call to Be Soldiers

Colin compared the Christian life to joining the Indian Army. Many join for the benefits—pensions, medical care, privileges—but the true purpose of the army is to train soldiers for battle.

In the same way, Christians often focus on the benefits of faith—peace, joy, and answered prayer—while forgetting that we are enlisted as soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3–4). The Christian life is not about comfort; it’s about commitment, obedience, and pleasing our Commander.

The Reality of Spiritual Battle

From Genesis to Revelation, Satan has resisted God’s people.  But here is the good news: Satan is already defeated.

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that our struggle is not against people, but against spiritual forces of darkness. We are not fighting for victory—we are fighting from victory, secured in Christ.

Our Spiritual Weapons

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3 5 that our weapons are not worldly, but spiritual—powerful to demolish strongholds. Colin highlighted three weapons Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 6: giving, prayer, and fasting.

1. Giving: Breaking the Grip of Mammon

The world says, “Chase money, chase wealth, chase pleasure.” But every time we give, we declare that money does not rule us.

• Tithing (10%) is not giving—it is returning what already belongs to God (Leviticus 27:30).
• Giving begins where tithing ends: voluntary, cheerful, generous, and sacrificial.

Generosity reflects God’s heart—“For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16). Whether blessing a friend with a meal, supporting the poor, or giving extravagantly, generosity is spiritual warfare. It pushes back against greed and reveals the Father’s love.

2. Prayer: Aligning with God’s Heart

Jesus taught us to pray in secret, not for show. Prayer is not about big words or repetition but intimacy with the Father (Matthew 6:5–8).

Throughout Scripture, prayer is central—Moses, Elijah, Hannah, Daniel, and Jesus Himself. Prayer protects us from temptation, aligns our desires with God’s will, and brings breakthrough.

Colin shared the story of “Praying Hyde,” whose relentless intercession led thousands to Christ. A praying church is a powerful church.

3. Fasting: Weakening the Flesh, Strengthening the Spirit

Fasting removes the flesh from the driver’s seat and puts the Spirit in control. Jesus assumed His followers would fast (Matthew 6:16–18).

From Nineveh to wicked King Ahab, Scripture shows that fasting moves the heart of God. It brings clarity, humility, and breakthrough. Fasting makes us sensitive to God’s voice and strengthens us for the battles we face.

 Final Call

The Christian life is not passive. It is a call to be alert, disciplined, and faithful soldiers of Christ. Our weapons are giving, prayer, and fasting—they are powerful to bring transformation in our lives, our churches, and our nation.

The blessings are real, but the battle is the reason we’ve been called.

Reflection Questions

1. Do I approach Scripture with eagerness and discernment, like the Bereans?
2. Where is money trying to control my heart, and how can generosity break its grip?
3. Is my prayer life marked by intimacy with God or just requests for blessings?
4. Am I willing to practice fasting as a discipline that aligns me with God’s Spirit?

Spiritual warfare is real, but so is our victory in Christ. Let’s be a people who give generously, pray fervently, and fast faithfully—for the glory of God and the advance of His kingdom.

  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. 

Vision and Values: Word of Grace Church| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on August 14th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

We are very blessed. We are well, we have good health, we have food, a variety of clothes to choose from, education and shelter. We are truly blessed.

Today we will go through the vision of Word of Grace Church.

The most famous prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9 onwards. The prayer of Jesus was that the kingdom of heaven would come on earth. Not only did he ask his disciples to pray for, he also did these things. As you read the gospels you watch what Jesus did. He travelled and healed the sick, cast out demons, proclaimed that the kingdom has come and called men and women disciples. Then he did what only he could do, he died on the cross and rose from the dead.

Before he went to heaven he gave the great commission, to go into all the world and make disciples of them baptising them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded Matt 28:18- 20.

Jesus is in heaven, but his body is here on earth.

Q. So how are we at Word of Grace doing that?

The other side is the great commandment. We want to make disciples and bring heaven on earth. Our tag line aims to nail those- Enjoying God, Making Friends, changing lives.

1.      Enjoying God.

Matt 22:36- 37 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Let's look at loving God. This is our priority- to pursue the presence of God. It's not about singing a few songs and moving on. In Exodus 33:14-16 Moses said that if God's presence does not go with us what's the point?

Q. What is it that distinguishes us from others?

It’s the presence of God! We should value this more than anything else.

Throughout scripture people were marked by the presence of God. When God'sPresence is with us, people notice. Will you be one who desires Gods presence? In order for this to happen we need to keep in touch with the precepts/ the word of God. That's why we have the GYM groups, IDT, etc. We seek the power of God. We don't just want to sing songs but do the stuff.

One way we get joy in our life is when prayers get answered. How powerful is a prayer meeting? You can tell by the prayers that get answered.

2.      Making Friends

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself. One of the things we want to foster is good healthy relationships in the church. Your background, age etc does not matter. One way we do this is by eating together. This is something Jesus did. He had the last supper with all his disciples. He cooked breakfast when he rose from the dead.

It shows that we accept them and they accept you. In our nation that is so divided based on caste we want to break those barriers down. In villages, the lower castes are not allowed to draw water from the same wells as the upper caste. We are all one in Christ. In Word of Grace, if you are new, you will almost always receive an invitation to lunch.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting many countries and churches. But this one church we visited in Holland stood out. After the service, someone came and invited us for lunch at their home and it had made such a huge impact, in this foreign country where we hardly spoke the language, to be accepted into their home to eat together and spend time.

Jesus didn't call us servants. John 15:15- “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” He called us friends. Our proof of this is as we demonstrate love to each other. Invite people and make friends. We are all different. But friendships and relationships are important. 

The number one problem in the world today is loneliness. You can have 2000 facebook friends, but how many will show up for their funeral. Invest your time and money in making friends.

3.      Changing lives.

If we only did the above two we would be a happy clappy club. We have a mission- To bring heaven on earth. To be changed and to change lives. Being born again is just the first step.

We do the discipleship blueprint:

·        Born again

·        Baptism in water

·        Baptism in the holy spirit

·        Added to the church

·        Serving

·        Giving

I have told you Abdullah's story. But they are many like that. We have a get connected course for new people.

Num10:29- “Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.””

If you are new here I want to extend the same invitation to you. Come with us and we will do you good. We want to help equip you to be involved in the lives of others.

2 Cor 5:14- “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” Jesus died for you and now he wants you to live for him. The prophetic word over us is that we will disciple people and then send them to the nations.

So, this is it- our priority is enjoying God, but we don't do it alone, we are making friends. So that together our lives can be changed and the lives of others can be changed.    

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.

Where does your strength come from? | Pete Harwood.

This message was preached by  Pete Harwood at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 9th of March  2014 . You can listen/download to the audio by clicking here.

From experience we know that the Christian life is not easy. Believers all over the world face huge significant problems.When these times come how do we find strength to keep going? 

Let’s see how David reacted in extreme situations.

1 Sam Israel was now in the Promise land but they had regular wars with the Amalakites

1Sam8 Saul was made King and then David is chosen. He starts off very well with his fight with Goliath. Then Saul becomes Jealous and Jonathan becomes his friend.

David was given Ziglak to live in v28

1 Sam 30:7

David and his men went to the battlefield when they returned tired they get a shock of their lives – their town is up in smoke. The enemy has taken away everything. Imagine is this happened to you - you come back from home from work and your family and everything is taken away.

What was their reaction? They wept till they could weep no more. Even David was not spared.Things go worse for David.v6.  Bitter people find someone to blame. “It’s all David’s fault. Let’s kill him.” What would you do if you were David?

It’s a completely unexpected and tragic situation.”But David……”In difficult times we need to strengthen ourselves in God. Someone else did not strengthen him. David encouraged himself and He went straight to God. Everyone was exhausted so he went to the one whose strength never fails. He is not some idol. David had a relationship with God, loved him, sought him and worshipped him. He turned to His god. He learned to go to God whatever the circumstance.

When one compares his action s to that of others – it’s a challenge. Many churches are full of young baby Christians with an attitude of “pastor feed me, feed me”

Babies initially need to be fed but after a while they start feeding themselves. But many Christians have not learnt to feed/strengthen themselves. One meal a week will not give you the strength you need.

Like David we may find ourselves in a situation where there is no one but God. In these times we need to know how to strengthen ourselves.

HOW DID DAVID DO IT?

David prayed with complete honesty. Psalm 8:6

David knows God and is not afraid to say I can’t cope with this. We need to be honest and passionate. Not irreverently but passionately .When we come to God like that, we find that God is with us. You are not pretending that’s everything’s OK

He reminds himself about God and who God is.

Ps 18:30

Ps 18:17-19. David deliberately reminds himself of what God does.

David speaks to himself

Psalm 42:5

Human emotions are both a great blessing and also very unhelpful   sometimes. We can get caught up in despair. David couldn’t give in to his emotions. God has promised to be with you.

There is lot we can learn from David. God cares so deeply about our pain and suffering. So God gave us a permanent and long lasting solution. He sent his son who left the place of no pain and suffering to come here. WHY?

Because he wanted to identify with us and permanently set us free from pain and suffering.

He cried out in complete honesty as he hung on the cross. Where he died and took the penalty for our rebellion and sin. Three days later he rose - he won all those who believe in him have that victory.

When we are tempted to be discouraged we need to look back and look ahead. Jesus understands every temptation and suffering we have and says he will be with us.

Remind yourself of the gospel everyday.

There are many excellent resources to help us wherever we are. Eg Tim Keller is a wonderful resource. Take action- strengthen yourselves in God

Now David strengthens himself and he went and defeated the Amalakites and got back everything.

1 Sam 23:16 David also had other people who encouraged him. Jonathan walks around 20km to see David He goes to strengthen David’s hand in God. This is not just nice words but encouragement to get the job done. 23:17

Jonathan believed God’s promise and said “don’t forget the promise God has given you.

We need to encourage one another with God’s promises. Speak the promises of God into one another’s life. Let’s talk about the purposes of God.

Jonathan knew the very specific promise of David. Take time to build friendships to find out what God is doing. The promises he specifically has given each one of us. Heb 10:19-25

 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 ontowww.wordofgracechurch.org.

    English Language Service Sundays at 10am. Please check google maps for directions!

From fear to favour : Persevering to possess the promises | Colin D Cruz

This message was preached by  Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 12 th of January 2014 

Happy New Year to all . Which Bible character who has a great father , a great son and grandson but is not often spoken of ? He is also a son of promise. YOU are a son of promise too. 

To listen to the AUDIO please CLICK HERE

I want to talk about someone in the Old Testament who often gets over-looked. His father was very famous and great, his son and grandson were great.  You can get lost when you have such a great heritage. Who is he? Isaac.

1 Cor. 10:11, Gen 12.

The old testament is there for us as examples and warnings for us. There is much benefit in studying the lives of these men of God.

What was special about Issac – there were great promises spoken over his life just as they were to his father. All nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.

Abraham had great promises. The problem is that he did not have a son. The promise was there but not the fulfillment. Then, there was the son of the promise- Isaac. Genesis 17:16, 19- Here is a promise to Sarah: Mothers of nations, kings will come through her. The promises were spoken before he was born. He was blessed.

Even with us- promises were spoken over us before we were born because we are sons of Abraham because of our faith in Jesus. We need to know, believe and receive it. Your future is bright. Our ancestor is Abraham the friend of God.

Genesis 25: 19- You would think Issac should have it smooth sailing because he is the son of promise. Here is the funny thing; Issac’s wife was also barren. Isaac has great promises on his life but he has problems. His wife was barren. God gives us promises but there is a battle to be fought- with faith and perseverance we will have our inheritance. There are many promises God has given us personally and as a church. Inheriting the promises is not a cakewalk – we need faith and perseverance.

Q. How did Isaac persevere? His wife was barren. That was only one of his problems. How did he overcome? He prayed.

Isaac prayed on behalf of his wife. How long did he wait? It’s one verse after the other.

In verse 26 we see that he waited 20 years. 

Sometimes, we have to wait. We need to hold on. Do you have problems?  God can move mountains. But we need to pray. Then Isaac is blessed with 2 sons but there are other issues.

In Chapter 26, there is a famine in the land. But the Lord told him to stay and not go to Egypt and he obeyed. In verse 12, God blessed him as he promised. However Isaac also feared man. So, he faced famine, barrenness, and fear of man in the face of these promises. This is true for all of us.  We face problems, just like Issac. He took hold of God’s word and he did something.

Q. What did Isaac do?

He planted crops and God blessed him a 100 fold. We can in the mean time plant deeds of kindness, prayer, sow into the kingdom and we will see fruit.

In verses 17-22: though he was the son of the promise, he faced challenges..Today many preach that health, wealth, good relations is a must for Christians. Is it true?

As he prospered the Philistines fought with him about the wells. Don’t we face this? So even though a son of the promise he faced challenges.

Here we have an example of how they had to persevere to get the promises.

How many times God speaks to him and reminds. Take hold of God’s promises, repeat them and keep them before you and believe them because we have so many other voices challenging those promises.

V26 : The table turn. V28 his enemies realized that God was with Issac. In verse 28 Isaac’s enemies realized that God was with him. God will come through for you- in your office, etc. Isaac’s life changed from fear to favor.

There are great promises, but they do not mean that we do not have problems because we live in a fallen world. We have to hold on and push through in faith and prayer. We need to plant something – something we have to do in faith and God will overturn the situation where you have the favour of man and of God. We can plant three things – prayer, fast , give.

As we do this, we will reap a 100 fold.

  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 ontowww.wordofgracechurch.org.

    English Language Service Sundays at 10am. Please check google maps for directions!

   

Family Matters 7 Marriage - tie the knot, cut the cord.

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 15th of September 2013 

This is part 7  of a series called Family Matters.  What  is marriage?  What is the blue print for a good marriage? We are sorry that there is no audio to go with this blog.

Marriage is a very touchy topic - Anything that touches our core values or our culture can be a sensitive issue.

In every culture there are some things that are good. We have such beauty and variety in our India dress, colors, styles of cooking. In general, Indians are warm and hospitable - whether rich or poor. But sometimes, there are things that are not good and there are things that are neutral viz. dress, food.

There are things that are wrong that have been needed to be addressed and removed viz. Sati, dowry, and child marriage. Bad things need to be rejected. Some things need to be redeemed. The Good News of the Bible upholds good things and redeems certain things in our culture.

Marriage is God’s idea and not one cave man who decided to stick with one woman. 
Marriage is not just a good thing, it is a God thing.
God gave man a mission to look after the garden. He then gave him a Mrs. and we have the first marriage.

Marriage is also a mystery. The Bible begins with marriage and ends with the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Q. what is God’s blueprint for marriage?

Statistics show that marriage is on the decline and the rate of divorce is going up. In Mumbai there are 250 cases monthly registered for divorce. There are many more broken marriages where the wife will just bear up and suffer.

 n Genesis 2:24-25- God lays down the foundation here. This is important because the very foundation is being attacked, marred and disfigured. God wants us to uphold His divine pattern for marriage.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.”

God's blueprint for a successful marriage: Leave your parents, be joined to your wife to become one flesh and be intimately connected in every dimension of life.

This is the divine recipe for success in marraige. The ingredients and the method, both are important, just like in a recipe.

This is God’s blueprint not man’s clever idea. It is repeated again in the New Testament in Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:7 and Ephesians 5:25.

There are four processes involved here:

We are going to talk about the first one today and that is ‘leaving’. 
Then we have joining. It means being superglued together so strongly, that separating the two will result in damaging both. Becoming one flesh is a mystery. As a man an woman come together in marriage, it is God who joins them and makes them one flesh. Finally, "named and unashamed" speaks of intimacy. This refers to mental, emotional, physical and spiritual oneness.

Q. What does it mean to leave?

At one stage we were all in our mother’s womb. At that stage we were one with our mother. Then comes a time when the baby is born and the umbilical cord now needs to be cut. The umbilical cord is tied and the cord is then cut.

“Tie the knot and cut the cord”. At marriage we tie the knot and we have to cut the cord. For many years we were connected to our parents but now you are a new unit. The relationship dynamics will now change though we still love each other.

·        Physically: not necessarily living in the same house under the same roof. How do we do this? In case of old infirm parents we do look after them but we must establish who is in charge. Often husbands side with their mothers. This causes a lot of conflict. When a husband stands up for his wife, it gives great security to the wife. Sometimes the in-laws try to dominate on other issues as well.

·        Financially: when you get married, you should be able to provide for your wife. Men must study hard, work hard and get a good job to be a good provider. When we take care of old parents, we need to treat both the in-laws equally. It is primarily the husband's responsibility to provide for his family.

·       Emotionally: Whenever there is a problem, we are not running back to dad and mum. In all this we honor our parents but we are separate. Remember your first priority is not your mother or sister, but your WIFE.

·       Spiritually: Now the husband must lead the home spiritually. So men, build yourselves up in the faith. Even how you bring up your children is the responsibility of the parents and not the grandparents. Men must be able to lead their wives spiritually.

When we follow this ( and this is one only part of the  ingredient for a successful marriage) there will be harmony all around. You will have a strong marriage and relationships with both the in-laws intact.

   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 ontowww.wordofgracechurch.org.

    English Language Service Sundays at 10am. Please check google maps for directions!