Why is the Resurrection pivotal?

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on April 9th 2023  by Colin D Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

Why is the Resurrection pivotal?

No other event in history is as important as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

It’s so important that the celebration of Easter is rooted in the word of God. It’s not about eggs and bunnies. 

“Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.” - Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭50‬-‭54‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” - Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭55‬-‭56‬ ‭ESV‬‬

5 emotions associated with Easter :

1. The first emotion associated with Easter is sorrow. The women went to the tomb to embalm his body. Peter was first a fisherman, he just had to fish every day and it might have seemed like a mundane job until Jesus called him to follow him. He saw so many miracles, that the fisherman’s life was so shaken. He would’ve been shaken. But then Jesus died. He must have gone from being hopeless to being full of hope to being hopeless again. He, like the women, were full of sorrow. On the Emmaus the 2 disciples in Luke 24 “And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.”‭‭ - Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬.

2. Fright: “While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words,” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭4‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬. The angels met with the women and they were afraid. 

3. Joy: “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬. When we come to know that Jesus is not dead anymore but is alive. They were running to tell the disciples about it

4. Worship: “And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬. Our lives must be punctuated with worshipping this risen Saviour. 

5. Hope: Death does not end the existence of people. Every human being who has ever lived will live forever. Believers and unbelievers will live forever. The message of the Bible is that we will live forever either in heaven or hell. We will all live with a new body. One day we will have a resurrected, glorified body. 1 Cor 15, the resurrection guarantees that we will be raised with Christ. Resurrection is not just one feature of Christianity. It is the linchpin. 

Acts 2: 22-24 

“"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

Peter talks about the miraculous life of Jesus, his death and his magnificent resurrection. He gives 1 verse about Jesus’ life, one line about Jesus’ death and 9 verses on his resurrection. Jesus died for our sins but by rising up He won the victory over death forever. 

Today where are you in your emotions? Jesus can do the impossible. Whatever situation you may be in, take it to Jesus. You might be in fear. But when he is with you in the boat, do not fear. 

Maybe some of us need to worship. Make your whole life a life of worship. There is hope in Jesus- for eternity and for today. Jesus is with us even today. The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone. After Jesus rose again, Christians met on Sundays, not on the Sabbath. 

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.  

An Anchor For The Soul

 

 This message was preached by Colin DCruz via zoom at Word Of Grace Church on  January 10th 2021. for the audio please click here.  TO listen to the worship please click here

 

We are living in very challenging times. We saw the COVID become a pandemic and we hoped that things would get better over time, but there has been no respite. The death toll has been devastating. Whole industries have shut down, businesses have come to a grinding halt or reduced significantly! Millions have been rendered jobless. In 2021, we are still in unchartered territory. Fear can grip us because of health and economic needs. IN the midst of all that is happening, I want to share how to anchor our lives in Christ.

Heb 6:19- 20 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” The hope is in verse 14 – I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.

The full prophetic word was in Gen 22 which concerns us, because we are the descendants of Abraham. It anchored Abraham’s life in turbulent waters. Without an anchor, a ship can drift or crash against the rocks. The anchor keeps it safe.

In this stormy waters, where is our anchor? It is in the word of God. So we will look at some promises in the word that will be our anchor. Let’s pray.

Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

This Psalm is about the goodness of the Lord to us. Come to this Psalm when you are anxious, worried, fearful, etc.

1.      God’s goodness is there for us: Psalm 139 talks about God’s involvement in our life.

3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

               There are angels watching over your life. God is watching over you. It does not mean bad things don’t happen to us. But even though bad things happen, God will work it out for good. Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”

2.      His mercy / loving-kindness follows us: His mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we deserve. Jesus died in our place so God can have mercy over us. Goodness relates to his provision, mercy relates to his pardon. We need mercy all the time.

Eph 2:4-5 “4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”

Micah 7: 18 “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea”

God is not mad at you. He is mad about you.

Exodus 34: 6 “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”

When we commit a mistake, we need to run to God. The confidence is in what He has done. God loves to show mercy and his nature is good.

The Lord is my shepherd. And behind the sheep are two sheep-dogs, goodness and mercy. IN the midst of all the uncertainty, His goodness and mercy follow us ALL the days of our lives.

3.      Dwell in the house of the Lord forever: People fear death more than anything! If you have put your trust in Jesus, there is no fear of death. Our eternal destiny is settled. Death is just a doorway into resurrection life. Jesus is preparing something beautiful for those who love Him.

All the things that plague us on earth will no longer be there in heaven. As Christians we need to focus on heaven. We need to have a long term plan, knowing our future is secure in Jesus. Heaven is the place where God dwells. It is filled with the glory of God. What we see is just a glimpse of what His glory is. No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. We need to be a people who are anchoring our lives in heaven. No one can take that away from you. Romans 8: 18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

What were Pauls Troubles? 2 Corinthians 11:23-33“with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” 

Whatever trouble you have this morning, it is light and momentary compared to the riches of heaven. Even being martyred is no big thing. Phil 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Let us be a people who love heaven.

 

How shall we respond to this?

1.      Be grateful:

When we look around and see how blessed we are; we need to be grateful to God. This is the antidote to fear. Write down on a journal the things we are grateful for.

 

Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe”.

 

2.      Generous:

Let us be a people who not only receive but give freely.

3.      Be gracious and merciful to others:

Eph 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” Don’t hold on to grudges but extend forgiveness and grace.

 

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love”

4.      We are living for God’s glory:

When our mind is focused on doing good deeds, we are bringing glory to God.

 

When we are anchored to these things, we are steady through the storms of this life.

Let’s pray!

     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. 

 

Fear Faith, Freedom - Lesson From The Early Church

This message at Word of Grace was preached on July 5th, 2020 via zoom by Tara. To listen to the audio please click here.

Acts 5:17-42 “Fear, Faith, and Freedom”

Questions to consider before reading the passage:

1) What or who did the high priest and council fear? Why? What about Gamaliel?

2) What did the apostles fear and who did they trust and obey?

3) What does fear have to do with obedience to God? What do you learn from this story?

Read Acts 5:17-42

Now let’s look at the questions for this passage:

1)    What or who did the high priest and council fear? In v17 it says they were “filled with jealousy” and in v28 they said, “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (people were coming even from towns outside Jerusalem to be healed) and “you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”, so it seems they were very concerned with how the crowds were favourably responding to the apostles and that they were afraid of what the people thought about them.

Why?  Perhaps they were afraid to be seen as guilty of the blood of Jesus, perhaps a revolt or riot could happen with the people turning against them? We don’t know for sure.

What about Gamaliel?  In v38 he said, “if this is a plan of man it will fail,” … “but if it is of God you may be found opposing God”. He seemed to have a different opinion and more reverence for God and to trust that God could handle the outcome of the current situation with the people following this movement started by Jesus.

2) What did the apostles fear and who did they trust and obey?  

In v20, they were told by the angel of the Lord, “Go, stand in the temple, and teach” and they obeyed what they were told. Furthermore they “rejoiced to be counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus, the Christ”, showing that they trusted in God and were not afraid of men.

3) What does fear have to do with obedience to God? What do we learn from this story?

To help us answer this last question, let’s look at some points to highlight below

“Fear, Faith, & Freedom”

1) Fear of man vs fear of God

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

Gal 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Many times, in the scriptures God commands his people “do not fear” and to take courage, see the beginning of the book of Joshua for an example of this. Also, see 2 Chronicles chapter 20 in which King Jehoshaphat, when faced with a vast army coming against the people, prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” He was told he would not need to fight that the “battle is the Lord’s”.

Paul was facing a group of Jewish Christians who opposed him as a leader and also were instructing the Galatians to be circumcised.  Even Peter who had been spending time and eating with the Galatians suddenly stopped when those Jews came to town, hypocritically submitting to them.  Paul himself also faced this conflict of his call to preach the good news of the blessing of God coming to gentiles with opponents.

For myself, simply following Christ and submitting my decisions to his leading and leadership in my life also puts me at odds with those close to me who have other desires or plans. The main example of this has been my dad who like a good father, wants the best for me, however often according to his own plan of what is best. I have learned and am still learning to honour and respect him and yet to fear God and trust God in obeying what God is calling me to do. 

2) Faith is obedience to Jesus despite persecution

Jesus warned of persecution to come but also described it as a blessing:

Matt 5:11-12 -  “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

John 15:18-27

 18“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23“He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfil the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

26“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27and you will testify also because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

Jesus as commanded us to be his witnesses, with a promise of being with us. Will we obey?

Matt 28:19-20

19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

3) Freedom through Spirit  is to obey God and to serve others out of love, by the power of the Spirit

Gal 5:1, 13, 22-23,

“For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. …

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” 

 The freedom we have in Christ is so that we can use the opportunity he gives us to love one another and serve one another. This motivation of love sets us free of fear to live by faith.

1 John 4:18  “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

In closing, we have seen how the apostles were continued to be trained as witnesses through the persecution they experienced, being imprisoned again and yet being commanded to keep teaching.  God used a leader among the high priests to speak wisdom at a critical moment, and allow the apostles to continue and not to stop teaching and preaching about life in Christ.  The priests felt threatened by them and were afraid of the people yet the apostles continued to live freely obeying God and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that 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. 

What's your Christmas story?| Justin J

This message was preached  by Justin Jaykumar Y. Sam at Word of Grace Church on  December 20th, 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here  . To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Year after year we celebrate Christmas. We change our decorations but certain things we retain- the star, carol, etc. Some things have been added- Santa, decorations, etc. Some have been deleted like shepherds.

So what is your story of Christmas? A Sunday school teacher got the kids to draw the Christmas scene. Some drew Mary and Jesus, shepherds, wisemen, etc. One boy’s drawing had an aeroplane with Mary and Jesus inside and a man with dark glasses was flying the plane. The teacher asked who it was and he said- that’s Pontius Pilot! We get our stories mixed up sometimes.

Q. So what are the main points?

1. Favour of God to mankind: Luke 1:28- the angle calls Mary the highly favoured one. In Eden God created Adam and Eve and then through disobedience, God and man parted ways. Sin cannot be in the presence of God. Man was driven away from the garden.

The birth of Jesus solves that problem. The son of God was called two things

a.       Jesus- he shall save his people from their sins. Our greatest need at Christmas is not information, science, or entertainment. God sent a saviour because our greatest need is to be forgiven from sin.

b.      Emmanuel- Matthew 1:23-God with us. Christmas story is God coming down for you and me. God not only wants to save us but also be king in our lives.

When Mary heard all of this, she wondered how this will be. Nothing is impossible with God.

2. Fear- the birth of Christ dispels fear. When Mary heard about the birth of Jesus, she wondered how this will be. Nothing is impossible with God.

 In the 2 gospels we see the story recounted. For 40 years, there was silence between the Old Testament and New Testament. In the Christmas story we hear a lot of ‘fear not’s.

a. So we should “fear not” of the humanly impossible- because it is possible with god. The Angel came to the shepherds and ‘fear not’- this came in the context of salvation. Jesus came to liberate us.

b. ‘Fear not’ in the context of unanswered prayer- Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1:8-11; they did not have children. If we have some unanswered prayer then take encouragement from this fear not. We see that people live in all kinds of fear- of failure, career, darkness, future, etc.

3. Worship- the birth of Jesus demands worship from us. This should be our response. The wisemen came all the way from the east and came to Jerusalem following the star. But Jerusalem did not know that a king was born. God revealed himself to us in a way we will understand. Our God is the king of kings. He will be a ruler who will shepherd his people.

Jesus’ birth is historic. Born during king Herod’s reign- a roman puppet. He was a wicked murderous king. The people hated him. Jesus was not a puppet or a wicked king. He is a loving king who will rule and shepherd. This is a wonderful combination.

Worship involves exceeding joy. It’s not dependent on what happened outside but what is going on inside. Worship is meeting your God. We are blessed we met with God this morning.

They knew that they would find Jesus because they carried gifts by faith. They trusted the vision they saw.

The wise men- God spoke to them in their language- they were astrologers. They understood.

Q. What do we bring to Jesus in our worship?

Jesus is our king, our high priest and our sacrifice. The wise men brought gifts that were symbolic and significant. Does our offering and worship befit our king?

King Herod was not genuine when he said he wanted to worship Jesus. He being king could not accept another king. If we are kings in our lives, we cannot accept Jesus’ kingship.

4. Directs us to witness- Luke 2- the shepherds were ordinary people who were not allowed to enter the city not the temple. But God chose to tell them. When they saw Jesus with their own eyes, they could not contain themselves. They had to share- they told the people that a saviour has been born.

The world is looking for someone who will deliver them. The birth of Jesus meant peace and goodwill toward men. Peace with God and one another. When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus it restores God and man and brings harmony.

This is what we share with people. They went and spread the good news to as many as they could. You and I are called to share our experience of Jesus.

So what is your story of Christmas? What is your experience?

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.

Faith or Fear? | Daniel M

This message was preached by Daniel Macleod on November 14th, 2015 at the Regions Beyond annual gathering of the nations- 'the HUB 2015' in Dubai. The audio link will follow shortly

Isaiah 7:

We don’t just have an apostolic leader but we are an apostolic people. Church meetings don’t make radical decisions. Left to a vote, the church would still be in Egypt. 

We need more people like Nicky Welsh who will do things against the tide. We should be able to see a different future.

What will hold us back? Fear more than anything that which will hinder us is fear in our hearts. The people were n the edge of the Promise Land. I’m sure Moses preached regularly. They have been fed by manna etc. but the 12 spies come back with fear. Fear creeps in at the last moment and a whole generation misses out. But 2 men saw differently. They felt it could be done. The most common command to us is, “Do not fear, I am with you”.

Let’s look at why we don’t need to fear. You can learn from success and failure. We can be afraid of the things around us. Each generation has its own challenges. You can fear failure. Church planting is tough, can be scary. Ahaz was afraid. He had 2 armies at his doorstep. We have the choice- fear or faith. There is no in between. If you are not firm in faith you will not have faith at all. Assyria is the world super-power now.

Ahaz is under pressure with his back against the wall. Ahaz goes to the king of Assyria. It’s like sharing your lunch with the bully for protection. Ahaz gives over his leadership to Assyria. He is ready o blow the whole thing apart because of fear.

Q. What does fear do?

1. He made a short term decision: he can’t see the future. Only sees today. Ahaz made a short term decision. I won’t talk to that person, I won’t address that issue. It will ultimately choke you. Your decision based on short term decisions comes back to bite you. Nettles never go away. They only grow. Whereas faith looks to the future.

2. Fear hinders the mission of God because it can’t repent. It can’t lose face in front of the people. Ahaz could have called off the pact. Fear is too consumed about self. Faith doesn’t mind repenting as long as God’s purposes are accomplished. We need to learn to repent and say sorry to each other.

Faith filled leadership knows how to repent. Leaders can take short term decisions. We can do a whole lot of things that are good ideas but not what God has called you to. We need to check what stuff we are doing.

3. Fear works in the flesh. Ahaz is in the wrong place with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing. He should have been in the temple with the priests praying. He got embroiled into works of the flesh. In Isaiah 36, Hezekiah was standing in the same point. He went ot the temple and prayed. This is what Ahaz should have done. What Hezekiah did was leadership. He fell on his knees and pleaded before God to accomplish His purpose in His generation.

Ahaz does not trust God and His promises. Faith or fear? Some are waiting for a big moment of faith. It’s not like that. Faith is tested Monday morning. How you plan your work. We could be working in the flesh or in faith.

God comes back to Isaiah. He wants Ahaz to succeed. He is willing to do anything for Ahaz to know that he can trust God.

But Ahaz says, “I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test.” It’s funny how we can sound spiritual and biblical to hide our fear.

In verse 13, God gets tired. Isaiah is ticked off now and ticked off God. God now gives a sign, “…a virgin shall be with child….”this gets read once a year. We need to put it abck in context. It comes in the midst of mission/ battle time. It is in the context of war.

Isaiah 8:3- the Bible is not a leadership textbook though we learn from it. Till today we have an Assyria waiting to overtake us. We all have a little Ahaz in us- fear. This could have been the end of the story, but we have Isaiah 9:6 and the rest of the Bible. We have a promised one who when we fail to take up the mission, he takes it up.

Isaiah’s son was born as a assign for Ahaz. Jesus was born as a sign for all of mankind. He will accomplish all that he has set out to do. All the promises in Christ are yes and Amen. This book is about Jesus’ leadership.

Q. Why we don’t need to fear?

We can’t stop talking about the God of mission. Mission is exciting but if we don’t talk about Jesus we will gut the mission. We will end up beating people into works. We need to help see Jesus.

Any forward move in the church begins with the individual. Acquaint yourself with the old counsel- acquaint yourself to God.

Isaiah 6 talks about Isaiah seeing the Lord high and lifted up. It’s the same Lord that is spoken about in Isaiah 7:14- it’s the same Lord that lived outside universe that enters humanity.

The majestic God who sustains all things by his powerful word comes into the world kicking and screaming as a baby. He did not put out a cloak of humanity that can be taken off. He could be killed like a man and he was.

We have a lot common with other faiths. But not this. God taking on the weakness and frailty of humanity. No other has this humility where God becomes man. Jesus knew humanity fully with all its pressures. He gets baptized as our Emmanuel. He who was without sin.

John was baptising people who needed repentance. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that he became sin on our behalf. He steps into humanity in totality and walks into sin for 3 years up to the cross.

Satan did not want this to be fulfilled and tries to derail Jesus by appealing to his ego. Be careful of ego. Everywhere that we fail, Jesus has overcome. Jesus was walking in Jerusalem because he knew the task he was called to. He led prophetically. As when he walked he must have recounted the promises of God. Jesus trusted the father unto his own death. The crux of our faith, what we do, Jesus does on the cross.

It did not end there. On the third day he rose again. He left satan, sin and death in the tomb once for all.

Jesus right now remains our mediator, our Emmanuel. There is a man who now represents your faith, failures, success before the father. Jesus sits at the right hand of the father. Stephen sees Jesus standing i.e. Jesus was with him, honours him and welcomes him into the kingdom.

You feel forgotten and beaten up and that the Lord has moved on. But Jesus stands for you, honours that you have not given up or thrown in the towel. Jesus now intercedes for us. He prays for the success of Regions Beyond, your town, your church, for you. He has good plans for you and he prays them into being. The prayers of a righteous man accomplish much. The righteous man is praying for us. When you know this, you should not fear. His prayer never diminishes. He prays that you will be strong till the end.

Jesus gives us his spirit to be with us so that we know that he is with us. Moses had the ark, we have the Holy Spirit living within us. Wherever we go the enemy will be vanquished and we do not need to fear.               

 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.