True Worship: Part 1| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on November 6th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Have you ever seen the “wanted” page in the newspaper? The requirements for a job are quite high. But imagine of God placed an ad in the newspaper. What is God looking for?

John 4:22- 24: “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.””

This is taken from the account of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. The father is searching for true worshippers- the one who worships in Spirit and in truth.

I.       To worship in spirit- God is spirit. To communicate with him, we need to worship in spirit.

a.      Our spirit needs to be alive: We all have a body, but we also have a spirit. Every human being has a spirit but it is as good as dead until Jesus makes it alive

John 3:6- “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” When we come to Jesus- we realise we are sinners, and trust in Jesus alone, that day, our spirit comes alive. In order to worship God our spirit needs to be alive.

b.      The other thing is our heart being fully involved. Matt 15: 7-9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”

The Pharisees were going through the externals. But their heart was not in it. They were just following rituals and going through the motions.

2 Chron 16:9- “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

Q. What is the greatest commandment?

To love God with all our heart, mind soul and strength.

II.     Worshipping God in truth:

Worshipping God in truth means that what we say, read and think is aligned with the truth of God. It is important what we worship. We look around and find 50 understandings of who God is, but scripture tells us what God is like in truth.

We can engage our minds in worship as well. Christian worship involves the heart and head. If you don’t have the head, it can just be a frenzy. If you don’t have the heart, it’s just a ritual. We need both.

Our heart is affected means, we are thinking deeply about the truth. we can come boldly before God. in the Old Testament this wasn’t the case. Once when the sons of Aaron, offered unauthorised incense- dead. Aza touched the ark- dead. Thankfully for us, Jesus has made the way.

We need to think about how Jesus has forgiven all our sins. We will look at an example of a great worshipper. King David- was a man after God’s own heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you have a record of what someone has spoken we can know what is in his heart. David spoke in numerous psalms. His heart was set on worshipping Jesus.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
 we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

These are instructions on how to be a man or woman after God’s own heart.

1.      Shout: The word ‘Shout’ signifies a glad shout as when a king approaches.

Q. Do we need to shout?

Whether you’re timid or bold, we are called to shout, just as it says, don’t commit adultery or don’t steal, we are instructed to shout. People at football matches shout so much.

2.      Gladness: this is an attitude of the heart. We are called to worship him with gladness in our hearts. 

3.      Joyful songs: we are not at a funeral. We are here as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. God loves to hear you whether you are in tune or out of tune. In the same way that the parents are overjoyed to hear their child speak, God loves your voice.

4.      Thanksgiving: we’ve got to be a people who are thankful. Everyday write down 5 things you’re thankful for. Romans 1: 21- “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” By not giving thanks to God, it affected their minds and spirits. There are many opportunities to give thanks.

5.      Praise: to declare his qualities, his name. There are hundreds of things about God in the Bible. This is worshipping him in truth. in Psalm 22:3- God enthrones the praises of his people. as we praise God, God’s presence is manifest. To see miracles and healings, as we enter into worship and praise him. Then there is power to heal.

We enter into worship. Thanksgiving is like knocking the door, praise is ringing the bell. And then we enter his presence. The father is looking for worshippers- not for a tall dark and handsome guy, a beautiful girl, or an intelligent person. A man or woman after God’s own heart- that’s what God is looking for.

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.  

Getting back into the Word| Chris

This message was preached  by Chris at Word of Grace Church on April 24th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Habakkuk 3: 17-18- “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.” Because I rejoice in him, if everything else should go wrong, still I can be content.

George Muller said that “It is essential for joy in the lord continue that the scriptures be read regularly.” We began this year with an encouragement to be in the Word.  

Q. How are we doing with the word? Maybe you are in the need of a reset.

Mark 1:1-8: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.””

When we read this passage, we might be thinking, there is so much weird stuff here- Eating honey and bugs and wearing camel hair in the heat. A lot of those seemingly weird details are actually incredibly valuable. They are not random at all. Things that would be obvious to the original audience would really make sense.

Q. John the Baptist- what's his deal? Eating bugs in the desert, etc. 

When it comes to his clothes:

2 Kings1:8- Elijah the Tishbite wore similar stuff. Mark includes the details of the dress of John the Baptist, it is a big deal. People recognized him by his clothes. He was a prophet.

Matt 11:7-10. People saw the clothes and knew that he was a prophet.

Q. What was John proclaiming?

They see him, they know who he is, they go into the wilderness and get baptised.

Q. Why the wilderness?

John in the wilderness. A voice crying in the Wilderness.

Isaiah 9:1 speaks about wilderness- Why are these places blessed?

Ezekiel 36:24 also refers to the same place. The people during the time of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah were rebellious. The first places that fell to invasion were Galilee.

God makes us a promise during this time that after a time of discipline I will bring you back into fellowship. 

Q. How was he going to come? The same way the conquering army came, to redeem his people. Then John appears in the very spot that God spoke of. Proclaiming make the path straight. What's that about? The prophesy itself is difficult to understand.

Every culture has phrases that are understood in context. The first part of the prophesy is given by John. People are supposed to understand what he is referring to.

Isaiah 40:9- 28 This is who is being proclaimed and whose path is being made straight in the wilderness. That's why people were being baptized for repentance of their sins. The knowledge of God that they have from Isaiah propels them to know his greatness.

Now we see that's it's from the very beginning that it's the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is so good? It is the that the very God we just saw is coming to take his redeemed. His power is limitless

Prepare the way of the Lord- A prophet after 400 years is proclaiming. All these weird details fall into place as we labour to understand the Bigness of the God who is coming.

Mark 1:7- After me comes one who is mightier the strap of his footwear

Q. Why is he talking about sandals?

It is a way of showing respect for sure, but it also means that he is coming as a man. The very God who accounts the nations as nothing is coming as a man to redeem his people and has come and has redeemed. And he didn't leave us alone. He filled is with His Spirit and His Word and that we might continue on in the path.

We were challenged at the beginning of the year to stay in the Word. We know its power and its beauty.

Isaiah 40: 6-8: " A voice says, “Cry out." And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”"

If you need to do-over, this is the day to do it. If you want to dwell with him, you don’t have to wait. You can do it right now. The Word of the Lord will stand forever.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.

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The Wonderful Word| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on  February 21st, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

How many of us would like to bring glory to God? As followers of Christ, we want to please him- not for approval. He accepts us and our sins are nailed to the cross. We are not trying to improve our standing in any way. The objective is in Matthew 5:16- “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. 

We have been uniquely selected to glorify God. It is a great privilege. In the catwalks of the world, there are all these models who model different creations. If they display the outfits of a famous house, they call them supermodels. Out there, there are a lot of women who want to be super models. God has chosen you to be a super model for him.

Ephesians 3:10 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”

Q. How can we produce these good deeds?

2 Timothy 3: 10- 17 “ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,  persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

From whom did Timothy learn the word of God? His Mother and grandmother! Acts 16:1 says that Timothy’s mother was a believer and his dad was Greek, unbeliever. 2 Tim 1:5- “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Families pass on a lot of things to children, hair, nose, etc. But one thing parents must be careful to pass on to our children is the life-giving gospel. Timothy from an early age had access to the scriptures.

We are very careful not to accept or eat any food from strangers. But what about spiritual food? We take it gladly from different sources. One test is- you know those from whom you’ve learnt it. When you receive something from someone, ask what is this person like, what is their life?

The next thing is, a lot of religions saying their book is God’s word. But only the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God. Apart from the word, we will not be saved.

1.     God is glorified in our salvation. We were saved because we heard the word of God and changed our hatred of God into love of God. Salvation can only come through the word of God. If a person who did not know Christ came to you and asked you, how can I be saved, would you be able to explain it to them? We have the gospel! We must be able to explain it to them and lead them to Jesus. It’s like a doctor who developed a cure for cancer. But if he can’t administer it, it is useless. We’ve got the cure for eternal damnation.

2.     The words in the Bible are the very words of God. They are inspired by God. It has life-transforming power. Use the word when you speak to people and pray for people. If it is written in the Bible, it is true. Our understanding might be faulty, but the Bible is true.

3.     We want to produce good deeds for glorifying God. From 2 Tim 3:16 we see that we need to engage in God’s word, with the spirit of God, which teaches, rebukes and trains us and thoroughly prepares us for every good work.

a.     Teaching and rebuking relate to our conduct. Teaching is the whole content of the word of God. Paul publicly reached and went from house to house teaching the word of God. The Bible is so simple that a child in Sunday school can understand it, but it is so deep that the great theologians can’t figure it out.

b.     Rebuking- shows us where we are wrong. As we read the word, the Holy Spirit will convict us of things that are wrong. Col 3: 5 “ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Paul is writing to believers. The Holy spirit will convict us of these things. Hebrews- the word can go so deep within us that it judges not only our actions, but our thoughts, even our attitudes.

c.     Corrects- the word straightens us out, puts us together.

d.     Training- as we look to the word, God shows us the right way to live. This is the word to teach a child. We don’t get it right at first. The most common sin in India is coming late- IST. It takes years to change it. That’s the training. The end result is that we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Are you willing to put on those good deeds in order to glorify him?

Engage with God’s word regularly. Here is 5 ways to do it:

1.     Hear the word. Today we can hear the word on the internet at any place

2.     Read the word. Have a Bible reading plan. It is God breathed.

3.     Studying the word. What does it mean?

4.     Memorising the word. Can you recite anything other than John 3:16? We need to store the word within us.

5.     Meditating on the word. Thinking about it. How does it apply to me?

As we do these things, God will transform us and equip us for every good deed.  

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.

Eat, Pray, Love| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on  January 3rd, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here  . To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

We begin a new year often we make New Year’s resolutions of going to the gym. Often the turn of the New Year motivates us to do new things. 

Sadly, a few days into the New Year we give up. I want to share a few thoughts with you today.

Is 43: 18-19- “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

A lot has happened in the New Year, both good and bad. Like Isaiah- forget the bad things, challenges, etc. The grace of God has seen us through.  Forget even the good stuff- don’t live in the past. We want to live in the future.

John 10:28- “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” Nothing like a new year for a fresh start. Jesus will never leave us. Phil 1:6- he will bring into completion … God’s attention is constantly upon us.

This year I want us to EAT, PRAY, LOVE.

1.       Eat- Feast on the Word of God regularly. Maybe you haven’t fed consistently. Make a resolution- I want to feed on God’s word. Consistency is important. Job 23:12- “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”

Have a plan- if you aim at nothing, that’s what you will get. Have some goal, whatever it is. There are two types of study- the fast paced one and a detailed one. You need both.

Sometimes we just do it routinely and fulfil an obligation. But we want to get to know the person of Jesus through reading the word. Have a journal and record what God does in you.

2.       Pray: we are overwhelmed with need. Let’s pray- set aside some time to pray for the myriad needs before us.

Have a prayer list and pray through it. Pray with others, pray on your own. Get involved with the prayer meetings, life groups, etc.

3.       Love: We all lead busy lives- dead lines, travel, etc. but make some time to connect with people and express some love to each other. The greatest thing is love. It means investment of time, energy, money, etc. take time out and invest into someone at work or your neighbourhood.

We need to remind ourselves of who we are.  Ephesians 3:1, 10- have you been entrusted with a secret? How do you feel when that happens? Paul was revealing a secret. Right till the time of Paul, God kept something from being revealed i.e. that the gentiles will participate in the salvation of Jesus.

God has chosen to make his mysteries known through the church. The church is the only institution that will survive death. When we love one another, it is God’s way of revealing the manifold wisdom of God to the world. So let’s leave the past behind, there is more in store for you.   

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.