Setting Worthy Goals as a Church

  This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 12th 2025 by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

Setting worthy goals as a church

Last week, Colin encouraged us to set worthy goals from the passage of Philippians 1 which includes our personal goals – developing humility, growing in spiritual maturity, striving for holiness. Today we will look at some of the corporate goals that we need to set as the body of Christ. 

Why do we need to set corporate goals? 

When the New Testament refers to church, in 80% of the cases it is talking about a local church. We have this idea that the “church” is this abstract amalgamation of all believers from all times, but when Paul or Peter or Luke talk about the church, they are referring to the church in Ephesus, the church in Philippi, the church that meets in someone’s house… it is not either or, but it is focused on the local with a vision of the global and eternal. We are born on our own, but we are born into a family just as in the natural. This family that we are born into is the church. The church is not an organisation, it’s a spiritual body – it is the fellowship of the redeemed. Romans 12:5 “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

We need the local church in order to obey Jesus. Both the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-39 “7 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”) and the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”) are rooted in a place. In fact, the promise is that when the holy spirit comes upon us, we will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  

You and I are here by design to meet the purposes of God in this place and time. So as we step into this new year, let’s look at what is the role of the this church in this place and how do we set ourselves up to obey God. 

Q. What are some of the new year’s resolutions you’ve ever set that have actually stuck? When you reflect on it, what is the difference between the resolutions that stick v. the ones that don’t? Illustrations of gym or eating healthy, etc. 

• Commitment 

• Custom 

• Compelling vision 

1. Commitment. 

Q. What is Jesus committed to? 

Matt 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Q. What do we need to be committed to? 

Acts 2: 42- 45 – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

So there were some things that the believers were committed to (devoted to) – to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to prayer, to giving- and they did all this in the context of a community.  

a. Apostle’s teaching – not just doing our bible reading in our personal devotion, but corporately. Do we come expecting God to speak to us through the word each Sunday, or do we go searching online for whoever the latest or most favourite preachers? 

b. fellowship – not just friendship but an intentional togetherness. Illustration – fellowship of the rings. It is coming together for a purpose - for mutual edification. Ephesians 4: 15-16 “speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and help together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” 

c. prayer – most underused gift of the church is corporate prayer.

d. giving – tithes and offerings belong in the local church first. Giving is beyond this – it is giving of your time, resources, meeting the needs in the church. Many times, the needs are not monetary. Are we a generous community? 

2. Custom – our commitments need to turn into custom 

just saying we are committed to something is not enough. the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Jesus and the disciples had certain customs:

Luke 4: 16 “And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.”

Luke 22:39 “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him” (prayer) 

Acts 17: 1-2 “7 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,”

Acts 2: 46-47 “ 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people”

Q. What are some of our customs? 

Is attending church on a Sunday a custom, it is something that is non-negotiable? Is prayer a custom? Lets look at how to turn our commitments into customs. 

A commitment requires good intention, but a custom requires good planning. Illustrations - how can we make it to church on time/ be there for corporate prayer. 

3. Compelling vision:

Q. What is Jesus’ vision for the church? 

Ephesians 5: 25-27 “25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”

Revelation 21: 2-4 “ 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

Q. What is our vision? 

Colin will tell us next week. 

But it has to do with being salt and light in this place. it has to do with loving God and loving our neighbours, it has to do with make disciples of the nations starting with NIBM, Undri, Pune and to the ends of the earth. In all this, we are the hands and feet of Christ. when God thinks about the darkness and evil that is prevalent in this area, his answer is, let me send word of grace church there. 

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. 

Get Committed Part 2

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 15 th 2023  by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

GET COMMITTED – PART 2

   We are going through a 6 part series on what it means to be committed to Word of Grace as your local church. Our vision, values and DNA are outlined in these sessions.

1.   Baptism in Water and the Holy Spirit – One of the first commands that Jesus gave His disciples was to go into all the world, preach and baptise. Baptism is an outward expression of what has happened inside of you. Jesus was baptised. Acts 2:38 – Three thousand people believed in Jesus and Peter’s first instruction is to get baptized. Baptism is by immersion. Some practice infant baptism and sprinkling. Baptism follows repentance. If you are not baptised by immersion you need to, if you have put your faith in Jesus.

 

2.  Baptism with the HolySpirit. When you believe the Holy Spirit is with you. You cannot believe in the Holy Spirit. The apostles were saved at the resurrection and yet Jesus asked them to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Spirit-filled. There is something called being filled with the Spirit and this changes you from being timid to bold like Peter. Before being baptised in the Holy Spirit he was afraid of a servant girl. After being baptized he was bold and spoke to 3000. Jesus baptizes us to the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it. In John Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God twice but five times He is referred to as the one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Then we are also called to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is an ongoing filling.  

Acts 8:17-18 - “Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” We can pray for you but Jesus baptises you. When this happens your life is transformed- you become an overcomer and grow in intimacy with Jesus.

  

3.  Prize the presence of God - Moses said to God in the book of Exodus that if your presence doesn’t go with us then we won’t go. What makes you different from any other gathering, a club etc? It is the presence of God. We always want that. Not only do we want the presence of God, but we want each one to play our part in bringing in the presence of God.

1 Cor 14:26- “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”

All of us have a role to play. We make room for people to share testimonies, to share on the breaking of bread, offering etc.  John7: Each one of us has the Holy Spirit and when we spend time with him, we will be bubbling up with something to share. Ask God to give you something to bless someone. When we all bring our gifts, it’ll be like a rich banquet.

 

4.  A loving community -

a.  It would be wonderful if we see great healings etc every Sunday. We want to see signs and wonders and we do pursue that. But the Bible says we can faith that moves mountains, but without love, it is nothing. We want to be loving, kind, and forgiving to one another. It is a key value. when someone comes to the meeting, we consider them valuable. Following Christ is in the community.

b.  Hospitality is very important in this. Have you been invited by someone for a meal here at Word of Grace? The Bible commands us to be hospitable.  It is not to invite your close friends and relatives only but to have strangers over. Make sure you’re eating with someone in the church. Out of 21 meals in a week, dedicate one meal to eat with your brothers and sisters, to build your relationship with a stranger. Jesus ate a lot with all kinds of people. When Jesus rose from the dead, what did Jesus do? He cooked breakfast for His disciples!  The last supper happened in a home. Eating with people who are not from similar backgrounds, is powerful. When we eat together, we are saying I accept you. Even singles can be hospitable. When I was 17 years old I had many families over for a meal when I was a student in Cyprus. Yes, it will cost you.

c.  Part of being a loving community is to meet one another’s needs. During the pandemic, we took collections in the gym groups to help those who lost their jobs etc.  When we all do a little, God multiplies it. Don’t hoard, give away to someone in need.

d.  Building relationships: people don’t generally leave churches because of theology; it is because of offence. They are offended because someone did something or they think someone has offended them. Taking offenceis a trap. We need to build authentic relationships, where we can speak the truth in love. It is good to clear things up because it could be an imagined offence. Seek clarity. Navaz has put together a teaching on relational dynamics. We teach about conflict and how to resolve it. Conflict is over an issue; strife is when you attack the person. So, we want to express love in every way.

 

5.  A church where biblicalfamily life is valued:  Family is important. Today even amongst Christians, family is not valued, and many singles are not interested in marriage! We have a teaching on how to biblically navigatemarriage, parenting, etc. godly families are powerful. In some churches, it’s all about families, and in some churches, it’s all about singles. Both are important. We want to be a multi-generational church where all are valued and can play their part.

 

6.  Serving: Everyone wants to be a CEO. But Jesus ushered in an upside kingdom. Jesus came not as a king but as a servant. If anyone wants to be great, He must be the servant of all! At Word of Grace everyone serves. We expect that everyone serves in some way or another. It’s not like coming to a restaurant. Some people come to church expecting to be served at a restaurant. But a church is like a family get-together. Everyone helps with setting up, clearing up, etc. that is what Word of Grace is. That’s what it means to be part of the family.

 

 7.  A church led by male elders confirmed and recognized and ordained by the Apostolic ministry but has a leadership team consisting of women. There are different kinds of leaders and people who lead different teams. We have men and women who carry great responsibility.  We are not a one-man leadership. We value the team. There are many gifts in this room, and we want to discover, develop and deploy them effectively. Mark 3:14 it says that Jesus called all those whom he desired so that they might be with him, and be given authority to preach, heal and cast out demons. So, we have discipleship groups. We gather to Jesus and one another. We start with being and then we do. The disciples left everything to be with Jesus. Those on the leadership team have made great sacrifices to be discipled. They paid the price to grow in their knowledge of God and to serve one another.

 

8.  A church great in generosity, influence and action. We believe in giving. There is enough money to do all that God has called us to. But that money is in your pocket and we need to be faithful in giving. One of our values is giving our tithes and offerings to the local church. As you do that you also are blessed. We give away a lot to support other works, social projects and those in need.

 9.  A church involved in serving and empowering the poor: In Galatians, Paul writes to remember the poor. There are so many poor in our nation, and we want to be a blessing to the poor in our nation. There are projects were involved in and will continue to do.

10.             A church which embraces the one new man across gender, race, language, generation etc. We are all one in Christ. Let’s not get cliquish based on ethnicity, age, language etc.

11.             A church committed to excellent relationships between local churches and communities. We are one local church in the city. We want to participate and collaborate with other local churches in the city. We are together advancing the Kingdom of God. We bless them and honour them.

12.             Connected to a family of churches across the world: we belong to a big family called Regions Beyond. Together we are able to advance the gospel throughout the world.

 

This is a short description of who we are. The invitation is this - like a soldier, who needs to get trained. No pain, no gain. will you get committed? There is a sacrifice. It requires each one of us to get committed. We will fight with spiritual weapons of praying to fast and preaching the gospel. We are here for such a time as this. We can’t just be concerned with enjoying life.  Or can you imagine soldiers on the same side fighting and killing each other? That is what we do when we get offended by the body of Christ and slander one another.

 Let us commit ourselves to the body of Christ. Heb 13 says Hebrews says to obey your leaders. So, when your leader calls for prayer as far as possible be there. That is the meaning of obedience.

 So what can we do? We get committed to the local church.

   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.  

Staying Committed To Your Calling

This message was preached by  Navaz D at Word of Grace Church on January 19th, 2020 To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the worship please click here

INTRODUCTION

We have entered a new year and a new decade. It is a good time to reflect, review and refresh or revive our dreams and plan our road map for the next 10 years.

Do you have a goal in your life? Or does your life look like this – Eat sleep work, eat sleep work, eat sleep work…?

At the beginning of 2019, we asked ourselves what will the future say about us. What commentary did Dec 2019 have on Jan 2019? What changed or what growth happened in the months between Jan –Dec 2019?

God has a destiny over each of our lives. We need to remind ourselves of this truth so that we do not drift but grab hold of our calling.

TEXT

2 Tim 1:5-6 Paul encourages Timothy:   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.⁶ For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

I am not going to do an exegeses this text but am going to share around this theme of a gift/calling God has placed inside you.

This fanning in flame requires commitment. You have to take a hold of that for which Christ took hold for you. You see the purpose in that statement.

What is the “that for which Christ took a hold of you” in your life?

SOME THOUGHTS

Calling is not about a pulpit ministry. It is about being Christ’s ambassadors in the world wherever we are. It is about being an apostolic people. What is that you might ask?

 Apostle is not a biblical term but a common day Greek term, which means Ambassador.

In the same way, we are Christ's apostles or ambassadors. Wherever we go, we are to be the aroma of Christ. Salt and light. Salt and light are useless gathered on a Sunday, if that is all it does.

Light is supposed to shine in darkness not where there is light already.

 Salt is needed where there is no salt. We bring influence and the wisdom of God to the world.

So what is the “want to” in your life? Do you have a ‘want to’ that drives you, that makes you wake up each day?

In life we go through many cycles of ups and downs but each cycle ought to be in an upward direction. Those crises points could be God’s pruning- he is cutting off things that are not bearing fruit in our life.

In order to fulfill our calling we have to do something. It will not happen by magic. It is not God’s responsibility to make it happen. We have to partner with HIM.

Curved balls may come at you but you have to take a swing at it or it can knock you down.

Some sit like victims and feel powerless. An indicator that you have a victim mindset is when you say things like:

“I can’t help it”,

“It’s all happening only to me”,

“Why me?”

“What have I done to deserve this”?

“No one is helping me”.

“I’m all alone “.

“They did this to me”.

 Victims do not take responsibility therefore cannot change the atmosphere around them because they do not believe they have the solution.

We are going to look at 2 people today who could have fallen into this trap and no one would have blamed them if they did. But they did not.

The two people I am talking about are Joseph and Paul.

They had a choice before them – to sink under the weight of circumstances and injustice or to rise above it.

If you wait for circumstance to be perfect before you start pursuing anything or going after our calling, you will be waiting forever.

“If you can’t flourish in the fire, you won’t flourish at all” T D Jakes.

If you have understood your calling, and are committed to it; it will begin to reflect in the choices you make.

Dreams do not just happen. Neither do they happen overnight, they happen over time! Someone said overnight success takes 20 years!!

. He saw himself as a prince. But he landed up becoming a prisoner and slave for about 13 years!!! Do you have what it takes to hold on for over a decade, to a dream when life is completely in the opposite direction?

Are the choices you are making just for that moment or keeping in mind your long-term plan.

Fulling your calling requires character. Character is displayed in, commitment, consistency, and communion

1.    Commitment – Luke 16:10-12 . ¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Another word for it is stewardship. Some of us hold out on our commitment when we have to serve under someone else. It takes character to serve someone else’s vision well.

Joseph served Potiphar faithfully.

Joseph could have given up and just existed and given in to a victim mentality. He was victimized, but he did not think like a victim.

Joseph true to his character stays committed even in crises. He serves faithfully in circumstances contrary to his calling.

 2. Consistent –Joseph was consistent in his character. He rose to be in charge of the other inmates. What does this tell you? Circumstances did not dictate or shape his responses. He served faithfully in the prison, therefore got promoted to the palace.

 Had Joseph decided not to interpret the butler’s dream do you think Pharaoh would have heard of him? Joseph would have died in the dungeon, unknown and forgotten.

Remember in God’s kingdom, nothing is ever wasted. No pain or trials is ever wasted.

 Do circumstances dictate your consistency, your commitment?

Consistency is an internal default position

  Do you have the stamina for the long haul?

There is a sowing and reaping. Grace does give us what we don’t deserve. Even the reaping is a grace gift. But if you have not sown how do you expect to reap?

  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. GAL 6:7-10

Paul was tested in this. Far from it. These are the words penned by a man in prison.  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Ephsians 3:1

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Eph 3:20

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ⁹ and be found in him Phil 3:7-9

God will only entrust the treasures of his kingdom to the faithful.

Our lack of consistency causes our calling to fall away or us not reaching our full potential.

3 Communion – Last but not the least by any long shot . Joseph maintained his communion with God. 

He never forgot what he learned in his father’s house. He could have said I am in a strange land with its own cultural norms and he could have changed his convictions to match the circumstances.

I believe this came from a quiet strong faith and communion with God. IT says in Gen 39:21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

It is his ongoing communion with God, that helped him interpret the baker’s dream, the butler’s dreams; and then the Pharaoh’s dream.

God-given wisdom helped him plan for the famine and God shaped character enabled him to forgive his brothers and have a right perspective to all that happened in his life.

Without God we are nothing. We need that daily communion with Jesus because part from him we cannot produce lasting fruit.

CONCLUSION

Paul had to endure many hardships, beatings, shipwrecks, and prison. Had Paul while being in prison given into feeling sorry for himself or being a victim we would not have his letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and to Philemon. What a loss that would have been!

Reflection

What is God putting his finger on today? Do you have the courage to rededicate yourself? What has God called you to do in your career, in your Christian calling, in your role as child or parent or spouse?

Are you willing to fight for your calling?

·       Some of you have given up or given into thinking like a victim.

• ·       Some of us need to renew our minds but a negative thought cycle or pattern.
• ·       Some of us need a strong “want to” that drives us to stay committed to our calling.
• ·       Some of us need to learn to say no to somethings in order to say YES to the right things.
• ·       Some of us have been plain lazy
• ·       Some of us have to burn some bridges and attachments to wrong ways of thinking, behavior, ways of relating to circumstances, for some even relationships!!
• ·       Some of us have to work on our consistency because we are too dictated by our feelings.
•  Some have had goals and have done really well last year. Well done!

What are you willing to sacrifice in order to co labour with God to make your calling come to pass

Whichever the category you are in, God’s grace is available for a fresh start.

Let’s be Christ's apostolic people who will be committed to our calling and be world changers!

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.