Family Matters 3: Remember to forget: Forgiveness

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 4th of August 2013. 

This is part 3  of a series called Family Matters. What is the secret to loving much? being merciful and choosing to forget? How many times have we held on to petty hurts and made mountains out of molehills? Have you trapped yourself in the snare of  unforgiveness . Read and listen to this life changing message. 

To listen to the AUDIO please CLICK HERE

As we live life, one thing is guaranteed- 

we will have misunderstandings and let down others and be let down. A simple situation can cause a lot of discord. This happens in natural families and also in our spiritual family i.e. the church.

In the world, un-forgiveness is such a hindrance to relationships. Two sisters do not talk to each other for many years! A small hurt is magnified- making mountains out of mole hills. Have you met people like this? Maybe you are like this.

In Matthew 18:21, Peter who was always the spokesperson for the disciples asks a question. In that day you were expected to forgive 3 times. Peter thinks he is being magnanimous by doubling the number and adding one!  When Jesus says “not seven times, but 77 times”, the Pharisee will count till 77. But what Jesus means is- unlimited!

Jesus then tells a story- it’s called the parable of the unmerciful servant. The man owed an unimaginable sum of money. The point Jesus is making is that it was a huge un-payable amount. This is a picture of God and us in the context of forgiveness. We can never repay God for all the sins we have committed  and in our foolishness we thing that we can "pay it back" but God know that we can't.

In the same way the servant did not realize how much he owed and the depth or seriousness of his situation when he says, “I will pay back”. But the Master knowing his condition takes pity on him and cancels it.

This is what Jesus did on the cross. The Father has forgiven ALL our sins. We need a deep revelation of this or we will be like Simon the Leper who thought he was better than the woman who anointed Jesus.The other extreme is, we can become sin conscious. We need to avoid both and realize that it was finished on the cross. 

The servant very quickly forgot about the mercy shown to him and man-handles someone who in comparison owed him very little and throws him in jail. The master hears of this and throws this ungrateful servant into jail. This is how the Father will deal with us. Wow! This is serious.

There are 2 levels- we have no problem with the first i.e. receiving forgiveness but it’s the second one that we stumble upon.

 Friendships are based on love, but misunderstandings are settled when we forgive. Now how do we do this?

1.     Realize that God has forgiven us much. If we don’t know then we cannot forgive.

2.     When we are sinned against, we take offence- we are hurt and we can justify our hurt and change our behavior toward that person. We avoid that person. Forgiveness is to love and treat that person as though they have not hurt us. Humanly we cannot do this- we need the help of the Holy Spirit for this.

(Illustration- . The one where a man was tortured and many years later when he finds out who it was he chooses to forgive him. READHERE.http://assets.baptiststandard.com/archived/2001/11_26/pages/carrier.html 

The power of forgiveness is wonderful. We need to decide to forgive. It is not a natural human inclination. We want revenge. If we lived by our feelings, we’d be a mess.

And some say, “I’ll forgive, but I’ll never forget”. What does Jesus do? He remembers them no more.

Quote of Amy Carmichael-If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget," as though the God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

 God can remove the memory of those hurts when we choose to let go and refuse to remember.

Q. What if the persons sins against you again and again?

People are like porcupines which huddle together for warmth in the cold but they poke one another and move apart- they are in danger of freezing to death or learn to huddle without causing too much pain.

How do we cope? We need to learn to forgive.

HOW DO WE APPLY THIS?

Think of someone who has hurt you- we are called to bless them. Forgiveness is unilateral (Romans 5:8). Th is can be applies between husband and wife, parents and children, neighbours, friends, and in the church.

That person may not change- our forgiveness needs to be unconditional. If you feel someone has hurt you in church, how do you deal with it? – Matthew 18:15- “if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”

Often, we need to clarify because we could have misunderstood the situation- that can settle so many things. When we seek clarification, we need to ask in a humble posture. We need to practice this especially in the church.

In the church if you feel you have been hurt- keep short accounts and settle it quickly. Small or big, settle it. Satan loves to fuel a misunderstanding and drive it to an irreconcilable situation. As we apply Matthew 18:15, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32 and Mark 11:25 we learn to forgive.

Be real in your relationships. The person who lets you down should seek forgiveness and name the sin- “please forgive me for not picking you up, I let you down”. It’s taking responsibility. Our response should be ‘I forgive you’.  That’s when there is closure to the hurt.

We are not trying to be perfect. We will hurt and let each other down. But let’s be quick to settle it- forgive and release forgiveness. Then there will be so much love all around!

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.

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

  

   

The Word through you.

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 28th  of July 2013. 

This is not a usual preach. How many of us have ready a book of the Bible in one go? How many of done this in a Church context?

 The Bible in 1 Timothy does encourage us to "devote ourselves to the public reading of scripture". This Sunday this is exactly what we did - we read through 1 Timothy together and it took only 15 minutes!! You can listen to the audio by CLICKING HERE.

After that we had a few people share on what struck them  from the book and how they will apply it to their lives. Listen and be blessed.

 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.

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

Family Matters 2 - How should we treat one another?

Family Matters Part 2

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 14th of July 2013. 

The last two Sundays we looked at the positive and negative use of the tongue. Last week we focused on using our mouths to pray. This message starts with some super testimonies of answered prayer. Please listen and be encouraged to pray.

To listen to the AUDIO please CLICK HERE

HOW SHOULD WE TREAT ONE ANOTHER?

One of the best stories that demonstrate brotherly love is in Luke 10:25. The Pharisees were looking to trap Jesus with a question. Then Jesus asks about the greatest command to which the man replied. The man tries to justify himself by asking “Who is my neighbor?”

The parable is the reply Jesus gives. The parable of the Good Samaritan- On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho which 14 miles downhill and 4000 ft down wards. It was a dangerous road and there were bandits as well.

A man gets attacked- he was robbed and stripped and left to die. He survived, but was in desperate need for help. Then a man comes along- A priest. To be a priest in those days was a very special position. Only descendants of Aaron could be a priest and he represents God to man and vice versa. Yet this man who knew the law of God so well passed by on the other side and went away.

In verse 32, The Levite did the same thing. They were not Aaron’s descendants who knew the law well but he ignored this man. V. 33- But a Samaritan- Jews who were left behind after Babylon captured them. These Jews inter-married and so these were considered impure and not allowed to live with the Jews.

 But this outcast or enemy saw the plight of the man and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds and gave him oil and wine. He must have taken his own clothes and made bandages. He poured it on his wounds- he was generous with what he had.

Not only that, he put the man on his donkey and took him to an inn to be taken care of. He also nurses him at the inn- he was with him the whole day and night. The next day, he gave the Inn-keeper 2 silver coins which was sufficient to care for this man and offers even more. This is over-flowing abundant generosity.

Then Jesus asks- Which of these 3 was the neighbor? The expert of the law was caught out. Jesus then said, “Go and do likewise.”

Q. How do we take care of one another and of people outside?

The Good Samaritan is a picture of what Jesus did for us. 1 John 3:16-18 instructs us in this matter. We are celebrating Jesus dying for our sins but John is encouraging us to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

E.g.: If you are materially blessed, we need to have pity on those who are not, or else, how can the love of God be in you?

Titus 2:14- says the God’s people are ‘eager to do what is good’

Titus 3:8- says “those who have trusted in God maybe careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.”

When we hear a message like this, we think “I’ve got a need, how can they help me?” Always ask- MFON- My Faults, Other’s Needs because we can easily focus of other’s faults and my needs.

God has blessed us so much and more- salvation and so much more! So, look for ways to bless someone- maybe giving a lift to someone. Sometimes it means going an extra mile.

Visiting the sick- The least we can do is pray, message them, and make an effort to visit them.

Can we be hospitable? When we do this we demonstrate the love of Jesus. Matthew 25:35 says, “I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Often, it means denying yourself.

Let us take the example of the Good Samaritan and Jesus and lay down our lives to serve others and be a blessing. Abraham in Genesis 12 was promised to be a blessing to all nations. That is our portion as well. Imagine the whole church doing this- in whatever way you can. Let us be a people who love and serve one another. Amen!   

 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.

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

The powerful weapon called Prayer.

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 14th of July 2013. To listen to the AUDIO please CLICK HERE

Proverbs 18:21- “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit”.

The tongue has great power. The world was created with the spoken word. The tongue is involved in salvation. 

Last week we saw the negative effect when the tongue is used negatively.

But we can use the tongue to build up, to release God’s power into different situations. Today, I want to focus on the use of the tongue for prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17- Pray continually. Other versions say- without ceasing/ constantly. It’s a simple and specific command stating that praying is a way of life and a part of the church life.

What does God expect of us?

1.      Luke 11:

V.1- one day when Jesus was praying…

1. Prayer was a part of Jesus’ life. They saw Jesus do amazing things and they saw Jesus praying- they asked him to teach them how to pray. And  that is how we have the Lord’s Prayer which is really a framework.

·        Praise God first- Honor Him.

·        Pray for things Kingdom related

·        Ask God for your daily bread- ask that we are dependent on Him for everything

·        Seek forgiveness and acknowledge your weaknesses

·        Pray for help in temptation- the world, the flesh, the devil and the war against our souls

Then Jesus tells them a story to help them understand better. In v. 5, the friend asks boldly for bread at midnight. This is a parable of contrast. If your friend will oblige you, how much more will God!

 Jesus then goes on to ‘ask, seek and knock’- it’s a progression. So don’t just ask once but persevere.

Then he gives another comparison of the earthly father and Heavenly Father. Jesus is using contrast to the point of it being ridiculous. So how much more will the Father give! These parables are to build faith as what  God wants, is for us to be bold and persevering.

Do we have unanswered prayers?

So how should we pray? Often we pray ‘soft prayers’. That is not what we should do. God wants us to be impudent and shameless in our prayers.

Hebrews 5:7- Jesus practiced this-Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears. When is the last time you prayed like this?

V.7- ‘and He was heard’. We need to get out of our middle class properness.

Jesus at Gethsamene (Matt 26:38) - deep emotions being expressed, great anguish in prayer facedown. We need to change the way we pray and battle with intensity.

Q. What about unanswered prayer then? - Sometimes, it takes a long time, but don’t give up even when tempted to.

2   2.      Luke 18:1- Parable of contrast.

Jesus told them this so that they will always pray and not give up.

v. 3- widows in those days were poor and vulnerable. But she kept persisting. And in v. 4-5, finally, the unjust judge gives in to get rid of her.

v.7- but how much more God? In v.8, He asks, “will He find faith on the earth?” i.e. it takes faith to believe and keep praying. Maybe you know someone unsaved, sick, in bad financial situations, relationships, jobs, etc. Pray and do not give up.

    3.   Acts 10:3- Cornelius was not a Jew but was God-fearing. But one day things changed- he had a vision that changed everything. Peter has a vision simultaneously.

Till this time the gospel is only shared with the Jews, but through this event Cornelius and his whole family are saved. In v. 44-47- this is the first of the gentiles coming to salvation and this opens the doorway for millions of us.

Pray persistently for that ‘one day’ to happen in your life.

  Mark 1:35- Jesus prayed early in the morning. As we ask, seek and knock- thing will begin to happen. 

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.

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

A Journey of faith - Part 4

Part 4 - concluding Part

This June we celebrated 10 years of God's faithfulness to us at Word of Grace. We are in awe at what the Lord has done and how HE has sustained us thus far. 

Here is the final  part of the script of what was shared at our celebratory evening. ( I have added a little more detail here to make it more understandable). As you read it, my prayer is that you will have faith for your situation, to know that in this journey of faith, you NEVER walk alone. If you are a pastor, or involved in a church plant, I hope this  post will be a special blessing to you because this is a story of a BIG FAITHFUL GOD who never lets us down. To connect with all the parts click on label below titled " Journey of Faith".
or To connect with PART 1 of the story, click here and for  PART 2 , click here. and PART 3

The tide is turning.

We had just entered our 7^th year of being in Pune. Slowly we began to see a more stable group emerge – the outflow had decreased and the group was getting more cohesive. As we had prayed we started to see more local people  join the church and that was a good sign. Was the tide beginning to turn at last?

Just like Ancient Egypt had 7 years plenty followed by 7 years of famine, our 7 years of famine came to an end.  This was confirmed by a prophetic word brought by Guy Miller at the Momentum Conference we had attended . We had already begun to see a stable group of about 40 emerge toward the end of 2009 . Guy also prophesied about Joseph being thrown into a pit and forgotten. That spoke straight into our hearts and situation. We  responded to that word ,were prayed for and felt a tremendous release. There were God given dreams and numerous prophecies over both Navaz  and I as we served over the years and we longed for their fulfillment.   At the conference, David Stroud who leads a Christ Church in London, spoke about a city church and the turnover of people that every city church experiences. It’s higher in more developed cities due to job mobility.  Having a 25-30% turnover in people is part of modern church life. We were encouraged no to fight the churn but to embrace it and aim to grow at a faster rate.

One of words over Navaz’s life was that God would use here much in the prophetic, in prophetic worship etc. After many years of having written  songs and they just staying in her journal, God gave her the ability to finally craft them into songs that are sung in our church today. This was one area that saw immediate release after this conference. Here is a sound byte where she shares her heart to raise and release musicians. CLICK HERE 

Over the last 10 years over 200 people have passed through WOG (and we have had more than 500 visitors come to us .) I’m not referring to just visitors but people who been with us for a while and then moved on.  Short time or long time, our calling is to love them, equip them and prepare them for what God has called them to and release them. Some of them are back with us while many have moved on.

This evening we have Stephen Parmar who is now in Mumbai and Mnason Patton who is now in Bangalore with us. Mnason was  a great help to the church and played a key role along with Vinoth (now in the UK) in building the church.

Here are a few VIDEO CLIP – SOUNDBBYTES  on what Word of Grace means to different ones in the church CLICK HERE to WATCH

Today .

Over the last year we have seen almost a 100% growth. From 25-30 the church has crossed 100 people.

A church is not a building but is people. A group of people who are passionate about Loving God, loving one another and on a mission to reach out to the world with the gospel.

Here is a short clip of Sravanthi Amloo – from Hyderabad. CLICK HERE TO WATCH 

Teams of servers

At this time I would like to recognize and acknowledge a special group of people who have

 
worked hard and have shouldered responsibility in the church for the past few years. Some have taken up responsibility a few months ago – right from set up to hospitality to serving the drinks to leading life groups. They have served, given and been loyal and bought into the vision of Word of Grace. The key word is carried responsibility.

As I call your name would you please come forward.

Sunny & Deepthi, Anand & Sailaja, Philip & Meher, Joyce, Jaya, Rakhi, Sravanthi, Austin, Jeevan.

Today we have new people on the worship team and new worship leaders being raised up, from just one Sunday school teacher we now have 6, from the serving team being just my family and maybe a couple more we have a whole vibrant army of over 30 people who serve wholeheartedly in different ways. We have much to thank God for!

 We are not only financially self sufficient but we give away money to various church plants, social projects and have even sent money to Kenya and Zimbabwe standing with our brother overseas . We are privileged to be a part of a wider body of Christ .

In addition to these there are 3 other people who are part of this core team. They are Navaz my darling wife who has stood with me these past 10 years in Pune. The Lord has provided me a wonderful partner who makes up for all my many weaknesses. She has carried the church with me right from day 1 and even before when we served in Living Word Church for 8 years. 

  When we moved to Pune with 6 month old Jessica, we would load up the car with the equipment, set up the hall, Navaz would lead worship, then breastfeed Jessica and then be involved in clear up. Thank you Navaz.

She has carried Sunday school, the worship team, set up our website, the bulletin, hospitality, pastoral issues, etc. etc. Wow – what a woman. I thank God for her.

Also our two children Andrew and Jessica have grown up in a church planting atmosphere. They have made many sacrifices  one of which is not having  friends of their age in the church. They have been fully involved in being part of a church plant. Andrew used to handle the OHP projector from the age of 7. From the age of 9 he played the bongos and then the drums.  Jessica too started handling the OHP at the age of 7 and then at the age of 9 she handled the DLP. She has trained other adults on how to use it.

All these today form the core group that serve and have taken on responsibility. I’d like you to put your hands together and honor them. You have served sacrificially and gone the extra mile.

This group is not exclusive. It’s functional. It’s made up of those who not only serve but who take on responsibility. In time we’d like to see many more people become part of this core group as more people take on responsibility.

Apart from this core group there is a large number of people who sacrificially serve in the church. And I am thankful to you. The set up team comes in at 8.30 on Sundays, there are others who serve cold drinks, serve us ushers, count the offering, serve on Sunday school, etc.

Here is a clip of our Serving Team in action CLICK HERE TO WATCH 

If you have served in any capacity would you please stand.     

I thank you for your service.

Meher Lazarus is an excellent English Teacher with St. Helena’s and as her name implies she is from a Parsi and a Roman Catholic background. Here’s a little clip on her impressions of WoG. CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Philip & Meher came to know Jesus, were baptized and joined WOG 3 years ago. They have a great heart for hospitality and have opened their hearts and their homes to visitors and church members.

There is one person we are very grateful to God for i.e Ryan for giving us this hall for the last 10 years. He has been our man of peace who has been a blessing to the church.

Jesus came to seek and serve the lost and to give his life as a ransom for many. At Word of Grace our desire is to imitate our Savior. We want to be people who seek servanthood not titles.

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here. A friend (who is not a Christian) said this to me recently. Colin, your wasting your time in this country. Go abroad. You will have a better live. This place is so corrupt. I told him. I have a great life here. The reason I am in this country is because it is corrupt. Only the gospel will change the nation. If the gospel had not come to India a couple of hundred years we would still be in the dark ages. “ Only when Jesus is accepted as Savior and Lord will India be transformed. Our mission is the one Jesus outlined 2000 years ago. Love God. Love People.  Love the Lost. Preach the gospel.  His last command must be our first priority – Go and make disciples of all nations.

 Our goal at WOG is to make disciples who make disciples. Enjoying God. Making Friends and Changing Lives. As John Wesley said “The world is my parish! “and we want to see the Kingdom of God come here in Pune and also be involved in taking the gospel to regions beyond. There is a lot to do and we are excited about this next phase God is taking us into.

What are some of the things we are so thankful to a faithful God for?

• ·        Sustaining us over these last 10 years – His grace has given us the strength to perseveres through 7 years of hardship, drought, hostility, betrayal and loneliness.
• ·        Providing for us financial through our business ventures.
• ·        For men and women that God sent from time to time to encourage us
• ·        Despite the hardships we saw souls saved and many get baptized.
• ·        The turnaround in 2010 where we started the year with about 40 people but closed the year with 105!
• ·        We have gone from one Life Group to 3 with an average of 40-50 people attending it.
• ·        Musicians we have raised up and given away.
• ·        Increase in the church finance by 40%
• ·        Many leaders we have raised up and given away.
• ·        For a new team of serving leaders of 13!
• ·        InDepth Discipleship program that saw its first batch of 13 graduate and a new batch of 20 that have registered.
• ·        Sunday school teachers – from 1 to now having 6 teachers!
• ·        Serving teams of about 35 people who serve joyfully.

·        For the many songs Navaz has written to bless the church and that are sung regularly in our midst. You can listen to the songs by clicking on the link.
 CLICK HERE 

·        For great friends in the neighborhood who have been like an oasis in the dessert.

·        For many, many answers to prayer right from praying for barren wombs to become fruitful , to jobs being released, to the sale and purchase of homes, to the cough and cold being healed.

·        The list could go on and on…

Celebrating 10 years is a milestone on a journey that has only just begun. Greater things are yet to come. We all have a part to play.  We are ever thankful to a faithful God. Amen.

 I end with a clip on me stating our vision as Word Of Grace
CLICK HERE TO WATCH

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.

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