Vision 13/30- The nuts and bolts Part 6

Part 6

This message was preached by 

 Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace church on the 10th of March 2013. You can download the audio mp3 by clicking here.

Today we are going to look at  the 6^th thing we need to do individually and corporately  to make our vision of 13/30 happen. One of the key things that needs to be addressed in the church today is obedience.

 The problem with the average Christian and the church is disobedience. Today I want to address this issue- obedience to the Word of God and surrender to His will. We saw this come through the worship and Sunny’s prayer this morning too.

Obedience is the hinge on which all the commands of the Bible rests.

Matt 21:28 Is about a story of two sons; one who obeys and one who does not. There are two kinds of people – sinners and the religious people. The religious people paid lip service to the Word of God, whereas the tax collector repented and turned around. God wants us to grow in obedience. Today obeying God’s word is confused with legalism. We confuse grace with license to sin.

Legalism is striving to earn God’s love through going good work. You can’t earn his love. Its agape love, not dependent on what we are but because he loves us. Read Romans 5:8 – Graces loves unconditionally.

Where does obedience come in then? It’s about us loving God. 

John 14:15  “If you love me, keep my commands.”

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.

John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

It is crystal clear here. Word are easy but actions are harder. This is not legalism but a demonstration that we love Jesus.

Titus 2:11-14 describes what Grace is .  For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. “ As we are filled with the grace of God we can live self controlled lives. He gives us the ability to change and not be lazy.

 Therefore discipline and  grace go hand in hand.

Luther who was so strong on grace said “ We are saved by faith alone but faith that saves is never alone”

Faith and works – the faith that saves works.

1 Jn 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. ⁴ Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Over and over again in scripture the proof of our belonging to Jesus is a transformed life.

Abraham  was an amazing man. There was quick obedience in his life. He moved from Ur to Haraan and then to Cannan. Ur was the cradle of civilization. The equivalent today would be asking you to move from London or New York or Mumbai and go to a small town or village. But Abraham did it. In Genesis 17:10,23  God asks this 90 year old to get circumcised  along with his household.  Imagine that! Abraham obeyed  immediately “on that very day…”

Gen 22:3 God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son. There was no waiting , debating. “Early the next morning “ v.15

James 1:22-25  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Jesus is our perfect model. He is not asking us to do something he has not already done. He was obedient to the point of death. Let’s get hold of this attitude of Jesus.

What is God speaking to you this morning? Maybe you have put your faith in Jesus. Maybe you have trusted in him and you need to get baptized.

Maybe it’s a sin, or struggling with loving, submission, giving etc

What motivates our obedience?

Matt 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When he commands we better obey. Rom 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

How do we do this?

1.      When we hear God we ought to obey. Maturity comes through obedience. Luke 11:27-28

Firstly we need to hear the Word of God daily in our Quiet Time. Write out a verse or two in your journal. Re write it in your words and then write down “ I will….” i.e what you will do/put into practice. Do this every time you encounter the Word of God. What will you do with the WORD this morning?

2.      Share it with someone

3.      Actually obey what you have read.

If you do this for the rest of your Christian life I guarantee you,  you will grow to maturity. Once ounce of obedience is far better than a ton of knowledge.

The Church is full of people who are full of knowledge but very little obedience. Remember we are not trying  to earn God’s love but demonstrating our love from HIM through our obedience.

Urban Voice Part 2

Part 2

 This message was preached by Steve Oliver at the Region Beyond gathering of churches in Mumbai March 2013

PART 2

This story of Jonah is not about a big fish, it is about a big God. The cities of the world are filled with needy people, Godless people. God commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh to take God’s message to them. 

We too are a commissioned people. Jesus said, preach the Good News to all nations so everyone will come to know. This is our commission.

Now Jonah gets this commission and runs the other way. A majority of the churches are doing the same thing. 

So to answer the question we asked at the beginning- “Why did Jonah run?’.

There are four main reasons.

1.      He did not understand the heart of God for cities: If he did, he would have said, “I see it. I will go!” We need to get God’s view of the cities. The darker the city, in terms of sin, the more powerful the Gospel is, because the Gospel turns the cities upside down. This should encourage us. We can go anywhere and preach the Gospel with expectation.

2.      As these were not his people: The people of Nineveh were of a different culture, they were not Israelites, they were Assyrians, they were crude and shameless, etc. and Jonah says- ‘NO WAY!’ Now everyone presumes that his/her culture is the best in the world. But a lack of understanding of our culture will stop us from taking the Gospel to places. Father God sent His son to gather people together to become a totally different culture- to be a kingdom people. When we see the heart of God for cities, we can ignore our own culture and see beyond to see the good things in other cultures- to be one new man in Jesus Christ!

3.      Fear of leaving what he was used to: Fear has a way of crippling us. We can get caught up in our culture and fear engaging with new people. In this way, we end up holding ground, instead of taking ground till Jesus Christ comes back.

4.      He had a lack of reproductive grace: Just like the Ninevites, Jonah was also rescued from an unholy life. But instead of realizing that, he looked at the Ninevites as someone who deserves God’s wrath. We should realize that we are rescued people and that it is our responsibility to rescue others. We have received grace so that we can show grace. If we have freely received, we need to freely give.

Matthew 18: 21-35- the parable of the King and an unforgiving Debtor .These things held Jonah back.

God’s heart for the cities:

Jonah gets so cross with God for protecting the people of Nineveh, but God’s heart for the city is revealed in the end when God says, “and should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left- and much livestock?”

When Jesus saw the hardness of the hearts of Jerusalem, he wept. God seized Nineveh in their lost state. He has compassion on them. That is God’s heart. We are here today because God reached out to you, saved you and now, he wants that you see with His eyes. We need to be a voice to our city and for that we need to ask God, “Give me eyes, that are Your eyes. Give me ears that are Your ears. Give me a heart that is Your heart!” God never stops, so we can’t either. Come with me to the cities of the world- to Bujumbura, to Sri Lanka, to Malaysia, to Lahore. How can we not go to the cities, knowing that one day the heaven will open and Jesus Christ will come?

                  

Urban Voice : Loving the city - Part 1

This message was delivered by Steve Oliver on the March 3, 2013, in Mumbai.  

This message is about being a voice in your city which comes with cultivating a love for the city you live in. We are not placed there by chance. God places us there to influence that place.

Now, Jonah is the story of a man whom God raised up. Today, I want to explain to you what God’s heart is for the cities. Jonah lived 800 years before Jesus and was raised up as a prophet to go to the nations.

The story starts with God Almighty, calling to His servant, in Jonah 1: 1-2, to “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”, but the response was that “Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. ”(v. 3)

Why did he run away?

Jonah gets onto a boat to Joppa and goes in the opposite direction. So, God sends a big storm. How often does God do that to get our attention? But the storm was about to break up the ship. Then Jonah tell the mariners in verse 12, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

As the mariners throw him into the sea, God saves Jonah by sending a great fish that swallows him. He is inside this whale. This is not just a story, it is true; because God commands everything.

In Jonah 2, we see that, inside the whale, Jonah cries out to God.  “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.” When we cry out to God, He listens. Every time you speak to Him, you have His fullest attention. He hears you. When Jonah cries out, God says- “spit him out!” What an amazing story!

In Jonah 3, God asks Jonah a second time- “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” This time he goes. He has learnt his lesson. He went into the city and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The King of Nineveh hears this message regarding the anger of God with the city and did as God commanded them to do. Then, in verse 10 ‘God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.’   

What we are starting to see in Jonah 4 is that Jonah’s heart for the city was different from God’s heart. God teaches him. He explains to Jonah, His heart for the city of Nineveh in Jonah 4:11 where He calls it “THAT GREAT CITY”. God brought you to the city that you are in because He wants to put in our hearts a love for the city. God is a God of nations and wants to fill the whole world with His glory.

About cities- where do they come from?

-Some truths to understand God’s heart

The Gospel loves cities. But cities were not always around. The first city which came into existence was before Jesus’ time. Rome had over a million people. For the first time, because of a strong army, such a large number of people were able to live within the same borders. For this reason, people from all over went there. But with all the different people, different religions, idol worship, different cultures also came.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is tailor-made for cities. 400 years after Jesus, more than half the people in the major cities of the world were disciples of Jesus Christ. When the gospel comes to cities, it is like a wild fire. When the Romans established cities, they divided it into different sections and allocated them to different kinds of people. This was done so that the strong do not oppress the weak. But, when the gospel came, it went right through the city and for the first time in history, everyone was following the same God. It cannot be contained, because at its heart is a God who loves cities.

The leader of Rome- Caesar, Juliannus, gathered the whole city leaders in the Roman Senate and said about the church- “These religious Galileans! They are not only feeding their own poor, but also our poor!” the church of Jesus Christ turned the city of Rome upside down. This is what God wants to do with all the cities. This time (of Rome as a city) was chosen by God as a time for His son to live and be crucified so that the gospel would come and sweep through the city.

Who knows what God has in store for us in the future? We have been raised for such a time as this. It is not about Dubai or Mumbai or Chennai. It is about the cities of the world! The call on your life today is to change the cities of the world. Nothing is impossible for God and God is looking for us to become a voice to our city. We need to love our cities. The love of God is for the people of the world and most people of the world live in cities, so it is important that we love our cities. Jonah did not have that love. Are you willing to ask for this now?

Vision 2013 Part5 the nuts and bolts of 13/30

Part 5 Love each other

This message was preached at Word of Grace church  on the 24th of Feb 2013 by Colin D Cruz. You can listen of download the mp3 by clicking here.

A vision with no nuts and bolts is like all the beautiful pieces of a car not having been put together so as to function as a car . It will just be pieces that go no where.

This is not rocket science, not is this  some hi fi strategy for church growth, but its the most powerful and the greatest of all.  How do you know a sermon is good?. Its good when it has an impact and changes people. After the Sunday meeting , later in the evening,  several people put this word into practice in different ways. The message is simple, but powerful and life transforming. Read on...

What is better than raising the dead? Last week we went through the first 4 biblical values we hold dear viz. Private worship, Public worship, giving and small groups.

At first I thought I would do the balance 4 today, then I felt maybe 2 but then I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to do just one. So we will look at the 5^th one today.

 Love one another. 

1 Cor.13 says love is the highest and the grates of all. We are nothing and gain nothing if we do not have love. 1Jn 4:4 says that God is love. Why is this important? It’s not God loves us but God IS love. It is his very nature.

Matt 22:36-39 “Love the Lord your God” is then closely follow by “love one another”

Jn 13:34-35  the test and proof that you are truly a disciple is that you love one another. Your gifts don’t mark you as a disciple of Jesus, your love does.

1Jn 3:11, 1 Jn 4:20 you cannot love God and hate your brother. Love is important because God is love and it’s a proof that we are his disciples.

God loves us not because we are good but because He is love. We find some people difficult to love because they have faults, just like you and me. People let you down, people sometimes only take and do not give.

What does God do?

Jn 5:12 Love each other as I have loved you. How did Jesus love you?

Rom 5:8 gives us the standard of Jesus love – He laid down His life for us. We need to love people in spite of their weaknesses.

How do we demonstrate unconditional love?

 Word of Grace is good at loving people. But let us remind ourselves of a few ways we can express love. Here are some ways.

1.    Greet warmly- we need to love and lay down our lives. We need to take the initiative in greeting people. Greet warmly in culturally appropriate ways.

2.    Showing love – “smile, it improves your face value!”the no.1 disease in the world today is loneliness. We need to demonstrate love by having open homes.

3.    Eating together- hospitality is a great way of demonstrating love.

4.    Sick- visit the sick lay hands on them and pray for them. It’s a great way to express love.

5.    Remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Wish them and pray for them.

6.    Serving people in whatever way possible. See where there is a need- don’t wait to be asked.

7.    Partnering in God’s work – working together to reach the lost.

8.    Having fun times – Living life together. WE need to engage with the Church and the world in fun things. We are supposed to have life to the full.

9.    Love is being gentle with one another – we respect and give honour where it is due. Teach our children to greet people.

10.Loves also means correction- but this should be done in gentleness  “Teach, admonish one another” this can happen when the relationships matures.

11.Teaching the word of God.

12.We express that we miss someone. Find out why someone has not come to church and express concern and love.

13.Affirm and appreciate one another. Every morning there is a team that works hard at set up- lets appreciate them. Think of whom you can affirm.

Part of our vision is that each one grows in loving one another. Will you be a more loving person? Rom 5:5 is how this happens.

As we worshiped his love has been poured out into our hearts- lets take it and give it to the hungry and thirsty world out there ! Amen!

Vision 2013 Part 4 the nuts and bolts of 13/30

Part 4

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 10th of Feb2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here

Our vision for 2013 is that God is glorified. How does this happen? 


This happens when people come to know Jesus- God’s glory comes on these people and it spreads and fills the earth.

That is our vision – but knowing it is not enough. WE need to do it. Our aim is 30 groups that will in turn multiply. But it’s not enough to know the destination; we need to prepare for it adequately. The IPL is at hand. The cricketers are preparing for it. What are they doing? They are going through all kinds of training; they are mastering the basic strokes. In the same way we need to master some basic strokes.

There are 8 things we need to do individually and corporately.

1 Personal worship – Mk1:35 “very early… while it was still dark” Jesus set the example. 1Cor 1:9 “called you into fellowship” Following Jesus is about having a relation with him. This is a non negotiable foundation. We need to spend time with God on a daily basis with Him. Acts 19:13 the 7 brothers of Sceva did not have a relationship with Jesus. Maintaining a Journal during your quiet time is helpful. Write down your prayer needs and see them being answered one by one. You can record your walk with God.

2. Public Worship Our Christian faith is a personal faith. I cannot rely on the faith of my parents. But it is not a private faith either. God is our father and the other Christians our brothers and sisters. 1Pet 2:5 “built into a spiritual house..” We come together to offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. Acts 2:46 they met together Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together.

Meeting together is important 1 Cor. 5:4 “when you are assembled” Make Sunday morning a non negotiable in your life. This should come out of a hear desire (Matt 6:21) not of out of rules or law. It’s not “I must go” but “I want to go”

3. Giving – In the Old Testament the Jews gave a tithe i.e Ten percent. In the New Testament it’s not mentioned as a tithe though Jesus upheld the tithe. In the New Testament it’s about sacrificial, generous giving. Acts 4:34 there were no needy persons. 1Cor 16:2 what was the tithe used for? It is used to pay salaries, hire of facilities, buying equipment and funding mission/church plants. As I have said before, the tithe largely should go to the local church where you are being fed. You don't eat at Pizza Hut and pay at Mc Donalds, do you? In the same way the lions share of the tithe should go to the church you are now attending. And by all means bless other Christian work and mission.

In the New Testament it says we should give regularly and proportionately. 1 Cor. 9:14. PJ Smyth says In the O. T you were expected to give 10% in the N. T it is grace.

There is a great promise – as we sow,  we will reap generously.

4. Small groups

The early Christians met in the temple courts and in people’s homes. Acts 2:46 Paul’s letters were addressed to the Churches that met in people’s home. The large gathering is great but it’s the small groups that allows for heart to heart fellowship.

In order to go forward in the vision we need to connect together – to fellowship, to study God’s word together, share your needs, prayer for each other.

As you do this you will see God beginning to use you and you will flourish.

Let’s bring glory to Jesus. He has made it simple for us. As we follow through, with this life will become fruitful.

Joyce, Austin, Lysaya  are meeting with their friends in a park and sharing the gospel. They have started putting the vision into practice.

As we do these 4 things we will see much success in our spiritual life.

We will look at the other 4 the next week.
God bless.

The Call and the Challenge to the Vision. Part 3

Part 3 - The call and the challenge.

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 10th of Feb2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here.

John 11

This morning God has been speaking to us amazingly to prophecy, scripture readings. I ‘d like to dwell on that a bit before we see how our vision of 13/30 will be worked out

This story is about Lazarus. He had two sister Martha and Mary who were good friends of Jesus. Lazarus fell very ill while Jesus was away in another town. They sent word to Jesus about Lazarus’s condition because they knew that Jesus had healed many people from all kinds of disease. Jesus got the message in time but did not do anything about it, in fact he chose to stay there a little while longer. One would think that this is such a strange response (verse4-6) Imagine if you call a doctor in an emergency and he deliberately delays his coming to you.

What we must remember is that Jesus did not do anything outside of God’s will.

Then Jesus comes to Martha and Mary’s house and he is greeted by a funeral party. Lazarus had been buried 4 days. The Jews believed that the soul stayed on the body for 3 days and on the 4^th day it left the body. It was now the fourth day and the body should have decayed really badly.

This is when Jesus arrives.

V22 Martha expressed hope though she is disappointed. You may have dead situations viz. a job, finance, relationships etc that seem hopeless top the point of decay.

Jesus gives Martha hope – “your brother will rise again”

V25- Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life” Jesus takes them to the grave.

V 38 They come to the tomb and asks that the stone be rolled away.

V 40 Jesus prays aloud

V 43 Jesus commands the dead Lazarus to come out. This is not a fairy tale. This is history. Throughout Jesus ‘ministry he demonstrates that he is God over creation (when he calms the storms), over food (the 5 loaves and two fish), over sickness and death.

Jesus goes on to say in 12:24 unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it will not bear fruit. Jesus though Lord of creation knew what He had to do.

How does this apply to us?

Our vision is 30/13

This is the way He modeled and taught it.

We know we are going to heaven because he died and paid the price.

Jesus is saying he is the kernel of wheat that is going to die. He knew going to the cross would produce  a great harvest and rose again and the gospel has gone on for 2000+ years.

Verse 25 – It does not end with Jesus. 

Jesus is asking for a response. Are we willing to loose our lives for him?

Q. What does this mean?

We need to have a new way of living. How can we bless and serve others. When you do this it will be inconvenient. It will involve hardships, pain. We get many opportunities to deny ourselves and practice this.

This world is quickly passing by. What will we do with our time on earth? It’s only a short blip in eternity.

There is a great hope in eternity. Jesus set the example. It will cost us – our comforts and preferences.

The people you reach with the gospel will keep growing because of the seed you have sown.

Churches die due to stagnation. We can be comfortable with certain things. But the new wineskin is Church Planting Movements- where you are starting new groups. Start one, don’t stagnate.

Miracles of Jesus Part 3

Miracle of Jesus Part 3

This message was preached by Micahel Eaton at  Word of Grace Church. You can listen or download the audio message by clicking here.

John 21:4:

This is the last miracle of Jesus. There is a connection between this and Luke 5 at the lake of Gennesareth where they fished all night and caught nothing and then they put down their nets at Jesus’ command.

Jesus said to Peter he would catch men.

On both occasions Simon was involved, they failed to catch all night, they catch a huge quantity. Luke 5- it’s a call narrative. It is a call of Peter to be an apostle. In Mark Jesus says, “Come follow me”. Luke has this story instead (Luke leaves the Matthew- Mark stay out) which is similar.

It is a parable about ministry. The sea depicts the human sinfulness. Peter goes out into the rough sea- catching fish/people for God to save them.

Peter will be a key person in bringing people till James the Lord’s brother takes over. 3000 get saved on the day of Pentecost- very successful for God.

In the first occasion Peter is ashamed- ‘go away for I am a sinful man’. That is his immediate response to the call to ministry. That’s the way we all feel. Moses did the same. No one volunteers in the Bible. Only Isaiah volunteers- ‘here am I send me’. Saul of Tarsus did not volunteer. Suddenly Jesus steps into his life and demands his life. Even Jesus did not volunteer. The Father sent Him to be the savior. He did not take the honor upon Himself

.

Peter did not want it either-he thought himself as very sinful. Jesus did not take the slightest notice. He knows we aren’t, we’re sinful. Jesus does not deny it, He ignores it. You are not called because you are good. It is all grace- your salvation, your calling, your marriage, etc. when the Lord says ‘well done good and faithful servant’ you might argue there saying ‘well done good and faithful savior’. Even the reward we’ll get is grace.

Jesus gives them this overwhelming catch- a picture of the day of Pentecost- the amazing conversion of 3000.   

John 21 is a repetition of the same miracle, only it is 3 years later. Peter has here indeed been a sinful man- its 48 hours after Peter denied Jesus, where he cursed and swears that he doesn’t know Jesus. Jesus had warned him that Satan would try to sift you but Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail i.e. we would never cease to believe. A backslider is saved because he knows the gospel is true, not a pretender or false Christian.

Peter did not stop believing. That’s why he breaks down and cries.

So in John 21 he has sinned- let the Lord down badly. If anyone should be dismissed from ministry it should be Peter. But 6 weeks later he is leading 3000 to repentance at the day of Pentecost.

What Jesus does is he does the same miracle all over again.

Jesus is recalling Peter into ministry. Your ministry is not going to be taken away from you even when you are weak. It takes extreme rebellion for your ministry to be taken away. E.g.: King Saul. Even then, Saul did not lose his salvation. He was just not to be king anymore. He lost his kingship not salvation.

When Israel lost (Numbers 14) because they rebelled 10 times, they were not taken back to Egypt-they did not lose what they had got but they lost what they could have had- their inheritance.

Even that is rare (Hebrews 6). Peter even though he cursed and swore- we can be harder on ourselves than God is (Hebrews 4).

As long as you can hear His voice, Him challenging you, grip you- you will be O.K. He has not given up on us at all.

Q. When Israel was in the wilderness- did God give up on them? The best generation was the Joshua generation (Jeremiah 2). How did they come to be? I believe their parents taught them even though they would miss out. Numbers 14- God said, ‘I have forgiven them’. Even if you lose one ministry, God will give you another.

Peter does not want to answer Jesus’ questions. Jesus asks him, ‘do you love me?’ 3 times because Peter denies Him thrice. 3 times, Jesus restores him. He had not lost his call to be an apostle.

Peter’s ministry is to tend the sheep- there will be 3000 new converts. The amazing thing about God’s grace is God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). It is so good you can hardly believe it.

Does this include the bad things and the sins- yes! The good things are good. It is the bad that needs to be made good. E.g.: Jonah. Have you sinned that it resulted in so much good?

Jonah- the sailors on the boat to Tarshish get saved through his running away. God can over-rule what you have done but should not have done.

When you go through the experience of falling it humbles you- you are sympathetic with the sinner and not be like a Pharisee. Though it is not a good way of learning mistakes but it is for your humbling.

If you have a doubt- look at the cross. Wicked men were used to crucify Him. They are there on the day of Pentecost. What they did in wickedness is for the salvation of the world.

God does not make sin happen but He can control it to fulfill His purpose- “You meant it for evil, but God worked it out for good.” God works all things for our good. You may say, “It does not matter what I do, God will over-rule it”. Yes, but God will take His time. It may take a long time because there will be a lot of pain and suffering. It may take time, so don’t misuse it.

All things for good- the condition being that you love God. So what does the Lord want me to do now? Confess your sin and hand your troubles, mistakes to Him. Samuel tells them they should not have chosen a King but now if they would obey God, the Lord will bless you.

The principle is that you start from where you are- that’s how we live every day. Every day we start from zero (though you have learnt a few things) in terms of your position- Phil 3. That’s where Peter is- a sinful man- he fell but God ignored his guilt then and now.

Jesus did not even raise the subject but re-commissioned him. A new start- that is where we all are every day.

One of the great secrets of the Christian life is not to depend on yesterday’s experience. Go to God for fresh grace every day and you live that way. If you don’t live that way the Lord may let you fall and show you something- how weak you are. Take it that you are weak and need Him every day. Grace is the most amazing thing that you could ever imagine.