Philippians Part 16- How to win the race: Introduction| Colin D

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

The Great Apostle Paul wasn’t a neutral person. He was anti- Christian. He both physically and verbally opposed them. He took and dragged people to jail. He was aggressively anti- Christian.

Acts 22:4-9 is the testimony of Paul. An amazing work happened on his way to Damascus. Paul was persecuting the church and Jesus asked him why he was persecuting him. The church is the body of Christ and causing harm to the body is directly causing harm to Jesus. Paul was there when Steven was put to death.

In verse 10, the transformation happens when Paul says, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ Paul was born again! He gave his life over to the proclamation of the gospel.

In addition to the suffering, there was much glory in his life as well. In 2 Corinthian 12:1-4 Paul talks about the amazing encounters with God. He had visions and revelations, he had great experiences. Yet, he had many things that we have- he is a new creation, he has salvation, right standing with God, etc.

Paul is a great Christian. Last week we looked at 5 things that Paul wanted: knowing God, righteousness of Christ, the power of Christ, the fellowship of sharing in his suffering and the resurrection body on the second coming of Jesus.

Phil 3:12- Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He says I’m not perfect. That is so different from so many Christians

Q. Are we complacent and content with what we have?

We have all things God has given us. Is that all? No. There is something for us to do. As long as there is breath in us.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever”. The Christian life is like a race. We are not running for heaven, salvation, forgiveness, etc. We already have all those things. The process of running is our sanctification. The goal of our life is to be like Jesus. It doesn’t happen automatically.

Verse 26-27: Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize

We have received so much but it is not everything. Romans 8:29- For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brothers and sisters. That’s the goal of our life- there is a fighting that is involved. The perseverance we need is by the grace of God.

Abhinav Bindra is a rifle shooter and won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. Now, did he just wake up one morning and go shooting at the Olympics? No. He does everything it takes to get the accuracy in shooting. He has given his life to that. And he has achieved it. Now these medals don’t last, but our actions have eternal significance. Let’s make every effort to become like Jesus. We are not perfect and we need to put in effort to become more like Jesus, and we do it with the grace of God.

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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Philippians Part 15- Rejoice Part 2| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D at Word of Grace Church on  January 17th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Many people have died in these past few days. On the tombstone there will be two dates and a dash in between. That dash represents your life.

Every time I go to a funeral I realise that life is short. So whatever I am pursuing- is it worth it?

Have you heard a preacher say ‘finally’? Paul says finally half way through his letters. It’s a marker saying, ‘so then’!

Paul says ‘rejoice’ 20 times. He qualifies how we should rejoice in the Lord. You may say that you don’t know my situation. Happiness comes from happenings. Joy depends on Jesus and what he has done, who he is. We thank him for the big and small things. When we face challenges, the way to overcome that is to focus on the attributes of Jesus.

In Africa, there is a miracle berry- after eating which everything else tastes sweet. Praising Jesus is like that. As we thank him, we are able to rejoice in everything.

Remember where Paul is writing from- not from a 5-star hotel but in chains in prison. He says that it is no trouble for him to repeat things over and over again. I want to remind you to Eat Pray Love.

When Paul was travelling he received a vision to go to Macedonia ( Acts 16). When he went there he preached the wonderful gospel of grace that we sang about this morning.

We are all sinners- none of our good deeds can make up for our bad. The son of God became a man, lived a sinless life- died on the cross- so that my sins would be forgiven. You don’t need to do anything. That’s the gospel of grace.

Q. What happened at Philippi?

He preached this gospel and moved on. Then, some Jews came along and told them that believing is not enough. They had to get circumcised. Paul was livid when he heard this.  ( Gal 5:12) They were saying that Old Testament practices had to be followed as well. Paul was angry with them.

So we do not put confidence in anything we do but in the finished work on the cross. All our works are nothing. In verse 4 Paul lists his pedigree. He was a Jew of the highest order. But he did not boast in any of this. Compared to knowing Jesus, everything was a loss- even the good things, even the preaching, evangelising etc. Knowing Christ is the greatest of all. Paul considered everything else as s#*t.

We thank God for what he has done in our lives but we don’t boast in it.

In 2016 can we focus our attention on knowing Jesus more deeply.

Colossians 2:2- Christ is all sufficient, all satisfying. In him are hidden all the treasures of knowledge.

Let’s look at 5 things Paul talks about. The goal of Paul’s life is to know Christ. Romans 3:20-23- the law makes us conscious of sin. No one can keep the whole law. But when we come to Jesus we get a righteousness that comes by believing. So we get salvation because of Jesus.

1.       Know Christ- verse 10. This year, let’s grow deeper in knowing Christ.

2.       Righteousness

3.       There is a power available to us in our time of need.

4.       The fellowship of sharing in his suffering. We can pray in our pain and that draws us close to him. As we suffer we remember him in his suffering.

5.       One day we will pass away. But when you are in Christ, our last breath on earth is our first breath in heaven. And when Christ returns, we will have resurrection bodies. We will live with the Lord forever.

Let’s devote our lives. We could be caught up in so many other things, but let’s have an ambition to know him more.

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.

Unknown Future, Known Father| Justin J

This message was preached  by Justin Jaykumar Y. Sam at Word of Grace Church on  January 10th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here.

The future is unknown and we don’t know what’s in store for us.

Today we will look at Deuteronomy 11:10-14 

“The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil”

We live with an unknown future, but the eyes of the Lord are on us. The Israelites were ready to enter into this new land.

Q. What did the Lord expect from the Israelites as he does from us today?

1. We need to possess- “ the land you are entering to take over”. To possess means to take over, claim, dominate, rule. That’s the first thing God expected Israel to do. Israel was coming out of bondage. They are not called as slaves but as sons and daughters.

He says, in verse 12 that his eyes are on us from the beginning to the end of the year- so all 366 days of this year, his eyes will be on us. Israel was to destroy the enemies and take over the land. You and I are called to that.

Judges 1:8- “ The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire”

Judges 2:2-“and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?”

They were given instructions to destroy everything so that it doesn’t become a snare for them. Israel however did not do that and kept back some of the plunder. But God desires obedience.

The messengers in Canaan said they saw giants and that they were like grasshoppers. In Deuteronomy 11:23-24: “then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.”

Colossians 3:5- “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry”. Are there things that need to be put off things that may even be advantageous to you but God wants you to put off? We are to enter into the new year having put off certain things.

Judges 1:20- “As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. “ When Joshua and Caleb saw the giants, their reaction was- God help me, I’ll possess this land. He went after what he was promised and he took it over.

Philippians 4:13- “I can do all this through him who gives me strength”

2. There will be both hills and valleys: this new land that the Israelites were going to enter is not like Egypt. Egypt was a different set up- it was a flat land. The promise land had new challenges- of mountains and valleys. The flat terrain can be boring.

In this New Year, we will have both mountains and valleys. Maybe your year started in the valley, but there will be mountains as well.

God says, you don’t have to irrigate the land. Jacob had a lot of problems in his life- he did not know where Joseph was. But God knew it. In Genesis 42:36 he says that all things are against me. Sometimes we may think this.

Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”

We don’t like problems- the ups and downs. But power is generated with friction. We need to go through to have power and have an impact. Opposition is essential for a equilibrium. The best of creation will have to experience these ups and downs.

“Let us then thank God for both the weight and the wings and with power that comes from heaven to press on with faith and patience.”- AB Simpson.

2 Corinthians 12:9- “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

3. God cares for this land- this is the motivation for the Israelites. God cared for the Israelites, provided for them and lead them. The same God will lead us forward. That’s our motivation.

1 Peter 5:7- “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” It’s an unknown future but he cares for us.

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.

What's your Christmas story?| Justin J

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

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

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

Q. So what are the main points?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the goal of your faith- Part 2| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on  December 6th, 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here  . To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

1 Timothy 1:5- The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith

The aim of preaching and teaching is to transform lives. Paul taught because he wanted to see lives being changed. The question to ask ourselves is not have we been informed, but how can we be transformed?

Love is the goal. If we don’t have love, we gain nothing. Love, which comes from a:

·       Pure heart

·       Good conscience

·       Sincere faith

We will look at each of these.

1.       Pure heart:

Q. What is the condition of man’s heart?

Jeremiah 17:9-“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” it can fool others and itself. In Genesis 6:5 this was the judgement of God on our hearts- “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”.

There is nothing man can do about this. But the good news is, when we are born again and put our faith in Jesus, a miracle takes place. In Ezekiel 36:26 God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” In Jesus, we have a new heart which wants the things of God. The heart is what we think about in the secrecy of our thoughts.

However, Paul says, there is a matter of persisting in the purity of the heart. God is interested in the condition of our hearts. Pharisees obeyed the law meticulously but in Matt 6 Jesus says that their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 22: 37 Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. In 1 Samuel 16:7- “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. We can keep most of the 10 commandments but the last one, ‘Do not covet’ deals with the heart. How do you tell your heart not to want something? Jesus had no problem hating evil and loving good.

But how do we do it? There are a couple of indications of a pure heart:

i.                     What do we speak about? Matthew 12:34- For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Jesus has given us a clean heart and it needs to be reflected in our speech. In 1 Peter 1:22 Peter says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart”. The word is tied up with love.

ii.                   Contemplating on Jesus- 2 Corinthians 3:18- “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” To change what we like, spend time meditating, in God’s presence, in his word, worship and thanksgiving we will be transformed. Whatever area you are struggling with, allow God to change your heart in that area.

2.       Good Conscience:

All of us have a conscience which helps us distinguish between right and wrong. There are three kinds of consciences:

i.                     Weak conscience which is overly sensitive and needs to be calibrated with the word of God. These people repent of what is not sinful.

ii.                   Seared conscience which is like a burn on your skin. There is no sensitivity in that area. This is a dangerous place to be in.

iii.                 Good conscience which indicates at the right time when something is right or wrong.

Q. How can we have a good conscience?

Our conscience is a warning signal. We don’t argue with it. When we step into areas that are sinful, our conscience tells us to stop and we listen.

a.       Firstly, we need to educate our conscience

b.      Once we sin in an area, our conscience gets seared.

Q. How does Paul keep a clear conscience?

When we come close to sinning, 2 things may happen as our conscience warns us- we resist and run away or we step in and sin. And when we sin, we feel guilty. So we go before God and confess our sin. God then cleanses us.

Hebrews 9:14- “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

The blood of God can cleanse the pain of a seared conscience. This is available to us today. We, like Paul can have a clear conscience.

3.       Sincere Faith:

Timothy had an amazing heritage with regard to this. 2 Timothy 1:5- “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”

Following Jesus is a matter of faith. Abraham, called as the father of faith, at 99 years believed that God will give him a son.

There are only two religions in the world:

i.                     One says, “Do”

ii.                   The other says, “Done” and we have to believe.

The faith starts with Salvation. But after that we continue in our faith. It also involves obeying. That is holding on to the promises of God even when things look grim. Peter starts walking on water when there were storms all around.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. We believe in Jesus and God is pleased with that. We need to stand in God’s promises in sincere faith. We want to see lives change. Let’s pray!

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