Archive for the ‘Sermons’ Category

  • 05 Oct

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    Being Mission Oriented

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    Spacecraft taking off

    On A Mission

    We have been going through the book of Acts and Franco more than preached a brilliant sermon on the Sunday before some of us went to Guwahati on mission. It was a ‘now word’ for us – a wake-up call.

    He said that as Peter entered his house and Cornelius greeted him, it was a giant leap for mankind. In Acts 9:32, Peter was available and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And the unexpected happened. So it is with mission. So is it for us who are led by the Holy Spirit. Are we excited about the unexpected? With the suddenlies and the surprisinglies?

    He reminded us of Esther, who laid her life on the line for her people.  David, who was suddenly called out of the pasture into an unprecedented battle which changed the history of the Israelites. And Mary the mother of Jesus. Greeted by the Angel Gabriel and given a message from God which was totally unprecedented and unexpected yet she responded positively, saying “Be it done unto me according to your word”. He challenged us to be part of an end time revival which is coming, by being available, and being led by the Holy Spirit as sons of God.  Don’t be parochial, he said.  But be available and be overcomers of barriers such as 1. Food, 2. Culture, 3. Social
    4. Mental i.e.  preconceived notions.

    We as a church took steps that can become a giant leaps into Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Silliguri, and Guwahati which is the gateway to the North East. And on the first day of our time together in Guwahati we were told that since 1842 when there was revival in Assam there has not been anything till now when we are sensing that there is something happening again and God is about something unprecedented. This kind of confirmed the message Franco quoted Hudson Taylor of mainland China Mission fame, who said there are three stages for every Christian: First it is Impossible, then it is difficult, and then it is done. It looks impossible but when we are available to come out of our comfort zone and take action the difficult gets done. So where are you? 1st, 2nd or 3rd stage?  Wherever you are, God wants  to take you to the next level of faith and works.

    John Piper said in his book ‘Let the Nations be glad’, that at the heart of God is worship ( Jn 4:23) but the means is Mission. Have we in any small way incorporated this Mission, or our own TLC’s mission into our lives? Let’s go out and take the harvest for the Lord!     – Pat

  • 26 Apr

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    Keys to Revival: PULSE

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    Franco preached a challenging word on Sunday 11th. Here’s a reviving look at it.

    We all long for breakthroughs in our life, marriage & in children. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace! Anyone who is against peace is sinning against Jesus. If you are for Jesus then you have an enemy. (Mat 24:9)(John 15:18) The enemy wants to shut the Church’s mouth because we are the only people who are speaking about peace, joy, life, salvation, unity, harmony.

    How do we re-ignite our passion to see the lost saved? How do we increase our excitement  to do these things? In short how do we regain our pulse?

    PULSE (Acts 4:23-37)

    P = Prayer

    U = Unity

    L = Leadership/Lordship of Christ

    S = Sharing – (Possessions/ Faith/ Life)

    E = Encouragement

    Great prayer will bring great increase of God’s power to meet your need. How does one PRAY…

    A- Adoration

    C- Confession

    T- Thanksgiving

    S- Supplication

    One can also use the Lords’ prayer for praying as a pattern .

    John 17 tells about unity. Where there is unity – God commands a blessing. There is something about God He cannot keep quiet or stop but bless when he sees unity.

    When we are united we are portraying the Triune God that we worship. ‘FATHER’, ‘SON’ & the ‘HOLY SPIRIT’ Christians can be at three stages concerning unity:

    A. United – Hot

    B. Indifferent – Lukewarm

    C. Disunited – Cold.

    Are you united person? Do you have a spirit of unity? Where are you, concerning the church?

    The book of Joshua records (Joshua 5:13-15), Jesus coming to take charge of Jericho, to give it to the Israelites. He won the battle for them. Jesus is our leader. He is the Head of the Church. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

    We all want Jesus to help us in our problems. He doesn’t want to just help instead He wants to take over the driver’s seat. Are you looking for a solution to your problems? Let the Holy Spirit take the centre stage.

    The apostles shared their possessions, faith & their lives. They had great fellowship and their pulse was increasing. They were like little children who were excited about Jesus.

    Another most thing is that they were encouraging each other. Act 11:23 tells how Barnabas encouraged the church. Our God is a God of eternal encouragement, so speak positive affirmation into one another life.

    May be your pulse has gone down. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s grace to see it increase