This sermon emphasizes the importance of radical conversion and commitment to Christ, highlighting the need for believers to be integrated into the body of Christ, valuing each member regardless of their weaknesses or background. It stresses the significance of accepting one another as Christ accepted us, not for personal comfort but for the glory of God, and encourages building churches as loving families where all are welcomed and supported in their spiritual growth.

So yesterday we were looking at the fact that the root of all sin is to be centered in oneself. And it's from that sin that Jesus has come to save us. And the more we are saved from that, the more we become like Jesus. And then the more we will be able to be integrated with others in the body of Christ. Why is the church called the body of Jesus Christ? Because if you look at the human body, Israel in the Old Testament was never called a body. In the Old Testament they were called God's people. We are also God's people. They were called a kingdom, priests, the bride of Jehovah, all these names are given to the church also. But one name Israel was never called. They were never called a body. Because a body is different from a kingdom. A kingdom is a nation where the king is not connected with each person individually. They are subject to the king. But they are not connected to him. And they were called the house. The house was not connected. But a body, every part of this body, even the small nails are connected to the head. Israel was not like that. They didn't have any connection with God. They had a connection with their leader Moses or the high priest. So the church is different. That every individual, the newly converted person and the most mature person have a connection with the head. So if you build a church where everybody is just connected to the pastor, that is like an old covenant congregation. In the new covenant, every individual, even newly converted, must have a direct connection with the Christ. And that connection must never be broken. And if that connection is kept well, then they will be able to work with each other. See, for example, a person playing a keyboard or a piano. There are so many things that work together. All the ten fingers, the eyes, the ears listening if the music is right. There are pedals and the feet also. So, how is it that these ten fingers are working together? Many people say, if you spend a lot of time together with each other, then you will have better friendship. But a lot of husbands and wives who spend a lot of time with each other will still fight with each other. So, it is not spending time together. How is it that these ten fingers work together? It is not because every day for one hour they hold each other like that. How many of you spend even, when you pray maybe, but otherwise, how many times do you spend? You may never hold hands together even for one minute. Yet you can play the piano perfectly. It is not because they spend time together. It is because each finger is connected to the head. Each finger is connected to the head and they work perfectly. Because if the head says, okay, right finger, small finger on the right hand, he can click that key. And a good pianist even can shut his eyes and play. Because of the control of the head, the brain has registered where the keys are. Have you seen a blind person playing the piano? They don't need to see the keys. So, it's all got to do with connection to the head. It all depends on what? It all depends on connecting with the brain. If one day the right hand is paralyzed, then the right hand is hanging there. You can lift it up and make it hold hands with the left hand. But it still won't be able to play the piano. Why? No matter how much time it holds together with the other. That's what I said. Two people can spend a lot of time together and still not work together. They don't spend time together. If they are connected to the head, they will work perfectly. So, if one hand is paralyzed, the head says, come on, play that note. It can't play. If one hand is paralyzed, the head says, come on, play that note. It can't play. You can say, this brother is not cooperating with this brother. That's not the problem. This brother has lost the connection with the head. That's why he can't work with the other brother. I've seen people, sometimes I meet them after one year. Within one minute we are in perfect fellowship. Why? Because all that one year he was in touch with the head, all the one year I am in touch with the head. And there are other people whom I see regularly in Bangalore. I don't have very close fellowship with them. Even though they attend our church. I can't guarantee that everyone who comes to our church is walking with the Lord and daily with a good conscience. A church is not a gathering together of people. Believing the same thing. That is a congregation. You know, churches have a doctrinal statement. We believe in the Trinity. We believe Christ is the only way of salvation. You can sign all that and still fight with each other. It's got nothing to do with doctrinal statement. It's got to do with connection to the head. You can have a church of 500 people or 1000 people. That looks very impressive. But if it's not a body, it's a congregation. Earthly people are impressed. Wow! 10,000 people. There are 10,000 people in this church. But they are not a body. If you go to these medical colleges, there is an anatomy laboratory. There are so many parts of the body lying around there. Legs and stomach and hand and all that. Hundreds of them. It's not a body. They are parts of a body. It's all dead. There has got to be a connection for it to work together. And the purpose of our coming together is to build that close connection. See, the church is called the temple of the Lord. That means they are built together. I think in Singapore also, houses are built like in India. In America, they build with wood. The whole structure is made of wood. Then they put some type of plaster and that's how a house is built. In India, we build with bricks. Wood and all will be eaten up by all the termites in hot countries. So the way a house is built is they bring about 10,000 bricks and dump it by the side of the road. And then one by one, they build a wall and cement and bring it together. Think of these as individual believers. If an individual brick wants freedom, then it will remain in that pile. I don't want to be joined up with one brick on top of me, one this side, one that side. It's very inconvenient. In a wall, a brick doesn't have much freedom. It can't go where it likes. It's stuck with bricks on all sides. So, there are believers who want to be a part of a church, but they say, I want my freedom. I'm not going to be here. A pile of bricks is a congregation. When it's built together, it becomes a house. Now, the danger of just lying as a pile of bricks is, In India, little by little, the number gets reduced every day. Because in the other street, somebody else is also building a house. And at night, some of these bricks, they don't walk away. Somebody takes them. That's what happens to people who don't get built. The devil comes and just picks them up. But they can't steal a brick which is being built into a hall. That's impossible. You know these people who say, this new church came here and stole some of my sheep. How is that? It's like somebody saying, somebody is building a house there, and he broke one wall and took it out. How can that happen? I've never seen that happen. How is it that he breaks your wall and takes one brick out? They take it from a pile of loose bricks. It's very dangerous to be in a church where you're not built together. That's not a body. That is the congregation. There is a lot of difference between a congregation and a body. A congregation is an Old Testament thing. And you have to have a strong leader like Moses to keep it together. If the leader is not strong, the congregation just breaks up. There are big churches all over the world. They need a strong pastor. I know you live in 10,000 churches. But it's a body. You don't need a strong preacher or a strong pastor or any such thing. It's a congregation. It will not grow unless you have a powerful leader. But think of a small baby, so weak. Fingers don't drop off, even though it's so weak. Then there's a body. You don't need a strong preacher or a strong pastor if they are connected to the head, Jesus Christ. They can be very weak like the fingers and legs of a baby. But it's a body. Even if it's weak. That is what Jesus came to build. The tragedy today is in so many churches, they don't have that type of connection. Some churches are like clubs. That means they help one another. There are many worldly clubs where they help one another. There are groups called Lions Club and Freemasons. They help one another tremendously. Even financially. Even communists, they have groups where they help one another. That's a club. Some people like to be there because they like to help. If I'm in trouble, they'll help me. We shouldn't join a church because, oh, if I'm in trouble, they'll help me. That's not the reason for joining a church. I join a church because I want to be connected with others who are connected with Jesus Christ. So the primary job of every member in the body is not to be related to each other but to be related to Christ. If you are related to Christ, you will automatically be related to each other. Otherwise, there will be no connection. So very often, when we come together as a new church, we think, oh, we must be related to each other and we must meet each other often and all that. That's good, but that's not primary. You take care of your connection with Christ, your connection with others automatically. But you will not have a connection with that person if he's not connected to Christ. My body has no connection with this body. Because it's not connected to my head. So how much I may spend time with him, there won't be a connection. So that's why the New Testament Church is called a body. And the other thing is, when we are all connected to the head, what happens is, there's not a single member of this body that's living for itself. You know the human race, everybody lives for themselves. I see there are two characteristics of the human race. One is described in Romans 3. The entire world The entire world There is no fear of God in their eyes. That's the number one characteristic of the human race. Even those people of different religions who say that we fear God is not real fear of God. They are afraid of God's judgment. Why do people say we are afraid of the police? It's not the man. It's because he can punish you. There's a lot of difference between if that police has retired from the police, you're not afraid of him anymore. Same man, but you're not afraid now because he lost the power to judge you. A lot of people say they fear God, they're actually afraid of his judgment. That's not the fear of God. There are two types of fear of God. One is the fear God will hurt me. The other is the fear that I might hurt God. Which is the fear you have? Are you afraid that God will hurt you or are you afraid that you might hurt God? Take a child for example. One child is afraid that the daddy will hurt me. The other child is afraid that I might hurt my daddy by something I do. That is the right type of fear of God. Something I do may hurt your heart. But the fear of God's judgment is what most people have. The other characteristic of the human race in the Philippians 3.21 they all seek their own. All of them seek their own. Everybody. They seek their own. Like I said yesterday, what will benefit me? They all seek their own. That means I'm thinking what benefit can I get out of this? What benefit can I get out of being part of this group? Will they help me? Will they do something for me? Always it's me, me, me. Or you go to some church because there is a great preacher there. I will get something. Not will Christ be glorified more if I listen to this message. That's seeking the glory of Christ. Can I glorify Christ more by being here or by being here? See, most Christians in the world I'd say more than 90% they are in the church in which their father, grandfather and all were. Whether Catholic or Methodist their father, grandfather was always in that church. 90%. Even religions. A guy is a Hindu or a Muslim because his father, grandfather were all Hindus and Muslims. 90% is not personal choice. Because religion is not important for them. But if you see which school that child is going he is not going to the same school his grandfather went to. Why is that? Because the father says there are better schools today why should I send them to my grandfather's school? Or if there is a sickness in the home that wife is not being admitted in the hospital the grandfather was put in. Why not? Because there are better hospitals today. So why do people become selective when it comes to school and hospital but not church? Why? Because they value education. They value good medical treatment. When it comes to spiritual things anything will do. That is the reason why many Christians never grow spiritually. They value education and health 100 times more than the value of God. Actually if you select the best school and the best hospital why don't you select the best church as well? Oh I don't want to offend my parents I don't want to offend the priest I don't want to offend the pastor. Are you going to please your grandfather by sending your child to the same school he went to? I don't care if my grandfather is upset I want a good education for myself. The fact is most Christians value these earthly things more than they value God. And they wonder why they don't grow spiritually. 100 years they will not grow spiritually. God says you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. The first words in the Bible are In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. The first words are In the beginning God That's how the Bible begins. And that's how our life must begin also. That's how every day must begin. In the beginning of the day God In the beginning of your life God In the beginning of every decision you make God How many people live like that? Those are the only people who are true Christians. I'll tell you that. We always think of What does God think about this? I mean Take a decision based on that. Even a simple thing like television Will Jesus like to watch this program? He doesn't want it? In other words If you are sitting watching it Jesus is sitting there He will get up and walk away When you are watching that program. He says I am not interested in that. So you say Ok Lord see you later I am not interested in this. I see you now when I am reading the Bible But right now I am not interested. Do you think such a Christian is serious about his life? He is using Jesus for his convenience. When I am sick I run to him. When I have a problem I run to him. I don't want him to be with me all the time. There are a lot of things I want to do Which he may not be interested in. There are a lot of things I want to do Which he may not be interested in. This is the main reason Why God cannot use many people. If every Christian were whole hearted Then the church will be such a Powerful force for God. It will be burning like a fire. In the Old Testament we read About Moses seeing a burning bush Every twig and leaf in that bush Was burning. It wasn't just one burning branch And all the rest of the bush. Unfortunately some churches are like that. One man on fire for God Rest all cold That's not the way God intended it. That burning bush every single Branch and twig was burning. That's how every church should be. But why aren't people like that? Because they think if I seek my own Life will be better for me. That's not true. It's a lie. Many people their problem is When they were first converted They didn't get converted thoroughly. See the Bible says God and the world Are in two opposite directions. See 1 John 2 1 John 2.15 Don't love the world Or the things in the world If anyone loves the world The love of the father is not in him. If anyone loves the world You cannot love the father You cannot love God You cannot love Jesus Christ You have to make a choice It's like a woman when she gets married She may have had Some other boyfriend before that And she tells her husband I'd like to love him also along with you How can that be a marriage? Maybe a good husband I'll forget your past But you also got to forget the past Now you got to only love me That's exactly what Jesus says You may have loved that old boyfriend Of yours the world for many years Okay I forgive you How many husbands Would be happy if their wife Was loving some other man also And yet we think that Jesus doesn't mind If we once in a while Have an interest in something in the world What is in the world? The lust of the flesh The lust of the eyes The pride of life The lust of the eyes means I have a great desire To see certain things You know the number of believers Who watch pornography In secret Would they ever allow Jesus To sit next to them While they are watching that They say Lord please get out from here I got to watch something You don't like Their whole life is To pick and choose When Jesus is with them And when they don't want Jesus with them That's like a woman Who says to her husband Today I am not going to be with you I got to be with another man I won't blame that man If he divorces his wife Say I am fed up with you And I don't blame Jesus If he divorces you also Say I am fed up with you You want to watch pornography Sometimes And some other filthy thing On television Why are you coming to church Pretending to be Greatly devoted to me You are a liar I want to divorce you And I believe the Lord Will be right Won't you husbands do that If your wife is going around With some other man Every alternate week You would do that The Lord is so patient He hasn't done that yet But you know Sometimes we don't realize There is a limit To the patience of God with us In Genesis chapter 6 There is a word We must always remember It says the world Was so corrupt The world was so corrupt Genesis 6 verse 5 The man's hatred Was so great that His heart's memories And thoughts were Always evil And look at these sad words Verse 6 For the creation of man The Lord was sad It is written in his heart A father Why did I have this daughter As if he was sad Why did I have this daughter This is what God felt Look at these people All the memories And thoughts Verse 5 All the memories One is sin The other is money It has nothing to do with this Or to improve one's life One is sin The other is money Or to improve oneself In the last days As it happened in Noah's time It will happen Men will be interested In sex Or money Or self promotion And when such people Become Christians They are still interested In sex Apart from their wives And money Be far beyond What they need Higher self promotion How are they different From the rest of the world Only thing They have added one more thing Called Jesus He is not in the center These other things Are what run their life And Jesus is like You take an insurance policy For your house In case it burns down Or something It is a fire insurance I don't want to go to hell It's ok I have to Premium is I have to go to church on Sunday Ok, I'll do that I'll do that It's a good fire insurance It's for eternity People who go into eternity Will be surprised They didn't predict them Because the premium is You got to give your whole life Because the premium is You got to give your whole life Every day It's God's own Every day I will be with you For 364 days In a year Only one day I will be with another person I can't say I don't allow it How many marriages And marriages I have read Is justice Only one husband In a year Only one day I want to be with another person Not asking for more days Only one day Jesus is like that We pray Now and then If I live for myself It's ok In some sins It's ok Jesus won't find it We pray More More time If Jesus is with me It's ok Jesus and us Connection Connection between husband and wife Connection between husband and wife I didn't understand it We have to see it Very clearly When the world was like this Genesis 6 Noah's days God said My spirit Doesn't fight with humans There is a limit In those days Was 320 years See that's because man Was living 960 years Those days So he said Ok Up to so much time I will give you And then If you don't repent You are finished So Up to so much time I will give you And then If you don't repent You are finished What it shows God's patience Doesn't end There is a time limit Nothing will happen in 10 years In 20 years In 30 years In 50 years Nothing will happen So God won't find it But they didn't realize That God had already Put a time limit to it He did not announce To the world 120 years He did not even tell Noah Noah did not know When the flood is coming God had determined In heaven 120 years There was a time limit People on earth Did not know it They went on 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years And they go Nothing is happening God doesn't mind Not doing all these things 100 years Nothing has happened See remember Those days people Are living up to 800, 900 years So in terms of today It's like In terms of today's life In terms of tomorrow Instead of 120 years God says 8 years Even now 70 or 80 years Is the time limit I will give you 8 years That's it So before the people Who play with God Who deceive with God God draws a red line And they realize Every time they are sinning They are moving Closer and closer to that line And the day can come And they cross it That's what I believe Sin against the Holy Spirit They can never be forgiven Christians understand this Because When they first got converted Their repentance Was not radical The world is here And God is here Opposite Jesus said Money and God Are opposite And we saw that The love of the Father And the love of the world Is opposite Not only opposite It says in James 4 It says in verse 4 Friendship with the world Is enmity towards God If you are Friend of the world You are an enemy of God Whether you know it or not James 4.4 It's not That you won't be Such a good friend of God Because you are A friend of the world Friend of the world means Enemy of God They are opposite So much opposite That if you are a friend You are an enemy of God A friend of the world It's that much difference So When we are Before our conversion We've got the world In front of us And God behind us So think of a man Who does not turn 180 degrees towards God I think most Christians Their repentance is about 90 degrees Looking at the world Most of the time Maybe half an hour In the morning They turn to God And look to their Bible The rest of the time They are back Looking the other way Or six days They are looking at the world And Sunday they turn And look towards God Not the whole Sunday also But part of Sunday This is the life of most Christians Conversion is not radical How was your conversion? Whenever you accepted Christ Was it a radical turn? Ambitions that you had Completely disappeared The reason I ask that is That is often the reason Why there is not a Spiritual growth in one's life When people have cancer In an advanced stage Doctors speak about Radical surgery needed The whole stomach has to be Taken out Some organ To be taken out completely If you don't do that The cancer will spread So there are some people Who say I don't want That organ to be removed Just give me some medicine And chemotherapy And slowly They die The whole organ is removed And they live They live a whole life So if you are willing To radically turn around You have a very good Experience of God Right from the beginning Such people can Very quickly integrate Into a local body When I was converted 57 years ago It was a radical conversion Before that for the Previous 5-6 years I would go to meetings And say yeah Lord Jesus Come into my heart I was afraid to go to hell Many times I don't know whether He came I don't even know Whether He came into My heart or not I must have asked the Lord to come into My heart a hundred times I was never sure The world was very Attractive for me But I would go to church Read the bible I never got out of bed Without praying But Jesus Christ was Not everything for me But a time came in my Life 57 years ago When I turned around 180 degrees That was the beginning Of my real Christian life And you know I was in the Navy Those days And when I joined the Navy I had a great ambition And I worked hard for it That was to go to the Top of the Navy And become the Admiral of the Indian Navy So I was really working Hard to get to that How do I know that my Conversion to Christ was Radical This ambition to go to The top of the Navy Just disappeared from My life I was no longer Interested in that No Even if I worked in the I wanted to be a witness For Christ I wanted to live by Christian principles And I knew that if I Live by Christian principles You can't advance very Far in any profession In the world You never do anything Wrong You don't go around Serving alcohol To all your colleagues You don't become Very popular And I said Lord I am finished with My ambitions I want to live 100% for Christ I continued to work In the Navy to earn My living And because of that I have to say That my Christian life Has been very Very satisfying From that time I didn't have victory Over sin for many years And that's because I was struggling But my commitment To Christ was total I didn't know How to get victory I didn't know the Way to overcome Because nobody taught me You know it's like My joining a factory And my commitment To that factory is total I love this factory Even if you pay me less I'll work here But I still don't know How to operate All these machines I'm learning So my Christianity Was like that There were many things I had to learn I didn't know how to work it But my commitment To that system Was total Even if I get nothing I want to be committed to Christ So I want to ask you Whether it was like that For example Another thing that Happened in my life Then was I used to go to A lot of movies And I would invite Other people Hey let's go and watch This new movie that's come And I started When I became a Christian That just disappeared I didn't want to go To a single movie After that But I didn't have The boldness To tell other people I'm not going To the movies anymore So one day When two of my friends Called me to go With them to a movie Two or three days After I was converted Radically And these are people Whom I used to go And drag to the movies Earlier But I didn't have The boldness I used to drag them To the movies They came and called me I didn't have the courage To say hey I'm not coming Why? I don't watch movies They think I don't matter It was in the naval base In Cochin We had a movie theater Inside the base For naval people I did not have the courage To say no to them So I kept quiet And I went along As I was walking Down the road I said lord please Save me out of this I don't know how To get out of this I didn't have the courage To say no to them We came to the movie theater And we saw a notice Today's movie is cancelled I felt like shouting I was so happy But these two others Were disappointed That was my first experience Of god will cancel A whole movie And disappoint 1000 people To please one man It happened 57 years ago And I haven't forgotten it What god will do For a weak Struggling believer Who does not yet Have the courage To say no I saw the tremendous Love of my heavenly father What all he would do For you If you really want something And you don't yet have The courage to stand up I came back to my room I said thank you lord The lord said Next time I will not Cancel the movie You yourself will have To say no You will not grow If I keep cancelling The movie every time You have to get the courage To say no But after that I had great courage I said sorry I am a christian I don't do this I don't want to go To any place Where jesus will not go with me But still I had to grow spiritually Because I didn't have Fellowship with radical Whole hearted christians In those days My life was not Steadily going up It was up and down My life was not Steadily going up It was up and down It was up and down There were ups and downs Here and there I will repent and Come back again This is not the way There must be something Better than this My commitment to christ Was radical Like I said I am going to work In this factory For the rest of my life But I don't know How to operate this machine How to get victory Over sin So that can happen In your case too But your commitment To christ is 100% But you don't understand How you can overcome sin But what you need To ask yourself Is your commitment To christ 100% That's like a wife Whose commitment To her husband Is 100% But she doesn't even know How to make a cup of coffee Doesn't know how to cook food Food is so bad Tasting everyday And the husband says It's pretty bad food But she says darling My commitment to you Is 100% And the husband says That's okay I don't care If the food is not good We love one another That's the main thing That's how Jesus will love you Even if you are not Very perfect in so many things If you are committed I don't have to be perfect I have been perfect In so many things In the early days I made mistakes I made mistakes I know your commitment To me is 100% That's enough That really encouraged me I get up to preach And well It wasn't such a good message That's like making a bad deal I said it's okay Your commitment is okay Never mind if your message Is boring No, no, no Some of you young believers You share something In the meeting And you know what you said Was not so great Everybody got excited Nobody got excited Don't go home depressed It's like a new wife Who still doesn't know How to cook Even thought you know How to fry an egg It's okay It's quite okay You love Jesus That's the main thing So you don't have to be Great in everything A great preacher Or even a great singer We have a brother in our church Even after 30 years He cannot sing One song properly Not even one line He has absolutely No gift of music But he sometimes Starts a chorus Completely wrong tune And you know what will happen Some other brother Who is good at music Will start that line again Praise the Lord For such a wonderful family We have in the church One brother does it wrong Another brother just picks it up As if nothing has happened And the whole church Sings that song This is family This is how we Grow It's like if you have a child That's retarded Or mentally little The whole family supports it You know once Many years ago I wanted to teach Our church The importance of Valuing one another In the church Especially those Who are little weak Spiritually Don't know much of the Bible Sing properly They are not very smart Educated or cultured They are not cultured people Who know how to say sorry How to say thank you It's all good But that's not the main thing In Christianity Our children were all Small those days So I made All of our children Sit down and We did a little Small Five minute drama To teach the church something So I told all the church people Okay folks This is our families Preparing for A family program In the church So now they are all Sitting at home Deciding what song We shall sing What song shall we sing For the church picnic So there was A little discussion Between all of us And they said We'll sing Count your blessings Name them one by one So I said One of my children Is a bit retarded Doesn't know Can't speak properly I told one of my boys You just say Na na na na na That's all you can say So we sing Count your blessings And so on And this boy Will say na na na na It's all confusion Because he's saying that In the middle of this So The other three boys Said dad You gotta stop this guy He's just confusing He's spoiling the whole He's spoiling the whole program We'll sound We'll sound terrible As a family If he keeps singing like that And the rest of us Are singing properly I said no He is a member Of our family And we're not gonna Make him feel rejected Just because he can't sing properly I said let's do it like this Okay all of us Who can sing properly We'll say count your blessings Name them one by one And I told this boy When we finish the first line You say na na na na na Then we go to the second line See what God has done Then he said Na na na na na So we sang like that All those of us Who could sing Would sing the first line Then this boy would sing Na na na na na Then we go to the second line And he'd sing Na na na na na It sounded so much better Than if he were just singing Then I told the church Did you get the message That there could be a brother In our church Who's not so gifted He's not so smart When he shares something It's maybe in broken words Maybe even his Explanation of something Is not so great If you make him feel rejected Oh you're not like us Then we are not family That is a top class school Where they don't want These students who are not good We're not running A top class school here We're running a family Where Your greatness is seen In your ability To make that weak person Accept it We don't want Just a whole lot of smart people Do you know that Heaven is not going to be Full of smart people In India 75% of our churches Are in the poorest villages 75% of our churches Are in places Where 7 village people live I'm an educated person Bangalore is a place Where educated people live Most of the people In our church Are software engineers Most of them Are very smart people Intelligent But for my salvation Now and then I go to village churches I get to know Ordinary people there Who sit on the floor I sit there and eat with them Sometimes not in The most hygienic conditions But I don't say I want to eat your food Because it is not Hygienically prepared Even recently I went there And I was sick For one month after that That's okay I'm fellowshipping with these people I learned something You get a sickness You get over it You take some medicine You get over it But the spiritual benefit You get by meeting With people Who are simple people We get the blessing We can give to them I'll give you one example These people Who come from Non-Christian backgrounds They are so simple They don't know anything About Christianity Here was one man Who was a very poor milkman He had one cow And that was the way He was earning his living And like every other Milkman in India He would add water to the milk Before selling it Sometimes he was adding Milk to the water Because that's how They make their money If you sell pure milk You can't compete With these other people So he did that For years Then one day he got converted And he realized I've been cheating people And the devil says Everybody else is cheating too And he realized He did something wrong And here is the Non-Christian understanding Of how you Show your repentance Jesus died for my sin That's not enough I have to suffer Something awesome Because I sin so much He said to God As an act of repentance I'm going to kill my cow I swear I'll kill my cow To show that I've really Repented of my sin Then he suddenly realized Then how will I Now I only have one cow How will I earn my living now Fortunately there was a conference Couple of days after that Then he met me And he told me the story He said what should I do now The bible says If you made a promise to God You got to keep it Don't go back on it I said let me tell you a story We are like little children Sometimes a three year old Will come to his daddy Daddy I'm fed up of staying In this house I'm going away I'm never coming back What will the daddy say Now keep your word Go and don't ever come back No Next day he'll hug him And say it's okay You said a stupid thing yesterday I don't even bother about it God is a father Loving father Non-Christians don't have A concept of God as a father Whichever religion There is no father God there It's a strict judge sitting there I said you made a stupid promise to God God just forgets about it You don't have to worry about it He's not going to hold you to that And say go now kill your cow Jesus has taken the complete punishment You don't even have to do One single thing It's all over on the cross He was so relieved These are the type of simple people Very sincere I'm so thankful that I could go to these people And explain the gospel to them They are not educated They are poor They live in small huts But they really love God And I discovered one thing If you ever go to their house They will give you The best possible meal It's not much The poor people are more generous Than the rich people I've discovered that Most rich people are misers Even giving to God The poor people give In our conference They bring one hen Or potatoes Or eggs That's their offering I just love to be with these people So what I'm trying to say is In the church We value people Because they love Jesus Because Jesus has accepted them And I'm willing to be patient To let them grow The church is a family That is what we want To build everywhere The world is full of Insecure people The church is one place Where they must feel secure Here brother, sister You are accepted Just as you are You don't tell a child You are going to change Before I accept you I accept you as you are And while you are in the family You will change and become Better and better So it's only proud people Who are not willing to Accept others as they are Okay, let's look at One closing verse Romans This is the type of church We want to build It says here in Romans 15 Beautiful verse Have you ever read it? Romans 15 Verse 7 Accept one another Just as Christ Accepted you To the glory of God Why not for your comfort But for the glory of God It says Lord, I want to Accept my fellow believers Not accept their sin But their crudeness They are not cultured They are not educated Maybe their explanation Of the Bible also Is not all that great Okay, I love them Accept one another You know in a home There are 2 year old children 15 year old children Like that in a church And in that atmosphere They grow This is the type of churches God wants to see All over the world And this is what We have tried to build Not congregations With one mighty leader Who just collects money From everybody This is such a scandal And a disgrace To the name of Jesus Christ So may God help us To build such churches Even if they are small But an expression Of the body of Jesus Christ That's good Heavenly Father Please help us to Do the work You want us to do On this earth Before we leave this earth We would accomplish The work you sent us On earth to do We don't want to just Spend our days earning money We want to accomplish The work you gave us to do We pray in Jesus name Amen