Jesus Christ is the only way to truth and eternal life.
Jesus said of himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. He also told us the reason He came, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Jesus Christ is the greatest person to ever live.
He is the one who has changed the whole course of history. Remove Jesus of Nazareth from history and it would be a completely different story. Consider today’s date on your calendar. It gives witness to the fact that Jesus actually lived on the earth and literally split history in half – B.C. means “Before Christ,” and A.D., anno Domini, is the Latin phrase translated, “in the year of our Lord.”
Jesus Christ has influenced the world for good more than any other.
Wherever His true message has gone, great changes have taken place in the lives of men and nations. The great French military and political leader, Napoleon, described Christ’s influence in this way, “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”
Jesus Loves you and offers you the gift of eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
His great love assures us that anyone who believes can become a child of God!
(continue to next tab above “Becoming a Christian“)
Following Christ as Savior and Lord
[by Pastor Scott Miller]
I did not go to church when I was growing up and did not have anyone to tell me about Christianity. I went on my own spiritual journey as a teenager and made my commitment to follow Christ in the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. It’s the most important decision I have ever made – by far! I had no idea that one day I would be a pastor; that would have scared me to death!
I have found that there are so many misunderstandings about how to become a Christian. Here are just a few of them:
- Being a good person
- Going to church
- Getting baptized
- Going through confirmation or catechism
- Praying a “sinner’s prayer”
- Raising your hand or walking down a church aisle…
I speak about being a Christian as one who follows Christ for life. The basic message is very simple, but it is so awesome. Here is what the Bible says about following Christ:
First, God invites us to have a relationship with Him. He really wants us to follow Him, to have an eternal home in heaven, and to experience His strong purpose here in this life.
(continue to next tab above “God’s Invitation“)
God’s invitation is to follow Christ…
- In a relationship:
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31
This verse tells us that when we have a relationship with Christ that we can experience a special life. - To a home in heaven:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
This is the most famous verse in the Bible. God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever (and with all others who are Christ-followers). - To a life of purpose here:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
Christianity is not just a home in heaven; we can have an abundant life here, filled with purpose and meaning.
Isn’t this an awesome thought? God loves us unconditionally and desires to have a relationship with us here in this life and for eternity. However, it’s important to recognize that there is something that keeps us from having a relationship with God. We have all messed up!
(continue to next tab above “Our Problem“)
Our problem is Sin…
Sin is missing the mark, falling short, breaking the moral standards of God.
- Sin is universal:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Every one of us has sinned, and we need forgiveness. - Sin has a huge price tag:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
We are taught in the Bible that sin separates us from God, both here and after this life is over – unless we can be forgiven of those sins. - We can’t save ourselves:
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7
This is one of the most important truths to remember:
No matter how good we are, we are not good enough to go to heaven by ourselves. To be good enough would mean we would have to be perfect. And nobody is perfect. We all need a Savior, so…
God did an amazing thing to take care of our sin problem.
(continue to next tab above “God’s Initiative“)
God came to us and paid our sin debt.
God Himself took on human flesh, came down and dwelt among us. In the form of Jesus Christ, He lived a sinless life and paid the debt of all our sins. This seems impossible until you consider the unique qualities of Jesus:
- His miraculous birth:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Jesus was born from a mother who was a virgin. - His unparalleled teachings, miracles, and healings:
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” Matthew 7:28-29
“He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Mark 2:12
No one in human history has done the amazing things that Jesus did. He controlled nature, fed huge crowds with just a little bit of food, raised people from the dead, healed the sick, and cast demons out of people Jesus is incredibly awesome! - His perfect life:
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:22
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15The people who told us that Jesus never sinned were those who knew Him best. He never once did the wrong thing. How is that possible? He is God and had the power to say “No!” to the temptations that came His way.
- His sacrificial death:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18A price had to be paid for the sin debt of the world. Jesus voluntarily chooses to die. His life was not taken from Him; He could have stopped it at any minute. But He loved us so much that He chose to suffer incredibly and to die a criminal’s death on the cross.
- His resurrection:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-6Jesus predicted on a number of occasions that He would defeat the grave. And He did! Over 500 people saw Jesus after He came back from the grave. Their lives were turned upside down. Jesus’ disciples had been defeated and discouraged, but after the resurrection they went out with courage and commitment. Many of them were martyred as messengers of Christianity.
Each one of us must make an individual decision about the gospel.
It’s not enough just to know the Story. Each of us must make a decision about whether we will follow Christ or whether we will go our own way in life.
(continue to next tab above “Our Commitment“)
Our Commitment is to follow Christ as Savior and Lord
This commitment includes:
- Repentance:
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Acts 3:19Repentance is doing an about-face. We are walking in one direction and then we turn and go the other way. We must realize that we have sinned, feel bad about that sin, and admit that we need a Savior. We need to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world – and invite Him to be our personal Savior. - Placing my faith in Christ and making my commitment to follow Him:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
We need to make an individual decision to trust Christ as Savior and Lord.
We can do this by praying (communicating with God) and making a commitment to follow Jesus for life.
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:27-28
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20 speaks about Jesus standing at the door and knocking. We have the invitation to open the door and invite Jesus to be our Savior and Leader. This is a picture of our relationship with Him.
When Peter is speaking to the crowd at Pentecost, he says in Acts 2:21: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Are you ready to follow Jesus Christ for life?
If you answer “Yes!” you are opening that door and inviting Christ to be your Savior and Lord. Read these words and see if they reflect your desire to follow Jesus. If they do, make it part of your personal prayer of commitment to the Lord:
“Jesus, thank you for inviting me to follow you. Thank you for loving me in spite of my shortcomings. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. I am ready to stop walking away from you. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the price for my sins. I believe you are the Savior of the world, and now I want you to be my personal Savior. I know you are knocking on the door of my life. I choose to open that door and ask you to be my Savior and the Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me from my sins and for giving me an eternal home in heaven. Now help me to be the person you want me to be. I will follow you the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
Now What?
If you just made this personal commitment – Welcome to God’s family!! This is the most important decision any person could ever make! And it’s very important to be public about your decision to follow Jesus – don’t keep it just to yourself.
Who would be very excited to hear about this commitment that you have just made?
Share the Good News. One of the ways to share your decision is through New Testament baptism. You can look on our website link under Resources to see what the Bible teaches about believers’ baptism.
Also, be thinking about someone else in your life who may need to hear the Good News about Jesus Christ. Share your story with them!
Christianity is a life-long journey!
There are things we do that will help us grow in our relationship with Jesus – reading the Bible, praying, worshiping with a church faith family, hanging out with other believers, serving others, etc. The first step is to choose to follow Jesus – then comes the growth. If you have any questions or if you would like to talk sometime, let us know. We are here for you and want to invite you to walk with us on this great spiritual journey!
