There is GREAT NEWS!
And the world really needs it...
We all know that
God is real
Would it surprise you
to learn that
there is solid evidence
and that faith
shouldn’t be “blind” or a “leap?”
We have a PROBLEM
None of us always
does what’s right!
We all know it’s wrong to lie
Have you always told the truth?
We all know it’s wrong to steal.
You don't have to
rob a bank
with a gun
to be a thief.
The value of what we steal doesn't matter
Have you ever streamed a movie
you didn’t pay for,
or goofed-off
on a job when
you’re being paid
by the hour?
We insult God when we use His name casually.
Saying "OMG," or
using His name
as a swear-word
is called Blasphemy,
and it's serious.
Imagine if someone
used your Mom’s
name as a swear word.
We all know it’s wrong to commit adultery.
God looks at our heart. Jesus said, “anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).
This means we're guilty if we've lusted.
Who can say, "I've never done that?"
Jesus commanded us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
None of us have done that. We’re all liars, and thieves, and blasphemers, and adulterers, and more.
Imagine a microchip
was implanted
behind your ear...
This chip recorded
every single
secret thought
you had –
all of them.
Then imagine we go to a movie theater and plug the chip in…
All your secret thoughts are there for everyone to see. Your Mom, your spouse, your boss, your friends. Everyone!
If we’re honest…
We’d jump on the first
one-way plane
to the middle of
nowhere out of
embarrassment and
horror!
God sees all our secret thoughts.
“God will judge us for everything we do,
including every secret thing,
whether good or bad”
(Ecclesiastes 12:14).
Jesus said, “you must give an account on judgment day
for every idle word you speak”
(Matthew 12:36).
We’re all the SAME!
God’s Word says “For everyone has sinned;
we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”
(Romans 3:23).
Sin has HORRIBLE consequences…
“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
“Wages” is what we deserve. It’s what’s “coming to us.”
What makes us the same?
10 out of 10 people die. 155,000 people die every day. That’s 2 every second! Many of the 155,000 people who died yesterday did not think that their time was up. Many were healthy. Many were young.
There’s bad news:
The Bible warns us, “each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment”
(Hebrews 9:27).
And the Word of God warns us that God has “set a day for judging the world with justice”
(Acts 17:31)
Where do we deserve to spend eternity?
God’s Word tells us the answer:
“all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake”
(Revelation 21:8).
The Word of God also says, “those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God”
(1 Corinthians 6:9).
But there’s GREAT NEWS!!!
God cares, and he’s done something amazing!!!
God gave us just what we need!
You know what sinners like you and me need more than anything else?
We all need The Savior!
God Himself Came to Earth to pay our fine.
Jesus is God. And He never sinned once. Never!
Jesus took our place.
Jesus was whipped like a thief,
even though he wasn’t a thief.
Jesus died for sinners.
Jesus was crucified like a murderer,
even though He wasn’t a murderer.
Jesus paid the debt for sin that we couldn’t pay.
“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.”
(1 Peter 3:18).
Jesus didn't stay dead...
What makes Jesus different than other religious leaders is that he rose from the dead. This is an historical event!
The Resurrection of Jesus is History!
Jesus was seen by over 500 witnesses for 40 days. Since Jesus raised Himself from the dead, Jesus is our only hope.
Jesus did all this willingly.
Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily”
(John 10:18).
Jesus did this because He loves us!
“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him”
(1 John 4:9).
But aren’t we good enough?
Some of us think, “Oh, I’m a good person, so God won’t send me to Hell.”
We do good things, but nothing can make up for the bad we’ve done.
Remember that God sees us as lying, thieving, blasphemous lawbreakers at heart, so any “good deeds” that we offer are tantamount to trying to bribe God.
The Bible teaches, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags”
(Isaiah 64:6).
Imagine a criminal found guilty of rape saying to the Judge, “I know I’m guilty, but I want you to know I’ve done some good too. And there’s way more people I didn’t rape.”
That is irrelevant.
Only a crooked Judge would let that lawbreaker go!
God is not a crooked judge.
He will not overlook our crimes because of some good that we may have done.
The only way…
The only way that our fine can be paid is for Jesus to pay it.
It is His gift to us.
We must receive God’s gift.
Like any gift, Jesus’ offer of forgiveness is only useful if we receive it.
Many claim to believe, but having book-knowledge about Jesus is not good enough. Jesus warned, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Intellectual belief is not enough.
What would you think of a person who really believed that a parachute would save his life, but jumped from a plane without actually putting it on? Such a person would be a fool!
We need Biblical Faith…
In the same way, lots of people say they believe in God or even believe in Jesus, but that does nobody any good unless they “put Jesus on” as you would put on a parachute.
How do we have our sins forgiven?
There is no more important question!
The Bible teaches that there are two steps:
1. Repent
2. Believe
Jesus Commanded us to repent and believe!
Jesus said, “Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:15).
Repentance means to change your mind about sin and God.
Stop thinking that sin is good and that God is bad. Turn around 180 degrees.
Belief means to trust in Jesus' death and resurrection.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
When we repent and believe the great news, the Bible says that we become a new creation. We become “Born Again” and we get to go to heaven, not because we are a good person, but because we are a bad person who was forgiven by a very good God!
No one can boast.
No one in heaven will ever be able to boast that they earned their own way there, because none of us deserve it. It is the free gift of God, so God gets all the credit and glory.
It’s called "Grace." Grace means we don't deserve it.
God has so much grace and mercy to give to us, but we must repent of our sins, believe that Jesus died and rose again to pay our fine, and follow him as Lord.
That’s true love.
“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).
There is no greater love than the love of God!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
200 pounds of gold.
Imagine I offered you the free gift of a 200 pound bar of gold. It’s worth over 4.8 million dollars! Would you want it?
One thing to consider…
You’re in the middle of the ocean. The 200 pounds would make you sink to the bottom!
What would you do with the gold?
You’d drop it, of course! You’d see it as worthless. Holding onto it would literally kill you.
Sin isn’t worth it!
This is a picture of what sin is like. We enjoy sin. It is pleasurable. But it will kill us and send us to Hell.
Jesus said, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”
(Matthew 16:26).
Please turn away from your sin and turn toward Jesus!
And please do it today, because you might not have tomorrow. 10 out of 10 people die. No one is exempt.
Please obey God’s command to repent, believe that Jesus died and rose again, and follow him as Lord.
Learn about Jesus. Grow in Jesus!
Please find a Bible and read The Gospel of John and really consider what it has to say.
There is literally nothing more important than this.
You may think you need a new iPhone. Or a new spouse. Or a new home. But we really need is the Savior. His name is Jesus.
Are you a new creation?
If you have come to realize that nothing you do can earn you a place in heaven, and you are trusting completely in Jesus to save you, then God considers you a new creation!
The Bible says you have become “Born Again.” And Jesus warned, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God”
(John 3:3).
If you recently became Born Again…
Then you have become a “baby Christian.” And just like real babies need milk and nourishment, so do Christians. Milk and food for a Christian is the Bible.
You will grow spiritually if you read it every day and obey what you read. Also, please attend a church that teaches the true message of salvation as found in the Bible.
Please keep in touch!
Please let us know if you’ve decided to repent and believe. We want to pray for you! And we want to help you find a good and healthy Bible-believing Church.