Good news, for a fresh start!
"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
- Jesus Christ.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary describes our biggest problem, sin, this way...
A transgression of the law of God; a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God.
Sin is a serious issue that can only be dealt with through Jesus' blood that He shed as He died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago. He is the Son of God, who came born of a virgin, lived among us and gave His life, and rose again 3 days later, so we might have life - in all it's fullness. This, you'll agree, is amazing news indeed!
Sin steals our hope and our peace. Once we recognise we have a sin issue, we need to deal with it the way Jesus and the early church leaders showed us how.
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Believe. We need to first believe we have sinned, are now estranged from God and need His forgiveness from our sin so we can start a fresh, new life in Him.
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Repent. This is an old fashioned word, which means to turn. In this case to turn away from our sin, toward God. It's an act of wanting change & surrender to God.
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Baptism. Once we have truly repented, we must be baptised. This is by full immersion under water and is on one's own faith. We do this to be forgiven our sin and it's where our new life starts. We also receive God's Holy Spirit at this time too, to help us in our newfound relationship with God. It's important you're baptised as soon as possible following repentance.You'll need to find another believer to take you through this. If you can't find anyone, we'd love to help.
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Share. You'll no doubt want to share your new life with others too, and why wouldn't you? We're always happy to hear new life testimonies, so count us in!
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Read & Pray. Get yourself a Bible. This is God's word which "feeds" us spiritually. If you don't have one, just let us know and we'll get one to you. Talk with God as you would another person you are in relationship with. That's what prayer is.
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Gather. It's really important to find some other people who share your faith. This helps us to learn more and grow closer in your new relationship with God. This could be in a church setting, house church or any other Bible believing gathering.
A word of encouragement...
"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross."
- Paul, the Apostle (Colossians 2:6-15 NLT)
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life.
He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior.
He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News."
- Paul, the Apostle (2 Timothy 1:7-10 NLT)
