Three Crosses

Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to earth some 2000 years ago to take on the form of a man so that He could reveal God to us through His life, teaching, death and resurrection. Even though He was in the form of a physical man on earth and experienced life as you or I with all of the emotions, experiences, physical needs, temptations, etc. He was also truly God. In His three years of ministry, Jesus performed many miracles. He healed many people, feed thousands of people by multiplying a small basket of loaves and fishes, cast out demons, raised the dead and forgave people of their sins.

The Bible tells us that because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the first man and women, we are all born in sin and are prone to sin. God is a Holy God and he cannot have sin in His Creation so he established the penalty for sin as death…an eternal separation from God. God loved us too much to allow us to pay this penalty so Jesus Christ came into the world and went to the cross to defeat Satan and overcome sin and death for us. He paid this price so that we might have eternal life if we believe in Him and accept Him as Lord and Saviour. Jesus spoke often of His Father (God) and referred often to His eternal kingdom.

Statement 1

• John 6:35 (NIV)  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
• John 8: 12 (NIV)  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
• John 11: 25, 26 (NIV)  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives
by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
• John 14: 6 (NIV)  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus will come back again to judge the world and those who have accepted Him as Lord and Saviour will enjoy eternal life with Him.

The Gospel Message

The center of our beliefs, our worship and our service is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our desire is to share this gospel with as many people as God leads us to. This is summed up in our mission: “To glorify God by being the people of God bringing people to God.”

What is this good news?

The good news of the Bible is summed up in John 3: 16: “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.” This “good news” means that anyone can reach Heaven by repenting of their sin and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, alone, as the Saviour of their soul.

The word gospel means good news but it can only be “good news” when a person realizes that there is “bad news.” Romans 3: 23 tells us this bad news: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

How did this “bad news” happen? Well, in the beginning God designed mankind uniquely to be His image bearers (Gen. 1:26-28), and gave them the special privilege of reflecting His attributes (e.g. His love, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, justice, etc.). When Adam, the first man, veered off of God’s plan (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 5:12), all of us came under the curse of sin which leads to death. This “bad news” means that as long as we are in this condition, we will not inherit a place in God’s Heaven, and will inherit hell (eternal torment).

What is Sin? What is Salvation?

Sin is defined as “the human condition of separation from God that arises from opposition to God’s purposes”. Sin is about living a life in thoughts, words or deeds that is not according to God’s law (the Bible) and His will for our lives.

When Adam sinned mankind became separated from God. He chose to live a life apart from the law of God and followed the desires of the flesh. Mankind’s path of rebellion leads to death as noted in Ezekiel 18:4 (“The soul who sins, he shall die.”) and again in Romans 6:23 (“For the wages of sin is death….”)

Salvation is defined as “God’s activities in bringing humans into a right relationship with Himself and with one another through Jesus Christ”. Salvation means that we are saved from the consequences of our sin and given eternal life.

God is “Love”. He loved us too much to leave us in our condition of sin yet the price for our sin had to be paid. Jesus Christ is God’s amazing solution. Jesus Christ was God in flesh and he came to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place. Only through belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can we be saved from sin. Jesus is our SAVIOR! (Romans 6: 23: “… but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”)

Who is this good news for?

This good news is for everyone as noted earlier in John 3:16 “… whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Everyone is included because “everyone” has sinned and needed to be included as noted in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

What must I do to be saved?

God wants you to be His child and he does not want to see you bear the penalty of your sin. He wants you to be saved from your sin and have eternal life with Him. But the decision about your salvation is entirely up to you. The costly price for your sins has been paid by Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection and this has made salvation free to you. Acts 4:12 tells us “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind bywhich we must be saved.”

If you are not saved, all you have to do is:

  • recognize your sinfulness has separated you from God;
  • believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again so that you may receive salvation from your sin and enjoy abundant and eternal life; and
  • confess and repent of your sins and invite Jesus Christ into your life as Saviour and Lord. John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”