Your life is not an accident, but you were created by a loving God who desires to have a relationship with you. Your life will only have peace and meaning connected to the God who made you. You were created for His pleasure and He has a plan for your life that is beyond your wildest imaginations.

Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.  –Ephesians 1:4 (MSG)

This plan that God has for you can be seen in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. He created Adam and Eve and put them in a wonderful world that He created. They enjoyed a real relationship with God that gave them dignity and worth.

This wonderful plan went horribly wrong when man believed the lies of the devil and disobeyed God. This sin caused them to be afraid of God. The excused their wrong, tried to hide it from God and devised a way to cover it from God.

Man has been doing the same thing for thousands of years since then. This sin has passed on to every human and we have all chosen to disobey God’s ways in our life. Man continues to either deny their wrong, blame it on someone else or try desperately to make themselves right in God’s eyes.

There is nothing that you can do to make God accept you or make your sin go away. In Genesis, God killed an innocent animal and took its skin to cover man’s sin. This way, God could have a relationship with sinful man.

This was a preview of what He did 2000 years ago for you and I. God sent His son Jesus Christ to the earth to become our sin substitute. He lived a perfect life and pleased God in every way. Yet, He died the death of a criminal on the cross.

Man had sinned against God and deserved punishment. God cannot just pretend we are OK. When Jesus died, His father poured out all of His wrath and judgment on His own perfect son so that you and I can be made right with God. Jesus was our substitute and He took our place. He was judged by God so that you don’t have to be. Isaiah 53:5-6 (NIV): But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Now there is an incredible free gift waiting for you. This is to be accepted by God as His son and to stand before Him without any stain, guilt or condemnation against you. This already has been provided for you and you can do nothing to earn this gift, you must simply receive it by trusting in God. Romans 3:27-28 (NLT): Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

You are on a path to meet God. If you do not know Him today, He is reaching out to you right now because He loves you. Now you have an important decision to make. Will you accept this gift of forgiveness or reject it?

Not all religious paths lead to God. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) While many religions have very good philosophies and wisdom, none of them have a way to make you right in God’s eyes. Jesus WAS and IS the only Savior of the world. Apart from Him, you are still guilty in your sins.

You will stand before the God who created you after you die. There will be no do-over or second-chances. God will judge you – He will make a decision about your eternity. The Bible is clear that there are only two places to go – heaven or hell. They are both forever. Heaven is spending forever with God who loves you in a place that is wonderful beyond our imagination. Hell is also real and forever – it is separation from God and it is an eternity of torment and darkness that is horrible beyond description.

The good news is that you have a choice. It is not God’s choice, but yours. When you meet God in heaven, He will not make a decision about your eternity based on your church attendance, family heritage or whether you were baptized. It is all about what you believe and decide about Jesus Christ.

All you have to do now is accept Jesus and trust in Him. God says that whoever calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved (Romans 10:13). You simply need to believe this good news in your heart and to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

If you are ready to do that, pray this prayer with me out loud and God will hear you:

Father God, I believe that You created me. You sent Your only son, Jesus Christ for me. When He died on the cross, He was punished for all my sin. I believe You raised Him from the dead so that I can have a relationship with You. Right now, I make a decision. I turn away from my sin and turn to You. Jesus come into my heart right now and be my Lord and Savior. I thank You now Father that I am Your child. You have forgiven me of all my wrong and I am completely clean and right in Your eyes. Thank You Father that You will never leave me or forsake me. I am going to heaven. Amen!

God says that right now you are a brand-new person. Wow! A great new life has just started for you. God wants you to grow and know more and more about Him. Your relationship can grow and become more and more wonderful.

What do I do now?

Here are a few things that will help you take steps with God:

• Tell someone what just happened to you
• Pray and read the Bible. Start in the gospel of John and then read the book of Ephesians
• Listen to the sermons on this website
• Find a church that preaches sermons like you hear on this website
• Be baptized in water by the good church you find
• Contact us to let us know about your new life in God

Welcome to God’s family!  We love you and God loves you even more.

Pastor Walker Schurz