THE ANSWER TO A
GREAT QUESTION
All of us have asked ourselves at one time or another, "WHY AM I HERE?" What a great question! And if that is a great question for any of us, it MUST be a question worth asking of a church. For us at First Baptist, the answer is pretty simple. Jesus commanded his followers to,"Go and make disciples." That is what we are all about. We use two words to describe how we accomplish that...WIN & GROW. So, simply...
Our purpose at First Baptist Church of Chickamauga is to
FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION
by
WINNING & GROWING
PEOPLE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND OUR LORD, JESUS CHRIST!
ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION...
HOW CAN YOU KNOW FOR SURE
THAT YOU'LL GO TO HEAVEN?
We have one major obsticle between us and God in Heaven. The Bible calls this problem sin. ANY little thing that we have EVER done wrong will cost us the privilage of Heaven. Have you sinned? The Bible tells us that we ALL have sinned and fallen short of God and Heaven. Since this is absolutely true, it is pretty easy to see that we all have a BIG problem. Because
of our sin, the Bible says that we are and will be separated from God...FOREVER. This means that Heaven isn't just a long shot, even for someone who is a really, really good person. It is an impossibility! So, is there ANY hope at all for us? ABSOLUTLY! And it is pretty simple, too. You might say that having the assurance of Heaven and being forgiven of the "sins" that keep us from getting there are as easy as A, B, C.
A.
ADMIT TO BEING A SINNER: Step number one is to accept
the fact that there is a problem. I'm a sinner and I can't
change it by myself. There are things in my life that are
wrong and I want to make them right. I must agree with God
and the Bible that I'm a sinner, have NO CHANCE of making it to Heaven on my own, and I
want to be rescued.
B.
BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST: He died for me and was raised
from the dead so that I can be SAVED (Rom. 10:9). If He didn't
do this, my sins could not be forgiven. Because of Christ
paying the price for salvation I can turn away from my sins
and receive ETERNAL LIFE asking Him to be my Lord. He is the
only way. This must be understood.
C.
CONFESS JESUS AS LORD: You must confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord. You must call on God surrendering all
to be saved and then share this decision with others. I can't
force you to be saved, but would you like to call out to God
now and ask Him to save you? You can ask Jesus to save you RIGHT NOW! Just call out to him. Pray openly and honestly to him. If you aren't sure how or what to pray, maybe a simple prayer like the one below will help you talk to God from your own heart?
SAMPLE
PRAYER:
"Lord, I'm calling out to you now because I'm a sinner
and need to be saved. I know that there is nothing I can do
on my own to get to Heaven. I believe that your son Jesus
died for my sins, shed his own blood and rose again to life for me.
My life is full of faults and I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me
of all my sins. I invite you right now to come take the biggest place in my life. Save me. Change me. Thank
you Jesus for saving me from myself, for forgiving me, and for giving me the absolute assurance that I now have the promise of Heaven. In Jesus' name, Amen."
If
you sincerely prayed that prayer then tell somebody about
your decision to recieve Christ. Now that you're saved you'll want
to find a good, Bible-teaching church that can help you each week to uncover the amazing truths and promises that you have based on God's very own words in the Bible. When you get there, make sure that you talk to someone in leadership about the first step of obedience in your new Christian life, baptism. It doesn't get you to heaven, but it is an important step that says to yourself and everyone else, "Jesus died for me. Now, I'm going to live for him and follow in his footsteps." It will be very important as you start your new life
as a Christian that you make special time in your day to read a Bible and have some one-on-one time talking and listening to God in prayer.
FINALLY, don't forget to write today's date
and a note that can serve as a constant reminder that TODAY you accepted Jesus' free gift of forgiveness, eternal life and Heaven. At some point in your life Satan will come along and try to get you to doubt your decision. You can always remind yourself and him of the day that changed your life FOREVER!
If you made a decision to follow Jesus Christ today, we'd love to encourage you in your NEW LIFE with Christ! Send us a quick e-mail by clicking HERE. |
