Sunday Meeting Times: 9:00 AM Fellowship 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM Worship
10:55 AM Anouncements in the Fellowship Building
11:00 AM Bible Study
Wednesday Meeting Times: 6:00 PM Student Worship and Bible Study
Click here to see the full schedule and directions
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?
Some say it is a philosophy, others say it is an ethical stance, while still others claim it is actually an experience. Christianity is not knowing about God; It is knowing God!
“Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3
Yes, there is a personal God. He wants to know you as His child, and He wants you to know Him as your Lord, Savior, and Friend.
He is the God who…
“In the beginning created the heavens and the earth.” Gen 1:1
“Can do all things” Job 42:1
He is…
“God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome.” Deuteronomy 10:17
“The LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Exodus 34:67
WHY DO I NEED GOD?
God created us for a purpose, and we will find fulfillment and peace when we do what he designed us to do, namely be in relationship with him and love and worship him. The Bible tells us that we cannot find this purpose and fulfillment apart from God, no matter how hard as we try. Plus, if you were created by God, then you owe him your life, because He created you for a purpose.
HOW CAN I KNOW GOD?
We must be holy and good to know a holy and good God. God demands perfect obedience to his law to be holy and good: God gave his law in the book of Exodus:
“God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” Psalm 53:23
No one is Holy and Good, because we all have failed to keep the law of God.
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all.” James
2:10
Even if you think you are a good person, you have still stumbled in keeping God’s law. According to the Bible you are therefore guilty before God.
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17
Sin is not just what we do against the law of God, it is also what we do not do that know we should be doing.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Because we have failed to obey God completely and perfectly, the Bible characterizes us as:
God does not reward sinners, enemies of God, and the spiritually dead. Instead, because we are GUILTY RATHER THAN INNOCENT, we must face the consequences of our character and actions.
“…he does not leave the guilty unpunished” Exodus 34:67
“And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
Everyone must stand before God and give an account for their life and whether they measured up to God’s standard of perfection.
“For the Wages of Sin is death…” Romans 6:23a
The reward for a life of disobedience is separation from God forever in a place called Hell.
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8
Hell is a real and eternal place. Unless there is some remedy to this problem, we will all face this unfortunate reality.
IS THERE HOPE? CAN I BE FORGIVEN?
Because we have all chosen our own ways and not obeyed God’s law perfectly, we have a serious problem. God wants me to know Him, but I can’t because I fallen short of His standard of perfection. How can an imperfect person like me, know a perfect, Holy, and Good God and be accepted and forgiven by Him and not face the consequences that I deserve?
There is hope. There is “GOOD NEWS.” God is a holy and righteous God who must punish sin, or he wouldn’t be holy and good. However, he is also a god of love who provided a way for us to be saved from the consequences of our disobedience, but more iportantly to discover the greatest joy and eternal hope possibleto know god and be accepted by him forever!
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
The one true God, with the greatest love, gave the greatest gift…His Son Jesus
WHO IS JESUS?
Jesus is God:
John 1:24“He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Jesus is God who was born of a virgin to come in human flesh…
Phil. 2:68“…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
WHY IS THIS THE GREATEST GIFT?
"God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
This gift is wonderful, because this gift was for us!
Remember that in order to know God we have to be good and holy. in order to be good and holy we have to be perfect in our obedience. we are not! Jesus is perfect. He lived the life that we could not live and then paid the penalty we should have paid. Jesus was declared guilty for sins he did not commit, my sins, so that i could be declared innocent of my own sins. Only those declared innocent, forgiven of their sins can know god.
Jesus was the Only One who could pay the penalty for your sins, because He Himself was without sin.
“For He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
THE STORY WAS NOT OVER
Jesus would not have been god if he could not overcome sin and defeat death. That is exactly what He did:
“But now Christ is risen from the dead…” 1 Corinthians 15:20a
Jesus proved that He was God by dying to take the penalty of your sins and then rising again in the resurrection on the third day. We do not serve OR KNOW ABOUT a man who is in the grave. We serve AND KNOW Jesus, the God who lives.
The one true God, with the greatest love, gave the greatest gift, and now offers the greatest invitation to find the greatest life:
“…that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
John 1:17“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
The invitation is to experience a life:
A. In God’s gracewe can personally be blessed by God because Jesus paid the penalty of our sins
B. In TruthWe can know the truth that sets men free; Free from trying to heal our wounded consciences, free from trying to forgive our own sins, free from trying to clean ourselves of guilt
C. With an eternal home with the Lord
2 Cor. 5:8“we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
This is the everlasting life of John 3:16, to be with God forever!
The invitation is to no longer be:
sinnersRomans 5:8 enemies of GodRomans 5:10 and spiritually dead in our trespasses and sinsEphesians 2:1
…but rather because of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection to now be called:
1. Saints
Romans 1:7“loved by God and called to be saints”
A saint is not a perfect person...but a sinner who has been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in the kingdom of light.
2. Children of God
John 1:12“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Only those who receive Jesus Christ and are adopted into the family of God are children of God
3. Friends of God
John 15:15“I have called you friends”
We are no longer enemies, but rather friends.
4. Alive with Christ
Ephesians 2:45“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”
Because of Jesus’ wonderful gift, we can now be called saints, children, friends of God, and alive with Christ. We will be rewarded rather than condemned.
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:23
We are now citizens of heaven and call Heaven home!
IS THERE ANOTHER WAY BESIDES JESUS?
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
Jesus is either the only way or a complete liar. There is no middle ground.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
Men will still try other ways. This is called religion! It’s end is death.
“You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe, and tremble.” James 2:19
Believing in God, being a good person, or being religious will not save you.
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
“…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead, you shall be saved.” Romans 10:9 Are you willing to turn to Jesus as Lord, the owner, controller, provider, and sustainer of your life? This means you must turn from your old way of life.
Are you willing to trust in Jesus and what He did on the cross to save you? This means you must forsake all other manmade religions or trusting in your own goodness.
By faith, do you believe that Jesus is God, who lived a perfect life, died the death we should have died because the death was for our sins, and rose again on the third day exalted as the Living King of Kings and Lord of Lords forever?
Are you willing to confess your sins and failures before God, and humbly ask Him to forgive you?
I invite you to confess and believe!
WHAT NOW?
We invite you to enjoy the wonderful Christian life with other believers who love you. Please join us at CCC as we live lives of thankfulness for this wonderful gift of life with the Lord Jesus Christ.