You are not here by accident.
God loves you, and He wants you to get to know Him better. Why? Because He knows that only by following Him will we be able to live an abundant, significant, and wonderful life full of hope, peace, joy, and love. What is more, He wants desperately for you to know Him so that you can literally gain eternal life.
But, there’s a problem. The Bible calls it “sin.” It’s anything that we do that goes against God - the “white” lie, the unkind word, the greedy spirit. Sin doesn’t have to seem huge to still have huge consequences. In fact, the Bible says that any sin at all deserves the punishment of death (Romans 6:23).
Yet, there’s good news. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). You see, the greatest news on the planet is this:
Jesus Christ died in our place so that we might have life - abundant and eternal.
There’s nothing we can possibly do to earn this incredible gift. But - we must receive it. We must believe that Jesus is who He said He was - God’s Son. We must recognize the seriousness of our sin, and ask God to forgive us. And, we must begin exploring what it means to live the abundant, hope/peace/joy/love-filled life that He gives.
Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not about avoiding a list of “Thou Shalt Not’s.” It’s about knowing that Jesus’ sacrifice purchased a way for us to know God personally - to know the Creator of the Universe so well that we get to call Him “Father.”
Think about it this way: who is the most amazing person you know? Don’t you just love being around them simply because they are smart/funny/talented/etc.? Well - imagine that on an infinite scale. God, who is the definition of smart/funny/talented/etc., wants you to be close to Him.
You are not here by accident. God has a plan and purpose for you - and the first step is to get to know Him. Want to know more? Stop by Lakeview this Sunday. We’d love to help.
