|| the Gospel ||

Sharing the Gospel earlier this year at a school in India

God loves you, He loves the whole world (John 3:16) and He created us to be His friend.

We are separated from God because we SIN - we do bad things - we lie, we envy, we are greedy, we rebel and steal and gossip. Sin cannot be removed by doing good things (Ephesians 2:8). Imagine if you stole something and the police caught you in your act. You would have to go before a judge to face a penalty.

In the same way, because of our sin, we are guilty before God, our Judge and our penalty is death (Romans 6:23) and eternal separation. The Bible describes it as a "fiery furnace with weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:42).

God loves us and wants us to be His close friend so He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay our penalty of death. Jesus is fully God and fully man (Hebrews 2:5-18). He lived a perfect life and never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21). He took our penalty of death by dying on a cross. He paid the price for our sin (Romans 4:25). On the third day He rose from the dead and eventually went up to heaven but He left His Spirit here on earth.

Imagine if I came to your home…I would knock on your door. Perhaps you would open your door and invite me inside for some tea or coffee? In the same way, we have a door to our heart. We can open our door and invite Jesus’ Holy Spirit to come inside us, possess us with His holy, good, loving Spirit (Romans 8:11).

Jesus came to save us from our sin and burdens, this salvation is a free gift, but we must accept it. If someone came and said they wanted to pay the penalty of your theft to the judge, you would have to accept this gift. In the same way, we have to receive this free gift of Jesus dying for our sins and ask Him to forgive us.

Do you want to receive Jesus' Spirit? Do you want to receive forgiveness for your sins and have the God of love as your friend? You can talk to Jesus just like you talk to your friends...He hears you. 

Make it personal...something like this, “Jesus, I have messed up, I have sinned…I have this bad habit...where I get angry, I lie, I hate, I gossip, please forgive me. I also have a fear of death, of sickness, and bad dreams... Take these away Jesus. Save me from my shame and guilt. Save me from death. I believe You died on the cross for me. I receive Your forgiveness. Take away my sin and burdens. Give me a new life. I open my heart and life to You, Jesus Holy Spirit, come inside and make me a new holy person. Give me peace, joy, love, satisfaction. Teach me to follow You and love You with my whole life.”