Fellowship of Believers PA

Salvation

God has a special plan for His church; His family of believers. A plan for us all to be saved for the Kingdom. But tragedy visits us all. And each one of us has experienced (at some level) hurt, tragedy, worry, sadness, loss, regrets, mistakes, and broken promises.

The bible says to weep with those who weep; and to rejoice with those who rejoice . Jesus said in this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We are overcomers. You will go through trials; but it’s your attitude and how you respond to these trials as you go through them that God recognizes . You can either get bitter or get better.

God can forgive us for anything if we just ask Him. He doesn’t take away the consequences of our actions, we have to live with that- BUT God is right there with you as you go through them. The bible says that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope! Christ in us the Hope of Glory! We are not here to judge each other, but to be encouragers and to lift each other up! People don’t care what you know- until they know you care!

1 Peter 4:12 my brethren do not be surprised at the fiery trial which comes upon you for your testing. There will be times of testing but our faith is the victory! Our faithfulness HERE in this life, will result in rewards there - in heaven!! The bible tells us that we cannot even imagine what heaven will be like, but we know that it will be more beautiful and glorious than anything we have experienced here and there will be no more pain, sickness, death, crying and that means no more tears… it’s the blessed assurance that there is something better than what we have in this present life. Don’t you want that kind of HOPE?

God desires ALL people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of His grace and truth. But there is something you have to do, you must make a decision; the greatest decision of your life, to accept Jesus Christ into your life…right now, Just as you are. God created you and He gave you the freewill to decide for yourself where you will spend eternity. Salvation is a free gift and all we have to do is to believe the truth of the Gospel. The definition of the gospel is: Good News! But in order to hear the good news we must first hear the bad news.

We are all sinners; the bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You might say, I’m a pretty good person, I don’t hurt anybody, I love my family. And that is probably true; if you are comparing yourself with others. But God gave us the 10 commandants as a standard to live by and He set the bar very high. We can’t reach it on our own... If you have ever broken just ONE of the commandments you are guilty of them all. We are all sinners separated from God- because of our sins. 

But God provided a way for us to be saved. No doubt you have heard this next statement before, but I’d like to stir you up by way of reminder: He sent his son the Lord Jesus Christ, as the perfect sacrifice to die on the cross in order to save us and for us to have our sins forgiven. The bible says the wages of sin is death (that’s the bad news) the good news is: He paid the price for your salvation with His precious blood. Jesus said; “I am the way the truth and the life.” And today He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. If you have never done this: Admit that you are a sinner and invite Him (by prayer) into your heart and repent- that is, turn from your sin and ask forgiveness: the bible calls that being born again; to have a spiritual rebirth- to be born from above. That’s all it takes. BUT, If you die without the blood of Jesus covering your sins you will be judged “guilty” by a HOLY God. No one knows when the world will end or when he will die. The bible says it is appointed once for man to die and then the judgment. If you watch or listen to the news each night, you know that this world is not getting any better. Would you agree that the end of time is closer than it ever was before? But fear not! Because when you place your trust in Jesus Christ He will cover you on the day of judgment and God will see you as righteous. Christ is our righteousness! No matter what happens in this world we don’t have to be afraid! That is real peace of mind. Don’t wait to put all your trust in Him so that you will have the blessed assurance of eternal life with Him. Invite Him to come into your life and you will have a peace that passes ALL understanding! We’ve got to live as if Jesus could come back at any time, because He could and He will. And we all need to be ready. You, your spouse and your children. The best is yet to come! What will you be doing when the Lord comes? Amen.