Connect with Jesus

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God. He is fully God and fully human: God himself came into our world as a man (John 1:1–14). He lived a perfect life, taught about the kingdom of God, healed the sick and forgave sins.

He was crucified, died and was buried, and on the third day God raised him from the dead. He is alive today and reigns as Lord over all (Philippians 2:9–11).

What is the gospel?

Gospel means good news. God made us to know him and to live in his love, but all of us have turned away from him to go our own way (Romans 3:23). The Bible calls this sin, and it cuts us off from God, the source of life (Romans 6:23).

God did not leave us there. Jesus gave everything for us. He gave up his life on the cross, taking the punishment our sin deserved, so that we could be forgiven and brought back to God (1 Peter 3:18). Then he rose from the dead and defeated death itself (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

How is a person saved?

No one can earn their way to God by being good enough. Salvation is a gift, given by God’s grace and received through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Grace is God’s kindness that we haven’t earned and could never repay.

Faith is trusting and hoping in what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). None of us has seen Jesus with our own eyes, or the life to come, yet we put our whole confidence in God and his promises: that Jesus died and rose again for us, that he forgives us, and that he will keep his word. Faith is not a feeling or a leap in the dark. It means hoping in what God has promised and relying on what Jesus has done for us, not on what we can do for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:7). That is why the Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

We receive this gift by turning from our own way and putting our trust in Jesus: believing that he died for us and rose again, and declaring him Lord, the master of our life (Romans 10:9).

Turning from our own way, which the Bible calls repentance, is a change of direction. It means admitting that we have lived by our own rules instead of God’s, and turning around to follow him. Jesus has given everything for us, so we give him our whole life in return.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

A Christian is someone who follows Jesus as Lord. Like him, we willingly lay down our lives (Mark 8:34–35).

Laying down our lives doesn’t mean we stop living. It means we stop living only for ourselves: we hand Jesus our plans, choices, time and money, and let him lead. We don’t do it out of duty. We do it because we love God since he first loved us and because we believe he has much more to give in return: eternal life, unconditional love, unexplainable joy and undying hope for a future with him (John 3:16).

You don’t follow Jesus alone. God gives us his Holy Spirit, God himself living in us, to help us live for him. He gives us the Bible to show us his ways, and the church as a family to grow with. Baptism is the first step for a new believer, and a small group is a good place to keep growing.