The Gospel, The Good News that we belive
The essence of the message of Union City First Baptist Church can be summarized in the six letter acronym G.O.S.P.E.L. It is layed our for you to see clearly in what follows.
GOD created the universe for his glory and people in his image to serve him with joy.
Everything in he universe exists because, in the begining of time, God created the world. The vast array of diversity in plant and animal life, the unfathomable level of specification in the placement of the earth, the incomprehensibly vast expanse of the known universe, and the mind-boggling array of biological machines and designs that keep the human body functional all point to a magnificent designer, who put the galaxies and our hearts in motion.
SINS, Cannot be erased by good deeds, but must be paid for with blood.
Consider this: If I made you a perfect birthday cake careful choosing the most wholesome ingredients, and included enough poison to kill you just once, and then only put good ingredients in the frosting, and spent hours making it rich creamy and beautiful, would you eat it?
Chances are that you would not. Because you know that thousands of right acts will not change the one act of corruption. And so it is with us. While we may in theory at least by hard effort and self-control live lives that are %99.99 right, we are still %100 poisonous in whatever is left in our own hearts.
And let's face it no one is actually even close to %99.99 pure.
EVERYONE is invited to turn away from sin and rely on Christ alone for life and goodness.
Christ's death on the cross is sufficient to pay the debt for every person who comes to Christ in faith. Faith is more than just knowing this is true, but it is believing and acting on that knowledge.
Which allows us to be restored to a right relationship with God where we can willingly submit ourselves to God's rule, turn from our sin and seek God's help in defeating the temptations of life, not because we fear for our lives, or are trying to make ourselves good but because we can now with trust and confidence rely on God's favor because he has made us right with himself.
Follow the Teacher is an eight part crash course in the Christian life that will flesh out the realities of repentance unto faith for the forgiveness of sins. Click here to get copies of the course to study and to share with others.
WARNING: This is not designed to be a self-directed course, much of the content requires teacher interaction!
OUR SIN reveals that we are rebels against a holy God. separates us from him, mock his glory and make us worthy of eternal punishment.
IF you have ever experienced evil, pain or suffering you have an inkling that there is something wrong with the world. God who is perfect, cannot tolerate sin, or he himself would become evil. So our sins,(idolatry, worshiping created things, not honoring God, not trusting God, dishonoring your parents, hatred and murder, immoral thoughts and actions, stealing and the laziness that can makes it necessary, harming others with our words, and desiring to have what others have, and not being content with what God has given us) These all treat God as if he were not good, and make us worthy of eternal separation from God.
God has created a place for the eternal punishment of those who have rejected him. called hell, a place where only the wrath of God will be experienced by those who have rejected his goodness.
The wages of sin is death, but in his mercy, when people sinned, God allowed them to repent of their sins and offer a blood sacrifice to take the place of their punishment. Before Jesus, this sacrifice was shedding the blood of a perfect animal like a lamb. If they would repent and offer the blood sacrifice, God would forgive them and let the animal die in their place. Only by the shedding of
blood can a person’s sin be forgiven.
In Jesus, God himself offered a once and for all sacrifice that anyone who repents of their sins and trusts in what God did, can be forgiven of their sins.
PAYING the just penalty for our sin, Jesus died and rose again
LIFE is being reconciled to God, and once again living for his glory, by his power, beginning now and perfected in eternity.
True Life, Abundant Life, is being know and accepted by God and living to make him known. We are not instantaneously made incapable of sinning when we believe in Christ, but God puts his righteousness in us, and the reality of righteousness is that it can not sin without seeking forgiveness and repenting from the sin.
This is a growth process in the Christian life empowered by God himself and aided as we gather with God's people to help each other grow.