In the midst of our sorrow and sadness, Jesus Christ was truly our hope, peace and confidence. Both Anna and I love, serve and follow Jesus and have found forgiveness and life in Him through His life, death and resurrection. We can honestly say that He sustained us through our sorrow and that we never doubted His love for us, and we never doubted that He was in complete control of Mason's life and health as we watched him die. Based upon the truth presented in the Bible, we firmly believe that Mason is in heaven and that one day we will see him again as we too go to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Click Here to hear more of what God taught us through our sorrow and His Word as we shared with our church family at Harbour Shores Church.
Our hope and peace is found solely in the "good news" (the gospel) of Jesus Christ! What is this good news? What is the gospel? Well...
The Bad News
The gospel is all about Jesus Christ. The gospel is good news, but… in order to understand this good news you must first understand some bad news. The bad news, simply stated, is that every person is a sinner and deserves to be eternally separated from God while experiencing the eternal wrath and condemnation of God. We all stand guilty and condemned before a holy and perfect and just God. Consider what the Bible says:
Isaiah 53:6 – “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…”
Romans 3:23 – “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
1 John 1:8 – “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
James 2:10 – “…whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
The Good News
The gospel is such good news because Jesus is the answer to man’s sin problem. Jesus, who was God in the flesh, came to earth over 2,000 years ago to live and die as man’s substitute. Jesus lived a perfect and righteous life and then died as the sacrifice and substitute for sinners. Jesus is the only way to eternal life, forgiveness and reconciliation with God! Consider what the Bible says:
John 1:1, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
1 Peter 3:18 – “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”
John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
The Best News
Jesus has lived the perfect, sinless and righteous life. Jesus has died as the substitute for sin. Jesus rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. The question is: How will you respond to Jesus? What will you do with Jesus? Will you believe in Him? Will you turn to Him in faith? Will you repent (turn from) your sin and embrace Him as Lord and Savior? This is precisely what God asks you to do. Consider what the Bible says:
John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the word, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Romans 10:9-13 – “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
What Will You Do?
The Gospel is good news because the Gospel is the means to finding eternal life and eternal joy in Jesus Christ! Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you received forgiveness and eternal life from Him? Have you confessed and repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus? If not, we’d invite you to do so. It is the greatest and most important decision you could ever make. Consider what the Bible says:
2 Corinthians 5:20 – “…we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
Acts 16:30-32 – “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Losrd to him together with all who were in his house.”
Acts 17:30-31 – “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
