Can I tell you a story?

Thanks for taking a moment to let me tell you an amazing story.

The story of Jesus of Nazareth is the greatest story ever told.

The story I want to tell you is not fiction nor is it merely a story. It is history. It actually happened. And what it accomplished and the aftermath of the story is so amazing that your life can be forever changed. So without further delay…

Jesus was a man who was born about 2000 years ago in a little town called Bethlehem. His mother and father were both there but most likely no one else. You see they were visiting Bethlehem because some of their ancestors lived there and the government had told all the people to go to the town and village of the ancestors to fill out a census/report. So Mary and Joseph traveled by foot for many days to get to the land and then Mary actually ended up giving birth in this city that was not her own. The baby Jesus grew up to be a man and began walking around the region He lived in, meeting people, getting to know people and then telling them about a coming kingdom. This coming kingdom surely caught people off guard because they were part of a kingdom already and it didn’t seem like the Roman kingdom was going anywhere. So Jesus began teaching them what the coming kingdom looked like and how its citizens were to behave. Jesus then revealed that the kingdom was already there for those who wanted to join and He also taught that the Creator of the Universe was the King of this new kingdom. Jesus went around doing signs and wonders healing people of various sicknesses and diseases and disfigurements, but he also taught people how to treat their neighbor with kindness and fairness. When Jesus became a young man of about 33 years old a group of people who were jealous of the attention that He recieved from the people took Jesus and had Him put to death. They actually drove a nail into each wrist and a nail through His feet and nailed Him to a couple of boards that had been made into a cross. It was a horrific and tragic day. But then on Sunday, just a couple days later, Jesus came back to life and showed all of the people that He was more powerful than anyone and anything. Jesus then went up into heaven but told us that He would come back again one day to bring His followers to live with Him forever in a heavenly kingdom. I tell you this story so that you know these things: 1. Jesus is God in the flesh; God came down to earth to show humanity how much He loved them 2. While Jesus was on earth He never did anything wrong and lived a perfect life of love 3. Also while Jesus was on earth He did miracles to show His power and authority and taught about God’s kingdom 4. You and I have sinned and our sin is deserving of death and hell but while we were still sinners Christ died for us so that we could be forgiven of sin and cleansed of all unrighteousness. 5. If you will believe that what I have said is true and will invite Jesus to be your Savior (forgiving you of your sins) and Lord (in charge of your life) then you can be born again. 6. If you are born again you get to go to heaven to be in God’s heavenly kingdom when Jesus comes back to bring His followers to His home

You may have heard this story before. You may even believe that it is probably true. But the bigger and more important question is “have you actually taken the step of letting Jesus save you and lead your life?” If you haven’t, this story will remain simply that: a story. But if you take the step to tell Jesus that you are sorry for all the wicked and selfish things you have done and ask Him to forgive you, if you tell Jesus that you believe He is God and that He is able to save you and if you ask Jesus to live in your heart and save you, I can assure you, that is exactly what will be done. If you will believe this and accept Jesus as the one who is in charge of your life, you can be made into a new person and begin living the most amazing and exciting adventure ever! And on top of that, you will be able to begin looking forward to living forever and ever with God in heaven one day!

If you are ready to take that step, please pray this prayer…

“Dear Jesus, I believe you really came and lived and died and rose again. Thank you for living a perfect life and teaching us how to live. I am sorry for my sins and things I have done in my life. Please forgive me. Please take over my life, I want to follow you from now on. Please accept me into your family and make it where I can come to live in heaven forever with you. Thank you for forgiving and cleansing me and making me a child of God. Thank you for loving me. Amen”