Thanks be to God for your desire to know and learn! Far too many people are apathetic about considering most significant questions in all of Creation: 1) Who is God?, and 2) Who am I in relation to Him? So the fact that you want to learn is really exciting. Why? Because first, it is a sign that God is working on your heart to draw you near to Him. God comes after us before we can come towards Him. And second, because He wants to be known, He loves those who pursue truth, and He will reveal Himself to those who seek His Kingdom.
In the words of Jesus, ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Answers about God are found in the Bible, so if you haven’t started reading it, that’s where to begin. There are many great Bible apps out there, and lots of ways to listen to the audio Bible for free. The Bible is a book of smaller books, like a library. We would suggest starting with any of the gospel books (beginning of the New Testament) – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. These will get you introduced to Jesus.
Before you begin, pray a simple prayer, something like this: “Father God, I realize there is so much I don’t know. But please help me understand more about You as I turn to your Scripture. Please give me the eyes to see and the ears to hear truth in this book. Please give me a willing heart to receive all that You are, and the bigger story You are telling. Renew my mind so that the words here make sense and help me think clearly. I ask for Your Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth. In Jesus’ name I ask these things. Amen.”
You will naturally have a million questions about the Bible, if you are curious and hungry for knowledge. Be cautious about online research (especially AI chatbots) since all the best and all the worst answers are out there, and the internet gives us instant access to it all. In time, if you are a Christian, you will grow in discernment about what is true and false.
Besides the Bible itself, you need to connect with a church that believes and teaches the Bible. We hope that you would come get connected with us. We would be happy to meet you at one of our regular gatherings, or sit down with you some other time to begin these conversations. You can start here.
I’m so sorry to hear this. These losses and hard times are a result of the world being corrupted by sin – the rebellion against the ways of God under which we all suffer and we all contribute to. Sin brought death into the world from our original forefather, Adam (Romans 5:12, 6:23). So whether your loss you’ve experienced is the death of a loved one, or some other experience with corruption, evil, or sadness, these things also are grievous to a Holy God. He does not delight when His creation suffers (Ezekiel 18:32). This is why He sent His Son, Christ Jesus, into our world in order to overturn the power of sin and death, to destroy the works of the devil (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8), and begin the process of the redemption of the world which has been kept in bondage (Romans 8:19-25). To redeem means to “buy back;” that is, to set someone free from slavery by paying a price. The price Jesus was willing to pay to begin this undoing of death and our slavery to sin was His own perfect life, which He laid down at the cross (1 John 3:16; John 10:11-18). He died to make every loss and every tear we shed be able to work to a greater good and an eventual undoing of all the evil and suffering His people experience (John 10:10; Romans 8:28). The big story God is writing is a comedy, not a tragedy – it will culminate in a New Heavens and New Earth where there will be no more mourning, suffering, and pain, and there will be no more sin and death (Revelation 21:1-5). This is good news indeed! This is the Gospel.
God can use the harm and loss and suffering and evil you’ve experienced to bring about the greatest good in your life – that of drawing you near to Him, and adopting you into His family as His child. He does this all the time, and today may be the day of salvation for you. We want to help you walk through this and hear your story. Please contact us.
We are in a moment where, praise God, it seems like many people are finding faith in Christ and people are more willing to talk about Jesus in public than has been the case in decades. As despair-inducing as the world at large may be, with corruption and evil abounding in our country, the turn towards Christ is reason for hope. He is the only hope our world has, and He is more than able to overcome the darkness and rescue not just individuals, but whole families and we believe whole cultures from the chains of death and wickedness.
We praise God for notable individuals finding faith and influencing people through their witness on online platforms. Brand new believers are going to be figuring things out for a while, and sometimes communicate error, so we want to have grace. The zeal for Christ in a new believer is inspiring to see, and we want to encourage those persons to tell others about the good news they have come to know! All the same, it’s best not to have new believers as our teachers in the church (1 Timothy 3:6).
Being a follower of Christ is not something we can inherit from our parents, nor can we be saved by proxy. We must personally be given a new heart. (Ezekiel 36:26). We must turn away (repent) of our own sin (Mark 1:15.) We must each give an account to God (Romans 14:12).
The most important question in life is this: Who do you say that Jesus is? Your response to this question determines the rest of your earthly life, and then your eternal destiny.
To say “Jesus is Lord” – that is to say, “Christ is King!” – is to proclaim that your full trust and allegiance is in what the Son of God has done for you sacrificially on the cross, removing the debt of sin stacked against you and putting His perfect record of righteousness on your account before the Father. It is to say that you believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and that His tomb was empty on that first Resurrection Day. And it is to say that you bow your knee before the King of all the universe, submitting your will to His perfect and loving and holy will. If you can do this with gladness and trust, it shows you have a renewed heart, and it is all the gift of God (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:8-9). Abundant and eternal life is yours – receive it with joy!
To say otherwise – that Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, merely a great teacher, an avatar, a created being, an alien, a fictional character, a heretic, merely a prophet, or a mode of a unitarian God – is to spit upon the face of your Rescuer and your only hope of escaping a fearful and just judgment in Gehenna, the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15).
We’re excited that you are curious about the things of God. Don’t just remain ankle-deep in the water, though. Come and wade out into the river of the water of life (Revelation 22:1).
It is to our shame as Christians in a so-called “Christian nation” that there are many people who have never heard this good news (Gospel) of grace offered through trust in Jesus Christ. But you are not alone. There is no better time than today to begin a new life offered freely through Jesus. If God is drawing you to Himself, then today may be the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
We urge you not to continue to put off to another day what needs to be done immediately: that is, come and be reconciled to the God who made you and loves you enough that He sent His Son to die in your place and take the punishment which you and I deserve for our sin – our rebellion against a holy God.
None of us knows what tomorrow will bring (James 4:14). How many of us have experienced the sudden unexpected death of a loved one or friend? One day soon that could be you or me. So don’t assume this is something you have time to deal with later in life (James 4:17).
God Himself determines how many days we will have on this earth before we will face death (Psalm 139:16), and after that, there will be a judgment that we all will face. Only those who have been made new by trusting in Christ Jesus will have nothing to fear in death (Hebrews 9:27-28). But those who stubbornly remain with a hard heart towards their Creator have much to fear (Hebrews 10:26-27).
So if this is all new to you, welcome to Christ the King! We suggest you read our page “What is the Gospel?” and please get in touch with us. We want to help you learn about God and the Bible and we’d love to meet with you. Tell us your story and what God is doing in your life right now, and let’s figure out the next steps.