How to find
FAITH, HOPE and LOVE
Have you been to the beach? Seen the flags and the lifesavers? Now image you're swimming in the surf ... you think you're safe ... you don't notice you're being dragged out to sea ... until suddenly ... HELP!
You realise you’re not strong enough to save yourself, and there’s only one hope – a lifesaver.
You realise you’re not strong enough to save yourself, and there’s only one hope – a lifesaver.
Real Life
And so it is in real life. All of us need a lifesaver because none of us swim entirely within God's safety flags. Why? Because we all fall short of his standard of holiness.
In the beginning, he created us to be perfect, but he didn’t make us robots or puppets on a string. He gave us freedom to choose, and we all choose to do things the Bible calls 'sin'.
Are you protesting? Are you saying...
In the beginning, he created us to be perfect, but he didn’t make us robots or puppets on a string. He gave us freedom to choose, and we all choose to do things the Bible calls 'sin'.
Are you protesting? Are you saying...
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"I'm not a sinner! I lead a good life and do the best I can!" Let's be honest. Have you ever lied? Been selfish or unkind? Disobeyed road rules? Have you broken the commandment to "love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself?"
We all fail the test of obeying God's perfect standard, and the Bible puts it this way: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) |
The Bad News
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And that is the bad news. The word translated sin in our English Bible means missing the mark, missing the bull's eye. No matter how narrowly an arrow misses that central mark, it's still a miss. And likewise, no matter how little we fall short of God's required standard, we still fall short, and that's called sin.
And because all of us fall short, we have so much heartache in this world, so many broken relationships, so much violence and sorrow. Our world has suffered shipwreck. |
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Many lives are shattered, everyone is affected by sin, and the bad news is that sin is like being caught in a rip unawares. It's like being carried away from God and eventually ending up in a place called Hell - unless we accept God's help.
The Good News
And here is the good news: God is there to help. He sent the only lifesaver fit enough to rescue each one of us: his Son Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It explains that "Jesus died for our sins once for all, the perfect one for the imperfect, in order to bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)
The Bible tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It explains that "Jesus died for our sins once for all, the perfect one for the imperfect, in order to bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)
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We are drowning in sin, but Jesus is willing and able to rescue us. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.” (John 14:6)
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If you haven't done so already, will you come to Jesus? Will you admit that you are a sinner and thank him for dying on the cross in your place? Because the Father accepted his sacrifice, Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today (in heaven).
He loves you and wants you to have a new life with him, both now and throughout eternity.
If you trust Jesus as your Saviour, you will not only have eternal peace with God and peace in your heart, you will also find FAITH, HOPE and LOVE in this life.
As the hymn writer James Rowe once wrote:
He loves you and wants you to have a new life with him, both now and throughout eternity.
If you trust Jesus as your Saviour, you will not only have eternal peace with God and peace in your heart, you will also find FAITH, HOPE and LOVE in this life.
As the hymn writer James Rowe once wrote:
I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me,
Now safe am I.
Souls in danger, look above,
Jesus completely saves;
He will lift you by His love
Out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea,
Billows His will obey;
He your Savior wants to be--
Be saved today!
Far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me,
Now safe am I.
Souls in danger, look above,
Jesus completely saves;
He will lift you by His love
Out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea,
Billows His will obey;
He your Savior wants to be--
Be saved today!
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