Thanks for your interest in what it means to know Jesus.  We trust that this brief description will be enough to whet your appetite for a deeper relationship with the Lord.

The Bible teaches us that God created everything that exists and that He created man in His own image. Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  It also teaches us that God is love (1John 4:8).  It is His defining characteristic.  Let me get a little philosophical with you for a minute.  Love is not just a warm and fuzzy feeling you have on the inside.  It is an emotion that must have an object.  Love does not exist alone.  The object of God's love before He created anything was himself yet in a way that is unique to him because He exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The Father loves the Son, the Son love the Father, the Holy Spirit is the love expression of the Father and the Son and a person as well.  I know this is quite the mind-blower, but we're talking about God here.  That's part of what makes Him God and not us.  He is separate from us and existed before time… eternity past to eternity present or "from everlasting to everlasting you are God."(Psalm 90:2)  So God, being Love Himself, said, "Let us make man in our image." Genesis 1:26 You may ask, "Why did He do it?"  The answer may be as simple as, "Just because He wanted to."  It may also be that it's just the kind of person He is.  Love wants objects of love.  God wanted to create us for Himself so that we could share in His love.  He is a Father, you know!  Love is a relationship.  God created us to have a relationship with Him.

When man sinned, he was separated from God as he was forewarned in Genesis 2:17.  The only way God could satisfy His justice by demanding the penalty for sin and yet still satisfy His mercy, grace, and loving nature was to take the sin of man upon Himself.  So the Son of God became a man in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was born the only sinless man with God as His father and Mary as His mother.  He lived a sinless life and died on the cross for our sins, satisfying God's justice and at the same time satisfying His love nature so that we could be forgiven and brought back into a right relationship with Him.(John 3:16)  He was the only one who could do this for us.  He said that if we would turn to Him and change our minds about how we were living our lives without him and put our trust in Him as our savior, our sins would be forgiven and our relationship with God would be restored.  We would be "born again," a new birth with His Spirit living in us, changing our way of thinking and empowering us to live a new life of joy and peace filled with love.

You can experience this love and the forgiveness of sins by opening your heart to God right now and telling Him that you want this free gift of eternal life and restored relationship with Him.  Just pray something like this or use these words spoken from your heart in all sincerity.  "Jesus, I ask you to forgive me for living my life my own way with my own selfish desires and sinful actions and not honoring you.  Come into my life now and change me into the person you created me to be with God as my father.  I thank you that you died on the cross for my sins, taking my place and receiving my punishment and that you rose from the dead and were given the right to give me eternal life.  I thank you that it is not by anything that I could do on my own that could merit my forgiveness, but only what You did for me.  Thank you for giving me eternal life right now.

If that is your desire and you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God!  We would love to have you come and visit us and learn more about your new life in Christ. If you live in another area we would love to help direct you to another life-giving Bible believing church.