Is the world heavy on your shoulders?
Does it seem like everything just keeps going wrong in your life?
Is your life full of stress and tension, do you find yourself sad and depressed?
Do you dread what tomorrow may bring?
Would you like to find peace in your life?

Jesus is the answer!

Yes, Jesus loves us and would love to help us get our lives in order. Unfortunately, society has trouble with that concept. Its nothing new, people have always had trouble turning their lives over to Jesus. For nearly two thousand years, people all over the world have struggled with this truth.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 NIV
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Why do we find it so hard to believe that Jesus is the answer to the problems in our lives?

Maybe its because we live in a world that focuses on the individual, a world that causes us to always look at how things impact us. This places the focus on ourselves, resulting in a selfish outlook, instead of focusing on others (as Jesus taught) which would be a selfless outlook. This concept of selflessness is foreign to most of us, but then it wasn't too popular in Jesus' day either.

Jesus said in Luke 6:27-36 NIV
²⁷"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you."

³²"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." 

If you are thinking that these types of ideas aren't well accepted in our society today, you would be right; but neither did they fit into the society at the time of Jesus. Then too, as now, these ideas of loving those that hate us and do us harm, were looked on as ridiculous by many.

Jesus explained that those who were poor, hungry, hated, and insulted would be blessed in heaven, and those who were rich, well fed, and looked up to on earth will have already received their comfort here on earth with only woe ahead.

Luke 6:20-26 NIV
^20"Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man."     ²³"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. ²⁴"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. ²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." 

In general, Jesus turned everything around, making what we view as important, unimportant (money, power and position), and what we view as unimportant, important (the poor, weak, and downtrodden). What we all naturally want to do Jesus taught us not to do (fight back, get revenge, hate those who hate us), but rather, to do the things we really do not want to do (turn the other cheek, love and forgive).

As a matter of fact, Jesus said the following in Matthew 6:14-15 NIV
^14"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

This becomes a powerful truth, when we realize that to truly forgive, means to actually put the matter so completely out of our mind that we forget the offense ever occurred. How many times, in the heat of an argument between friends or spouses, has an old offense been brought back into the discussion, rubbing new salt in an old wound?

Jesus knows that we stress and worry too much; He knows that we have financial problems; family problems; social problems; health problems; the list goes on..... and Jesus wants to be there for us. Jesus died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice, for the sins of all who would believe in Him. By grace (Eph 2:8, 9), God helps us to see that we are sinners; He helps us to understand that even one little sin will keep us from heaven (spending eternal life with Him) and condemn us to hell (eternal life with Satan); He helps us to see our need for a Savior, our need for Jesus.

When we accept these facts as truth, we feel broken, recognize ourselves as sinners, and understand that we are doomed to spend eternity in hell, unless we accept the free gift of salvation, purchased for us by Jesus on the cross. 

How can we receive this gift of eternal life with Jesus?

John 20:31 NIV ^"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

God, through His awesome and undeserved gift of grace has made the process quite easy, simply believe with all your heart, that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins, and was resurrected; believe that you are a sinner unable (because of your sin) to enter heaven by your own actions or deeds, and are doomed to spend eternity in hell; confirm that you want to change your ways, repenting of your sins, and acknowledging that you cannot change on your own; ask for God's forgiveness for your sins; believe that by God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice you can be justified through faith in Jesus Christ, qualifying you to spend eternity with God in spite of your sin. 

In prayer, restate these beliefs, acknowledging God as sovereign, God's word (the Bible) as truth, Jesus as your Lord and Savior through His death, resurrection and ascension, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your new life. Commit to study the Bible and start attending a good Bible teaching church (people entering the building should be carrying their bibles and they should open and use them during the service). God knows your heart, and if your prayer is sincere and He has drawn you to Himself, He will make you a new person in Christ; old things will fall away, and you will become a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV ^"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Once we are saved, born again as a new creation, we find ourselves desiring to learn more about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and to be around other believers. 

If you have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life and you find yourself in need of someone to discuss this awesome commitment with, feel free to contact us.