"who do you say that i am?"

Jesus is perhaps the most famous person in all of history and yet arguably one of the most misunderstood. Even in His day, people struggled to understand exactly who He was. At one time in His ministry, He turned and asked His followers "Who do you say that I am?"

The world has answered this question in all sorts of ways. Maybe you've even answered this question for yourself. Some would say Jesus is a good teacher or a religious prophet. Some would say He was a great humanitarian or simply a historical figure.

In the Bible, where the biography of Jesus is written, Jesus is found teaching that He is in fact, God. He explains further when He affirms one of His followers who said: "Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia and many other works once wrote "Either this man (Jesus) was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse." What this author was saying is that Jesus' own teachings require an honest look at who He said He is. And anyone who claims to be God, must be honestly considered to be a liar, a lunatic or the one they claim to be.

What we discover about Jesus is that Jesus is the one who speaks to the winds and the waves and they obey, He is the healer of the sick, the one who leads us into freedom, a friend to the broken, the forgiver of the rebel, the king who is above every other king.

Jesus is worth throwing everything else away simply for the sake of knowing Him and Jesus knows your name...

"Wake oh Sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Ephesians 5:14

HE LOVES YOU

JUST AS YOU ARE

None of us are perfect. But that is not a surprise to God. We have all fallen short in one way or another to live as we know we should. As a result, so many of us feel like we have to get ourselves to a better place before Jesus will welcome us into a relationship with Him. But Jesus doesn't teach this nor does He live this way during His time on Earth. Jesus is seen welcoming all those who turn to Him and look to know Him and find the gift of His unconditional love.

Many of us allow the guilt or the shame of our past to determine whether or not we will seek out Jesus, never realizing that His desire is to make us new so that we can enjoy the goodness of His gift of salvation and find a new life and new beginning for what lies ahead.

Just as in the story that Jesus told of a rebellious son who returned home to find his loving father waiting with open arms, you don't need to do anything before you come to Jesus, He invites you just as you are and celebrates your coming home to the place where you belong.

GOOD NEWS

God's kingdom is a beautiful place. Where God reigns as King without opposion, therefore carrying out His good and perfect will without interference from those who would seek to shape a kingdom of their own. The Bible refers to this as sin and it lives within all of us. A desire to shape the world according to our will in hopes that we would do a better job and find joy.

In the end, this attempt leaves us broken and at odds with God Himself. While treason is not without its cost, God does not leave us separated from Him, at odds with Him, but instead steps into creation and subjects Himself to this broken world, experiencing all that it's like to be human. Jesus is this man, God with us, living a life in perfect surrender to the Father. He then willingly surrenders His life to receive what would be our punishment for our cosmic treason and offers a gift to us: His perfect life.
 
A life free from sin, free from rebellion. A life of perfect obedience to God in beautiful surrender to His way. In a letter written by Paul the Apostle to the church in an ancient city named Corinth, he says about Jesus gift "For our sake He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God"

Jesus offers this gift to all of us. Not only to do away with our old way of life but to make us something entirely new. To receive peace for our past through the forgiveness of our sin, a new purpose for our present in dedicating our life to sharing this good news, and hope for the future of life everlasting with Jesus we need only receive Jesus' invitation to "come".

We do this by recognizing that the darkness and rebellion in our life is not only stealing our joy but keeping us from Jesus. We then turn from our old life, surrender to Jesus as King and receive His pardon as our savior. If you are ready to make Jesus your king and receive His gift for you we invite you to connect with us and share your story.

TELL US YOUR STORY