MAY I ASK YOU A QUESTION?

Has anyone ever taken a Bible and shown you how you can KNOW for sure that you're going to heaven? The Bible contains both BAD NEWS and GOOD NEWS. The bad news is something about YOU. The good news is something about GOD. Let's look at the bad news first....

Bad News #1

You are a sinner. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "Sinned" means that we have missed the mark. When we lie, hate, lust, or gossip, we have missed the standard God has set.

Suppose you and I were each to throw a rock and try to hit the North Pole. You might throw farther than I, but neither of us would hit it.

When the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short", it means that we have all come short of God's standard of perfection.

In thoughts, words, and deeds, we have not been perfect.

But the bad news gets worse....

Bad News # 2

The penalty for sin is death. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death."

Suppose you worked for me for one day and I paid you $50. That $50 was your wages. That's what you earned.

The Bible says that by sinning we have earned death. That means we deserve to die and be separated from God forever.

But....since there was no way we could come to God, God came to us.

Good News #1

Christ died for you. Romans 5:8 tells us, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Suppose you are in a hospital dying of cancer. I come to you and say, "Let's take the cancer cells from your body and put them into my body."

If that were possible,
· What would happen to me?
· What would happen to you?

I would die in your place.
I would die instead of you.

The Bible says Christ took the penalty that we deserved for sin, placed it upon Himself, and died in our place.

Three days later Christ came back to life to prove that sin and death had been conquered and that His claims to be God were true.

Just as the bad news got worse, the good news gets better!

Good News # 2

You can be saved through faith in Christ. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace (undeserved favor) you have been saved (delivered from sin's penalty) through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one should boast."

Faith means trust.
Q: What must you trust Christ for?
A: You must depend on Him alone to forgive you and to give you eternal life.
Just as you trust a chair to hold you through no effort of you own, so you must trust Jesus Christ to get you to heaven through no effort of your own.

But you may say, "I'm religious." "I go to church." "I don't steal." "I'm a good person." "I help the poor."

These are all good, but good living, going to church, helping the poor or any other good thing that you might do cannot get you to heaven.

You must trust in Jesus Christ alone, and God will give you eternal life as a gift!

Does this make sense to you?

Is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ right now?

Think carefully. There is nothing more important than your need to trust Christ.

Would you like to tell God you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior?

If you would, why not pray right now and tell God you are trusting His Son?

Remember! It is not prayer that saves you. It is trusting Jesus Christ that saves you. Prayer is simply how you tell God what you are doing.

"Dear God. I know I'm a sinner.
I know my sin
deserves to be
punished. I
believe Christ
died for me and
rose from the
grave. I trust
Jesus Christ alone
as my Savior.
Thank You for the
forgiveness and
everlasting life I now
have. In Jesus' name,
Amen."

What has just happened? John 5:24 explains, "He who lears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."

Did you "hear" God's word?

Did you "believe" what God said and trust Christ as your Savior?

Does "has everlasting life" mean later or right now?

Does it say "shall not come into judgment" or might not?

Does it say "has passed from death" or shall pass?

Eternal life is based on fact, not feeling. Memorize John 5:24 today.

What do you do now? Having trusted Christ as your only way to heaven, here's how to grow in your relationship with Him.

· Tell God what's on your mind through prayer (Philippians 4:6,7).

· Read the Bible every day (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Start in the book of Philippians.

· Worship with God's people in a local church (Hebrews 10:24,25).

· Tell others about Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:19).

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways for which we are thankful. We returned home from our wonderful honeymoon vacation in Carmel, California on September 26, 2002, full of memories of the history, spirit, characters, and customs that make this town so special and unique. We fell in love with Carmel By-The-Sea, a "Village in a Forest", for its charming fairytale cottage homes, quaint little shops, amazing gardens, and breathtaking ocean views. During our short visit there, we had the opportunity to not only see, but meet Actor, Director and former Mayor, Clint Eastwood, Carmel's most famous resident. In 1986 Mr. Eastwood bought the historic Mission Ranch, rescuing the 22-acre property from condominium development. The Ranch is one of the most popular spots on the Monterey Peninsula, where one can enjoy a meal at the 1950's style restaurant or spend the night at the century old farmhouse. It was there, in the dining room, that we sat just 10 feet away from Clint. And it was there, that Kevin snapped a few photographs of Clint signing his autograph for Lesley. He even got a chuckle out of the picture we showed him of our wedding where Lesley is leaning against a cardboard standup of Clint Eastwood as "Rowdy" from the television series "Rawhide". "Look, you were even at our wedding", Lesley said.

But that's not the best part. This meeting is much more than luck or chance. It was the result of an answered prayer. Some of you may recall the Canada-wide "Power to Change" campaign than ran a couple of years ago? Well, Lesley was involved in that campaign and had purchased several of the informational booklets/CD's to pass along to others. At that time, she recalls making a list of family, friends, and acquaintances with whom she wanted to share the good news about Jesus. She was encouraged to pray for those people on her list. Clint Eastwood was one of them. Everyone thought she was being ridiculous. You have to admit---the thought of Lesley, who was single then, meeting up with Mr. Eastwood when she had no intention of travelling to California---is pretty impossible, right? Well, all things are possible with God. The Bible says: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7,8).

So, a short while later, Lesley met Kevin. They got engaged, then married, and went to California for their honeymoon. Their flight out of Winnipeg was delayed several hours but that was a good thing. They met a nice Christian lady on the plane who is a gospel singer from Winnipeg. Together, they talked about life and they talked about God. Lesley brought out the Power to Change booklet to show her, but told her that she was saving this one for Clint Eastwood. Little does this lady know that God brought Lesley and Clint together so that she could hand it to him in person! Such is the amazing power of prayer!

Today we continue to pray for Clint and his family---and anyone else who may come into contact with the booklet---that they would come to know Jesus in a real and personal way.