The Good News

At Grace Community Church, we want to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in every way possible and tell the world how wonderful He is. The message of Christ has often been muddied by bad things people have done in His name. But Grace Community Church exists because Jesus Christ has changed each of our lives for the good. The power of God in our lives is what makes us who we are. So, what is this good news that Jesus Christ came to tell us?

1. God is good and personal. He loves you and wants you to know Him.
   You may already know the Bible verse, John 3:16, which says, "For 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." Jesus was telling us that He came to deliver a loving God's message of eternal life through Himself. Shortly before His death Jesus prayed this, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Motivated by His love for us, God sent Jesus to make the knowable God known to us through Christ. The term “eternal life” is often misunderstood to mean spending eternity in heaven in a perpetually religious state. But, Jesus came that we might have the most amazing life possible by means of a vital relationship with God here, and then spend the next life in an even more amazing place. So, why doesn’t everyone know God personally?
   
   
2. People are born with sin, which is the tendency to reject God's good rule over us.
   Sin is an inclination within each one of us to want to deny God’s way for us and live by our own will. This self-will entered the human race through the wrong choices of Adam and Eve, the first people, and affects us all. Whether you believe in the literal story of Adam and Eve or not, it is self-evident that the human race is bent towards evil. Turn on the evening news, click on cnn.com, or simply consider our own affinity for selfishness, hurting others, and wanting things we cannot have, not to mention denying the existence of the God who created everything we enjoy. The Bible teaches that we all have sin: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Once a person has sinned even a single time, the Bible says we are separated from God by the offense: “For the wages of sin is death” – i.e. spiritual separation from God. (Romans 6:23) If we die in that state of separation, we will spend eternity there, denied the wonder and beauty of what He planned for us. No one can earn a relationship with God or entrance into heaven by being a good person. So, how do we deal with this sin problem?
   
   
3. Jesus Christ was the Son of God who willingly paid the death penalty for our sin.
   God did not mean for any of us to be separated from Him. So, He took it upon Himself to create a way that our sins could be dealt with. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) After paying the penalty each of us owes for our sin, Jesus came back from the dead, proving His triumph over death. “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) This is the good news! Jesus Christ, the Son of God lived as the sinless man Adam was meant to be. He then offered His life willingly on the cross to die in our place and take our sins upon Himself, rising again from the dead three days later. In so doing, He opened the only way for our sins to be paid for, that we might be able to experience the life God meant us to have. “Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” (John 14:6) However, this payment of the penalty of our sins does not apply universally to everyone.
   
   
4. We must each personally request this payment by faith to experience the relationship with God we were meant to have.
   Jesus opened the door for us to know God, but we must each walk through it personally. We do so by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us. “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) Simply talk to Him about it in prayer, asking Him in faith to forgive your sins, and placing your life under His loving leadership. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) As this verse says, you will begin an amazing adventure in the new and full life Jesus meant for you to experience with God as your Father and the Holy Spirit as your guide, both now and forever!

So what should you do? Talk to God about it right now. Tell Him you want to know Him and that you accept the payment of Jesus' life for your sin. Send an email to us at Info@GraceArlington.com and let us be a part of what God is doing in your life. Building friendships with others who have chosen to enter into this relationship with Christ is essential to growing in it. Come be a part of our family of faith by attending Sunday mornings and joining a small group with others on the same journey of faith. We hope you will let us share in the excitement of this new beginning!

If you are still considering God's invitation to you, this is a great time to join us for our Sunday services and be around others who are learning to experience their relationship with God. Wherever you may be on your spiritual journey, it would be our privilege to be a part of your life and to help in any way we can. Contact us at Info@GraceArlington.com or come by on a Sunday to see what a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is all about!