God loves us, and wants to have a personal relationship with us.
Most people live their entire lives without ever knowing “Why?” They exist year after year with no idea of why they live or God’s purpose for their lives. The most basic question a person can ask is, “What is the meaning of my life?”
DESIGNED FOR GOOD
We believe that God created a good and wonderful world. In the beginning, everything was right with everything else. Creation was designed to take care of us, and we were designed to take care of creation. And people were designed to take care of each other. They were made to be in true community, with the freedom to love and be loved, to serve and be served, to be themselves without shame in front of each other. Adam and Eve existed in perfect harmony with each other and with God. Everything was good because a good God created a good world! But as we look around the world today, we can’t help but ask ourselves, “What happened to this good world?” The answer is that it has been damaged by evil.
DAMAGED BY EVIL
In the beginning, God created the universe with beautiful purpose and order. We were created in the image of God to reflect His nature, loving Him and each other. Instead of following God, we used our free will to be in charge so that all of it could be used for our own benefit instead of its intended design. It became all about us. People have a natural desire to be the boss and to ignore God’s principles for living. From infancy we are self-centered. “Look out for #1.” “Do your own thing.” “It’s my life and I’ll do as I please.” The Bible calls this attitude sin! The middle letter is “I” – It’s an “I-Problem!”
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way. (Isaiah 53:6)
If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. (1 John 1:8)
When our relationship to God is not right, it causes problems in every area of our lives: marriage, career, relationships, finances, etc. Sin breaks our close relationship with God. It causes us to misdirect our love toward ourselves, money, and pleasure rather than toward love’s proper subjects: God and other people.
We damage and hurt each other – whether we mean to or not. When we live for only ourselves, it’s easy to take and gain without regard for other people. And we damage our soul and its relationship with God. We are afraid of God now, and in our fear, we try to ignore him and live for ourselves. But we are only hurting ourselves, and we will never be the kind of people that we want to be.
When people have problems, they often try many different ways of coping before turning to God. We have many God-substitutes and we try to fill the God-shaped hole inside ourselves with what is not God. Drugs, alcohol, thrills, therapy, fad diets; everyone has a God-shaped hole in them. Even when we know that our deepest need is God, we often try wrong ways of getting to know Him.
JESUS, OUR BRIDGE TO GOD AND NEW LIFE
But God loves the world too much to leave it this way! God came to earth in the person of Jesus two thousand years ago. And Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) He doesn’t say “one way,” or “a way,” or “best way.” But rather, Jesus says “I am THE way!”
God, Himself, came to earth as a human being to bring us back to Himself. If any other way would have worked, Jesus Christ would not have had to come. The Way is a Person. Jesus has already taken care of your sin problem! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord… (Romans 6:23). God did this because He loves us and wants us to know Him. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself to redeem the whole human race… (1 Timothy 2:5-6 TEV)
God has already done His part to restore our relationship with Him. He took the initiative. Now He waits for each of us to individually accept what He has done for us.
The Bible tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This is a guarantee! This is a promise! God is waiting today, with his arms wide open. And so today, if you want to enter into a relationship with Jesus and enter into this God story, we want to pray with you right now because there is no better time than now to begin your journey. This will be the turning point in your life.
You can take these steps by praying a simple prayer of commitment to God:
Dear Jesus, thank you for making me and loving me even when I have ignored you and gone my own way. I realize I need you in my life and I am sorry for my sins. I choose to turn away from all of my substitutes for you. I repent of all the ways I choose to fill the hole inside myself with what is not you. I ask you to forgive me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Please help me to understand it more. I accept your free gift of salvation. I want to follow you from now on. Please come into my life and make me a new person inside. Please help me to grow now as a Christian. I accept your invitation to partner with you to transform the world.
What Next?
If you have made the decision to follow Jesus, the Seattle Vineyard Church wants to welcome you to God's family! We want to help and encourage you in your new journey by connecting you with a member of our pastoral team Please let us know of your decision below and we will support you and pray for you in this new season of your life! If you haven't made a decision and have more questions, we're here for you! Simply click the button below.