Christianity - a Fairy Tale or the Truth?

The Lord Jesus Christ is no ordinary person. I make this statement in the present tense because the Lord Jesus is not just a figure of history but he is, today, still alive in heaven. I don't mean alive in the way we might think about a relative who has died and hope is now in heaven (as a Christian I believe people who have turned from their sin and accepted Jesus as their Saviour will be in heaven when they die but this is not my point at the moment). I mean that Jesus is alive, physically in heaven. Your response might be - impossible and unbelievable! 

The record of the life of Christ is all highly improbable if you ignore the key ingredient, God. Believing the following claims about Jesus is pretty far fetched IF you don't accept the supernatural or God. BUT are these historical facts and if so what is your personal response?

Here are the claims: 

Jesus was a man but so much more than an ordinary man, 

He lived an absolutely faultless life,

He could do miracles, 

He became accountable for sin and evil,

He died to pay the price to deal with it on a cross outside Jerusalem and finally

Three days after his death he came back to life. 

Add to this the claims that he lived on earth for forty days after his suffering, death and resurrection and physically rose from the earth and passed through the sky and space into the presence of His Father, God in heaven itself. 

On a purely rationale level this sounds like I am stretching facts and calling it truth! 

BUT WHAT IF......

A careful analysis of the facts points to Jesus being the Son of God!

The evidence points to it being statistically impossible for the historical predictions (the bible calls them prophecies) being fulfilled accurately being mere coincidence!

It was impossible to deceive so many historians and eye witnesses on a such a grand scale!

The probability of it being the truth is higher than the probability of it being a lie?

I believe that this is the truth of the matter. I believe that the evidence to the authenticity of the bible is there if you care to look for it. I believe there is no other honest conclusion that you can come to about who Jesus is if you are prepared to genuinely look at the facts.

In support of this the bible clearly states: 'these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life in his name', John 20:31. 

SO WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?

If it's all true you are affected! Why, because if it's true then there is a God to whom you are accountable. You will answer to Him for your beliefs, behaviour and lifestyle. Which means that you need the salvation that God has on offer through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

If you are concerned (and you should be) here are some statements that will guide you and point you in the right direction:

Accept what God says about you and confess your sins and guilt to Him (by praying). The bible states 'if we confess our sins he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,' 1 John 1:9. 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, Acts 16:31. This means trust God and depend on the Lord Jesus to deliver and save you from eternal judgment and punishment. 

If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved, Romans 10:9. 

These biblical statements explain and define how you can be safe and blessed with salvation. 

If you need to talk, have questions or would like to tell us that you have become a Christian please either call 44 7747 101352 or email stepcar61@gmail.com. Alternatively you could visit my webpage www.seekthetruth.org.uk. 

Stephen 

Experiencing life as it was meant to be!

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We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to experience God’s banqueting house. His overflowing grace is something we can experience in this life. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. Now that is a cup running over with God’s grace. He does not just give us the gift of eternal life when we believe, but He keeps on giving eternal life. The life He is willing to give us means, “to have a surplus,” “superabundance,” “till it overflows.” 

Jesus gives us Himself. He is this abundant life. It is God’s kind of life. When we read “my cup overflows,” that means it is not just full; it is “running over,’ filled to the brim and overflowing. God’s saving and sustaining grace is always like that. His grace is always in fullness, abundance and all-sufficiency. 

How would you define your life?

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How would you define your life?

From the earliest days, human beings have been fascinated and puzzled by the subject of life. The holy grail for different fields of knowledge all has to do with life. In biology, it is the creation of life from outside another life; in astronomy, it is the discovery of life from outside of planet earth; in medicine, it is the prolonging of life; in philosophy, it is the meaning of life. Whatever it may be, the subject of life is something that we cannot ignore.

Interestingly, the Bible, God’s Word, provides the answers to all these questions that are being asked by the scientific world. Only God is able to create life from nothing, which was what took place when He created this universe. God has placed mankind and all creatures on planet earth and on no other planet. The Bible clearly states that man will surely die despite the best efforts of doctors and medicine because of the problem of sin. God says that the true purpose of life is to serve and please God, Who first created it. If scientists of this world would just accept what the Bible says about life, our history books would be different; our society would be different, and some governments would not be spending billions of dollars on extraterrestrial programs trying to search for life on other planets.

But we come back to a very pertinent question on a personal level: What is your life?

The Bible says that your life is:

Short – just like a vapour from a boiling kettle that appears in a flash and then vanishes away, James 4.14. Peter echoes this truth: "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away" 1Peter 1.24. Seventy or eighty years may seem like a long time, but compared to eternity, it is like a grain of sand on a vast ocean bed! After our physical life ends, eternity starts either in a blissful heaven or in a dreadful, horrific hell. If you accept the Lord Jesus as Saviour in this life, you are guaranteed a place in Heaven. However, if you reject Him, God will likewise guarantee you a place in hell. "Whosoever believeth in Him (the Lord Jesus) should not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3.16.

Sinful – Sin is an element in life that is present from the moment we are born until the moment we die, and it is because of sin that we die. Romans 5.12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." The question of sickness, suffering, and eventually death directly results from the presence of sin in our lives and in this world. The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, so we do not need to be eternally accountable for them. If you accept the Lord Jesus, you can have God’s forgiveness and a place in heaven. Let God’s Word speak to you: Romans 5.6,8 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly ... God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Special – because the God of Heaven values our lives so much, He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our salvation. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" John 3.16, to die for us. God asks you to accept and believe that Jesus Christ died for a sinner such as yourself, and you will receive forgiveness of your sins and eternal life.

So, what is your life?

Written by a Guest Blogger - Assembly Testimony

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio and Video as well.

Lost and found in the forest

 

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In September 2021, a man in Turkey was drinking with friends, left them, and walked off into a nearby forest, where he spent the night. The next morning, he noticed a group of people, who told him that they were looking for a missing person. Desiring to be helpful, he joined the search. After some time, a member of the search party called out his name, and he responded, “I am here”. Only then did the truth become apparent to all: his family had reported him missing when he failed to return home, volunteers had set out to look for him, and, by joining one of the groups, he was, without knowing it, trying to find himself!

There were two reasons why it took so long for the man to be found: firstly, he did not know that he was lost, and, secondly, the search party did not know the one for whom they were looking, except for his name. The story is amusing, but for me the smile did not last long, for it soon came to my mind that this man is like many in the world today, whom the Bible describes as “lost”. In fact, that is the natural state of all mankind. Like the man in the story, we have wandered away, not from our friends, but from God. Isaiah 53.6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way”. In Luke chapter 15, to illustrate our lost condition, and our need to be found, the Lord Jesus also compares us to a lost sheep, as well as to a lost coin and a lost son.

Power - The big debate

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Power. We all use it in the form of electricity, gas, petrol, diesel and without these sources of power our lives could not go on. 

As the years have gone by mankind has devised more and more ways of finding power. It was in the last century that science developed nuclear power. Whether we are  talking about nuclear fission or nuclear fusion the numbers are immense and the energy released when matter is converted into pure energy is enormous. 

In 1945 the first of two atomic bombs was dropped on Japan. It was only then that the general public saw the incredible effect of nuclear fission. It was calculated that the blasts that levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki each had an energy release equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT.

What is faith?

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It has been my privilege and very great blessing to have taken hundreds, if not thousands of school assemblies.  These have ranged from nursery school age to sixth formers and even into colleges and universities.  It is certainly challenging to face a hall full of young people - all with their own ideas - no doubt all wishing they could be somewhere else than school listening to a visiting speaker!  It is essentially telling them a story that has a particular point which encourages them to think and reflect about aspects of God and how we can know Him.

Accepting the inevitable!

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Sometimes in life, we have to accept the inevitable! There is a quote by Francis of Assisi where he says, “Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Let me remind you of something we can change. 

 

We can change what we value and where our priorities lie! Maybe life is tough for you! Illness has been stalking you! You have fears about the future! Life has been very uncertain! Often when we cannot change our circumstances, we can control how we respond to them. 

Discover the real Jesus...1 John 1:5-10

This is the greatest announcement you will ever hear!

It is life changing and does what no one and nothing else can ever do!

God is light. The good news of salvation through repentance (changed thinking about the wrong that you do, the sin that is in you and your attitude towards God) and trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour brings you out of moral darkness into the light of the love of God.

If you say you have never done wrong you are lying to yourself. It's self deception!

Admitting you are a sinner is the starting point. Realising that only Jesus can save you is the next step. Trusting him to save you is the final stage and the start of a long and wonderful journey with God, to heaven.

He s able to save you and change your life! Are you willing to let him.

1 John 1:5-10

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

As always more information can found via www.seekthetruth.org.uk