One Way
Selected Passages
August 10, 2003
VBS Program Message
Introduction
A little boy, caught in mischief, was asked by his mother: "How do you expect to get into heaven?"
He thought a minute and then said: "Well, I’ll just run in and out and in and keep slamming the door until they say, ’For goodness sake, come in or stay out.’ Then I’ll go in."
What is heaven like?
John 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Heaven is a place of residence
Jesus has prepared a place for all of His people to live with Him. If we will simply believe in Jesus, and will follow Him, doing our best to live according to His word. He will have a place prepared for us. A home in heaven.
Heaven is a place of restoration
In heaven all things are made new. We will be given a new home. We will be given a new life, an eternal and never ending life. We will be given a new body. A body that does not know sickness or pain. In heaven there will be no cancer, no blindness, no diabetes, no arthritis, no heart disease, no physical illness of any kind.
Heaven is a place of reunion
In heaven there is a great reunion. We will be reunited with the members of our family, who have died in Christ. We will be reunited with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Most importantly, we will be reunited with Christ.
So, how do we get admitted into heaven?
1. You were meant to have a personal relationship with God
God’s deepest desire is to have an intimate, personal relationship with you
The desperate longings of the human heart are to have this relationship but far too often we fill this longing with other things that just cannot satisfy
2. Everyone has the same problem
The Bible tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” In our age of political correctness the word sin is often misunderstood as judgment when it is merely a fact. One of the New Testament words for sin means to miss the mark or to make a mistake
Every person has blown it and we are all in the same boat. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s best for our lives.
God cannot and will not accept sin into heaven. This creates a serious problem that we cannot solve on our own.
So, God in His grace, mercy and love stepped into the world to solve the sin problem.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
3. Jesus is the solution
Jesus came into the world to save us from the results of sin.
16 "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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay the price for your sin
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
Jesus was raised from the dead to new life on the first Easter morning to defeat the power of death forever.
Jesus loves you so much that He would rather die than be without you.
Christianity in a nutshell: Jesus died to be your savior and lives to be your Lord.
4. The choice is yours
God will never force you to choose Him or His way for your life
God has provided everything that you need to get to heaven through Jesus
The choice is yours to make. The route to heaven has been paved with the blood of Jesus as a free gift; all you have to do is accept it
Three easy steps to accepting Jesus
A – Admit that you have sinned
B – Believe that Jesus died and rose again
C – Commit to follow Jesus
In all honesty, if you are thinking “it seems too good to be true.” You’re wrong; it is too good to be missed. Today is the day that you need to decide the state of your eternal future.
Let’s bow our heads and pray together. Part of accepting Christ as your Savior is making a public statement of faith. If God has been speaking to your heart, this morning, don’t ignore it but rather embrace His gentle call. God is speaking, are you listening?
Prayer
Now, if you wish to take Christ into your life just lift up your hand. Repeat this simple prayer after me: Dear Father, I admit the fact that I have sinned and fallen short of the plan that you have for my life. I believe that you sent your Son, Jesus, to die in my place and that you raised Him to new life on the third day. I believe that He still lives with you and will live to be my Lord. I commit my life to Jesus, I ask Him to be my Lord and I pledge to follow Him to the best of my ability. AMEN
