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AN EASTER INVITATION

TWO GATES

GOD'S DESIGN FOR MARRIAGE

NEW YEAR, NEW CHOICES

Isaiah 43:18-19
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Philippians 3:13-14
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

My friends, a brand new year has arrived. But with this new year comes an important choice that everyone has to make:

You can either continue to live in the past, with all its mistakes, and grudges, and hurts, and unforgiveness, and insecurities, and failures,

or,

You can move forward "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."

This new year brings new opportunities to do what is right, new chances to improve and to make a change for the better, new challenges to grow, and another chance to right any wrongs.

So please - don't let this New Year go to waste. Let go of yesterday, move forward, and live for Christ.

But most of all, if you still don't know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then it is my hope and prayer that 2015 will be the year that you will. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)

Happy New Year my friends.
In Christ's Love,
Pastor Ed

CICF SPRING RETREAT 2015

THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

On this Christmas day, please pause for a moment from all the Christmas festivities, and consider the following...(It's my hope and prayer that you will read all the way through)

Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But what many people still don't realize is that Jesus already existed long before His arrival on earth. Understand that Jesus is God in human form (Colossians 2:9). So the obvious question is this: "Why did Jesus willingly leave the glory and perfection of heaven and choose to come to us here on earth in the form of a human being?" Well the answer is simple - because of His love for us.

The Bible says that because we are sinners, every single one of us (Romans 3:23), there is only one thing that we deserve because of it - and that is death (Romans 6:23a).

But God loves you and I so much that He didn't want anyone to perish in death (John 3:16), but the sin problem still remained and someone still had to pay the penalty of death because of sin. 

So because the sacrifice had to be perfect without blemish, and the sacrifice had to be a man because it was man who brought sin into the world (Adam), God knew there was only one solution - and that was to leave heaven Himself, become one of us by being born as a human being, grow to be a man, teach us how God the Father wants us to live our lives, and then go to the cross to die. 

When Jesus was on the cross, the sins of the world (your sins and mine) were put upon Him (1 Peter 2:4), and He paid the penalty of sin that you and I should have paid - the penalty of death. But on the third day He rose again (that's why we celebrate Easter), defeated death, and ascended back to heaven.

Why Jesus? Because He was the only one who was qualified to be the perfect sacrifice - a Man without blemish (without sin), the God-Man, Jesus Christ.

Now that the penalty for sin has been paid for by Jesus, we now have a way to go to heaven - and that "way" is through Jesus Christ and "only" through Him (John 14:6). Why only through Christ? Because He's the one who died for you, and because of that the Bible says we must live our lives for Him alone (2 Corinthians 5:15). 

Make no mistake about it: There is only one mediator between God and man - the man Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). Remember, meaningless rituals, religious ceremonies, and praying to other saints in the Bible will not save you. Salvation is only through a personal relationship with Jesus Himself. The Bible says in Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 

Now that you know the truth (if you have read this far), then it is now time to make your choice. Are you going to believe and receive Jesus into your life, or are you going to reject Him?

If you've chosen to believe and receive Him, then please, pray this prayer with all sincerity:

"Lord Jesus, thank You for leaving heaven and coming to us as a human. Lord, forgive me for my sins. I now invite you to come into my life, into my heart to be my Savior and my Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Open my eyes to Your Word in the Bible that I may correctly understand and apply it in my life. Help me understand more and more each day Your amazing grace and Your unconditional love for me. Thank You for forgiving me for my sins, and for the gift of eternal life. Help me live my life for You from this day forward. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

In Christ's Love,
Pastor Ed