Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, Leighton Buzzard - What is Christianity ?

<body> <h2>What is Christianity ?</h2> <p>Jump to the bottom of this page to learn how to become a Christian.</p> <h2>1. God has spoken ...</h2> <p><font size="3">Many people today think a Christian is someone who accepts that there is a God, who tries to live a good life or who goes to church.  But none of these by themselves, or even all together, make a person a Christian.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The Bible is the one authoritative source of knowledge about God.  It is the very word of God himself and states its purpose like this: <i><b>"these things are written that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name"</b> </i>(John 20:31)</font></p> <h2>2. He is our Maker</h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">In the beginning, God created the whole universe, including the planet on which we live and our first ancestors (you can read about it in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 in the Bible.) The world of nature is fantastically ordered and beautiful – things that scientists and artists are still discovering and exploring in their different ways. Human beings have something special built into our lives because God made us – a sense that there is more to life than this world, a sense of needing God. The Bible puts it all like this:<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men (The Bible: the Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 13, verse 11 = Ecclesiastes 13:11.)<o:p> </o:p> </span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Nature teaches us something about God and so do our hearts. But God has done much more to speak to us of Himself. He has given us the Bible so that we can learn the truth about Him and some two thousand years ago He sent His Son Jesus Christ into our world. Becoming a Christian depends on our response to this unique person. The Bible makes clear that Jesus is no ordinary person. His birth was by the power of God and He lived a perfect life. He claimed to be the Son of God <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">(John 19:7)</i></b>, God Himself in the flesh. <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Because of this, Jesus taught: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).</i></b>It is still true because Jesus rose bodily from the dead and is alive forevermore. Now He is not limited to one place, but He is everywhere all the time, just like God His Father.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">God has spoken to us and He invites every human being who has ever lived to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).<o:p> </o:p> </i></b></span></p> <h2 align="left">3. Our defiance</h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">When the first human beings sinned, their innocence was lost and their natures were changed from pure goodness to rebelliousness against God. Everyone born since then inherits the same sinful nature, an inbuilt defiance of God: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">for all have sinned (The Bible: Romans 3:23). </i></b>We see this in all the hatred, violence, greed and selfishness in the world. We must be honest and say that we see it only too often in our own hearts. We do not naturally want God. We want our independence and freedom from Him, and we find goodness far less attractive than self-indulgence. We do not seek God, but rather we seek our own way instead.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">S-I-N has ‘I’ in the middle. So does sinful behaviour. I sin by living to please myself rather than God. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Sin spoils</b> our lives by taking away our good conscience and making us rightly feel guilty about ourselves. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Sin spreads</b> in our lives like a weed. It grows without any encouragement until it fills our lives. Worst of all, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">sin separates</b> us from God. He is pure and holy, and cannot allow sinful people into his presence. Without exception, our sin brings about God’s displeasure and anger and puts us under His judgement <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">(Acts 17:31).<o:p> </o:p> </i></b></span></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Unless.........</font> <h2 align="left">4. Jesus: punished in our place</h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Like a good parent, God is displeased by the bad things we do, but loves us all the same. God has sent Jesus, His Son to earth two thousand years ago. He did this because He loves us and does not want to reject us in judgement. Jesus became as human as you or me, yet He lived the way our first parents failed to do. They were tested and they failed the test. He was tested and He passed the test. He remained completely good and pure and obedient to his Father. He did this for us, so that He could do something amazing on our behalf: to take our place in punishment by dying on the cross.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">God is just and demands that sin be punished. God is love and does not want us to bear that punishment. He would not simply overlook our sins and forgive us because He Himself created the Law of death for sin. Instead, He sent Jesus to be perfectly good so that He would take the punishment for sin instead of us. It is like someone paying our debts. We don’t have what it takes to satisfy God, but Jesus did. He paid for us in full. This is what the Bible says: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (The Bible: Romans 5:8).<o:p> </o:p> </i></b></span></p> <h2 align="left">5. Turn and trust Him</h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">God has done this wonderful thing for us, and as a result <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">now he commands all people everywhere to repent (The Bible: Acts 17:30).</i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He has done everything we need for forgiveness and He is not willing for us to remain undecided about Him. In fact, there is no middle ground. We are either for God or against Him. If we remain against Him <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." </b></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">(</i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Acts 17:31</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">)</b></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p> </i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">He commands us to ‘repent’ which means to have a total change of heart and mind. It means turning from a life without God and asking the risen and living Jesus Christ to enter into our lives to be our Saviour from sin and our Lord and controller. This means that we must trust God to save us and Jesus Christ to guide us with love and care throughout the rest of our lives.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">God knows how powerful sin is within us: so powerful that even when we see clearly our need, we remain stubborn and unwilling to turn to Him. God has an answer for that, too. The Bible tells us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no-one can boast. (Eph</b></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">esians</b></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">2:8). <o:p> </o:p> </b></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">God can give us this trust as a spiritual gift that will change the way we think and feel and act. In fact, it will change our whole destiny for all eternity. Here’s how you can find that gift yourself.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2>How to become a Christian<font size="4">:</font></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">A – ADMIT YOUR NEED.<o:p> </o:p> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">The only way back to God is by admitting to Him that you have lived without Him and against Him until now. It's like facing a serious illness you know deep down you have but you won’t go to the doctor for help because it means facing up to unpleasant realities. There is no other way to God than starting from here.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">B – BELIEVE<o:p> </o:p> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Christ is the only way to God, and His sacrifice on the cross is the only payment for your sin that God will take in place of your own eternal death. Jesus has risen and now He waits to share His life with you and your life with Him. There is a day already fixed when God will judge the world, and you are certain to be included in it unless you come to Christ now. This will not be the end of enjoying life, but in fact the beginning of it. Life without God is spiritually empty and bankrupt. Life with God is the secret of happiness, contentment, power to do good, and fulfilment in knowing God’s special purpose for you.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">C – COMMIT YOURSELF</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">This is the moment to give your life to Christ and receive Him as your own Saviour, Friend and Lord. You do this by consciously and definitely saying ‘Yes’ to His claims and His love for you. It is like being asked to marry. All you need to say is ‘Yes’, but you know that saying it involves a life-changing new relationship and commitment. Saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus Christ brings you into an eternity-changing relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus put it like this:<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (The Bible: Revelation 3:20)</span></i></b><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">D- DECLARE YOURSELF<o:p> </o:p> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">The Christian life is not something completely private. It involves sharing our faith with others. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">We share it with other Christians</b> by becoming a part of a local church to worship, learn more about God and find strength from fellow believers. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">We share it with those who do not believe</b> by talking as openly as we can about the wonderful faith we have found. In fact, it is really important that we bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ so that others can find Him as well. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">We share it with society </b>by doing what we can to change the world from evil to good through our work, our family life, our hobbies and interests, and our concern for the good of others. That is how Christianity has been spreading through the world since Jesus died and rose again. <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">If you have taken these steps, we would love to meet you and help you. Do please go to our webpage ‘<a href="contacts.htm">Find and Contact</a>’. Our ministers are very experienced and are always willing to help anyone who feels it might be helpful.</span></p> <p><font size="3">      </font></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0" align="center"><font size="1"> <a href="welcome.htm">[Welcome]</a> <a href="WIC%20Frame.htm">[What is Christianity?]</a> <a href="why_baptist.htm">[Why Baptist?]</a> <a href="contacts.htm">[Find and contact us]</a> <a href="Programme.htm">[Programme]</a> <a href="sermons.htm" target="_self">[Listen to sermons]</a> <a href="notes_and_news.htm">[News]</a> <a href="Beliefs.htm">[Beliefs]</a> <a href="meet_the_team.htm">[Ministers and Staff]</a> <a href="mission.htm">[Mission Support]</a> <a href="links.htm">[Links]</a></font></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </body>