LearnMore - Brown Creek Baptist Church

What is a Christian?

God created people to have fellowship with Himself. He made us with a need to worship Him. But He does not force us to have fellowship with Him. He does not force us to worship Him.

He also created us to follow Him as Lord and Master of our lives, that is, for Him to be our God. But again, He does not force us to follow Him or His ways. He gives us the freedom to choose to follow Him, to have fellowship with Him, and to worship Him.

The Bible tells us, and history shows us, that all people have chosen to follow their own way most of the time and not God’s way. We have chosen to be “god” of our own lives instead of letting the Creator God be our God.

Because of this our relationship with God is broken. While we are in this state of a broken relationship with God there can be no true fellowship with Him nor true worship of Him.

The choice to follow after our own way, in preference to following God’s way, is called sin. Even though we have sinned against God and broken the relationship God intended for us to have with Him, He still loves us and wants our fellowship and worship. But because He is Holy, He cannot accept our sin and wrong doing.

Sin must be punished. The punishment for sin is eternal separation from God. This is called “hell” in the Bible and is described as being very bad.

God gave His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sin. Jesus lived on earth but did not sin. Therefore, He could take the punishment for our sin. Jesus died the death of sin, but rose in victory over sin and death.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can come back into a personal relationship with God and can enjoy fellowship with Him and truly worship Him. All we have to do is to repent of our sin and trust Jesus to forgive us.

To “repent” means that we admit we have sinned and are willing to turn from sin to following God. Or, we can say that “repent” means we are willing to turn from just following our own way and turn to following God’s way. We are willing to let the Creator God, be the true God of our lives.

In the New Testament the word, “believe” carries the idea of repentance, willingness to accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, and dependence on Jesus to forgive our sin. When we truly repent of our sin and trust Jesus to forgive us, the Holy Spirit comes alive within us. We come back into a personal relationship with God and can enjoy fellowship with Him and can worship Him in sincerity.

It should be understood that as long as we live in this world, which has been cursed by sin, there will be a continuous struggle to let Jesus be Lord of our lives. But, the more we let Jesus rule our lives, the more we live in harmony with God, our Creator, the more satisfying our lives are.

For the Christian, (one who has repented and trusted Jesus to forgive him) life on this earth is more satisfying and there is the blessed assurance of eternal peace with God in Heaven. Christianity is a “win, win” something. That’s only natural since to become a Christian is to begin to come in line with the way God designed us to live.

How can I become a Christian?

You can receive the gift of forgiveness by admitting your sinfulness and in a humble attitude, ask Jesus to forgive you. Accept Jesus as Lord, that is, Master or Boss, of your life. Depend completely on Him to forgive your sin. You can use the following prayer as a guide:

Dear Jesus, I am sorry for my sins. I want to turn away from sin and turn to you. I accept you as Lord of my life and I am depending on you to forgive my sin. Come into my life and take control of it. Take away all the evil from my life. Please forgive all my sin. From now on, I give myself to following you and living for you. I am depending completely on you to save me from my sin. Thank you, Jesus, for coming into my life and forgiving my sin. Amen.

What do I do next?

If you have honestly and sincerely prayed, asking Jesus to come into your life and to forgive you of your sin, tell someone who is a Christian about your decision. Also begin attending a church that believes and teaches the Bible. Join one of its Sunday School classes to get to know a smaller group that can encourage and help you to grow in your new spiritual life. Read the Bible daily. The Gospel of John is a good place to start. Pray daily by simply talking with God from your heart. Ask Him to guide you to Christian friends and a church that will help you grow closer to Him. If you'd like more information or to share your decision with us please click here to send us an email.

Click to listen to a presentation of the life-changing message of Jesus Christ narrated by Pastor Rick Warren with contemporary music by various artists

What does the Bible say?

For God love the world so much that He gave His one and only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

The "world" is people, that means God loves YOU. To believe in Jesus means you accept Him as Lord and Savior by faith.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. (Romans 3:23)

"Everyone" includes me and you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

"Death" is Spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God. "Eternal life" is a free gift. It comes through Christ Jesus when we accept him as our Lord. A Lord is a Master or Boss.

Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for you sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

Turning away from sin and turning to Jesus as Lord and Master of your life is called Repentance. A person is baptized to show that he or she has repented.

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"Grace" is favor or kindness shown to us, which we do not deserve. God saves us from our sins by forgiving our sins. Because of God's grace, He offers us the "gift" of forgiveness. We do not deserve to be forgiven. Because of His grace he is will to save us from our sins. We must accept the gift of forgiveness through faith.

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12-13)

When you believe and accept Jesus, He forgives your sin and accepts you as one of His children.

Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in Heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

"Acknowledge" means to let others know; to tell others you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Scripture is from the

New Living Translation Bible