Gospel Presentation

Today is a day of giving. Today as part of the ministry of New Providence Baptist Church we’ve given out the gift of free food. And we will give out the gift of over $500 in free gift cards. And that’s an awesome thing.

But none of these great gifts will last. None of these gifts will actually satisfy our souls. Once you eat food, you can’t have it again. It’s gone. You can’t enjoy it again once you eat it.

And what you buy with those gift card wont last forever either. Even the best clothing, or school supplies, over the years will wear and tear. It’ll get stained ripped, and become useless.

And this is true of any gift you receive on earth. No matter what you get.

Whether it’s money

or it’s fame

or it’s appreciation from others

or it’s romance.

All of these gifts will pass away.

But there’s a free gift that lasts forever. There’s a free gift that no matter what, it cannot be taken from you once you receive it.

And the gifts that we give out today are only shadows that points to that free gift.

But in order to know what that free gift is, we need to go back. Way Back to a time long long ago, where there was absolutely nothing.

At this time. The universe didn’t exist. The earth didn’t exist. Time itself didn’t even exist. There was nothing.

But then God created everything.

Everything that we see, everything that we touch, everything that we experience was created by him. It all comes from him.

He made the stars, the oceans, the mountains, the trees, all the living Creatures. Puppies and kittens, and birds, and rabbits.

And at the pinnacle of His creation, greatest of all, He made humans—Adam and Eve—in His own image.

And God put them in a beautiful garden and gave them everything they needed, living in perfect relationship with God and with each other.

The Fall:

But something went terribly wrong. Something that destroyed all that harmony and perfection.

You see, God had given Adam and Eve just one command: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But when Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan, they disobeyed that command. They disobeyed God. They sinned.

And when sin entered the world, it destroyed our relationship with God.

Since then, every human being that has been born, including you and me, we have been unable to live up to God's perfect standards on our own. Every day, we all sin. And we push ourselves farther and farther away from him.

And because God is a good judge, who always does what is right, he has to punish us for our sin. For all of the times we break his law. And that punishment is being separated from him forever in hell.

Christ's Perfect Life:

But God, didn’t abandon us. He had a plan to rescue us from the punishment of our sin.

He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. And Jesus became a human, and the lived the perfect life that we could never live. And he never sinned like we do.

He showed us how to love, how to serve one another, and how to live in a way that pleases God.

He is our perfect example of always doing the right thing and following God.

Redemption on the Cross:

But Jesus didn't just come to be a good example. He came to give His life for us. On the cross, Jesus took all the wrath of God that we deserve for our sins.

The Bible says,

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus paid the debt we could never pay. And his death made it so that all of our sin can be washed away and we can be together with him again.

Resurrection and Reign:

Three days after His death, Jesus rose from the grave, conquering sin and death once and for all.

His resurrection is proof that He is who He claimed to be—the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Then He went up into heaven and now reigns at the right hand of God.

And one day, He will return to make all things new and perfect and right again.

Call to Respond:

This is the good news of the gospel: God offers us the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We can’t earn it; we don’t deserve it.

It’s a gift freely given out of His incredible love and grace. The Bible says,

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

So, how do we receive this gift?

The answer is so simple that a child can understand it: We receive the gift of Salvation through faith in Jesus.

And what that means is that we must realize that we are a sinner. That we need Jesus, and we can’t have eternal life apart from him.

Then, we must believe in Jesus. We must believe that Jesus is who he says he is.

And we must surrender our lives to him. By loving God, and loving others in the way that he did, and by turning away from our lives of sin.

And when you do that, God himself will live within you through the Holy Spirit. And you can be sure that you will be with him forever.

If you haven't received this gift yet, we invite you to do so right now.

Trust in Jesus. Admit your need for Him, believe in His sacrifice and resurrection, and commit to following Him as your Lord. We pray today that you will come to God and receive his great mercy and forgiveness.

Maybe you have trusted in Jesus in the past, but you have been running from God in your everyday life. We pray that today you will come back to God, and rededicate your life to him.

Pastor Larry and I will be at the front to pray with you, and help you if you want to make a decision today.

Let’s pray.

Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to hear what you, God are telling us. Father in heaven, Lord I pray that today if there’s anyone here who doesn’t know you, that they would have faith in you today. And be saved forever. God we exist for you. We were made for you. So let us actually live out that purpose, and receive the greatest fulfillment and joy.

And if anyone else has a decision to make, about rededication, or if they just need prayer, Lord put it in their hearts to talk to someone about that decision.

And It’s in Jesus name I pray, Amen.