Fairway Park Baptist Church: Our beliefs

     The Bible tells about God, the world He created and the men and women who live in it. The story is about us, and about a man who came to do something we could not do for ourselves. It is a story of hope.

     The story begins in the distant past when God said "Let there be light!"; and His creation work began. The story ends in the future with creation restored to the beauty and purity in which God made it. Between those two endpoints stretches the tale of a people fallen from grace, and the grace which sought their restoration. The central character in this story is a man named Jesus.

     The story is one of our need. No matter how hard we attempt to live a good life, we miss the mark God has set. His words to us in the Bible define that action as offensive to God's character, and reveal to us that despite our finest efforts, we cannot totally escape behaving in such a way. It's not a problem limited to a few of us, for the Bible teaches we all have offended Him.

     The story gets worse. God's established a penalty for such offenses: death - eternal death in a very real place the Bible calls Hell. Since we all are offenders, we face a hopeless predicament.

     But God does not desire to see anyone perish, and while He cannot set aside the penalty, He did make provision for the penalty to be paid by someone else. If one who was not guilty were willing to die in our place, we could be delivered from death into eternal life. Our substitute would bear our guilt to the grave, and we would in turn bear our substitute's lack of guilt. It would seem the perfect plan, except every one of us is an offender. Who could die in our place?

     Here is where God demonstrated His great love and compassion for us. He gave His only Son for the task. God's Son set aside His glory and majesty, was born a man named Jesus in a town called Bethlehem, lived a sinless life among us, died upon a cross and was buried in a tomb. He died bearing our guilt, and carried our guilt to the grave. He died to set us free. He also rose again, that we might be free for all eternity in Heaven with Him. Jesus overcame even death for us. Because He died, our sin debt is paid. Because He lives, we can have eternal life.

     Do not stop reading! The fact Jesus died to pay for your offenses and rose again will only make a difference in your life if you accept Him as the One who forgives your wrongs and gives you eternal life. The Bible explains you must personally respond to God's offer. You must put your faith entirely in Jesus to save you.

     This story can end two different ways. It could end with you accepting God's gift of eternal life by trusting in His Son Jesus Christ. It could also end with you doing nothing, dying one day as we all will, and spending an eternity suffering in Hell. How will the story end for you?

     If you are willing to be forgiven of your offenses and given eternal life, you can do so right now! Simply talk to God like this: "God, I know I am guilty, and I believe Your Son died to pay the penalty for my offenses against You. I am putting my trust in You to forgive me and give me eternal life." You need not use those exact words, but if you talk to Him in this way, the Bible says God will hear you, forgive you and give you eternal life!

     If you talked to God in this way, you are now a follower of Christ. We would like to hear from you! Please send a message letting us know what you did. We will honor your privacy; we simply want to rejoice with you and pray for you.

     If you did not ask God to save you, but are willing to consider this further, we would welcome the chance to interact with you, and will honor your privacy in doing so. Please contact us if you would like further discussion.