A New Life for You

The Gift

The Gift

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Hello my name is Mark and like many people

I was raised in the church but at an early age I

realized people didn’t act like they preached, In

fact they were down right mean, so I left.

The Gift

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After such a long road of hardships, I felt like

the weariest man in the world.

I decided that I wasn’t going to let people get

in the way of my relationship to God.

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Today I am a minister but you might be

surprised to know that I still have a problem with

organized religion.

That’s because Christianity was never meant

to be a religion but a relationship……

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….So what does it mean to have a relationship

with God? What does that look like?

The beginning of the journey to answer this

begins with two simple yet thought provoking

questions.

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QuestionQuestionQuestionQuestion #1#1#1#1

Have you come to the point in your life where

you KNOW for sure, that if you were to die

tonight you would be in heaven?

You may ask “How can anyone KNOW that?”

The Bible says in 1 John 5:13 These things I

have written to you who believe in the name of the

Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have

eternal life.

May I share with you how I came to know that

I have eternal life, and how you can know too?

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QuestionQuestionQuestionQuestion ####2222

Suppose you did die tonight and you stood

before God and he asked you “why should I let

you into my heaven,” what would you say?

A lot of people say something to the effect of “I

would tell God that I lived life the best I could and

would hope my good deeds out weigh the bad

ones”

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You know that’s an interesting answer but I

found out that….

Heaven is a free gift and cannot be earned

Let’s take money for instance:

If I had enough money I could buy clothes,

food, a new car and if I had a lot money I could

even by a new house but even if I had all the

money in the world I couldn’t buy my way into

heaven. There is nothing I could do to earn it.

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The Bible says in Romans 6:23 “For the

wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

~And Again~

Ephesians 2:8-9 ”For by grace you have been

saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it

is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that

no one may boast.”

The tragedy is that even though it’s free, few accept it

This can be more clearly seen when we understand

what the Bible says about man.

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Man is a sinner and cannot save himself

Let’s look at the first part:

Man is a sinner

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:3 “Among them

we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,

indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath, even as the

rest.”

~And Again~

In Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God”

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What do you think sin is?

Most says sin is doing bad things but it’s

simpler than that. Let’s say:

We’re playing a game of darts. You throw

your dart and miss the bull’s-eye by a quarter of

an inch. Then I throw my dart and miss the bull’s-

eye by a mile. Which one of us missed the bull’s-

eye? We both did didn’t we? That’s what sin is: its

missing the mark of God’s perfection.

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Now let’s look at the second part:

Man cannot save himself

The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2 “But your

iniquities have made a separation between you

and your God, and your sins have hidden His face

from you so that He does not hear.”

~And Again~

In Proverb 14:12 “There is a way which seems

right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

A dentist cannot perform a root canal on

himself nor can a surgeon remove his own

cancerous tumor. Likewise, we cannot remove the

cancer of sin from our lives.

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Man’s case seems hopeless, but let’s see what the Bible says about God.

God is just and must punish sin,

but He is also merciful and doesn’t want to punish us

The Bible says in Rom. 1:18 “For the wrath of

God is revealed from heaven against all

ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who

suppress the truth in unrighteousness”

Suppose I got so good as to only sin 3 times a

day. If I multiplied that per year that would be

1095 sins a year then multiplied by my age (40)

that would be 43,800 sins. Now what do you

suppose would happen if I stood in front of a

judge with 43,800 traffic violations? We stand

before God with more than 43,800 and much

worse than traffic violations.

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Did you know “Gospel” means “Good News”

How does God keep from going crazy? On one

hand He is perfectly just but on the other hand He

is perfectly merciful. How can He be both?

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Again lets take the analogy of standing before

God’s thrown with our sins, and being just, he hits

his gavel and says guilty and the punishment for

sin is death. Then he stands up, takes off his

judges’ robe, steps down and says I will pay that

punishment for you. That is exactly what Jesus did

on the cross for you and me.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not

slow about His promise, as some count slowness,

but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to

perish but for all to come to repentance.”

~And Again~

In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good and

acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who

desires all men to be saved and to come to the

knowledge of the truth.”

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God solved this problem by coming to earth in

the person of Jesus Christ

Jesus is God’s answer to our sin problem

But who is Jesus? Some say a good man, a

good teacher, a wise man. Sure enough but he

was much much more!

What does the Bible say about him?

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The Bible says in John 14:9(Jesus speaking)

“he who has seen me has seen the father…”

~And Again~

In John 1:1,14 “In the beginning was the

Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

was God. 14

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt

among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the

only begotten from the Father, full of grace and

truth.”

Why did Jesus come to Earth?

The Bible says in Isaiah. 53:6 “All of us like

sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to

his own way; But the LORD has caused the

iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

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Let’s suppose you had a book that contained

every sin you ever committed and this book has

been weighing you down and separating you from

God. What Jesus did was that he took your book

and everyone else’s book and placed it on his

shoulders at the cross so you can stand in front of

God blameless.

The Bible says in Hebrew 9:22 “without the

shedding of blood there is no forgiveness…”

~And Again~

In 1 Pet. 2:24 ”and He Himself bore our sins in

His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin

and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you

were healed.

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If you spelled GRACE in an acrostic form:

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

He got what we deserve!

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The Bible says that only those who receive

Christ by faith have this free gift

Faith is the key to receiving this free gift

I have a ring of keys here. Only one of the

keys unlocks my front door. They all “appear” to

be alike but really only one will let you into my

house. By the same token there “appears” to be

many ways to get into heaven, but there is really

only one – it’s called the key of faith.

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8”For by grace

you have been saved through faith; and that not of

yourselves, it is the gift of God”

People say “I believe in God!” but the Bible

warns in James 2:19 “You believe that God is one

you do well; the demons also believe, and

shudder.”

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Faith is trusting Christ alone

It’s like the story of the great tightrope walker

who stretched a cable across Niagara Falls. A crowd

gathered to watch him. He then asked the crowd “Do

you believe I can cross the falls?” The crowd cheered

and said “We believe!” He successfully crosses the

falls and then he says the crowd “Do you believe I can

cross again but this time with a wheelbarrow?” Again

the crowd cheered and said “We believe!” And again

he successfully crosses and this time he says to the

crowd “Do you believe I can cross again but this time

with someone in the wheelbarrow?” Again the crowd

cheered and said “We believe!” Then he asked “Who

wants to be the first to get into the wheelbarrow?”

Saving faith is like that. It getting into the

wheelbarrow, not standing on the shore saying “I

believe”

We all have to cross over sooner or later,

do you want to try it yourself or trust someone

who knows what they’re doing?

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If you spelled FAITH in an acrostic form:

Forsaking

All

I

Take

Him

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Faith is Obedience

The Bible says in John 3:36 "He who believes

in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not

obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God

abides on him."

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Faith is Repentance

The Bible says in Acts 17:30 “Therefore

having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is

now declaring to men that all people everywhere

should repent,”

It’s like when you’re heading down the

highway and you miss your exit. What do you do?

You take the next exit to turn around so you can

head back the right way. That’s what repentance

is, its making a u-turn.

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Faith is Confession

The Bible says in Romans 10:9”that if you

confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and

believe in your heart that God raised Him from

the dead, you will be saved;”

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Faith is Baptism

Part of following Christ is baptism. Baptism is

an outward expression of an inward happening.

Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go

and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them

in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything

I have commanded you.”

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The Commitment

Does everything in this booklet make sense to

you?

Do you want to make a commitment right now

and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and

Savior?

Are you willing to repent, confess, and be

baptized?

If you have any questions please feel free to

contact me, Mark Lambert, at 503.928.9426

Or email me: malambert313@hotmail.com

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The Prayer of Commitment

"God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for

you up until now. I have been living for myself

and that is wrong and I repent. I need you in my

life; I want you in my life. I acknowledge the

completed work of Your Son Jesus Christ in

giving His life for me on the cross at Calvary,

and I long to receive the forgiveness you have

made freely available to me through this

sacrifice. I confess Jesus is Lord. Take up

residence in my life and be my king, my Lord,

and my Savior. From this day forward I will

follow you all the days of my life. Those days are

in your hands. I ask this in Jesus' precious and

holy name. Amen."

If you prayed this prayer please contact me:

Mark Lambert, at 503.928.9426 or email me at

malambert313@hotmail.com

*Side note: Rituals and words do not save you.

Only a truthful and an honest heart that desires

God does.