“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

 

And that salvation (becoming a Christian) is a free gift from God;

 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

 

So how do we receive this free gift and become a follower of Jesus?

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To begin with - it’s our decision and believing involves us putting our trust in Jesus. At its most basic - it is a heart decision to say YES to Jesus. The words we say don’t really matter but here are some helpful pointers and a prayer to say:

 

Say sorry to God

The starting point is to recognise that you’re a sinner. We all are - in fact the Bible says that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s standards (Rom. 3:23). It’s important that we ask God to forgive us for all the things we have done wrong and that we make a choice to turn from everything which we know is wrong in our lives (this is a called ‘repentance’).

 

Thank Jesus for dying for you

The foundation of our faith is Jesus’ death and resurrection and because Jesus made this amazing sacrifice in our behalf we can receive the free offer of forgiveness, freedom, new peace purpose and His Holy Spirit. So we come before Him with thankful hearts.

 

Invite Him in

God will never force Himself upon us and so we simply need to accept His free gift and invite Him to come and live in us by His Holy Spirit.

 

If you feel ready to do this - here’s a prayer that you can pray to Him right now;

 

Lord Jesus

 

I am sorry for all the things that I have done wrong in my life (you may want to take a moment to ask forgiveness for anything that is particularly in your conscience). Please forgive me and give me a new start. I choose to turn from everything that I know is wrong.

 

Thank you for dying on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free to live as you created me to live. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit, and lead me and guide me as I discover how to navigate my newfound Christian life. Thank you that I am accepted and now belong to your family of believers. In Jesus’ name. Amen

 

What next?

If you’ve prayed that prayer - then please let us know - email the church office here and tell someone who you know so that it becomes a reality. Then follow our NEXT STEPS (there are lots of helpful tips on these pages).