First things first. The first, the biggest, best, most awesome thing we teach is God Himself. He never began. He will never end. He depends on nobody. He is utterly good. He made the sun, the sea, you and me and everything else. He’s still involved with everything He’s made. He keeps it all going moment by moment. All life comes from Him. Deep down, in our consciences, every human being is aware of Him.
The Bible says: “since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him...” New Testament, Romans chapter 1 verses 10&21
God never began. He will never end. We humans are different. We did begin. But, like God, we are never going to end. This life is just the beginning - it’s just the porch, the entrance hall. There is so much more to follow. There is the end of this world. There is the day of judgement. There is heaven for ever; and hell for ever. Deep down in our consciences we know something about eternity. We have a deep sense of it. But we squash it. We try to live as if this life were everything. We’re closing our eyes. We’re trying to escape. God comes to us, in the Bible, confronting and challenging our escapism. We can’t escape. And, deep down in our consciences, God has given us a sense that He is right. There is the great afterwards.
The Bible says: “He [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men...” Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 3:11
God is good. God is pure. God is true. God is lovely. He’s like the glistening snow - before our muddy feet and cars cut into it and turn it into dirty slush. We humans are different. Our purest, truest, loveliest moments are like manure and blood when brought near to the glistening snow of God’s purity. That picture comes from the Bible. Our best achievements are like bloody rags.
God is not pleased. We were made to be like Him, but we have contradicted Him, gone against Him and disobeyed Him. All this disobedience is called sin. It’s a huge problem between us and our God. One lie is a massive problem. It’s like a spear in God’s side, because God is so true. One adultery is a massive problem. It’s like a spear in God’s side, because God is so faithful. Even an adulterous thought is an Everest of sin against such a faithful God. We have hardly begun to understand sin and why it matters so much to God. But it matters hugely. And it’s a crucial part of our teaching.
The Bible says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” New Testament, Romans chapter 3 verse 23.
If one lie or one jealous thought is an Everest of sin against God, what hope is there? The Bible puts it like this, that we are building up huge debts against God. Every sin is a new debt. Every second, the debt is piling higher. We can never pay our debts. Here we are like rags full of manure and blood. We can’t come into heaven like this. We are racing along to the other place - hell - where all sin belongs and sinners are punished.
But then there is God’s rescue - and God’s Rescuer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember the Christmas story? It’s a real story. The angel said, “You shall call His Name JESUS because He will save His people from their sins.” - Bible. This is exactly what Jesus did. Hanging on the cross, He paid our debts and saved His people from their sins. And so His people are set free - set free from a long, long record of all the sins we have committed; set free from the power of sin - so we don’t have to keep on sinning; and set free from the consequences of sin - so we don’t have to spend one minute in hell and can go straight to God’s perfect snow-like heaven. It was an amazing rescue. The Bible calls this rescue - Salvation. The Lord Jesus is an amazing and almighty Rescuer. The Bible calls Him - the Saviour. It means Rescuer. He is the centre of all our teaching.
The Bible says: “Christ died for our sins...” New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3
There are some lovely big houses in Manningham (in Bradford). Years ago they were converted into flats. Now they are being converted back into big single-family dwellings. There are some vast mills in Bradford where we used to make wool. Now those mills are being converted into apartments. There are men and women and boys and girls, all over the world, who are like a heap of manure and blood - because of their sins, but God is converting them into new people. He’s forgiving their sins, and giving them a brand new start. They are turning away from their sins, and turning to God. God is accepting them - because of Jesus Christ and what He did hanging on that cross. God is making them His children for ever. This great change in their lives is called conversion. Conversion is not for a few enthusiasts. It is essential for everybody and for you. In our teaching, we are always insisting on conversion.
In our church, Jean went through this conversion when she was 70. Rachel was 26. Andy was 24. Martin was 19. What about you?
The Bible says: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” New Testament 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17
God is personal. He isn’t a force or a bang. He’s a person. In fact, you are a person because God is a person. He made you like Himself. You may talk to Him and, if you really mean it, He will listen to you and answer you. This is called praying. Every human being ought to pray. How terrible to be made like God, and to relate with God, and yet not to pray. Every day that you don’t pray, you are building up more debts against Him. Don’t go another day without praying.
But what are you going to say to Him? Say anything to Him; especially - anything about which you feel desperate or helpless. He loves it when we turn to Him and say, “Help!”. But there’s one prayer, in particular, that you must pray. Jesus taught us to pray: “Forgive us our debts.” - Bible, New Testament, Matthew’s Gospel chapter 6 verse12.
When you begin to really pray, prayers like that one: “forgive us our debts,” who knows what will happen next? It could be that, even while you are still praying, old things will pass away for you, and all things will become new. In other words, it’s possible that - even before you finish praying - God will make you a Christian.
If so, you need to get off the internet and find some other Christians quickly! God has saved other people in your town. His plan is that, together [you and those other Christians] will be a church. The word for this special togetherness is fellowship. There are many parts to fellowship. I shan’t try to describe them all now. But what a new Christian needs to learn, immediately, is that we are not meant to live the Christian life on our own. We must get plugged into the life of God’s people. That means joining a church. God is not about saving a load of individuals. He is saving individuals in order to build a church.
Somewhere there is a church, like a jigsaw with a piece missing, or like a body with only one leg. You must fill that gap. You can’t function on your own; and that church can only limp without you. That is why we believe in the importance of being a member of a church.
The Bible says: “and they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” New Testament, Acts chapter 2 verse 42.