Hi, friend, thanks for being here. My name is Sarah, and I love the word of God. And normally on this channel, I share content where I am sharing with you what I'm learning as I study God's word. But today's video is going to be a little bit different. It's going to be a little more personal. I want to share with you about my relationship with Jesus, and how you also can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When I was just a little girl, I gave my life to Jesus. I was blessed to have parents and Sunday school teachers and a pastor who taught me about Jesus, about my need for a savior, and about his offer of forgiveness. My relationship with him has not always been smooth because I have not always followed well. There have been seasons where I have wandered, where I've struggled with questions, and I've rebelled against him. But one thing I can tell you for certain, Jesus never gave up on me. He never abandoned me, and he never stopped loving me. If there was only one thing that I could wish for you, it would be that you could know the hope and forgiveness that Jesus offers. And so today I'm going to share with you what the Bible refers to as the good news, and trust me, it is very good news. God created the whole world, he is perfect, and he is good, and he created man and woman in his image to live in relationship with him. He gave us free will so that we could choose to love him, because forced love isn't really love at all, is it? But from the very beginning, people have chosen to rebel against God. We are not perfect; every one of us has done things that have broken God's laws, and the Bible refers to those things as sin. These wrong things that we do create a separation between us and our perfect God. God created a perfect paradise called heaven, but because we are sinners, he cannot allow us into heaven. Our sin creates a wall that prevents us from having a relationship with God or spending eternity with him in heaven, and because God is perfectly just, he cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Our sin ultimately earns us death and separation from God. However, God is not just perfectly just, he's also perfectly gracious and perfectly loving. He knew when he created us that we would rebel against him, and so from the very beginning, he had a plan for how he was going to rescue us. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, and so someone had to pay the death penalty for our sin. God sent his Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life here on earth, demonstrating that he alone is worthy to take our place. He lived the life that we could not live because we are flawed humans. Then he died on the cross, bearing the sins of the world. You see, we needed ransomed; we were slaves to sin and the resulting guilt, and only the blood of a perfect sacrifice could buy us back. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus conquered sin and death, and now he offers us a complete pardon, his life for ours. Through his death, Jesus bought us back, and now we owe him everything, our very life and our allegiance. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can have a restored relationship with God and the hope of eternity spent with him in heaven. This pardon is completely free to us; it is the gracious gift of God, and we can do nothing to earn it. The payment that Jesus made was huge. It was the ultimate sacrifice of suffering and death, but the requirement of us is really quite simple. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not always easy. It can be very difficult to go against the crowd, and following Jesus means dying to self. It means that you are no longer the Lord of your life, but you are choosing to follow Jesus as your Lord. But let me assure you, he is a good master, he is a wise and kind and loving leader. And since he is all knowing and all powerful and perfectly good, we are much safer in his hands then we are in our own. So if you desire to accept his free gift of salvation, what do you need to do? First, you have to admit that you need a savior, that you have done wrong things, and you need forgiveness. Then you need to believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he lived a perfect life here on earth, and then he died a death that he did not deserve, and he paid the penalty for our sin. Then he rose from the grave, showing that he is God and conquering death. You must choose to agree with God about what he says about you and what he says about his son. If you believe that Jesus did this, and you admit your need for his forgiveness, you surrender to his lordship over your life, then you can have complete forgiveness and a restored relationship with God, and the hope of spending eternity with him in heaven. And the Bible tells us that when we accept this free gift of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. He is the down payment of our eternal inheritance, and the guarantee that we are indeed sealed as children of God. Friend, if you have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus or accepted his free gift of salvation, please don't wait. You don't know what tomorrow holds, and by waiting, you are missing out on the most amazing gift of forgiveness and a restored relationship with the God of the universe. I'm going to say a prayer, and if you want to make this decision, you can pray right along with me, but know that there is nothing special about the words that I'm going to say. There is no specific prayer that you must pray for salvation. It doesn't have to be these exact words. Words alone won't save you. But if you trust Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you surrender your life to him, he will save you. The Bible says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, then we will be saved. Let's pray, heavenly Father, thank you for your love and your mercy. I know that I'm a sinner, and I'm in need of your forgiveness. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. I believe that he took the punishment that I deserved, and then rose from the grave, conquering sin and death. I believe that because of what Jesus did, I can be saved from the just penalty for my sin and can receive a complete pardon. Please forgive me, Lord, I receive your free gift of salvation. I surrender my life to you. You are my Lord now, and I will follow you and seek to know you and obey you. I know I won't always do it perfectly, and I trust your continued grace in my life until I see you face to face in heaven. Thank you for loving me, thank you for saving me. I love you, amen. If you made this decision today, let me be the first to say welcome to the family. I'm so glad you're here. If you'd be willing, I would love it if you would share in the comments that you made this decision, so that I can celebrate with you and pray for you. And I want to strongly encourage you to find a Bible teaching church where you can learn and grow and experience the gift of community with other Jesus followers. God never intended for us to walk this road alone, so find some other Christians that you can do life with. We need each other and get into the Bible read, study, pray so that you can begin to learn what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. And don't be afraid of your questions when you encounter things that you don't understand. Find a Christian who's farther along in their walk with the Lord, and ask them and work through it together. And remember, keep seeking him. He is so worth knowing. Thanks for being here, friend, and for allowing me to share my heart with you. If you'd like to watch a teaching that talks all about the fact that God has chosen us, that he loves us, and planned to rescue us from the very beginning. You can click this link here. And once again, remember, keep seeking him. He is so worth knowing.