This is a note to the four dozen kids who decided to follow Jesus at Real Life Church this week. I’m so proud of you! I’m so thankful for you. This week you made a decision to follow Jesus in this life. You heard a clear message about how much Jesus loves you, and you said “yes” to him. Great decision!!! You don’t yet realize how great a choice that was, so I want to give you an idea.
I made a choice like that when I was in high school. I realized that the story of Jesus is undoubtedly true, and I knew there was nothing more important than following him and telling people about him. A few things started to change in my life:
1. I got serious about reading the Bible. Since it really is God’s Word, there’s no book that is more important. Read it every day!
2. I started loving people more. I realized Jesus loved everyone, no matter how broken they were, so I realized I was supposed to love everyone too.
3. I realized life has a purpose, and not everyone lives for that purpose. It’s possible to do life wrong, and I didn’t want to get it wrong! Life exists so that we can love God and other people. That means that we should spend every day telling people about Jesus.
4. I knew there was a big difference between people who followed Jesus and people who were just religious. In fact, Jesus had more arguments with religious people than anyone else! Jesus was so frustrated with people who went to church but who were judgmental and unloving towards other people. There’s a big difference between loving Jesus and just going to church!
So if you decided to follow Jesus this week, it’s kind of like a new birthday for you. You should throw a party! This is the week that you started living a new life – a life of love and purpose. There are many challenges that you will face as you follow Jesus, but Jesus is stronger than anything in the world.
I’m so proud of you! Don’t ever give up!
Pastor Jim
Hardwired 