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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
A purpose that involves a choice
Becoming a Christian involves a choice between two very contrasting ways of life. However such lives may work out in daily living, the motivation for each could not be more different. Two examples present this contrast very clearly.
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"I
was certain that existence is meaningful and that, thereafter, my
life, in self-surrender, had a goal"
Dag
Hammarskjold
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The first is that of Dag Hammarskjold, the respected first Secretary General of the United Nations. During his earlier years, despite a successful career as a Swedish government official, he had struggled to find meaning in life. Sometime in 1952 he wrote in his journal, which he titled Markings:
I demand what is unreasonable: that life should have meaning. I struggle for what is impossible: that my life shall acquire meaning. I dare not believe, I do not see how I shall ever be able to believe: that I am not alone.
Hammarskjold found what he was looking for in Jesus Christ. He said yes to God. From that hour, he said, "I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, thereafter, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal."
The second example is that of Mark Hatfield, recently retired from a very much respected career in the United States Senate, and at one time considered for the position of Vice-President. In a brief paragraph he describes the decision he made when sitting in his parents' home in 1954, thinking about the purpose of his life. He says:
I could not continue to drift along, going to church because I had always gone. I saw that for 31 years I had lived for self, and I decided I wanted to live the rest of my life for Jesus Christ.
Whatever position I may be coming from, whether from a life of drifting, a life of searching for answers, a life centred on living for selfish ends, or a life of respectability, yet without reference to the God who planned it all, the question that faces me is, "Do I really want Jesus as the Lord of my life?" If he is indeed the creator of the universe and the one who took human nature in order to bare the guilt of my sins, then am I prepared to surrender my life to him in gratitude? If so, he will not only offer me forgiveness and his continual presence in my life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, he will also provide meaning and direction, and work in me to mould me into the kind of person he can use to fulfil his purposes in this world. A. J. Gordon said:
If you would make the greatest success of your life, try to discover what God is doing in your time and FLING yourselves into the accomplishment of His plans and purposes.
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"I
was converted from a life of drifting to a life of direction. I
found my compass that night"
Wilfred Grenfell |
When you fit in to God's plans for your life, it not only provides the greatest satisfaction but also touches the lives of others, perhaps in ways of which you have never dreamed and for which they will be eternally grateful. And it gives a sense of direction which nothing else can do. Wilfred Grenfell, the beloved doctor who gave forty years of his life to serving people in the harsh environment of Labrador, often spoke of the night when he took his stand for Christ during the Moody evangelistic campaign in London in 1885. After rising to his feet to indicate his commitment at a meeting led by the English cricketers J. E. and C. T. Studd, he later wrote, "I...went out feeling that I had crossed the Rubicon." He would say:
I was converted from a life of drifting to a life of direction. I found my compass that night.
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How can I find a great purpose for living?
A purpose that fits with reality
A purpose that satisfies the deepest longing of the heart
A purpose that enables us to face life's greatest difficulties
A purpose with lasting consequences
A purpose that involves a choice
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