One Sunday when I was six years old the Junior Church program at my church was cancelled – the teacher was sick. Thus, I found myself sitting in the main church service for one of the first times in my life. The pastor shared a message on salvation, God’s plan to make a way for people to reach heaven. As the sermon went on, the message rang true. That I wasn’t perfect was obvious – I forced my parents to spend a considerable amount of time attempting to correct my behavior. The pastor explained clearly that there was nothing I could do about that problem – my own efforts would never make me right before God. That made sense – I continually tried to be good, but nonetheless repeatedly found myself breaking rules, fighting with my sisters, and telling lies. The pastor then explained that God had done something to fix that problem – He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth, to suffer and die although He had done nothing wrong. Finally, the pastor explained that my sins could be forgiven, my wrongdoing removed in the sight of God, if I made a decision to admit my own sinfulness and to trust completely in the death and resurrection of Jesus to make full payment before God.

I didn’t make that decision immediately. I spent the fifteen-minute ride home from church thinking. When my family got home, I asked my Dad if he could explain to me again what the pastor had preached about. He took me into the kitchen, sat me down on his knee, and rehearsed the good news for me again. At that point I decided that the time had come. I prayed to God, admitting my own sinfulness, expressing my sorrow for that wrongdoing, and trusting in the work of Jesus Christ to make me right in the sight of God. From that time on I knew that my sins were forgiven, that I had joined the family of God, and that I therefore had an undying relationship with Him.

Bill, 19 years old