Good News 
Good news stands at the
heart of the life and message
of First Baptist Church. We
believe that people link their lives with God when they become Christians.
A Christian is a person who
follows Christ. Perhaps the most important word in the Christian
faith is "love."
Becoming a Christian is the most important decision you can make. This decision determines the way you live on earth and how you
will spend eternity. God really
loves you and wants to spend eternity with you.
God's love is the heart of the church's good news. The New Testament Gospel of John (3:16) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son (Jesus), so that whoever puts his/her trust in him will be saved." Here is the central note of the good news: put your faith in Jesus Christ, God's son, and you will be saved --you will become a Christian.
Jesus himself declared, "I have come so that they (Jesus' followers) might have life, a full and abundant life" (John 10:10). Faith in Jesus Christ gives new meaning to life and brings new resources for living.
The good news deals with much of the misery in human life. It points its finger to one of the reasons for that misery: sin. The Bible tells us, "All have sinned and have missed the greatness of God." (Romans 3:23).
We humans choose to sin. We can choose to follow Christ and live our lives as God's people. Or we can choose to follow our own way. Choosing our own way is called sin.
But the good news tells us that God does not give up on us when we sin. Rather, "God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).
Here is the good news: God sent his Son to pay the price for our sin. "Christ suffered and died for sins once for all... He died in order to bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18).
And there's more: "Christ was buried. But He was raised from the dead three days later." (1 Corinthians 15:4). God's love worked for our good in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. What good news!
All God asks is that people repent of their sins, turn from them, and accept the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for those sins. "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13) is a New Testament promise concerning God's love.
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