Our Faith - Watertown Evangelical Church

Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Perhaps you are searching for an answer to one of these questions...

  • Who is Jesus?
  • Why did he come to earth?
  • Why did he have to die?

The following is a summation of an attempt to answer the basic question, "Who is Jesus?", put forth by C.S. Lewis is his book Mere Christianity.

Lewis was a professor of Renaissance literature at Cambridge University, U.K.  He also was an outspoken agnostic.  However, Lewis could not reconcile in his mind the popular conception that Jesus was just a great moral teacher.

Lewis began a quest that resulted in him coming to the conclusion that Jesus had to be either a liar, a lunatic, or truly Lord.  As Lewis convincingly argues, there is no third alternative that takes into consideration all the facts about Jesus.

Lewis writes...

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He either would be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”

WAS JESUS A LIAR?

Jesus claimed to be God (see Mark chapter 14).  If Jesus knew that he was in fact not God, then he was deliberately lying.  He also told others to trust him for their eternal destiny.  If he knew he was in fact powerless over the fate of people's souls, these statements would make him one of the most deceiving and evil people to have ever lived.  Either Jesus was telling the truth, or he was lying. 

WAS HE A LUNATIC?

Maybe Jesus was sincere, and therefore not a liar, but sincerely wrong.   But if he truly believed he was God, then he was greatly self-deceived.  Or worse, he suffered from megalomania.  Today, anyone who claims to be God, or believes they are God, is considered mentally ill.  And with good reason.  So either Jesus was truly God, or he was mentally ill - a lunatic.

WAS HE LORD?

If someone is not willing to accept that Jesus was a liar, or a lunatic, then only one possibility remains - that he was, and is, Lord.  If he is Lord, we should surrender our lives to him, and to trust him for our salvation - the fate of our souls after death.

That's why we at Watertown Evangelical Church come together each week to worship him.  Because we believe, as do millions of other Christians, that Jesus Christ is worthy of our utmost worship, our praise, and our adoration.  He is our Lord.

So what is the good news?

The good news is that Jesus loves you.  He came to earth for you.  His suffering and death were for you. And, he came back to life for you. Just like we can take steps to walk from one destination to another, so too we can take "steps" and walk in our spiritual journey to a relationship with God. Here are the steps to a relationship with God.

Step One - God's Purpose: Peace and Life

photo of a man worshipping

God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.

The Bible says...

  • "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1
  • "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
  • "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10

Why don't most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?

 

Step Two - The Problem: Our Separation

photo of a boy on a dock

God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice.

We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

The Bible says...

  • "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
  • "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Our Attempts to Reach God

People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God...

The Bible says...

  • "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12
  • "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:2

No bridge reaches God...except one.

Step Three - God's Bridge: The Cross

photo of a steeple

Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

The Bible says...

  • "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." 1 Timothy 2:5
  • "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18
  • "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.

 

Step Four - Our Response: Receive Christ

photo of a man praying

We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.

The Bible says...

  • "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20
  • "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
  • "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

 

Where are you?

Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?

Here is how you can receive Christ:

  1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).
  2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
  3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
  4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)

If you have recently taken this last "step" of receiving Jesus as your Savior, we would love to talk more with you. You can email us at secretary@watertownevangelicalchurch.org, or call us at 617-924-1778. We welcome the opportunity to discuss with you this important event in your life.

Text for the four steps above borrowed with appreciation from www.billygraham.org.