church<\/a> I get to pastor we were privileged to baptize six individuals, people who have made a decision to place their trust in Jesus and go public with that faith through water baptism. With each baptism we ask the individual to share a little bit of their story as an encouragement to those who celebrate with them. Why are people turning to God? Here are seven real reasons, from the very words these precious individuals shared with our church:<\/p>\n1. Influence of family.<\/strong> Parenting is a sacred opportunity not just to shape a life but to shape a soul and teach children the truth about the God that loves them. For many who turn to God, their primary influence is their family. As one wrote, \u201cMy mom always taught me about God and tried to take us to church. I remember our family praying together to get a house and God answered our prayer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
2. Exposure to church.<\/strong> Simply showing up to church on a regular basis can have a profound impact on your life and faith. If a church can create a warm, welcoming environment where people are accepted and embraced, lives can be changed! As one wrote,\u00a0\u201cListening to the sermons helped me understand more about faith in Christ and what it means to be a Christian.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
3. Taking Jesus to their world.<\/strong> More than simply waiting for lost people to go to us, four of the six baptized this past Sunday made a decision to trust Jesus because Jesus was brought to them in their world: their school. Through an after school program led by our church volunteers, the gospel is shared on a regular basis. As several wrote, \u201cThis year at Good News Club, I prayed to receive Jesus as my Savior.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
4. Inability to find purpose and meaning on their own.<\/strong> Ecclesiastes 3:11 states that God has placed eternity within our hearts, spurring us on a life-long quest for meaning and purpose, which ultimately finds its fulfillment in God Himself. As one wrote,\u00a0\u201cWhat describes my life before Christ is that I was lost. I had no sense of direction until I started seeking for God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
5. Overwhelmed by the pressures of life.<\/strong> We all come to an end of ourselves, when we are at the bottom, drowning in the overwhelmingness of life. In those moments of need, our hearts are naturally drawn upwards towards God. As one wrote, \u201cI faced a lot of difficulties and problems which made me go into deep depression. Life was so hard and I was under lots of pressure. I was desperately looking for something to help me feel better, but nothing worked.\u201d<\/em> Even though he originally grew up in a different religion, this man\u2019s desperation led him to accept an invite to church.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
6. The invitation of a friend.<\/strong> Never underestimate the power of a simple invitation. For you it might be a habit or even an afterthought, but God has a way of divinely orchestrating life-changing events through a simple invitation. As one wrote, the moment his life changed was the moment when\u00a0\u201cone of my coworkers invited me to go with him to church.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
7. Realization of who God is.<\/strong> Since God has placed eternity in our hearts, God is always working in us, always drawing us to Himself. Through a myriad of different opportunities, God will reveal Himself to us. As one shared, \u201cI really didn\u2019t start thinking about God until I got older. As I got older I realized that God is important and I started to believe more in Him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Be aware of what God is doing around you. Look for people who are hurting because they need the hope you have found in Jesus. Never underestimate the power of an invitation, because God is always working!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
QUESTION: What reason, circumstance or influence brought you to faith in Jesus?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to connect and see more of the content I\u2019m working on, be sure to like my church Facebook page<\/a>. You can also find me on social media: Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here are seven real reasons that people are turning to God, given by people who have gone public with their faith through baptism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2490,"featured_media":7373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[122,255,487,577,717,718,760],"class_list":["post-7365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-wineskins","tag-baptism","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-invitation","tag-invite","tag-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\n
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