Our Story

‘'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

'Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every

one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.'
Acts 2:38

Tonight, in the presence of every single person here and ev-

ery single person under the sound of my mind, I want to tell
you all a story. I want to tell each and every single one of you
of a great story. It isn’t just some fairy tale. It isn’t just some-
thing someone made up. But in this court tonight, I want to
tell you all a true story; it is real.

Tonight, I want to give this story. This story is packed and

filled with rebellion (sin), hurt, suffering. But in this story,
there is hope. In this story, there is love. There is hope that is
given in this story. This hope that the story gives is the great-
est hope that anyone can ever have. It is a hope that passes
all other hopes that you can try to find in this world and have;
it’s more than anything you can find here on Earth.

It is the greatest hope. This story gives hope, and it gives

hope to those who are in the story.

But the story that will tell tonight is not a story that is only for
the characters in the Bible. It is not just for the Jews. It is not
just for Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. It isn’t just to any of the
12 Apostles or the saints in the Bible. But this story, this
beautiful Gospel message or story, is for me. It is for you. It is
for each and every single one of you today.
Yes, this story is our story. A story of sin. A story of justice.
But a story of grace, mercy, hope, and love.

I come to give you the truth, and nothing but the truth. I want
to talk on what the Bible says and teaches, and not my own
made up ideas. I want to give the Word from God and give
His Words of hope, peace, and love to you all today.

Hope and love is available today. Today, I would like to give

this message titled “Our Story.”

In the beginning of time, there was a God. In the very begin-

ning, even before time ever started, there was God.

And in the beginning, God had a plan; He had a plan and de-
cided to act on it.

'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. '
Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

In the beginning, God was there. And God had a plan in store
within His mind: a plan of Creation. So God spoke. God spoke
with power and authority words. Through His Words, He
would pick up the pencil and start His story of Creation. He
picked up the pen and started writing this story: our story.

'The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on
the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”;
and there was light. '
Genesis 1:2-3

He created. He started creating. He started to put His ideas

and His plans into motion.

He spoke the words “Let there be light”, and then suddenly

light came into existence and became real.
God then, speaking His mind and thoughts, divided and sepa-
rated the sky from the waters.

'And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the

waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God
made the firmament, and divided the waters which were un-
der the firmament from the waters which were above the fir-
mament: and it was so. '
Genesis 1:6-7

He did these things. But the Creator, the God who was there,
did not stop at just making light and splitting the skies and
the waters; He was not finished. But God had more in store in
His mind, and He wanted to get it done.

So He did get it done.

He went onto to finish His construction plan. He created it all.

Included the birds, the fish, the sun, the moon, everything
that would create what we would know as the world.

The night sky that we see. The night sky that we can see just
over there, with stars somewhere out there, was crafted and
made so beautifully by God. The night sky filled with star af-
ter star and the moon show of God’s creation and truly how
good He was at it.

The sunrises that we see, the sunsets we stand in awe of, the
beautiful skies that we can smile and look up at all existed
and are all so gorgeous and beautiful for one reason: God
made it that way.

God created good things.

And He that it was good. Of course, God who has all power
made good things. He is the good God, and the good God cre-
ates good things.

The animals were good, the fish were good, the skies and the
land were good, the Earth and the heavens were good. All of
it was good.

But there was another thing that God made that was good. In
fact, God loved this creation so much He treasured it over the
others He had already made.

In 6 days God created, and on the last day of Creation, the

6th day, He would created His most prized, most wonderful,
and most cared for creation.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according

to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image
of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 1:26-27 (NKJV)

The good God would create what would be known as one of

the best creations, if not the greatest creation he had ever
made: humanity.

And God would call humanity good.

But God did not make humanity equal amongst other cre-
ation. However, God would favor humanity above all else.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)
Creator, not like the other creation, but according to his own
image beautifully and lovingly.

He cared about creation. But He specifically cared for and

loved mankind above anything else.

We see from creation a loving God. He is a God that loved so

much. And He loved humanity.

He loves us. Yes, He loves us! This is our story, and we see
that from the very beginning of time, He loved us. He cared
for us. He favored us.

The bible says in Psalm 8:3-9

'What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of
man, that thou visitest him? When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou
hast ordained; For thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels, And hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou
madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen,
Yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the
fish of the sea, And whatsoever passeth through the paths of
the seas. O LORD our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all
the earth!'
Psalm 8:3-9

God, it is goodness, would give, and show his goodness to-

wards us. In his excellence, and his wonder, and His strength,
he would create the heavens and the Earth, and every ele-
ment. And God, in love towards us, gave us dominion over
His work.

God loved man; He loved and cared for mankind so very

much.
But man, even though God loved him so very much and gave
dominion to him, rebelled. Man decided to disobey God’s
command. Man knew God’s command and His love towards
them, but they decided to do their own thing and not follow
what their Loving God said.

'but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die. '

Genesis 2:17

'And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And
the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.’
Genesis 3:6-7

Man fell. Man fell from the plan, peace, and the good things
that God had for them.

'Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow

and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it:
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of
it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art ,
and unto dust shalt thou return. '
Genesis 3:16-19
There was a punishment for their sin. They decided to rebel
against God, so of course, there must be a punishment that
was given. They were to die.

They were to die. “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return.” There was a death sentence to Adam and Eve.

But they didn’t just die physically, but on the day that they
sinned, their connection with God died, so they died on the
inside spiritually.

There was physical death and there was spiritual death as

well.

From what we see right now, this is a sad story of rebellion

and punishment.

The Bible says “'for all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God; '

Romans 3:23

Every single one of us here has rebelled against. It doesn’t

matter where you may be here in this court tonight, whether
you may be where both of us are and whether if you are at
the very back; every single one of us, you, me, your neigh-
bor, have sinned against God.

How have we sinned? Perhaps we stole something. Perhaps

we lied to someone. Perhaps we cheated on a test or impor-
tant exam. Perhaps we are jealous. But regardless of the sin
and regardless of what we did wrong, there is one thing that
is true in everything: we all sinned.

And because we all sinned, we deserve to die.

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death…”

We deserve to pay the price for our sins. To pay for the price
of our sins, we are to die.

It is a sad thing. It is a sad thing to see people dying in this

world today. It hurts for me to see and hear of people taking
their last breaths on this Earth and giving up their lives filled
with memories, moments, times with families, friends, wifes,
husbands.

But it happens because we live in a sinful world and we are

sinners. Death happens because the world is full of sin.

But there’s another death, spiritual death. Because of separa-

tion from God, there is spiritual death. And spiritual death
come spiritual suffering and eternal condemnation.

It’s sad. But we can’t just look at this part of the story.

But the story that I tell you, our story, continues on. Despite
man failing and sinning, God was still loving. God was still
kind. God was still merciful.

God loved us. He loved us. He still, even though we failed

Him and even though we don’t even deserve or have enough
to pay for our sins, He loved us.

He loved us so much that He had a plan for us.

He had a plan to save us from our sins. He had a rescue plan.

In Romans 6:23, it says 'For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

Yes, we were doomed to die. Yes, we were doomed to die a

hopeless death and suffer in Hell for eternity. But look! Hope
came into the world! Love came into the world! Joy came to
the world! Salvation came into the world to save us.

'But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the

Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of
David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins.” “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means,
God with us). All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had
spoken by the prophet: '
Matthew 1:20-23

God came down. Yes, God had a plan to come down Himself
from heaven to rescue us.

How did God do so? How did God come down to save the
world from its sin?

Well, He came down as a baby. On that day, whenever that

day was over 2000 years ago, God came down as a baby.
Wrapped in flesh, He took on the form of a human.

'but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a

bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being
found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and be-
came obedient to the point of death, even the death of the
cross. '
Philippians 2:7-8

God came down as a servant. He came down, and His name

would be Jesus. Jesus didn’t come down to Earth to simply
have His vacation here, but the Lord Jesus came down for one
reason. He was here to fulfill the rescue mission that He had
planned and thought of: the rescue mission to save the world.
And so He came down to Earth, and He died.

He died a sinner’s death. He died a criminal’s death. Despite

Him being completely innocent and despite Him being the
only sinless man, the people decided to end His life and make
Him suffer.

'He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and

acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from
Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He
has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we es-
teemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was
led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its
shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.'

Isaiah 53:3-7

The prophet Isaiah described it well. Jesus was bruised. Jesus

was lashed and was filled with stripes from the whips. Jesus
suffered.

But that’s not all. Jesus was given a crown of thorns, be told
He was the King of the Jews, and was mocked for it. Jesus was
then, in the weak and hurt state He was in was nailed to a
rugged Roman cross.

And there our savior, the Redeemer of the world, God in flesh
hung. Suspended from the ground Jesus hung from that
cross.
Bleeding, aching, being mocked, and struggling to breath in
and breathe out as He got weaker and weaker, God in flesh
hung there.

The Roman cross was one of the worst times of execution,

because it inflicted and it gave some of the worst suffering to
those hung on it. Criminals hung on the cross and died and
mainly died due to suffocation. Painful.

And Jesus, innocent of all charges, took it all and died.

But why? Why would Jesus do such a thing? It’s because He

loved us. He cared for every single one of us so much that in-
stead of us having to take our places, die, and have no hope
in the afterlife, He would take our sins, our shame, our guilt,
our sorrows, all of that and put it on Himself, a sinless man as
a replacement for the sinful mankind.

Jesus died so we could live.

But Jesus, of course, didn’t stay in the grave forever. Jesus,

after three days, would come up in triumph.

'But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of

Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See
the place where they laid Him. '
Mark 16:6

Jesus defeated Death for us. He rose in triumph from the

grave after defeating Death, our enemy, for us.

And Jesus gave a promise to His people with Him when He

resurrected.

'Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry

in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from
on high.”'
Luke 24:49

Jesus had a promise for them. Jesus commanded them to stay

in the city of Jerusalem and wait there until they received the
power of God.

And so after Jesus went back up to Heaven after 40 days, the

people waited for the promise that He told them about.

They waited in an upper room, praying together and being

with each other. They were there expecting the Promise of
God to come to pass in their lives.

And it did on the day of Pentecost.

'When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting. Then there ap-
peared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance.'

Acts 2:1-4

The promise was given. The power of God was given to His
people there. God would move in the upper room where they
were all at and they would receive the gift of God: the gift of
the Holy Ghost.

And the sign that showed that they received the Holy Ghost
was that they spoke in another language they did not know
how to speak.

People wondered at this sign. The people that were there

seeing the people filled with the Holy Ghost wondered at it.
So, Peter, standing up with the other Apostles, began preach-
ing about Jesus.

Upon hearing the words that Peter gave to them, the people
felt convicted; they felt something in their hearts.

'Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and
said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren,
what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. '
Acts 2:37-38

They asked Peter, what do we do? What is next for us?

Then Peter gave them and showed them how to obtain the
Promise and hope that Jesus gave.

He told them to repent, be baptized in Jesus’ name, and to be

filled with the Holy Ghost.

He went on to say in Acts 2:39 “For the promise is to you and

to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the
Lord our God will call.”'

120 would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on that day.

And tonight, we have an opportunity here to experience the

same power that they experienced many years ago.

We can be saved. We can receive His Spirit and be com-

pletely changed. We can have true happiness. We can have
true joy. We can have real comfort knowing that there is a
better life after this one saved for us.

So, what shall we do, people? What shall we do today?

As Peter said, we must repent. Repenting is when we go to
God in prayer and say we are sorry. We go to God, bringing
our sins and our mistakes, and we ask God to forgive us.
When we ask for forgiveness, we tell God and we make a true
and real decision to turn around from our sins and to never
do them again. That is how repentance works.

Before we do anything else, we must repent and go to God

for forgiveness. We cannot receive the Holy Ghost and we
can’t truly experience what baptism in Jesus name should be
unless we repent first. Repentance is first for us to have this
gift.

We must also, after repentance, be baptized in Jesus’ name.

When we are baptized in Jesus’ name, the person baptizing
us brings us under the water, submerging and covering us
with the water. In doing so, the person baptizing specifically
calls on the name of Jesus. No other name and no other title
can be given: Peter and Scriptures tells us to baptized in the
name of Jesus, proclaiming His name specifically.

'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, '
Matthew 28:19

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are only titles. But when people
were being baptized in the church, they were baptized in the
name of Jesus.

Why? Because Jesus is the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. He is God, and God’s name is Jesus!

And the name of Jesus has power; it has power like no other.
'Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be
saved.”'
Acts 4:12

We must also accept the Holy Ghost into our lives. When we
open up our hearts, when we open up our mouths, and we
praise God, things can start to happen. When we give our-
selves in prayer, lifting up our hands and praising God, then
we may start feeling something different. We may feel the
Presence of God. We may feel our tongues start to speak in a
different way, in a different language that we don’t even
know how to speak. That is the Holy Ghost and that is the ini-
tial sign of the Holy Ghost: speaking a different language we
never learned.

This can happen tonight. You can leave here tonight, having
repented to God and having received the wonderful gift of
the Holy Ghost that was promised to us. You can ask some-
one in our church and we can have you submerged and bap-
tized in the only saving name of Jesus. This can happen; you
can experience the love, hope, peace, and comfort that
comes from this story.

So, as I give this to our MC, who is willing to take the next
step to experience something better than you’ve ever experi-
enced before? Who is willing to have Jesus work in your lives
and do great things? How many people want to know Jesus
more? Well, tonight is the night, and the Truth is laid out in
front of you. It is your choice on whether you want to receive
this wonderful gift that God gives us tonight.