Accepting Jesus

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and in the Christian faith it’s a time to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross and celebrate the incredible miracle of Him overcoming the grave. It is because of this amazing event that we are able to be in relationship with God and have our sins forgiven. So today I decided that I want to share with you my faith journey.

My early religious experiences were in the Catholic Church. I was baptized as an infant, attended CCD, made my First Communion, and attended mass.

Over the years, the Catholic Church no longer fit into our family’s life and we attended less and less. When I was in Junior High my mom received a post card from a new church and was intrigued enough to take us one Sunday. I don’t exactly know how it happened, but our family became members or this brand new Non-Denominational Church that was meeting in a school. Definitely not what we were accustomed to.

This new church had everything: relevant services, kid’s ministries, adult small groups, social events, and more. My brothers and I loved the kids’ stuff, and my parents got involved. There was just something awesome about this church. We loved going, made friends, and actually learned about the Bible.

I was at the mid-week youth ministry one week, and that is where everything changed. Like I said, I attended plenty of things growing up, and had a pretty good understanding of faith and the Bible, but I was about to have my world changed.

The woman who taught the lesson that night talked about accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That was a concept I had never heard before. I knew Jesus died for us, but this woman was talking about an actual relationship with Him. It was a concept I had never heard, but it was something that I really wanted. I wanted Jesus to come into my life and work through me. I wanted to have a relationship with Him and I wanted to expand my faith.

I was in 6^th grade at the time and when we broke into our small group sessions after hearing the woman talk about accepting Christ, our leader offered to pray with us so that we could do just that.

I was excited, and wanted nothing more. So that night, I followed along as she prayed and accepted Jesus myself. It was a pivotal moment in my life and easily the greatest decision I have ever made.