Mark shares his experience of leaving the church as a young person due to hypocrisy but later becoming a minister. He discusses having a relationship with God rather than following an organized religion. He poses two questions - can you know for sure you will go to heaven, and what would you say to God about letting you into heaven. Mark explains that heaven is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus, as we are all sinners and cannot save ourselves from death. He outlines how Jesus solved this problem by taking our sins upon himself on the cross. Mark encourages committing one's life to Jesus through repentance, confession, and baptism.

1. A New Life for You
The Gift

3. The Gift
Hello my name is Mark and like many people
I was raised in the church but at an early age I
realized people didn’t act like they preached, In
fact they were down right mean, so I left.
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4. The Gift
After such a long road of hardships, I felt like
the weariest man in the world.
I decided that I wasn’t going to let people get
in the way of my relationship to God.
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5. The Gift
Today I am a minister but you might be
surprised to know that I still have a problem with
organized religion.
That’s because Christianity was never meant
to be a religion but a relationship……
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6. The Gift
….So what does it mean to have a relationship
with God? What does that look like?
The beginning of the journey to answer this
begins with two simple yet thought provoking
questions.
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7. The Gift
Question #1
Have you come to the point in your life where
you KNOW for sure, that if you were to die
tonight you would be in heaven?
You may ask “How can anyone KNOW that?”
The Bible says in 1 John 5:13 These things I
have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have
eternal life.
May I share with you how I came to know that
I have eternal life, and how you can know too?
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8. The Gift
Question #2
Suppose you did die tonight and you stood
before God and he asked you “why should I let
you into my heaven,” what would you say?
A lot of people say something to the effect of “I
would tell God that I lived life the best I could and
would hope my good deeds out weigh the bad
ones”
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9. The Gift
You know that’s an interesting answer but I
found out that….
Heaven is a free gift and cannot
be earned
Let’s take money for instance:
If I had enough money I could buy clothes,
food, a new car and if I had a lot money I could
even by a new house but even if I had all the
money in the world I couldn’t buy my way into
heaven. There is nothing I could do to earn it.
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10. The Gift
The Bible says in Romans 6:23 “For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
~And Again~
Ephesians 2:8-9 ”For by grace you have been
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that
no one may boast.”
The tragedy is that even though it’s
free, few accept it
This can be more clearly seen when we understand
what the Bible says about man.
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11. The Gift
Man is a sinner and cannot
save himself
Let’s look at the first part:
Man is a sinner
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:3 “Among them
we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the
rest.”
~And Again~
In Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God”
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12. The Gift
What do you think sin is?
Most says sin is doing bad things but it’s
simpler than that. Let’s say:
We’re playing a game of darts. You throw
your dart and miss the bull’s-eye by a quarter of
an inch. Then I throw my dart and miss the bull’s-
eye by a mile. Which one of us missed the bull’s-
eye? We both did didn’t we? That’s what sin is: its
missing the mark of God’s perfection.
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13. The Gift
Now let’s look at the second part:
Man cannot save himself
The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2 “But your
iniquities have made a separation between you
and your God, and your sins have hidden His face
from you so that He does not hear.”
~And Again~
In Proverb 14:12 “There is a way which seems
right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
A dentist cannot perform a root canal on
himself nor can a surgeon remove his own
cancerous tumor. Likewise, we cannot remove the
cancer of sin from our lives.
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14. The Gift
Man’s case seems hopeless, but let’s see
what the Bible says about God.
God is just and must punish sin,
but He is also merciful and
doesn’t want to punish us
The Bible says in Rom. 1:18 “For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness”
Suppose I got so good as to only sin 3 times a
day. If I multiplied that per year that would be
1095 sins a year then multiplied by my age (40)
that would be 43,800 sins. Now what do you
suppose would happen if I stood in front of a
judge with 43,800 traffic violations? We stand
before God with more than 43,800 and much
worse than traffic violations.
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15. The Gift
Did you know “Gospel” means “Good News”
How does God keep from going crazy? On one
hand He is perfectly just but on the other hand He
is perfectly merciful. How can He be both?
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16. The Gift
Again lets take the analogy of standing before
God’s thrown with our sins, and being just, he hits
his gavel and says guilty and the punishment for
sin is death. Then he stands up, takes off his
judges’ robe, steps down and says I will pay that
punishment for you. That is exactly what Jesus did
on the cross for you and me.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not
slow about His promise, as some count slowness,
but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to
perish but for all to come to repentance.”
~And Again~
In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.”
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17. The Gift
God solved this problem by coming to earth in
the person of Jesus Christ
Jesus is God’s answer to our
sin problem
But who is Jesus? Some say a good man, a
good teacher, a wise man. Sure enough but he
was much much more!
What does the Bible say about him?
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18. The Gift
The Bible says in John 14:9(Jesus speaking)
“he who has seen me has seen the father…”
~And Again~
In John 1:1,14 “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the
only begotten from the Father, full of grace and
truth.”
Why did Jesus come to Earth?
The Bible says in Isaiah. 53:6 “All of us like
sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to
his own way; But the LORD has caused the
iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
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19. The Gift
Let’s suppose you had a book that contained
every sin you ever committed and this book has
been weighing you down and separating you from
God. What Jesus did was that he took your book
and everyone else’s book and placed it on his
shoulders at the cross so you can stand in front of
God blameless.
The Bible says in Hebrew 9:22 “without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness…”
~And Again~
In 1 Pet. 2:24 ”and He Himself bore our sins in
His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you
were healed.
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20. The Gift
If you spelled GRACE in an acrostic form:
God’s
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense
He got what we deserve!
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21. The Gift
The Bible says that only those who receive
Christ by faith have this free gift
Faith is the key to receiving
this free gift
I have a ring of keys here. Only one of the
keys unlocks my front door. They all “appear” to
be alike but really only one will let you into my
house. By the same token there “appears” to be
many ways to get into heaven, but there is really
only one – it’s called the key of faith.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8”For by grace
you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God”
People say “I believe in God!” but the Bible
warns in James 2:19 “You believe that God is one
you do well; the demons also believe, and
shudder.”
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22. The Gift
Faith is trusting Christ alone
It’s like the story of the great tightrope walker
who stretched a cable across Niagara Falls. A crowd
gathered to watch him. He then asked the crowd “Do
you believe I can cross the falls?” The crowd cheered
and said “We believe!” He successfully crosses the
falls and then he says the crowd “Do you believe I can
cross again but this time with a wheelbarrow?” Again
the crowd cheered and said “We believe!” And again
he successfully crosses and this time he says to the
crowd “Do you believe I can cross again but this time
with someone in the wheelbarrow?” Again the crowd
cheered and said “We believe!” Then he asked “Who
wants to be the first to get into the wheelbarrow?”
Saving faith is like that. It getting into the
wheelbarrow, not standing on the shore saying “I
believe”
We all have to cross over sooner or later,
do you want to try it yourself or trust someone
who knows what they’re doing?
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23. The Gift
If you spelled FAITH in an acrostic form:
Forsaking
All
I
Take
Him
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24. The Gift
Faith is Obedience
The Bible says in John 3:36 "He who believes
in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not
obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on him."
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25. The Gift
Faith is Repentance
The Bible says in Acts 17:30 “Therefore
having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is
now declaring to men that all people everywhere
should repent,”
It’s like when you’re heading down the
highway and you miss your exit. What do you do?
You take the next exit to turn around so you can
head back the right way. That’s what repentance
is, its making a u-turn.
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26. The Gift
Faith is Confession
The Bible says in Romans 10:9”that if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved;”
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27. The Gift
Faith is Baptism
Part of following Christ is baptism. Baptism is
an outward expression of an inward happening.
Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.”
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28. The Gift
The Commitment
Does everything in this booklet make sense to
you?
Do you want to make a commitment right now
and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior?
Are you willing to repent, confess, and be
baptized?
If you have any questions please feel free to
contact me, Mark Lambert, at 503.928.9426
Or email me: malambert313@hotmail.com
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29. The Gift
The Prayer of Commitment
"God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for
you up until now. I have been living for myself
and that is wrong and I repent. I need you in my
life; I want you in my life. I acknowledge the
completed work of Your Son Jesus Christ in
giving His life for me on the cross at Calvary,
and I long to receive the forgiveness you have
made freely available to me through this
sacrifice. I confess Jesus is Lord. Take up
residence in my life and be my king, my Lord,
and my Savior. From this day forward I will
follow you all the days of my life. Those days are
in your hands. I ask this in Jesus' precious and
holy name. Amen."
If you prayed this prayer please contact me:
Mark Lambert, at 503.928.9426 or email me at
malambert313@hotmail.com
*Side note: Rituals and words do not save you.
Only a truthful and an honest heart that desires
God does.
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