There is only one God.  He has made himself known to us in what we call the Trinity:  The Trinity is like the “three dimensions of God.”  God reveals himself to us in God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit; Thee persons, one all powerful God.  God is the creator and ruler of all things.  He is all powerful, and it was nothing for him to create the entire universe in six days (he could have done it in six seconds).  One only needs to look at the amazing design and complexity of the universe to realize that it requires an unbelievably intelligent designer God.  Though it may appear that God is not in control of his universe, or that he is uncaring, nothing could be further from the truth.  He is working all things out for his own purposes.  God has a master plan for the past, present and future of all mankind and a wonderful and personal plan for you. 

    The Bible is God’s message to mankind.  It is his love letter written personally to you.  It was written clearly, so that everyone could understand the way to heaven.  We need to know how we can know God… God communicated the way through the Bible. God moved the prophets and apostles to write exactly what he wanted them to write.  In the Bible He included instructions on how we should live and the essentials of what we should believe.

The Bible is broken up into two major divisions:  The Old Testament (made up of 39 different “mini books”), and the New Testament (made up of 22 “mini books”).  The Old Testament was mostly written by Prophets, and the New Testament was written mostly by Apostles.  The Old Testament traces the story of Sin and the promise of the coming Savior from Sin: the Messiah.  The New Testament tells us that the Deliverer is Jesus Christ and shows how he delivered us, and explains that one day He will return to set all things to rights.

     Jesus is the most unique individual that ever lived.  The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the creator God.  God had a plan to deliver man from sin and eternal hell.  He did so by leaving the glory of heaven and becoming an insignificant man.  Jesus was “virgin born.”  That is impossible for man, but not for God. 

Although Jesus was a man and faced hunger, exhaustion and temptation he never sinned, in fact he never had a wrong attitude or even one single evil thought.  That’s because he was both God and man.   God’s plan was to have Jesus die on the cross in our place for all our sins.  Because he was man he could take our punishment; because he was the sinless eternal son of God he could pay the eternal penalty for all people.  And because He is God, death could not keep him in the grave.  The same Jesus who died also rose from the dead and confirmed his resurrection by meeting with the disciples over the next 40 days… he even met with over 500 of them at once!  He told them to tell everyone who would listen that He is the Deliverer, and to be “saved” they must place their faith in Him.  Then he ascended into heaven.  That’s not the end of the story though… soon Jesus will come again to set up His Kingdom and Judge the world.

     The Holy Spirit is not a force and He is not your conscience.  The Holy Spirit is the invisible God who, though unseen, works persuasively in the hearts of men to convince them of their sin, of their need for a pure life, and of the reality of the coming Day of Judgment when we all will stand before God and give an account for our actions.  Once a person has chosen to cry out to Jesus to “save” him, the Holy Spirit comes to live in that person permanently.  He becomes our guide, strength, comfort and makes it possible for us to do anything He wants done.   

     Man is God’s crowning creation.  What separates us from the animals is that we have a “soul.”  That means we are created in the image of God with the ability of higher thinking, reasoning and emotions, as well as the spiritual capacity for a relationship with God.  Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, originally had no guilt, no evil thoughts, anger or sin.  They were placed in a perfect world.   Together they were given a choice; they could obey God and live in paradise or they could disobey… they chose to sin.   The consequences for all mankind were immediate and severe.  They were cut off from God.  Sorrow, hatred, sickness, crime, aging and death crept in.  Unless God were to intervene every human being was destined to be punished eternally in the lake of fire for their rebellion.  But God has other plans for us.  All of us were created with a God shaped vacuum in our hearts that yearns to be filled.  We try to fill it with love, money, things or prestige, but nothing works.  We were made for God, and only when we find him will that empty craving be filled.

    The only way a person can enter Heaven is to be “saved.”  And only Jesus Christ is the “Savior.”  Heaven is a free gift.  It cannot be earned or deserved, it can only be received.  Receiving the “gift” is a simple yet profound act of faith.  A person must recognize that his sin is so serious that it separates him from God.  He must cry out to Jesus and ask for the gift of eternal life.  “Dear Lord please save me from the penalty of my sin.  I believe Jesus paid the price for me when he died and rose again.  I ask you to give me the gift of eternal life.  Please forgive me.  I now turn from my sin to follow you.”  Once a person has eternal life, he has it eternally.  There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  When a Christian sins, it doesn’t mean he looses eternal life, but it does mean he has offended his father God.  To restore that fellowship, we must confess the sin to God and ask his forgiveness.

      Once you have given your life to Jesus, you automatically become part of the “body of Christ.”  That means you are a member of the Kingdom of Heaven .  We call this the “universal” or invisible church.  Your name is now written down in the Book of Life in heaven.  What is true in heaven is meant to be reflected on earth.  You should become an active part of a “local” or neighborhood church.  God wants to “add” you to the rolls of the church.  Here’s why.  The Church has a vital mission… we must not fail.  That mission is to tell the world about the good news of Eternal Life through Jesus Christ.  That mission is to teach Christians how to grow and mature spiritually.  That mission is to train Christians how to reach others with this same good news.  At Pine Grove we say it this way; “our purpose is to Win the individual to Christ, Build him up in Christ, and Send him out for Christ.”  At church, we have two important ways of reminding ourselves of this mission:  Baptism – a public testimony of our decision to live for Christ.  Communion or the Lord’s Supper – a public, yet highly personal practice of remembering Christ’s death for me and my need to live worthily for Him.  

     Satan is our spiritual and unseen enemy.  He is an angel who sinned and is leading a rebellion against God.  He and his demons can tempt you by putting stumbling blocks in your path or by whispering lies into your mind.  We must resist the lies and run from the temptations.  One of the best ways to pull yourself out of a life of habitual sin is to avoid places and people who might drag you down and by asking trusted Christians to hold you accountable.  Meet with someone on a weekly basis who will pray with you and help you overcome your faults

The goal of every Christian must be to be like Christ.  This means we must deny ourselves and follow Jesus.  We should live pure lives and separate ourselves from all questionable and evil activities. We at Pine Grove are willing to invest our lives in people to help them overcome their addictions & all other sin problems so that they can live a life of freedom and peace.