New Life in Christ
The basic message of salvation can be understood in four important points: purpose, problem, provision, and pathway!
- God’s Purpose: God created us for happiness in love, with a plan for sharing the fullness of life with us, both now and for eternity.
- Our Problem: We rejected God’s loving plan for us through sin, and thus we lost our way, both in this world and in the life to come.
- God’s Provision: God provided a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins through the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Our Pathway: We return to God through Christ, as we commit our whole life to Christ as our God, in the community of his Church.
Once you understand and embrace this basic message of salvation, you can begin to act upon it wholeheartedly in three important ways!
First, make a personal commitment of your life to Jesus Christ as God. Use these or similar heartfelt words for your prayer!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Fill me with your Spirit, so that I may live a new life.
Help me to know you, to love you, and to serve you in this world,
so that I may be happy with you both now and for all eternity.
Thank you, Lord. Amen.
Thank you for sincerely reciting this powerful prayer. Your new life in Christ has begun. Please let us help you make it grow and develop well!
Second, start following through today on your commitment to Christ with your fellow forgiven sinners in the community of his Church!
- Mind: When your mind is filled with the truth of Christ, your whole perspective on life changes!
- MyCatholic.Life – This is an online summary of the truth that will set you free for excellence.
- CatholicsComeHome.org – This is an encyclopedia of information and inspiration for daily living.
- ChristLife Course – Please contact the parish office to enroll in this life-changing faith experience.
- Heart: With the renewal of your mind, there comes a profound change within your heart as well!
- Personal Prayer – Christ is someone who really understands and truly cares for you. Talk to him!
- Scriptural Reflection – The words and deeds of Christ inspire you to respond in kind. Listen to him!
- Sacramental Lifestyle – The sacraments keep you connected to Christ here and now. Love him!
- Life: Become an active member of our parish community! Check out StDaniel.org/parish-info.
- We are looking upward in faith to the God who saves us! – Come and look upward with us!
- We are moving forward in hope toward our heavenly goal! – Come and move forward with us!
- We are leading onward in love to new life in Christ! – Come and lead onward with us today!
We are a faith community of prayer, learning, and service. Please come and join us as Intentional Disciples of Christ!
Third, here are some ways to tell that you are on the path of Intentional Discipleship as a faithful Catholic Christian!
- First, you are starting to do things Jesus’ way because, with his love and his grace, you can! Your personal relationship with Jesus changes everything in your whole life. Repentance means a change of mind and heart in how you live out your life according to the truth of Christ’s Teachings, with the grace of his Sacraments.
- Second, you are starting to avoid evil because you no longer feel okay about sinning! Because Jesus died on the cross for you, you are experiencing life in a whole new way. With your increasing desire to please Christ in every way, you are overcoming vice and are growing in virtue, within the supportive community of his Church.
- Third, you are starting to give your life totally to Christ, in a personal and communal relationship with Christ and his Church. Because of your deepening commitment to Christ and his Church, you are starting to pray like this: “Lord Jesus, I want what you want, because you want it, as you want it, when you want it!” Amen!
Please contact us through the parish office for prayer, guidance, and support in leading your new life in Christ. Your prayer requests are welcome too!
In conclusion, here are some further thoughts for you to prayerfully consider about your new life in Jesus Christ!
- How do you know that you need a Savior? Consider the good, the bad, and the ugly. 1) The Good: the best that you have is just never good enough. 2) The Bad: your own solutions don’t really work out that well. 3) The Ugly: in the end, you know that you are going to die anyway. You need Christ because only he can replace the good, the bad, and the ugly, with all that is really true, good, and beautiful.
- Jesus Christ invites you to experience all that is true, good, and beautiful! 1) The True: there is a reason and purpose to life, which you discover through faith in Jesus Christ. 2) The Good: there are values that endure forever, which you encounter through the love of Jesus Christ. 3) The Beautiful: you realize that the only life really worth living is one in which Jesus Christ is at the center of it.
- Isn’t it enough to be spiritual, instead of being religious? The short answer is “no.” Here is the long answer. 1) Being religious without being spiritual is like going through the motions, but without having faith. 2) Being spiritual without being religious is like talking the talk, but without walking the walk. 3) Being religious is the lifestyle that spiritually transforms your everyday existence for the better in Christ.
- The opposite of spiritual is not religious – the opposite of spiritual is worldly. 1) Being Worldly is acting as if this life were all that there is. 2) Being Spiritual is realizing that there is so much more to life. 3) Being Religious is living spiritually within a broken world. Religion is what connects your highest aspirations with your everyday lived experience. Religion is thus the bridge from this life to the next in Christ!
- The Christian Religion, founded by Jesus Christ, holds your life together in three ways. 1) Creed: you understand life more fully through the teachings of Christ’s Church. 2) Code: you get along with others better because you realize how much Christ loves you in the community of his Church. 3) Culture: you connect with Christ spiritually through the sacraments of his Church.
- Why should you be a Catholic Christian? Because the Church that Jesus founded is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic! Everything that Christ intended for his faithful followers from the very beginning, faithfully continues even now in the Catholic Church, through Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium, until Christ returns in glory at the end of time. So, come and join us as intentional disciples of Christ in the Catholic Church today!
For prayer, guidance, and support in all these important spiritual matters, please contact us today through the parish office. God bless you always!