When a soldier dies in battle, a “battle cross” is often left on the battlefield to mark the place where he or she died. That cross might not mean much to strangers who didn’t know the soldier, but it represents a great loss to those who did. Jesus died on a cross to win the ultimate battle for us — but we can never understand its true meaning and significance until we have a personal relationship with Him.

A kangaroo and an emu have one very important feature in common: neither of them can move backwards very well! Both were created to always go forward — and that’s what God created you and me to do, too. When we decide to follow Jesus, He wants us to jump all in, even if we stumble and make mistakes along the way. And when we keep our eyes on Him, there’s no reason to look back!

The Church is filled with messy people because the church is filled with…well…people! People are messy because sin’s messy, but when we choose to follow Christ, we become part of His family — and that family cares for and loves one another unconditionally because that’s how Jesus loves us. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we’re meant to follow Him together — the Christian life was never meant to be lived alone!

The world tries to feed us all kinds of lies about how we can predict and determine the future, and how we can be in control of our own lives. But the truth is this: we’re not in control! Fortunately for us, we can trust the One Who does hold all the power in His hands, and Who cares enough about us to give us hope for eternity. When we believe the truth that God holds our future, we can trust Him and follow His leading without fear of what lies ahead!

While there are consequences for our disobedience, we have a God who loves us enough to give us warning signs ahead of time about what’ll happen if we fail to obey Him. God uses His Scripture, His people, and His Holy Spirit to warn us of what’s to come in eternity if we disobey. It’s our job to not only heed these warnings, but to also warn others and help them avoid the ultimate consequence of hell.

Most of us have probably wondered, “How am I supposed to live my life?” God anticipated the question long before we ever asked it, and He gave us the answer long before we were ever born — it’s called the Bible! Scripture not only teaches us how to live lives that are pleasing to God, but it also teaches us how to be prepared in the last days before Jesus returns.

The message of the Gospel is foolishness in the eyes of the world. Yet Scripture tells us that anyone who’s heard the Word of God and chooses not to believe it is a fool. God gives us the faith to believe in this crazy salvation story — we just have to ask Him!

Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re in a spiritual battle between good and evil. We face spiritual attacks every single day as the devil attempts to steal, kill, and destroy us and God’s plans for our lives. It’s our responsibility to arm ourselves with prayer and Scripture, prepare ourselves for the fight, and always live in order to bring glory to God in all things.

In the hours leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus suffered cruelty at the hand of the religious leaders — and He did it for our sake. Yet when we respond to God’s invitation of salvation, we experience grace and mercy at the hand of Jesus. The safest place we could ever be is in the palm of His hand — and once we’re brought into His family, no one can ever take us out!

When we truly believe that Jesus not only lived on earth and died on the cross for our sins, but that He also was raised from the dead, then our lives are never the same again. The fact that Jesus was raised to life from the grave gives the Gospel message the power to change every life it touches. We’ve been given full access to that power through the Spirit that lives inside of us — let’s live in that reality and spread the Good News to everyone around us!