On the 27th of December 1998, I had some very good news shared with me that changed my life forever, and I would like to share this same good news with you because it will be the most important decision you will ever make too. My name is Ruth. I am 34 years old.

On the 24th Of December 1998, I went out as normal “clubbing” in Essex. It was Christmas the next day, the kids were away, and all I wanted to do was ‘party the night away’, which I certainly did. I have a good friend and this would be our normal weekend routine. The music, wine and company certainly set the mood for me. I think I got back home at about 3am, very “high in spirits”.

However I can remember clearly waking up the following day and thinking, what is the meaning of all of this. The emptiness that I felt was so overwhelming, the loneliness intense; I was all-alone and felt it in every fibre of my being. I remember opening up a bottle of wine that morning (Christmas day), and thinking “there has to be more to life than this”.

One of my brothers happened to phone me on Christmas day. He is a Christian. I knew that he had changed a lot, but I certainly was not interested in ‘religion’. I know you have read this far and some of you may be thinking “Oh no, not religious stuff”. Please read on because this isn’t religion. I hated religion because to me I always saw it as “rules and regulations”- things you can and cannot do. I also knew that I would break every rule because I was a very big “sinner” and enjoyed every minute of it. Any way, back to the story. My brother invited me to stay with him and his wife in Kent for the weekend, which I did only because I was bored, and desperately lonely. On the Sunday my brother invited me to a church meeting. I went and I can remember crying all the way through because I knew that this was real.

After the meeting, the pastor of the church introduced himself to me. His name is Tim. At this point I broke down and cried and said to him that I wanted what my brother had because the change in him was so great and I knew that it was not “Religion”. The singing was joyful, the people were so at peace and they were normal people who had something or someone I did not have.

So on that day Tim prayed a prayer with me. It was a very simple prayer but it changed my life forever. It was at this stage that I really knew I was a Sinner. It was explained to me that Jesus died on the cross for my sin, that when he died he suffered for my sin, He rose again from the dead and that if I confess my sin and ask Him to forgive my sin He will. It was then that I invited the Lord Jesus to come into and to help me, and asked Him to be Lord of my life, which he did. You see Jesus is alive, He is real and that is why this is not about Religion but a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

It did not feel like any particularly tremendous moment but I prayed a simple prayer inviting Jesus into my heart. I am a sinner that is saved by the Grace of God. I did nothing to deserve this wonderful Salvation, but when Jesus came in I knew that my sins were forgiven, and that emptiness that I had all my life was now gone and I was no longer alone. On that Sunday I went back to Essex to fetch my two children. I had such joy in my heart. One of the first things that changed was my relationship with my youngest daughter. We had always had the most stressful, difficult relationship and certainly I did not at all feel very maternal towards her, but when I saw her for the first time after my conversion, I sat with her and cried with her because the love I felt for her was there for the first time. I knew then that I had met with the Living God.

God, over the last three-and-a-half years, has helped me with so much baggage from the past and He is still changing me everyday. God has delivered me from many things, in fact so many things, that it would probably take a book to write down all that God has done. I will mention but a few things and give God all the glory, for He alone can set man free. God delivered me from depression, something I had suffered from for many years, from as young as I can remember. He also healed my youngest daughter from eczema, permanent chest infections and dealt with other such infirmities. There is so much that only God could do for me. The biggest miracle and that is that I have Eternal life and will meet my Saviour, Jesus when I get to Heaven. I have hope, a purpose for living and above all, I have Peace in my heart.

God is no respecter of persons and does not have any favourites. It does not matter how bad you may think you are. We are all “bad” without Jesus, but He died for all of us.

If you do have a Bible I would implore you to check out for yourself what I am saying and see for yourself whether this is all true or no. So please go to your Bible if you have one. If you don’t, you may well like to reflect upon these words from the Bible:

• John Chapter 3, Verses 16 and 17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Eternal life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”.
• Romans Chapter 6 Verses 23, “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
• 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 Verse 18, “ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”.
• John Chapter 8 Verses 36 says, “if the Son sets you free you are free indeed”.
• John Chapter 1 Verse 12 says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God”.

Please won’t you ask Jesus to come into your heart today for He is the Source of real joy? If you don’t have a Bible and would like one, we would love to give you one free of charge so you can read all I have said, for yourself.

We meet every Sunday morning at Leesons Centre, Chipperfield Road at 10am.

We meet because we love Jesus and love each other. If you are not sure where to go or would simply like to find out more, you can contact Pastor Tim at the office no. on 01689-875704. We look forward to meeting you. “May the God of peace, himself comfort you”
With love and best wishes, Ruth.