“I am a sinner but thank you that Jesus paid the price for me…”

Recently our Men’s Guest Advocate was able to have an eternity-altering conversation with Brian, a guest. They talked about his positive alcohol test and how Brian and his daughter had gotten into a heated argument which led him to relapse into drinking. They talked about the dangers of self-destruction and how relying on our own strength leads us to fall again and again. There was a moment when Brian said, “It was only one time.” Brian and our Guest Advocate were able to have a good conversation about that train of thought and how it can often lead to an “excused” relapse. 

Read the story below from our Guest Advocate:

I was able to share the Gospel with him, and when I asked him what he would say if God asked him why he deserved to go to Heaven, he said that it is not simple, and he hoped that God would see that he has been working hard to better his life. I shared with him Ephesians 2: 8 which says, “God saves you by his grace when you believe. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” I told him that when we stand before God and tell Him why we deserve to go to Heaven, all we should say is, “God, I don’t deserve to go to Heaven. I am a sinner but thank you that Jesus paid the price for me.” Brian told me he had never heard The Gospel explained that way. We got to the point where he was able to articulate the Gospel back to me and verbalize that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. At the end of the conversation, we prayed, and he accepted Jesus into his heart as Lord and Savior. I gave him a Bible to keep, and he brought up wanting to meet with JD weekly to learn more. We will get him connected with JD, and I am thrilled to walk through this more with him. He is already talking about learning more so he can share the Gospel with his daughter. He said, “I’ve never heard it said that I am unworthy.” And I told him that now, because of Jesus and Jesus alone, he IS worthy! Praise God! Welcome to life, Brian!