Our goal at Venture is for every person to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is real and growing. That journey begins with an understanding of who God is and what He did for us.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. EPHESIANS 2:1-10 NIV
THE GOOD NEWS
The world began when a loving, holy God spoke it into creation. Then, He created man and woman – not because He needed us, but because He wanted us. God loved us so much that He gave us a perfect world to enjoy. He also loved us so much that He gave us a free will. He wanted us to choose to reciprocate His love through obedience. However, mankind was not satisfied – we wanted more. So, we sinned – we disobeyed the one and only command He gave us, and that disobedience made us impure. Because of the darkness in our hearts, our relationship with a perfect God was severed, and the penalty was death and eternal separation from God.
The only hope for a sin-filled human race to be restored to a perfect God was to pay a price – to buy back our purity. Mankind worked hard and tried to keep all the religious rules required for living a perfect life, making sacrifices along the way to pay for continued sin, but it was not enough. God saw a better way. Because of His love for us, He created a way for restoration that would be absolute and that would free us from the weight of unsuccessfully trying to live a perfect life in our own power. His plan was to give us the gift of a holy, righteous, and perfect sacrifice that would once and for all pay for our sins – making our hearts once again clean. This gift was His son, Jesus.
Jesus did what we could not. He lived a perfect and sinless human life. He was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. Through His death, there was hope for mankind. Jesus willingly sacrificed his life, spilling his blood through a brutal and gruesome death on a cross to pay for our sins and buy back our redemption to God. Jesus was buried, and three days later, He was resurrected from the grave, overcoming the power of death and resolving the penalty of our sin. He is sitting at the right hand of God, waiting to return and gather His people, His Church.
By believing what Jesus did for us and choosing to accept His sacrifice as the payment of our sins (not depending on our own efforts, works, or goodness), we receive the gift of a restored relationship with God and the promise of eternal life spent with Him.
SIN
Sin is an act of disobedience against God that separates us from Him. All have sinned, and as a result, have a broken relationship with God. Without payment, the punishment for sin is eternal separation from God.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. ROMANS 3:23 NIV
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ROMANS 6:23 NIV
HOPE
The Bible is a story of God’s love for mankind. It is our sin that separates us from God, and it is our sin that deserves to be punished. And while God knew that the penalty for our sin was too great for us to pay, His love for us was greater. So, He provided the only solution – a flawless sacrifice to pardon our sin, redeem us from darkness and reconcile us to God. His name is Jesus.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. HEBREWS 9:22 NIV
JESUS
God’s only son, Jesus, was born as a baby and lived a perfect human life – blameless, holy, and pure. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to pay the price for death and sin. He willingly died a cruel death on a cross, spilling his blood as an atonement for our sins, and three days later, He rose from the grave! His perfect sacrifice was the ultimate gift to man and is the only way for us to have the promise of eternal life with God.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. JOHN 3:16 NIV
SALVATION
Although we chose to live outside the boundaries God created (sin), God lovingly pursues us. His desire is to reclaim us from our brokenness and repurpose us for His glory. For those who choose to know, love, and follow Jesus Christ, they receive the free gift of salvation. Salvation is not sin management; it is solely based on the sacrifice of Jesus. Once we confess our sins and receive the free gift of Jesus that absolves us from the penalty of our sins, we are given a new spiritual life. We begin a life-long journey of faith – a process of growth, pruning, and transformation to become more like Jesus. This transformation is evidenced by the fruit of God’s Spirit dwelling inside of us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ROMANS 10:9-10 NIV
Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. ROMANS 10:13 NIV
At any time, you can call on the name of Jesus and be saved. No one can do it for you, but no one can keep you from it either.
BAPTISM
After beginning a personal relationship with Jesus, we follow in His example by being baptized.
One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. MARK 1:9 NIV
MARRIAGE & SEXUALITY
Those who follow Jesus submit their lives to the authority of God by obeying His commands designed for humankind's good and God's glory. These commands include honoring God with our bodies. The Bible instructs that sex was created by God for the purpose of marriage. The Bible defines marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant relationship for a lifetime. We believe the pursuit of sexual fidelity is an act of faithfulness to Jesus, and sexual activity outside of the Biblical covenant of marriage is an act of disobedience to God. Since the fall of humankind, all struggle with temptation and sin. Regardless of personal sin struggles, we believe the ground is level at the foot of the cross for all repentant hearts. There is no problem or struggle greater than the power of Jesus Christ to redeem and restore. Our desire is to be a church where people who want to know, love, and follow Jesus Christ find that grace collides with God's infallible and absolute truth.
To truly discover the heart of Venture Church, we invite you to wrestle life in the context of faith by joining us in a House Church, a biblical community where neighbors of all ages, stages of life, and seasons of faith come together to share a meal, pray, and understand scripture.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:18-20 NIV
