Starting from scratch
What is Christianity?
Who Jesus is
Jesus is the Christ — the King God himself had promised to send. His miracles and healings were a preview of what his perfect kingdom will be like: a world put right.
What went wrong
We reject God's kingdom and insist on running our own. Jesus called that sin. It cuts us off from everything good in God, and the end of that road is what Jesus called hell — an existence without anything good, forever.
What Jesus did
The cross was not a tragedy that happened to Jesus. He chose to experience hell so that we don't have to, taking on himself the punishment that sin deserves.
That he rose
Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. Dozens ate with him; hundreds saw him. Death could not hold the King.
What he asks now
Jesus invites you to repent and believe the good news. Repent means turn around — to live with Jesus in charge instead of ourselves. Believe means trusting that he has secured your place in his kingdom. It brings deep security, satisfaction and joy — and, he was honest about this, opposition too — until the day he returns.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
What if I have questions?
Good — you should. Alpha exists for exactly that: a few weeks of relaxed sessions where the questions are the point, and nobody expects you to already believe any of it. It is free, and you can come to the first one and decide afterwards.
Or come to a service and just listen. Or email us and ask the thing you would feel silly asking out loud. All three are completely normal ways to start.