Hi, I'm Pastor Bruce Mejia, First Works Baptist Church here in Southern California.
Earlier this year, our church received some persecution due to my preaching against the
Sodomites.
This ultimately led to death threats towards myself, my family, and even our church members.
A petition was put forth by the LGBTQ whereby approximately 15,000 signatures were collected
submitted to the mayor of Imani in hopes that I would be banned from the city.
Then on January 17th, a protest was held outside of our church building whereby protesters
harassed our church members as they were coming into the building in hopes that they would
intimidate them from supporting their pastor and standing for the truth.
Not only that, but even a heavy metal band was placed outside of our church building
whereby a transgender yelled obscene and vulgar sexually explicit language into a live mic
as our children walked outside of the church building.
This ultimately came to a head on January 23rd on Saturday at 1 o'clock AM where two
individuals were seen on security camera walking up to our church building, writing obscene
language on the walls, telling us to get out, and ultimately placing a bomb on the building
and blowing up.
Now of course, you can't just go around blowing up buildings in the United States and more
specifically places of worship, and it's for that reason that the FBI got involved in the
investigation and in attempts to capture the terrorists that did this crime.
But now the FBI is offering up to $25,000 as a reward for anybody who has any information
regarding the people who did this to our place of worship.
Now at the end of the day, whether these people get captured or not is really not the point
because of the fact that the Bible tells us in Psalm chapter 31, verse number 23,
You see, whether these people get captured by an earthly authority or not, the Bible
tells us that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, beholding
the good and the evil.
And he specifically tells us here in Psalm 31 that he's going to reward the individuals
who did this to us.
And I want to make this video to encourage believers out there and Christians to continue
to stand for the truth.
Don't stand down and don't be ashamed of God's word.
You know, the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 5,
You see, we should never stand down on the truth, but rather we should stand up for it.
And I want to encourage Christians all around the world to continue to preach God's word
and not stand down and continue to be bold and preaching God's word.
Or maybe you're watching this and you're not a Christian, but you're upset over the events
that transpired in our church.
You're upset over the terrorist attacks that were made on our place of worship.
And to you, I want to say that actions always have consequences.
And more specifically, and biblically, certain actions have eternal consequences.
The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23,
You see, according to the Bible, we're all sinners.
And in fact, the Bible says in Romans chapter 3 and verse number 10,
According to the Bible, we've all broken God's commandments and we're all sinners.
And it's for that reason that according to the Bible, we deserve hell when we die.
That's what it means when it says that the wages of sin is death.
The price that we pay because of our sin is an eternal punishment in a place called hell.
Revelation 21a tells us,
You see, the reality is that actions have consequences.
And more specifically, they can have eternal consequences in a place called hell.
But the good news is that God loves us and doesn't want us to suffer the consequences of our actions.
And it's for that reason that he sent the son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins
and to rise again the third day in order to save us from that place called hell.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 5 and verse number 8,
The Bible tells us that when Jesus Christ hung on the cross,
that he himself bore our own sins on his own body on the tree.
Every single sin that you've ever committed in the past, he paid for.
Every single sin that you will do in the future, he paid for.
And he did it because he loves you and he wants to save you.
The Bible says that when he died, he was buried.
And on the third day, he rose again from the grave.
He conquered death in order to save us from the place called hell.
Now, many religions will teach you that there's certain things that you have to do
in order to be saved from hell to go to heaven.
You have to keep God's commandments, you have to be a good person,
you have to repent of all your sins, you have to adhere to these tenets.
But the reality is, there's only one thing you have to do
and it's actually quite simple and it requires no work on your part.
The Bible tells us in John chapter 3 verse 16,
one of the most famous verses in the Bible,
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
You see, the Bible tells us that all we have to do in order to be saved
is believe on Jesus Christ.
That means trust in Jesus for your salvation.
And the Bible is clear that salvation can only be obtained exclusively
through Jesus Christ, plus nothing, minus nothing.
You can't add anything to that.
We can't say that we believe on Jesus Christ
but we also got to be good people in order to go to heaven,
believe on Jesus Christ, but also repent of our sins to go to heaven.
You see, salvation is a gift that is given and can never be lost.
And it's for that reason that the Bible also teaches
that once you're saved, you're always saved.
Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 through 9 says this,
The Bible says that we're saved by believing on Jesus Christ
and it's not of ourselves.
There's nothing that we have to do on our part,
there's no effort that we have to put in,
no work that we have to do in order to get saved or stay saved.
It's not of ourselves.
And in fact it goes on to say that it is the gift of God.
It's a gift that God gives to you that He paid for with the life of His Son
and all it requires for you to do is receive it,
believe on Jesus Christ, and you can be saved.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 10 verse number 9
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
for what the heart man believeth unto righteousness
but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
And verse 13 says this,
I want to encourage you that if you're not a Christian,
you're not saved and you're watching this video
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.
Thank you so much for watching.
Please continue to pray for me,
pray for First Works Baptist Church
that we can continue to do the work of God
that He has called us to do.
God bless and have a great one.