Every great relationship requires time in order to grow, and it’s the same for our friendship with Jesus. God wants us to spend time with him! Here are some ideas to help you connect with God on your own:

1. Choose a TIME when you are at your best. If you are a morning person, spend time with God in the morning. The idea is to be with God when we are most alert and ready to hear him speak.

2. Pick a PLACE where you won’t be distracted. Our world is FILLED with interruptions. Disconnect from the world…Facebook will still be there when you are done.

3. Set a GOAL that’s realistic. Building the habit of a regular quiet time is difficult, so start with what you can handle. You may start with five minutes a day, two times a week. Eventually, it would be great to spend time with God once a day!

Ok. So. Now What?

Pray.

Prayer can be defined as “simple communication with God.” You don’t need to know anything special to be able to talk to God. Anyone can! So share what’s on your heart. When we pray, we have more peace and less anxiety. We find more wisdom and make better decisions. God wants to hear what you have to say, and he wants to speak to you, too!

Read your Bible.

The Bible is God’s love letter to us. By reading it, we learn how God wants us to live and his purpose for our lives. Sometimes it’s good to read just a few verses, other times you’ll want to read multiple chapters. Do what’s best for you. We suggest you begin with the Gospel of Mark, so you can learn about Jesus. After that, check out Genesis, then Philippians, and John. After that, if you need some more suggestions, ask your small group leader or another leader.

Journal.

Express your thoughts, feelings, learnings, prayers, questions and anything else about your spiritual life. Writing helps us explore what we’re learning from God. If you don’t have a journal, we’ll gladly give you one.

A follower of Jesus (a Christian) is a person who has submitted their life to God (Father, Son and Spirit) through a personal relationship with Jesus the Son. This is made possible through the Son, Jesus Christ’s, perfect life, death, and resurrection. When a person obeys Him and lives under His grace as Lord and Savior, the Spirit lives inside of them forever and the sealing of the Spirit makes them a Christian, a FOLLOWER of JESUS. To begin this journey you all you must do is believe and obey. The concept is simple the practice is difficult.

How Do I Start?

During Jesus’ life and ministry, people would simply stop what they were doing and start following Him; this would be the beginning of their relationship with Jesus. Since Jesus is not here with us in physical form, we start our relationship with Him through prayer. If you haven’t prayed to start a relationship with Him and you’re interested in having a relationship with Him, it is easy. Just pray something like this: “Jesus I know that I’m imperfect and don’t know everything about you, but I want to start a relationship with you. I need your gift of salvation and I want to leave my sins and old life behind. I want to follow you and have your Spirit in my life.” That is how it all begins.

You may not be ready to give your life to Jesus, that’s your decision! You can still follow Jesus, learning more about Him and his design for your life.

Following Jesus Daily

In the Bible, Jesus is called “Lord of lords.” Another way to say that is Jesus is the boss of everything. When we become Christians we are telling Jesus we want Him to be the ultimate boss of our life. This means that we will follow His direction and guidance. In other words, if He tells us to do something, we will do our best to do it. This begins by learning what He has taught us in his Word, the Bible. For Christians, the Bible is the ultimate authority. As a result, a follower of Jesus should read the Bible often. Soak it up; it is your guide to life. In addition to reading the Bible, a Christian should try to follow Jesus’ example in everyday life. While He is our Lord, His life is also a perfect example of how to live. A third thing a follower of Jesus does is pray. These are ways we can become more like Jesus and we should try to do them every day.

Things You Need to Know

When a person becomes a Christian, they are a new person. Their life should be marked by change. A Christian should do things differently than the rest of the world. Some things that Christians are called to do include forgive others, love their enemies, put others first, and serve others. But we also know that becoming a Christian doesn’t make a person perfect— so don’t expect to get it all right at first! The goal is to do the right thing more and more often.

The follower of Jesus ought to live a fully surrendered life. The way to surrender everything is to surrender the next thing. What can you give to God today?

You also need to know that being a Christian isn’t guaranteed to be easy. It will help you understand why things happen the way they do but it doesn’t make your life perfect. Also some people will not like that you follow Jesus and might criticize you for this decision. But take comfort…Jesus also experienced criticism and persecution.

Going Deeper Read Matthew 16:24-28 and reflect on Jesus’ standard of following Him as compared to what most people think it means. Also, reflect on where Jesus might be asking you to make a change in your life.

Baptism is the act of a BELIEVING Christian who wants to publicly confess their personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It is the symbolic WASHING AWAY of one’s old, sinful past and the RISING again to LIFE, God’s way. The act of baptism can be defined as an outward expression of an inward decision.

What does baptism mean?

Baptism illustrates Jesus’ BURIAL and RESURRECTION.

“Christ died for our sins … He was buried … and He rose again.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Baptism illustrates NEW LIFE as a Christian.

“By our baptism then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… so also we may live a NEW LIFE.” Romans 6:4

Baptism does not make you a Christian. It is a demonstration that you already believe. It is important to understand that baptism does not “save” you. You are “saved” only by your faith in Jesus.

Why do we get baptized?

To follow the example set by CHRIST (Mark 1:9) & because Christ COMMANDED it. (Matthew 28:19-20)

When is a good time to get baptized?

As soon as you BELIEVE! THERE IS NO REASON TO DELAY! As soon as you have decided to trust Christ with your life, you can and should be baptized. If you’re waiting until you’re perfect, you’ll never be ready.

“Those who believe … were baptized … that day!” Acts 8:35-38

We would love to have you as part of our next baptism!

Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is an act of worship that has been practiced by Christians for nearly 2,000 years. We take Communion to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and to symbolize the new covenant. The elements of bread and wine or juice are symbols of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. Communion is not a means of salvation. Rather, it is a testament of a believer’s faith in the atoning work of the cross.

Where Did Communion Come From?

Jesus. On the last night of his life, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples and the following happened:

“As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take this and eat it, for this is my body.’ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, ‘Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.’” (Matthew 26:26-28)

Who Is Communion For?

Communion is a Christian’s act of worship and for anyone who has accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.

How Can I Get Ready for Communion?

Paul writes, “So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

Examine means to inspect, test, or investigate. Communion isn’t just a “thing to do,” it’s an opportunity to seriously reflect on the condition of our heart. This normally leads to confession of our sins and thankfulness of God’s gifts.

Going Deeper

Read and reflect on Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

God The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Who is God?

There is one true God. He is eternal, and he has always existed, without beginning or end. He is the creator, redeemer, preserver, and ruler of the universe. God is holy— this means separate in every way from all creation. God is all-powerful and all-knowing, and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future. God is transcendent over his world; he doesn’t need it and is beyond our understanding. God is immanent in his world, meaning he exists everywhere within the world.

Lot’s of heavy stuff! You may need to read that last paragraph a few times and think about each sentence one by one.

What is the Trinity?

The Bible teaches that God relates to us as a Trinity, three persons in one being:

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

There is only one God, not three. Each of the members of the Trinity are separate from one another, but still a single being.

This part of God’s nature is a mystery. We can’t fully understand how it all fits together. If we could understand God completely, he wouldn’t be God! (check out Mark 1:10-11)

The Father

God relates to us as a perfect Father. He is compassionate and loving toward humanity, and this is why he sent his Son into the world to die for our sins. He guides us and provides for our every need. Through faith in his Son, we enter his kingdom and his family.

The Son

Jesus has always existed as the Son of God. 2,000 years ago he became a man. He was 100% human and 100% God. He perfectly revealed the character of God the Father. He was tempted to sin, but he never sinned. As a human savior, he is able to sympathize with our temptations (check out Hebrews 4:15). As a divine savior, his death on the cross was enough to pay for the sins of the world.

The Holy Spirit

Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit created the universe. He inspired people to write the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father to all believers, received by faith in Jesus. He is at work in the world, helping unbelievers understand their sin (separation from God) so that they might trust Jesus through faith. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows spiritual gifts to believers. His presence in Christians is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry.

Lots of Big Words…

Why does any of this matter?

At some point, everyone stops and thinks about the questions that matter most: Who am I? Where did everything come from? What’s my purpose? What will it take for me to be happy?

Understanding God isn’t just an intellectual issue— it’s personal.  We all have a need to connect with God because he’s the one who made us and loves us. He loves us just as we are, and he loves us too much to leave us there.

We are here to help you connect with God. Talk to a leader if there’s anything we can do to help you grow in your faith.

Going Deeper…Read Ephesians 1:3-14 and reflect on how Paul’s uses all three persons of the Trinity.