Our Life With Christ

Accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior is easy…
A – Admit that you have done things that have displeased God and that you’re in need of Him.
B – Believe that Jesus died and rose again for your mistakes.
C – Confess that Jesus is Lord of your life

If you believe the ABC points above, then pray the simple prayer below…

“Dear God, I admit I am a sinner in need of you. Please forgive me of my sins and give me abundant life here on earth and eternal life with you in heaven. I believe Jesus died and rose again for my sins. I confess Jesus as Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

If you prayed the above prayer, first of all, congratulations, you are now a Christian!!!!!!  Next, please email me at nikkilowery03@hotmail.com, I would love to know about it and chat with you!

Growth in Christ

Your relationship with God is a series of steps.  Accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior is the first and foremost!  Read and start doing the next six points to help you grow in your relationship with God.  Put these things into a daily practice.  Be faithful to the Lord in the next couple of months and let these become a part of your daily life and get ready to experience God in amazing ways!

 Choices

Now that you are a Christian, you must look at your life from a different perspective.  The Bible says that when you accept Christ in your heart you are a new creation in Him, that your old life is gone and a new one is here.  No matter what choices you have made in your life, God loves you and Christ went to the cross to forgive you.  Being a new creation in Him you have a chance to rise above all of the ugliness of this world!

Getting rid of the worldly junk in your life will take a series of choices on your part.  Your salvation honors God, your life should too!  Take a look at some of the things that you allow in your life and ask yourself this simple question, “Does this make God happy?”  You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to know what is right and what is wrong.  Then, simply, choice by choice make that transition to a Godly life.  Take a look at your language, the way that you dress, what kind of music you listen to, what you look at or how you represent yourself while online, and how you treat your parents.  Whatever it is, it is between you and God.  Ask for His strength to help you make those Godly choices and to stay strong!  You can do it, don’t give up!

Bible

Reading your Bible is another piece to the growth puzzle.  Everything written in the Bible is the truth and inspired by God!

By making the Bible a part of your everyday life you will begin to understand more and more who God is and how He works.  You will also be encouraged and taught the right things to do.  Basically,  the Bible is a guidebook for an awesome God centered life!

Getting started is easy,  just open it up!  Turn to the book of John and read about Jesus’ life.  You’ll read about all of His miracles and teachings.  Then, you can read about His miraculous death and resurrection.  Then keep on going through The New Testament and you will read letters and true stories of other Christians thousands of years ago.  It is amazing that we go through a lot of the same things today!  You can also click on this link http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/comprehensive.php that will take you to a plan that will help you read your Bible in one year.  The Bible is totally applicable to your life and will help you, guide you, and lead to growth in your relationship with God.

If you are having problems understanding what you are reading and how it applies to your life, stop and pray that God would help you to understand and then read it again.  If you are still having a hard time, don’t get mad, just get out a piece of paper.  Read the text again and write down some questions that you have.  Read it again, and then again.  Then answer the following questions:

What is happening in this story?

What is God doing here?

How did the people react?

Was this the right reaction?

How can I apply this to my life?

If you follow these simple questions and really think you’ll be able to understand what’s going on. If you still don’t get it,  I would love to talk to you about it!  Please feel free to email me at nikkilowery03@hotmail.com, call me at (209)466-4368 ext 271 or talk to me during SoulFire.

 Prayer

Prayer is a very important key toward growing closer to God.  Praying is basically talking to Him.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to follow a formula or say certain words in order for your prayer to be “official.”  God knows and cares about what is on your heart.

Communication with God is huge!  There are many different reasons why you may want to go to Him in prayer.  You may want to thank Him for who He is in your life and for all  the good things that He has given you!  You may want to ask Him for guidance in solving life’s problems.  You can share your everyday hurts, joys or frustrations.  Or, you may just want to talk with Him knowing that He is listening to you with love and compassion.

No matter what your prayer is to God, He will always hear it and answer it!  That answer may not be the outcome that you want, but God knows what you need, not just what you want, so trust Him!

Take some specific time aside to pray to God.  The morning before you go off to school is a great time!  Ask Him to help you make the right choices and to stay strong in Him.  Starting your day with God is so cool!  Make it a priority in your life to talk to God on a regular basis.

 Baptism

After you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, the Bible encourages going in front of other Christians and following Jesus’ example by being baptized.

The process of baptism is very simple. You begin by standing in some water. A Pastor then asks you if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and then lowers you totally under the water and then brings you back up out of the water very quickly.

Baptism represents Jesus’ death and resurrection.  It is that death on the cross and the blood that He shed that has paid the price for our sins.  Remember that Christ as your Savior makes you a Christian, baptism just shows that to others.

In order to be baptized at First Baptist Church, you need to take a short baptism class.  SoulFire’s class is only 35 minutes long and we do it at least eight times a year.  Be sure to check out our calendar for the next one.  You can sign up for the next baptism on the Sign Up Board during SoulFire or you can email me at nikkilowery03@hotmail.com
or call me at (209)466-4368, ext 271.