NEW TO FAITH
Whether you’re new to faith, finding your way back to God or want to strengthen your foundations in your relationship with God, we’d love to help. Being a Christian means having a relationship with Jesus. Like any relationship, it grows healthier when we invest in it.
Here are some key things you can do right now to start to build your relationship with Jesus:
TELL SOMEONE
If you are local to the Borders we’d love to meet you to chat and pray. We can also help guide you on your discipleship journey. Wherever you are, we’d still love to hear from you so that we can pray for you.
READ THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s love letter to us which tells us more about Him and His love for us.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is living and active. That’s because each word is God breathed and is our spiritual ‘bread’ - it feeds us and helps us grow in faith. This means it’s not a dull, boring, outdated book, but something which speaks to us and changes us and brings us life as we read it. It also helps us know how to live in a way that pleases God and His best for us. We recommend you get a bible or see us on a Sunday and we can give you one.
We would also recommend that you download the YouVersion Bible App which gives you access to the whole Bible, including different translations and reading plans. We mostly use the NIV UK translation in church. The app also allows you to listen to the Bible.
For a helpful overview of the whole bible, watch our recent ‘Through The Bible’ series here:
PRAYER
Prayer is simply talking to and listening to God. We can come to God in the full assurance of faith in the name of Jesus. You can tell God anything. Just as we would develop a relationship with anyone through talking and listening, we do this with God too. Prayer can be just between you and God, or you can pray with other people. Jesus taught his disciples to pray using this prayer in
You may find it helpful to use this as a model for your prayers.
“This, then, is how you should pray”:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The dynamic of Christian living is the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God.
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” - Galatians 5:25.
The Holy Spirit desires to love, guide, comfort, gift and empower us to live out our new spiritual life. We are encouraged to be filled with the spirit [Ephesians 5: 18] In Luke 11: 13 Jesus gives us an incredible promise.
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If we ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit, be assured, He will!
WORSHIP
Jesus is now Lord of our life so we want to worship God with every aspect of our life. A significant way we can express our worship is through song. We were made to praise God. When we sing songs to God, we are worshipping Him as the King of Kings and recognising the authority He has over our lives. We can tell him how much we love Him and thank Him for all He has done for us
We love because He first loved us - 1 John 4:19
By doing this, God often uses our times of worship to bless us, speak to us and bring us peace. As we draw near to Him in worship, He draws near to us.
Come near to God and He will come near to you - James 4:8
BE PART OF GOD’S FAMILY
For our growth, support and encouragement it's vital we become part of a fellowship of Bible believing Christians.
If you are interested in coming to Hope Church let us know. We can help you on your journey.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Hebrews 10:24,25
BAPTISM
Baptism is an important and significant part of your journey as a new Christian it's a powerful outward expression of what Jesus does on the inside.
If you would like to know more about baptism or would like to be baptised then do get in touch.
NEXT STEPS
To help build on the steps above you can download Growing in Christ below.
We run courses like Alpha and POD to help you grow as a disciple. Get in touch to express your interest.