Foundations of Faith: What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?نموونە

What's Your Next Step?

As you walk through this beautiful journey, it’s normal to have loads of questions. Even though you have a saving faith in Jesus, you may still have more questions about who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are and why it’s so important to connect to a church.

Today, you’ll read about the importance of being connected to other believers, usually through a local church.

Shortly after God raised Jesus from the dead, those following Jesus were given the gift of the Holy Spirit (we’ll learn more about this soon but check out Acts 2 to learn more now!), and they started to preach about Jesus. As Jesus transformed more and more people, the church was formed.

Today, most churches try to model the early church of Acts 2:42:

“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.”

So, it’s important to find a church that teaches from the Bible and uses Scripture as the focus of its teachings.

As a Christian, it is essential to your spiritual growth to fellowship with other believers. The writer of the Book of Hebrews says:

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

-Hebrews 10:25 NLT

In church, you’ll find a group of sinners just like you, who have been saved by grace through Jesus Christ, just like you! The church is not a perfect place because the people are imperfect; however, when you connect to a group of believers, you’ll find a like-minded community where you can grow and learn more about God. You’ll find other believers looking to do just what Acts 2:42 believers did, learning about God together and sharing one another’s burdens and joys. Just like a family would!

Getting connected to a local church allows you to experience the type of community God talks about in His Word. Throughout Scripture, God calls His children to love others above ourselves (Romans 12:10) and to carry their burdens (Galatians 6:2). When you belong to a local church, you can experience being with other believers and living out loving others and carrying their burdens, and the best part is that others will do that for you, too.