i started out just playing my mates, and my mate showed me the basic chords and i have developed my skills from there. i wouldnt say im a pro, but i do sometimes play at church in the worship team, so i must be ok.
There are alot of christian music websites, if you goto google and search for christian tablature then you should get alot of websites.
My fingers still hurt now when i play a mamoth sesh, but the best thing to do is just to stick with it and go through the pain, that way your fingers will get stronger and the skin on the ends of ure fingers will get tougher.
Well if you are serious about learnign the guitar, i would try and pick it up at least once a day, even if you are transitioning between chords, buy a tuner, they arent expensive, you dont need a flashy one, just a normal guitar tuner will be good. Invest in some picks, get some of all thickness and then you get to know the thickness that you prefer. I play usually with a medium pick, but some people prefer to play with a thick one.
Buy some new strings as there is nothing like practicing the guitar and then breaking a string when you pretend to be carlos santana and over bend that top e string. lol

Find a book which shows you the basic chord structures or even search online for chord databases. I found one recently that listed all the chords that you could make, now you might not want one like this, you might just want all the major and minor chords to start with.
The best thing i can say to you is practice.
Good luck and God Bless.
If you want any further help just PM me.
Stu