New comer needs help.

[The_Seeker]

On the 20th February this month I became a Christian ( I hope). I prayed for the first time ever and asked Jesus to enter my life.
I am in need of some advice. I’ve never been to church and was wondering how I would go about choosing one. I was also wondering if it is important to be baptised. If anyone on here could help I would be most grateful.

 

[robl]

On the 20th February this month I became a Christian ( I hope). I prayed for the first time ever and asked Jesus to enter my life.
I am in need of some advice. I’ve never been to church and was wondering how I would go about choosing one. I was also wondering if it is important to be baptised. If anyone on here could help I would be most grateful.

When you say you hope you became a Christian, what exactly do you mean? When you prayed and asked Jesus into your life, you began a lifelong process. The first thing that you should is read the new testament and learn as much as you can about Jesus. When you became a Christian, you became a "little Christ". The process of becoming like Jesus takes repentance. You need to turn from the sin thats in your life. If you don't know what sins you are in need of repentance from, pray and God is faithful to point these things out to you. Be ready, though, because some of the things you like to do alot might be sinful. Don't worry about giving the "fun" sins up because God has far better things in store for you. Sin is only pleasurable for a little while, where God has eternal things in mind for you!

Try to find a bible beleiving and teaching church. I trust Calvary Chapel because they teach verse by verse out of the bible and don't add alot of extra stuff to the bible. It is also a church where you can come as you are (whatever you have on right now will be fine!) and there are probably some in your area (click on the link to see if theres one near you. Also, pray and ask God to lead you to the church that is right for you. He is faithful and listening to you.

Baptism is expressing outwardly what you already feel inside. When you get hooked up with a church, ask if they have baptism classes so you can learn about it's significance. It is important to be baptised because Jesus said to be baptised, however, it is not a salvation issue. The theif on the cross next to Jesus died without being baptised and Jesus told him that he would be with Him in paradise.

I hope this helps and post any other questions you may have and theres lots of us here that will try to help!

God bless you and welcome to the family!
Rob

 

[TomUK]

Every time i read or hear about someone coming to Christ, i'm just so thankful. You're now part of one huge family, and there is no doubt about it that welcoming Jesus into your life is the best thing you can ever do.
Finding a church that you like is a very personal decision to make. First and foremost, you must go to a church that preaches from the bible and only from the bible. Other than that there is a huge variety of churchs to go from, but it is important to find one where you can feel close to God, and it must be a place where you are able to grow as a Christian. I'm afraid it's going to be a matter of trial and error, but one of the great things about being a Christian is that you never have to make decisions on your own. Ask God for support. Let Him show you the way, and He will.

 

[Daily Miracle]

I haven't been to church yet either, and I was baptised only at birth. I want to be baptised again. I know this will come, but because of restrictions beyond my control, I had to pray to God for guidance in this matter.

I don't believe it was an accident that I started listening to gospel TV and radio. Out of all there is to absorb, there were two broadcasts that really made a connection with me. Chuck Swindoll and Bob Coy.

Seek and you will find.

I looked Bob Coy up online, and found he is connected with Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale. When I went to the website...WOW! Not only can you listen to archived topics, you can listen to live services with his congregation. I have been enjoying bible studies from work on Wed, Sat, and Sunday.

I know God knows my restrictions are beyond my control at the moment, and after praying about going to church, he answered by showing me a different option that is available to me for now. Listening to the Bible studies online has helped me tremendously. I just started reading the Bible from the beginning, and without these studies, I doubt I would be grasping everything so easily.

Even though I haven't been to church yet, my prayers are still being heard by God, and he is still answering me. I truly believe He will let me know when and which local church will best suit me.

I have no doubt I will someday attend a church and be baptised, there's no question in my mind. Until then, God has given me something I can do within my restrictions that is very fulfilling spiritually. Where there's a will, there's a way!

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

On the 20th February this month I became a Christian ( I hope). I prayed for the first time ever and asked Jesus to enter my life.
I am in need of some advice. I’ve never been to church and was wondering how I would go about choosing one. I was also wondering if it is important to be baptised. If anyone on here could help I would be most grateful.

Welcome to the family Seeker Feb 20 is my natural birthday so we celebrate together.

As another member suggest, I would highly recommend Calvary Chapel as well. Getting into fellowship with strong Christians is highly important and detrimental to your maturing in the Christian walk. As also expressed it's important to fellowship mostly with God. He is your best friend. You can get to know Him by reading the Bible and by praying and spending time with Him. Prayer is just talking with Him. You can do that any time of the day while doing any activity.

I have known the Lord since I was a child so while I don't claim to know it all I do know a lot. God has helped me through so many things. Feel free to PM me or if you can catch me on IRC or AIM sometime feel free also.

Be blessed.

Quaffer

 

[cyberwing]

On the 20th February this month I became a Christian ( I hope). I prayed for the first time ever and asked Jesus to enter my life.
I am in need of some advice. I’ve never been to church and was wondering how I would go about choosing one. I was also wondering if it is important to be baptised. If anyone on here could help I would be most grateful.

Welcome to the family Seeker!!! We are so glad you have joined us! As to the church, pray and ask God to lead you to the right place in His timing. It sounds as though you have been letting Him guide your heart already and this is a tremendous step many more mature Christians need to take! I agree with Quaffer. Concentrate on getting to know Jesus one on one. That is what HE wants. HE created you and longs to fellowship with you. Any thing we can help you with, feel free to pm us!
So glad to have you here at CF too!
~Cyberwing

 

[Sketcher]

Getting into fellowship with strong Christians is highly important and detrimental to your maturing in the Christian walk.

Detrimental? I think you mean it's good for his or her walk. To be detrimental means it's really bad for something.

Anyway, welcome, Seeker.

 

[Jack_Racz]

Choose a church that you feel comfortable with.
And being Baptised is important, but do it after you understand what it means to be baptised.

 

[The_Seeker]

Thank you all very much for the advise. very helpful

 

[robl]

You didn't have the UK flag up last time you posted. Thats alright though because I may not have mentioned calvary chapel. I didn't know they were international until after I saw your flag and checked the link. Theres several of them over there! You learn something new every day. God bless you and may He lead you to the perfect church for you, whatever it may be called.

 

[chilehed]

Yes, there are many different churches one could pick, each of them having teachings that differ more or less on particular points of doctrine. And, without implying that they are not, in fact, Christian (keeping in mind that there are, regrettably, some that seem to be Christian but are not), it is obvious that the teachings of some churches must necessarily contain more or less error than others. This, of course, is why one would at all be interested in figuring out the best way to pick a church – we want to be in a church with the least erroneous teaching.

What I did was to find out what Jesus said about His Church and to whom He gave the authority to teach in His name. I’ve found that Jesus said that He would always be with the Apostles (Matthew 28:20); that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth and be with them always ((John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13); that they speak with the authority of God (Matthew 10:20; Luke 10:1; Luke 10:16); they will remember everything Jesus taught them. (John 14:16-18, 26; Luke 21:33); they will never teach erroneous doctrine (John 17:17-19); they be one in the doctrine they teach (John 17:20-23); they have to power to forgive sin. (John 20:21-23); that God will give them whatever they ask for in Christ’s name, and the fruit they bear will remain. (John 15:16).

So I started looking for a church that has been in continuous existance since the time of the APostles and that has not changed its teaching on matters of faith and morals."

I was a Protestant for 42 years, and now I'm a Catholic. You shouldn't have much problem finding a Catholic Church in your area.

Welcome home.

 

[robl]

It's important to find a church that holds to ALL the teachings of Jesus.

I was a Protestant for 42 years.

I'm a Catholic today. You shouldn't have much problem finding a Catholic Church in your area.

Welcome home.

It is important to find a church that holds to all the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The important thing is to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. God is faithful and will not lead you astray. There are many parts to the Body of Christ and one thing that you will see is that each part tends to think that it is the best part. As paul pointed out in 1Corinthians 12:12-28, we cannot claim that we don't need the other parts of the body, or that we are more important. We cannot function alone and should concentrate on doing the will of the Father.

 

[Karl - Liberal Backslider]

In the UK, everyone is in a Parish of the Church of England. You might want to make your parish church the first port of call.

It may suit you; it may not.

 

[nicodemus]

The ancient 2,000 year-old Orthodox Church is also making many converts in England, you may want to check them out as well.

For more info on the Orthodox Church, check out

http://www.oca.org/

Here's a list of English speaking Parishes in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland:

http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/direct.htm

 

[Dark_Lite]

www.umc.org

Gogo United Methodism.

 

[The Midge]

Look out for an Alpha Course or something similar that will give you a basic introduction. You can get a 'proper' adult Baptism in the CofE theses days.

You could ask about churches in the regional forum. or read some of the Mystery Worshiper reviews at www.shipoffools.com.

 

[LifeInYou]

Baptizism is an act of faith. Yes! Be baptized! Congrats on surrendering your life, and welcome to the kingdom of God!

 

[Ceris]

Welcome to the family!