My Next Steps, Pastor Jack Ward [readnow .txt] 📗

intimately, so to spending time with him in prayer. Prayer is your way of communicating with God.
Here's a couple tips for developing a strong prayer life:
 Set aside time every day for prayer. Don't be tempted to push your conversations with God into the leftover pieces of your busy day.
 Make prayer a priority. Combining your prayer time and your Bible reading time into a morning devotional is a great idea.
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. - Mark 1:35
 Don't role-play for God. Just be yourself and talk to him. Just like you talk on your phone. You don't have to use fancy words and you don't have to try to impress Him. Just come to God as simply and honestly as you can. Speak from your heart. He is your father.
I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly. - Jeremiah 24:7
Now that you know you need to spend time in honest, open conversation with God every day, you may be wondering what that looks like. Consider this Scripture:
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. - Philippians 4:6
So, how should you pray?
You can pray in a number of ways, but over the years, there are some ways that I have found to be helpful in praying.

 Spend some time praising and thanking God for the good things in your life.
 Confess any sin that you may be struggling with.
 Tell Him what is worrying you and what you need help with.
 Pray that God will guide and direct your life in the way it is supposed to go.
Remember, prayer is a conversation, not a monologue. As you develop your prayer life, you will get more comfortable both speaking to and hearing from God. So, go ahead and talk to God. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. He is your guide on this journey. Make sure the lines of communication are open.

NEXT STEP #3

CONNECT TO A GROWING CHURCH AND A SMALL GROUP
As a new follower of Jesus, it is critically important that you get plugged in with a thriving, healthy church. The best place to learn about God and grow in your faith is around other people who want to do the same.


At Lake Hills, our mission statement is “Love God & Love People” and our desire is to give you the best opportunity to become a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ. That happens through both large weekend worship experiences and in smaller, more intimate group settings. Making the commitment to get involved in a church allows you many great opportunities to grow in your faith.

You get the opportunity to:
 Worship through song
 Learn from your pastor
 Meet new friends
 Use your talents to serve other people

Actually getting involved in church is not optional. God commands us to gather together as a spiritual family. He wants us to understand the importance of meeting together regularly with other people who are passionate about following after Him. If we don't, we will naturally begin to get discouraged and pulled down by the everyday concerns of life. We have to learn to set apart time to come together with our other believers for worship and teaching.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another...-Hebrews 10:24-25
But not only that, God wants us to do life with others who are on a journey similar to our own. We were built for relationships with one another, and those relationships are best developed in small group environments. One of the best Next Steps you can take as a new Christian is to join a small group.

Small groups are groups of 12 to 15 people who gather together to learn about God, develop friendships with each other, and have a great time. When you join a small group he usually lasts 12 to 16 weeks. You can give it a break and the chance to join a new one. At Lake Hills, there are always different types of small groups available to meet your schedule, which gives you the freedom to study something you're interested in learning more about.

There is no such thing as a healthy, growing, lone-ranger Christian. As you plug into the church and join a small group, you will learn more about God, develop relationships with other believers, and have the chance to serve other people through volunteering from time to time. All of these things, combined with your faithful prayer and Bible study, will work together to help you become a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ.
I was glad when they said to me, ‘let us go to the house of the Lord’- Psalm 122:1

STEP #4 - BE BAPTIZED

Baptism confuses a lot of people. Initially, it's not easy to understand the significance of being totally immersed. Much of the confusion centers on questions like, “I was sprinkled as a child, so I don't have to be baptized, right?” or “If I don't get baptized right away does that mean I'm not saved?”
When you make the decision to commit your life to Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that you have to be baptized by immersion, following Jesus example. Baptism is an act of obedience and a public declaration of faith.
When Jesus was ready to begin his earthly ministry, he showed his devotion to the father by being baptized: Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you, ‘he said, ‘so why are you coming here to me?”But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.”So John agreed to baptize him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.”-Matthew 3:13-17


Later, the apostles taught that all who accept the message of Jesus Christ and invite him into their lives should follow His example of baptism:
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...” Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day-about 3000 in all. Acts 2:38, 41
Baptism is symbolic of two essential truths of your faith:
1. What Jesus did for you: “He died for your sins, was buried and came back to life” - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
2. What you: “You died to your old life, are buried in baptism and raised to live a new life in Jesus Christ”- Romans 6:3-4

Baptism is an outward symbol of the work that God is doing in you. You have been raised to walk in newness of life! That's definitely something to celebrate!
Tell a leader in the church that you need to be baptized and you can get signed up online and take part in Lake Hills next baptism celebration. If you have more questions about baptism see appendix 2.

NEXT STEP # 5 - LIVE A LIFE OF WORSHIP

You were made to worship God! Worship is not just something that happens in a church service. Your daily life as an act of worship, as you live in a way that brings pleasure to God.
You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased. - Revelation 4:11
You bring pleasure to God when
 Love him supremely
 Trust him completely
 Obey him wholeheartedly
 Praise him continually
 Use your abilities
Every aspect of your life can be an expression of worship when you live in the realization and recognition of who God is and what he has done. Pastor Rick Warren writes in the Purpose Driven Life:
Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory and pleasure of God... How then is it possible to do everything for the glory of God? By doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying on a continual conversation with him while you do it.
Worship can happen anytime and anywhere. In fact, God calls us to a life of worship.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: take your everyday, ordinary life--you're sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. - Romans 12:1 (The Message)

Ways you can worship at Lake Hills
 Attend weekly worship experience
 Volunteer on Sunday morning or during the week
 Give financially (called a tithe)
 Join a Small Group
To listen to messages about worship or find other resources, check out myLakeHillsChurch.com

YOUR STORY:
Take a few minutes to write out your story of becoming a Christian. This is the beginning of your testimony and will be a powerful tool and you start to share Christ with others in your life:

A FINAL THOUGHT

You are a new creation on a new journey. I hope that you will take the five Next Steps we've discussed to heart. Take the time to write out your story, thinking about what God has brought you through. And spend some time studying the statement of beliefs and all of the verses that substantiate those beliefs. As you become a Christian by faith, you should do all you can to seek, study, and learn about the life that is now yours through Jesus Christ.
I trust that this book has been and will continue to be helpful to you as you start walking your new path. It isn't meant to answer every single one of your questions. No book could ever do that. The truth is that I can't tell you every twist and turn that your journey with God is going to take, because I don't know. That's the beauty of a relationship. You jump in and see where it leads. Enjoy the journey.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. -1st Corinthians 2:9-10

APPENDIX 1
WHO I AM WHEN I FOLLOW JESUS

I am God's child. John 1:12
As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ John 15:15
I have been made right before God Romans 5:1
I am together with the Lord, 1 Cor. 6:17 and I am one with him in Spirit.
I have been bought with a price 1 Cor. 6:19-20 and I belong to God.
I am a member of Christ's body 1 Cor. 12:27
I have been chosen by God Eph. 1:3-8 and adopted as his child.
I have been redeemed and have Col. 1: 13-14 forgiven of all my sins.
I am complete in Jesus Col. 2:9-10
I have direct access to the throne Heb. 4:14-16 of grace through Jesus Christ
I am free from condemnation Romans 8:1-2
I am assured that God works for Romans