Next Spiritual Steps

We were not meant to follow Jesus alone. We were made for community. As we follow Jesus together, we will see our relationship with others grow and deepen. A biblical community has at its center a shared focus on Jesus and the Gospel. This focus is what unites us.. It is the foundation that allows us to connect to a body of believers—a biblical community—where we can grow in faith together called the church.

At Fellowship, our small groups create an opportunity to grow closer together outside of our Sunday morning worship service. D-Groups (Discipleship Groups) are small groups that meet in homes and other locations across our community for the purpose of building relationships, growing spiritually and living on Christ’s mission together. We see this as incredibly important to your growth as a disciple and would love to help get you connected to a group. You can check out our groups by going to www.fellowshipar.com/groups

Scripture

One of the most effective ways to know God and grow in our relationship with Him is by committing our lives to reading and understanding His Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to use it to transform us by growing us in Godly character, and then living obediently to His commands and way of life. The Bible, though penned by men, was divinely inspired by God and is completely true and without error. The Bible is first and foremost a story about God, not us. Although we do learn about ourselves by reading the Bible, we need to first look for God and who He is rather than viewing the Bible as a set of rules or an instruction manual. The Bible is, in essence, God’s love letter to us, and it teaches us about His character, what He loves, what He hates, and what He has done for us. When you read the Bible through this lens, you will be able to glean wisdom and understanding even from those laws and ancient stories that can seem irrelevant to our lives today.

Prayer

Prayer is a wonderful gift of grace that God has given His children, and His intent is for us to learn and grow in our relationship with Him through this practice. Prayer is ongoing, two-way communication with God that involves both speaking and listening. Prayer is an invitation into a relationship with God where we praise and treasure Him for who He is and what He has done. We rejoice in His presence and His promises. We repent of our sins and receive His forgiveness. We ask for His purposes to be accomplished in our lives, make our requests known to Him, and intercede on behalf of others. We yield our lives to His ways over ours and His will over our own. We do all of this in Jesus’s great name and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, who lives inside us and helps us find the words to pray. It’s as simple as a conversation but with the joy of doing so with the Creator of the universe.

Serving

We use our gifts to serve one another for the building up of the body and the expansion of the kingdom as a joyful expression of the grace within us. When we as Christ-followers serve the needs of others, we are joining God in His mission to bring hope to the hopeless and to redeem a broken creation from the effects of the Fall. Serving is an incredible way of being a part of God’s Kingdom, being generous with our time for the sake of others, and as a means of growth for us in our discipleship. This should happen in the local church, but God gives us many opportunities to serve His Kingdom in our world and for those around us.

Discipling Others and Sharing Your Faith

Only the Gospel has the power to save and reconcile sinners to God. This is precisely why Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:18–20 to “go… and make disciples of all nations.” This world is filled with people who are far from God. Roughly 3.2 billion of them. This means thousands of people living near us and billions of people living far from us stand in desperate need of Jesus. How will they ever hear the good news? As believers, God has saved us and given us power through the Holy Spirit to go and live out the mission He gave the church—to share the Gospel at home and across the world by His grace and for His glory. For those that are around us in the church, we get to be disciple-makers! Many people respond with a sense of inadequacy when they think about discipling others. We often believe we are not smart enough or good enough to pour into others spiritually. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He entrusted His mission to fallen human beings. Would He really allow His mission to fail by allowing us to fail? So take courage! The average church member already knows much more about the faith than most non-believers or new believers. We can be faithful and bear fruit in keeping with that faith. So, be faithful by sharing with others what has already been shared with you.

The display of God’s holiness, worth, and greatness.

Disobedience towards God and His Word that now corrupts humanity.

Turning away from the world and sin, and turning towards Christ.

Belief in Christ and His accomplishment in a personal and trusting way.

The sovereign love of God in the redeeming actions of Jesus. This love and blessing is unearned and freely given.

Someone who is a learner or follower of someone else: As Christians, we follow Jesus by His Spirit to take on His character and live out His teachings.

When we are baptized, we declare to a watching world that we see His death as our death and His resurrection as our resurrection. While baptism does not save us, it is an outward sign that our salvation has occurred. Baptism, by definition, gives us this picture through immersion in water.

God’s loving, gracious, saving work, planned since before the foundation of the world, through the sinless life, atoning death, victorious resurrection, and ongoing reign of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten and incarnate Son.

The authority on earth that Jesus has instituted to officially affirm and give shape to a Christian’s life. The following should be present whenever the local church is present: Regular gathering, the proclamation of the gospel/teaching of the word, ordinances (baptism, communion), a unified mission, community, and governance.

To be captivated and consumed with Jesus in our minds and hearts for who He is and what He has done. This attention and affection, known as worship, results in a deep satisfaction in Jesus and obedience.