You are now part of A NEW FAMILY

God places you in a spiritual household and within a spiritual family. 

God settles the solitary in a home.  Psalms 68:6

You need to be connected to a church and preferably be part of a small group.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another … Hebrews 10:24-25b

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes … Acts 2:46

GOD IS NOW YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER.  YOU CAN TALK TO HIM ON A DAILY BASIS LIKE ANY EARTHLY CHILD WOULD TALK TO THEIR FATHER.

The “Our Father” Prayer that Jesus taught us (Matthew 6:9-13) is a model prayer. It is a good foundation on which to pattern a conversation with God; it is one of many ways God has given us to talk to Him.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

PRAY

• Make conversation with God in prayer a daily priority … You are now a child of the Living God and you need to develop a healthy relationship with Him.
• Almighty God, the Creator of all things, is actually your Heavenly Father and when you pray, you can call Him ‘Father’ (Romans 8:15,16; Galatians 4:6).
• Jesus is your Lord (Master & Owner) because He paid for your sins with His precious blood and freed you from darkness.
• The Holy Spirit is a person – the third person in the Godhead (Trinity). You can also speak to Him and experience Him speaking to you. He is Immanuel (God with us) and you can ask Him to help you to pray and understand the Bible (John 16:13-15).

READ YOUR BIBLE DAILY

• Start by reading John’s Gospel and then the letters (Epistles) of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. Read them through a couple of times.
• After that, read James, 1st Peter, the Gospel of Mark and the book of Acts.
• It would be good to read through the whole New Testament next, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s heart and mind for you through what you read.
• Remember to read the Bible prayerfully and continuously ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you read.
• Sometimes it helps if you underline the verses in your Bible that stand out for you with a pencil or coloured pen. 

CONNECT WITH CHURCH

You need to be connected to a church and preferably be part of a small group. Just as our biological family and childhood home provides the environment for us to grow to maturity, our spiritual family and local church sets us up for spiritual growth. It is from that place that we grow in knowing God, loving people and being set up to impact our world. (Micah 6:8)

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … Ephesians 4:11-13

He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor- teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13 MSG

[The Church] … is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:23 

The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.  Ephesians 1:23 MSG