Wholehearted Living

g n i v i L

Wholehearted

A New Believer’s Guide to Following Jesus

[Section 1]

WELCOME TO THE GREATEST ADVENTURE YOU WILL EVER TAKE

Following

Jesus Christ!

What you hold in your hands is a guide to help you as you get started on your journey of following Jesus. Think of this as a foundation for a lifetime of learning and growth.

If you are a new Christian, or simply trying to figure out what it means to trust God with all of your life, this is the guide for you.

At Captivate, we exist to help people find family, freedom, and purpose in Jesus Christ. This mission is driven through our belief in one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the Savior of all those who would put their hope and faith for eternal life in Him, and Him alone.

Our desire is that everyone would experience Wholehearted Living through a relationship with Jesus and discover what it means to follow Him wholeheartedly. To that end, we want to partner with you and help answer some of the foundational questions like: “What do I do after I made the decision to follow Jesus?” and “What does it really mean to have a relationship with God and trust Him?”

4

[Section 2]

LET’S START BY UNPACKING THE STORY OF GOD

And His People

Creation

The Fall

6

And so it was, that God made a decision to create us.

The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:26 that God the Father called a family meeting with the Son and the Spirit and proposed to them, “Let’s make man, and let’s make them like us.” If you have ever wondered, “What is God

reach us where we are. The truth is, we would never be able to make it heaven or earn eternal life on our own merit. Knowing this, Jesus spoke up and said, “I’ll go. If they can’t get up here, I’ll go down there.”

And thus God sent his one and only son Jesus

like?” Or “What does God look like?”, the answer is, “like us.” From the very beginning, God’s intention for us was to live a full and satisfying life in perfect harmony with Him. (Genesis 1:26-31, Psalm 139:14, Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 2:10)

Christ to come down, to live like us, to love us, and to save us. Jesus came down from heaven to live a sinless life, full of the Holy Spirit, to die in our place, to take away the penalty for our sin, and to raise up three days later, defeating death, hell, and the grave. Jesus left an extraordinary life in heaven, for an ordinary life on earth, so that we could know the extraordinary love of our Heavenly Father. When freedom was out of our reach, it came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. (John 1:1-3;14, Romans 8:38-39, Romans 10:9;13, Philippians 2:5-8)

God made people, not robots. He always wanted a twoway relationship with us, one in which we would have the choice to love and follow him or not. Because love is not love without choice, God gave Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, the option to obey him as their God, or to walk away. And like many of us today, the allure of what the devil was offering became too great for them to ignore. They disobeyed God and thus ushered sin into the world; creating a rift between God and man.

Our perfect union was broken. (Genesis 3:1-7, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Galatians 5:19-21)

Our Rejection / His Pursuit

Throughout the Old Testament we see a trend: Man continues to run away from God, and yet God continues to run toward man. No matter how far gone, how disobedient, or how disappointing we became, God never turned His back on us. It was as if He was incapable of letting us go. His plan was and has always been to restore the perfect harmony with us that was lost. And because of that, we know the following to be true: We are more broken than we would ever care to admit, but more loved by our God than we could ever imagine. Although we run from God’s love, he never stops offering it. (Psalm 139:7-8, Isaiah 43:18-19, Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 1 John 1:9, 1 Peter 2:9)

Love Came Down

It became apparent to God that we were not going to be able to live without struggling with sin. So he had to make a decision. Was he to wait until our level of love and obedience to him would elevate us to heaven where he is? Or, would he come down and live like us to

Salvation

You don’t have to be perfect. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, and His rising from the dead, Jesus took all that was wrong in you and gave you all that was right in Him. If you believe that and commit to following Him, your life will never be the same. It’s as simple as repenting of your sin, declaring you want to follow Jesus, and believing He is who He says He is. (2 Corinthians 5:21, John 5:24, Romans 10:910, Ephesians 2:8-9)

7

His plan was and has always been

e r o t s e r o t

the perfect harmony with us that was lost.

[Section 3]

SO, YOU BELIEVE IN GOD AND HAVE ACCEPTED HIS FREE GIFT OF SALVATION.

What's Next?

Let’s dive into some key things in the life of a Jesus-follower.

BAPTISM

These 66 books tell the story of real people, living in real places, dealing with real life issues, and interacting with the real, living God. And the same God who interacted with people like Noah, David, Jonah, Peter, and Paul is interacting with

Most people who are married wear a wedding ring on their finger. It symbolizes publicly that they are in love, taken, and belong to one another.

each of us.

In a comparable way, public baptism is the symbol of a Christian’s love of, and belief in God. Baptism is going public about your faith in Jesus and communicating to the world your heart-felt, covenant commitment to following Him. It is the next step after salvation. Baptism by immersion symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and is your public declaration that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

It’s important to note that baptism does not save you. Rather, it shows the world that you have already been saved. And while baptism is not required for salvation, it is a Biblical command and demonstrates your love and obedience to Christ.

THE BIBLE

As we learn and apply the teachings of the Bible, we begin to experience a change in our attitudes, thoughts, and lifestyle.

Where can you start?

Make a commitment to read a little bit of the Bible every day. Choose a book of the Bible (any of the first 4 books of the New Testament are a good place to start), and underline a verse or two that really speaks to you. Spend a couple of minutes thinking and meditating on the meaning.

Ask God, “What are you trying to speak to me through these verses?”

How to study the Bible

While writing to his young disciple Timothy, Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Timothy knew the Scriptures from his infancy. He grew up with a godly mother and grandmother (Timothy 1:5) who raised him on God’s word. He was rooted in God’s Word.

Practically speaking, the Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over a period of some 1,500 years, in three languages, and on three continents.

But on a much deeper level, the Bible is the living word of God himself. Each of these 40 authors was supernaturally inspired by God to write their book. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16 that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Every question we have about conduct, morality, and daily living can be answered through the teachings found in the Bible. It is our roadmap for following and becoming like Jesus. And while the Bible does contain instructions for us here on Earth, it’s not just list of dos and don’ts.

10

As we see how He interacted with people in the past, we learn more about how He interacts with us today. Because the Bible truly is God’s word that helps us on life’s journey, it’s so very important to read it and let its words sink into our hearts—because the primary purpose of the Bible is not information, it’s transformation.

Roots have a variety of functions, chief of which is anchoring and being the foundation for the plants that grow from them. The stronger the roots, the greater the chance for survival of the plant. In a similar way, the stronger our roots are 11

in God’s word, the more equipped we are to face life’s challenges and not be shaken.

find the New Testament books of James and Philippians great next steps in studying the Bible.

You may read a passage you have heard or read dozens of times before, but notice something different and fresh the next time. Best of all, over

So what does it take to become rooted in God’s word?

time you will notice the Bible’s power to transform your mind and heart.

First, it takes time. It is something that can’t be rushed because getting rooted in God’s Word is synonymous with getting rooted in God. We can’t separate the two.

Second, developing deep roots takes trials. The warning Paul is giving in 2 Timothy 3:12-13 is of the difficulties and persecution Christians will face. It takes incredible strength for a disciple to prove themselves faithful (see James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:5-7). When troubles come, our true character is revealed. In times of trouble we either run to God or away from Him. The choice we make reveals how rooted we really are.

Third, it takes desire. Paul said that he desired to know Christ and nothing else (see Phil. 3:13-15).

To Timothy, he calls this desire, ‘single-minded dedication’ (2 Tim 2:4f.). You must desire to be rooted in God’s word.

Start by reading one chapter a day—the first four books of the New Testament are a great place to start. Read each one slowly, and try to picture the events described by the author. Perhaps read each chapter twice. Reflect on what following Jesus in your life would look like if you did what He did and obeyed what He taught. As you read, have a pencil or highlighter at your side. Highlight or underline verses that jump out at you. Keep a notebook handy to write down any questions or thoughts you have as you read.

The goal is not to get through the text, but to get the text through to you.

Continue familiarizing yourself with the Bible by reading the other books in it. Many people 12

The ultimate purpose of Bible study is to know, follow, and obey the God who speaks to us and reveals Himself through His Word.

PRAYER

Prayer is communicating with God. Prayer is an open dialogue; talking and listening to the voice of the God of the universe.

We believe prayer is foundational to spiritual growth and effectiveness and is intended to permeate every aspect of our lives. Prayer is an essential component of growing deeper with God. Prayer realigns our will to the Father’s, and is the pathway to experiencing God’s empowering presence as we journey towards Wholehearted Living.

However, understanding the importance of prayer is not enough. Prayer needs to become part of our life and something we love doing.When you discover the joy of having daily conversations with God, you’ll experience His presence.

We believe we can pray to God in every and all situations: Before your day starts, before you go to bed, before you go to work or school, before you send a text or an email, before you eat, drive or travel, when bad things happen, when the good things happen. In every situation we have the ability to pray first.

Adopting prayer in all seasons will serve you throughout the entirety of your life. As you begin praying, it may be helpful to have a framework to build your prayers around. Here is one common

13

outline many people have found helpful. It’s known as the A.C.T.S. outline for prayer.

Adoration.

Start your prayer with worship; adoring God for who He is and what He has done for you.

Recognize the greatness, majesty, or power of God.

Supplication.

Supplication is simply bringing your requests to God. They may be personal requests, or the needs of someone you know. God invites us to bring all of these requests to Him. This A.C.T.S. model is a great starting point and helps you shape your prayers as you learn to communicate with God.

When we recognize God’s greatness in our lives it reminds us that He is worthy of our worship and able to handle whatever needs we may have.

Confession Spend some time reviewing your day or your week, acknowledging and confessing your sins.

Confession means that you are identifying and admitting you have done something that is sinful.

The good news is that God is not surprised by these confessions. He knows what you’ve done.

Confessing your sins is agreeing with God that you have fallen short of what He wants you to do.

Confess those failures to God, get them out in the open, and spend some time asking for God’s help to resist those temptations in the future.

Confession is the way to realign your heart with His.

Thanksgiving.

Let God know how grateful you are for the blessings He has given you. Examine your life, and thank Him for the prayers He’s answered in your life. Thank Him for the simple things you might take for granted, like your home, family, health, work, community, etc. This kind of grateful soul reminds us that God is our provider.

He is involved in all of our lives, and He does answer prayer.

14

15

[Section 4]

The goal is not to get through the text, but to get the text through

to you.

NOW THAT WE’VE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE FOUNDATIONAL PIECES IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN, IT’S TIME TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, “

How Do I Follow

God Wholeheartedly?

"

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.“ And later in Romans, the Apostle Paul writes that, “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

You can also pick up a copy of Seven Conversations, our guide to Wholehearted Living, Sundays at Captivate. In it you’ll find insight on what it means to follow Jesus in the big areas of life: Family, Time, Work, Money, Romance, Social, & Health.

These two verse serve to teach us that wholeheartedly following Jesus means putting Jesus over everything in our lives, and that when we do, we can expect God to take care of our every need. Here a few practical ways that you can start to do this:

1. Give God the first part of every day When we start the day praising God for what he’s done for us, we shift our focus away from ourselves and on Him. This change in focus helps to realign our attitude, and to face the day with God’s spirit as our guide.

2. Give God the first dime of every dollar.

The two things people stress out the most about are 1) their future and 2) their finances. Giving God the first tenth of what you earn from your job is a way of thanking Him for His faithfulness and for blessing you with everything you have.

It helps us to keep our priorities straight, and isa command from God to those who call themselves followers of Jesus.

3. Give God the first thought in every big decision.

It’s easy to be the master of our lives and to make decisions on our own. It is easy to not count God into the daily rhythms of our lives. However, God desires to help us, guide us, and support us. He wants us to bring Him into the daily decisions in our lives. This helps to keep us rooted in Him.

18

19

When f o r , freedom u o each was r out it n o s r came pef us o toJ us esrist. h in C the

[Section 5]

FINAL THOUGHTS

Our hope is that this guide has been a helpful tool as you step into a life of following Jesus, and that it has provided you with clear next steps in your journey as a Christian.

Our final encouragement is that you would consider getting plugged into community. We weren’t meant to live life alone, and we believe that true freedom—freedom in every area of life— is best experienced in the context of family.

Check out a full list of our Captivate Communities at captivatesd.com/communities, or at the Welcome Bar Sundays at Captivate. And join us at Experience Captivate on the first Sunday of every month at 12pm. There you’ll discover your purpose, meet new friends, and learn about your unique contribution to the church.

Congratulations, again, on making the best decision you’ll ever make. We’re so excited to walk this journey alongside you.

22

wholeheartedly following Jesus means putting Jesus over everything in our lives

g n i v i L

Wholehearted

A New Believer’s Guide to Following Jesus