Step Two:

BEGINNING TO SEEK:

If you are intrigued to learn more of how to come into a relationship with God, then we invite you to check out the following course:

Christianity Explored.

From His Fullness also publishes a free quarterly publication The Way. You may subscribe simply by emailing us at fromhisfullness@mail.com, asking for the general copy in the available language of your choice. The past copies are uploaded on this site under What we do/For Spreaders.

If we can be of any help to you as you begin to seek the Lord ~ answering sincere questions or receiving requests for prayer ~ then do contact us. We would welcome the opportunity to help you, and to connect you, wherever possible, with a Christian community near you.

As you set out on your search, know that God is already seeking his own! Satan will do everything he can to deter you and to distract you, but God has promised to reward those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Do claim his promise as you proceed!

Here are some sample accounts of how others came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ:

Andy Trumper: “From Armed Soldier to Soldier of the Cross.”

Forough Pirseyedi: “Not too Far, Not too Late!”

Also, check out: Starting Your Search for a Church.

Step Four:

MATURING IN THE FAITH:

When you are ready to go further and deeper into your relationship to God and into the content of the Christian faith, you will benefit from the following extended statements of Christian doctrine. They are helpful for summarizing biblical teaching and include:

The Belgic Confession of Faith (1561): Sometimes known as the Walloon Confession, The Belgic Confession was compiled by Guido De Bres as a defense of persecuted Reformed Christians. It was translated from French into Dutch in 1562. By 1618 the Confession had received definitive approval at the Synod of Dordrecht, becoming known with the Heidelberg Catechism and Canons of the same Synod the “Three Forms of Unity.” These forms served as the confessional foundation for all Dutch Reformed churches. The text of the Confession may be sub-divided into three units: the triune God and the knowledge of him from Scripture (Articles 1-9); Christ’s work of creation and redemption (Articles 10-23); and the ministry of the Spirit in and through the church of Jesus Christ (Articles 24-37).

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647): Actually completed in December of 1646, the Westminster Confession of Faith gained its name from the Westminster Assembly. The Assembly of Puritans met in London in order to compile a statement of faith that would express the faith of Reformed believers throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Westminster Confession of Faith is said to be the last of the classic Reformed confessions, and has been by far the most influential in the English-speaking world.

Containing thirty-three chapters, the Westminster Confession is especially noted for its mature statements on Holy Scripture, predestination, assurance, and the nature of Christian liberty. The Confession is also the first confession in the history of the church to have included substantive statements on covenant theology (7), the doctrine of adoption (12), and the distinction between the visible and invisible church (25).

The Calvinistic Methodist Confession of Faith (1823; English translation, 1827): This confession was produced to express the beliefs of Calvinistic Methodists in Wales who had earlier broken from the Church of England in 1795. The Confession became the subordinate standard of the Calvinistic Methodist or Presbyterian Church in Wales. It was the loss of the theology of the Confession under the influence of early twentieth-century theological liberalism and modernism which led Peter Trumper to become the first to lead his English-speaking congregants out of the Presbyterian Church in Wales in the 1960s.

Statement of Faith, World Reformed Fellowship (2011): This most recent statement of faith reminds us that the task of theology is ongoing. The World Reformed Fellowship is a promotion of Reformed partnerships worldwide in which From His Fullness Ministries is an organizational member. The Statement of Faith is distinctive in its endeavors: (1) To reflect the global reach of the Reformed faith in a way that was beyond the compilers of the aforementioned historic statements of faith; (2) To apply the theology of the Reformed faith to the global issues of the present.

Check Out: How to Read Theological Literature: For Advancers

Step Five:

SHARING THE FAITH:

It would be good from early in our Christian lives to to learn the importance of not only a seasonal but a year-round habit of sharing our faith in Jesus. This evangelism lifestyle is especially relevant among new Christians who still have unconverted friends to witness close to hand the power of Christ in transforming lives.

Our Motivation

Ultimately, we are not motivated by the thought of filling pews, or of increasing the coffers of the church. Rather, we seek to glorify God by exalting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

God is not glorified when we think Christ our local church is just for us. Nor is he when we take for granted the impact of Christ on our lives, or withhold the potential of that impact from others. God is not glorified when material or temporal matters cloud over, or crowd out, the urgency and priority of the spiritual need of our peers. Neither is God glorified when we doubt his desire and power to save people from their sins. After all, we ourselves are evidence of his desire and power! While God has not promised that all to whom we witness will be saved (Acts 13:48), it is clear they will not come to Christ without access to his word of invitation and command (Matthew 11:28-30; Acts 17:30).

Conversely, God is glorified when, through our excitement about the gospel, we are impelled to reach out to unconverted friends (Ephesians 3:14–19); when our confidence is fueled by the promise that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17); and when we are inspired by what he’s done in history. How God delights to see his people energized and obedient (Acts 8:4), yearning to see others joining us in heaven!

Our Manner

Since God sovereignly draws his people out of the world and unto himself, we have no need to coerce or to cajole others to join us. A sense of desperation is out of keeping with the riches we have in Christ. Ours is a joy to provoke the lost to jealousy (cf., Romans 11:13–14). Much depends on our living, but also on our seeking God’s direction to be led by his Spirit; his prompting to see openings to speak or opportunities to respond (1 Peter 3:15); his power to loose our tongues when appropriate; his wisdom to use effectively the weekly equipping by the ministry of the Word (Ephesians 4:12); and his grace to believe that invitations to Christ and commands to repent fulfill God’s intent.

In answering our requests, God harmonizes his sovereignty and our responsibility. Remember how Jesus wept over Jerusalem, took to task those who led the blind astray, pled with the lost with a full and perfect blend of grace and truth, ultimately dying for them. All did not believe in him, but he was faithful in dying to himself and fruitful in saving his people. It is not for us to atone for their sins—Christ has accomplished that—but we are called to die to ourselves and to relinquish our reputations for their sake.

Our Method

Since it is by the foolishness of preaching that men and women come to faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18) we understandably aim to invite friends to public worship. How we do so impacts our effectiveness as churches.

The direct approach: Christmas and Easter are great opportunities to invite anyone along to worship, for these seasons form points of contact with society. Everyone knows something about the Christmas and Easter narratives, even if they know little about Christianity or the church. Do pray, then, to be of use to God in filling your church’s Christmas and Easter services with any and all who need an encounter with God!

In the remainder of the year, the direct invitation to worship will best suit those with previous experience of church. Public worship—what was called in Old Testament times the Qahal (“assembly”)—remains chiefly for God’s people. Accordingly, much of the pulpit ministry is geared to the equipping of the saints for ministry during the week. The evangelism which comes through the preached word in public worship is largely geared toward non-communicant members of the church; that is, toward those with some knowledge of Christianity. This focus agrees with that of Scripture, for it chiefly addresses the covenant community.

The indirect approach: With the increased gap between the church and society, those wishing to hear the message of the church may well find it easier to connect with Christian communities by first attending a social event, an informal Bible study, or a specific course (e.g., Christianity Explored, Griefshare, Divorce Care, etc.). This does not mean to say it is wrong to invite unchurched family, friends, or colleagues, first to public worship. How could it be? God is sovereign and can bless to them the welcome, the various elements of the service, even supposing the sermon at first is a stretch for them. Just don’t expect the pulpit ministry to do for unchurched invitees what, in the main, it is not intended to do. Few books of Scripture address those from outside the covenant community explicitly (e.g., the fool in Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, parts of Daniel). The Scriptures teach us that the preaching to the unchurched takes on a different form (e.g., Acts 17:16–34), and occurs outside of public worship. That’s why we suggest initially the primary use of venues outside public worship or off the church premises for preaching to those with little or no experience of biblical exposition and worship liturgies.

Our grasp of this will go some way to alleviating unwarranted expectations of the pulpit ministry, while maximizing the opportunities in church life for the unchurched to hear of Jesus.