1. What is the gospel?
2. What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?
3. How do I write my testimony?
The Gospel
“The gospel is not 'God loves us,' but 'God loves us at the cost of his Son." (Derek Thomas)
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. How does Scripture define what the gospel is?
1. What is the gospel?
* The gospel literally means ‘good news’ The gospel is the best news you could ever hear. It is God’s news to us that we share with one another.
* The gospel is a historical reality, not an experience. The gospel really happened. It is not about what one person believes versus what another person believes.
* The gospel is what God has done for us through his son Jesus. The gospel is not what we do, but what God has done for us. We can’t earn our salvation by good works, Christ has already done the work for us.
* The gospel is what we believe in to be saved. We respond to the gospel by believing it. We don’t make the gospel true, we believe that it is true.
Read John 3:1-21. What does it mean to be born again? In verse 16, what does Jesus say about those who believe in Him?
2. What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?
* To believe in something means to put your faith in it. You believe that an airplane works by getting on it and flying in it.
* To believe in Jesus means to place your trust in him for salvation. To believe in Jesus means to trust him instead of your own works for salvation. We trust in his sacrifice on the cross as a payment for our sins.
* When you believe in Jesus as your savior and Lord you begin a relationship with him. Jesus is not an ‘idea,’ a ‘philosophy,’ or even a ‘religion.’ Jesus is a person whom you can know.
* The question God asks is ‘Are you believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?’ rather than ‘Did you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?’ It is on-going.
Read 1 Peter 3:15. What does it mean to give an answer for our hope? According to Peter in what way are we supposed to give it?
3. How do I write my testimony?
* A testimony is your account of how you came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is your own personal story of coming to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.
* When you write out your personal testimony it should be honest and simple. Don’t feel like you have to add lots of details or try to make your testimony seem more exciting. Just describe how God has worked in your life to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ.
* When you write your testimony out, take your time and do so prayerfully, reflecting on your life. You may want to add some Scripture passages that God has used in your life.
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Welcome to the new members class! First of all, we as a church want to extend our warmest welcome to you and say we are immensely glad you are considering becoming a member of FBC! I hope you will find FBC to be a believing, warm-hearted, and caring community who wants to genuinely follow God’s Word. We hope the upcoming classes will help you understand what FBC is really all about, and will show you how much we are eager to have you as part of our church body. Enjoy!
Blog Archive
New Members Class
What this class is not!
1) A collection of lectures – we want to hear from you! We want to know where you are in your relationship with God. Do you understand the gospel? Do you know what the Bible is all about? Please, please, please, speak up, ask questions, and don’t be shy.
2) An advanced bible class – we are going to be covering just the basics, lightly skimming over subjects just to give you a broad picture of what Christianity is all about. After this class, you’re going to want to find a good bible study or Sunday School class to learn more.
3) A hoop to jump through – don’t look at this class as just a means to an end. During this class you are going to be learning new things, meeting new people, and letting us as a church know who you are. Use this class to the best of your ability.
4) A test – though we want to get to know you and see where you are in your faith, don’t feel like you’re being tested. We want to help you grow in your relationship with the Lord—so if we recommend that you wait to be baptized don’t take that as a failure, but as our way of trying to best care for you at this time in your life.
What this class is!
Hopefully a very valuable time: A time for you to reflect on how you came to Christ and write it out to share with others. A time for you to ask questions and think about what Christianity is all about. A time for you to understand the church and your place in it. A time for us to get to know each other better as fellow believers in Jesus Christ.
1) A collection of lectures – we want to hear from you! We want to know where you are in your relationship with God. Do you understand the gospel? Do you know what the Bible is all about? Please, please, please, speak up, ask questions, and don’t be shy.
2) An advanced bible class – we are going to be covering just the basics, lightly skimming over subjects just to give you a broad picture of what Christianity is all about. After this class, you’re going to want to find a good bible study or Sunday School class to learn more.
3) A hoop to jump through – don’t look at this class as just a means to an end. During this class you are going to be learning new things, meeting new people, and letting us as a church know who you are. Use this class to the best of your ability.
4) A test – though we want to get to know you and see where you are in your faith, don’t feel like you’re being tested. We want to help you grow in your relationship with the Lord—so if we recommend that you wait to be baptized don’t take that as a failure, but as our way of trying to best care for you at this time in your life.
What this class is!
Hopefully a very valuable time: A time for you to reflect on how you came to Christ and write it out to share with others. A time for you to ask questions and think about what Christianity is all about. A time for you to understand the church and your place in it. A time for us to get to know each other better as fellow believers in Jesus Christ.
Links
About Me
- FBC
- A church in the inner city of Haverhill, MA. A bunch of sinners saved by the grace of God. www.fbchaverhill.org
1 comment:
Hey Friends, for the class I supplied a sample by using my own testimony. Yours of course, will sound unique to you. But this should at least help when it comes to the format.
Testimony Rick Harrington
I was born the third child out of four to Joe and Yong Harrington. I remember having a fairly stable and close family. My father had met my mother, a South Korean, while in the United States Air Force. So growing up I had both Western and Asian influences. We ate hamburgers and hotdogs one day, and Kim Chi and rice the next. Overall however, I saw myself as a typical American boy. Perhaps the aspect of Asian culture that was most at work in our family was the close-knit nature of the family and the profound respect for parents. My best friends throughout childhood were without a doubt my siblings: Mike, Joe and my sister Joanne. My mother was always with us as a homemaker while my father, an airline mechanic, worked nights and slept during the day. But when dad was around, he was with his family. In respect to religious affiliation we were Roman Catholics, taking after the religion of my father’s family. In Roman Catholicism I learned about God, and tried to pray and relate to Him as best I could. However, God seemed distant and I never felt as if I could have a close relationship with Him. But overall, I considered myself a good person who was going to heaven.
Adolescence marked a transitional time in my life, as it does in the lives of most young men. I can remember asking myself questions of identity: ‘Who am I?’, ‘What is life all about?’, and ‘Is there any meaning to life?’ An introvert by nature, these questions were continually confronting me. For the most part, I ignored them and pursued more ‘important things’ such as basketball and hanging out with my friends. When I was 14 I remember receiving a series of phone calls from my older brother Joe, who had joined the Air Force. He began trying to tell me about Jesus and how great he is. I already considered myself a Christian, and wasn’t interested in his fanaticism. I brushed him off quickly and returned to business as usual. However, there was one phone call that stands out, in which Joe began to tell me about how he had been abused as a child, by an older cousin. I was shocked, crushed, and angry. One day over the phone, he asked me how I felt about this cousin now that I knew this about him. I told him I hated him. At this point Joe began to express his ability to forgive this cousin, saying, “If Jesus could forgive my sins, how can I not forgive him for what he did to me?” His ability to forgive his abuser spoke volumes to me of what God was doing in his life. I was ready to listen to Joe, and he again explained to me the gospel, that Jesus Christ had died for our sins, and that believing in him we can have eternal life. Joe asked if I wanted to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, which I did in a prayer over the phone. This was the first step in a long process.
A few weeks later Joe returned home on military leave and bought me a bible. He began to show me and my family about God from the bible, and after he left I continued to read from the bible daily. As a family, we sought a bible-centered church, and joined First Baptist Church of Haverhill. As I began to grow and to learn, I came to understand more clearly who God is, and what Jesus did for me on the cross. I am so grateful to God for saving a sinner like me by his own Son. Though life is never perfect, I know that I am a child of God saved by Christ’s death for me, and I have eternal life: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)
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