BELIEVE
The first step of the Christian journey starts with belief. The Bible is clear that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is nothing that we can DO to earn a right standing before a holy God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live. Jesus died a sacrificial death in our place on the cross. He satisfied the wrath of God that was meant to be poured out on us for our sin. Three days later He rose bodily from the grave. He was seen by many following His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). The Bible tells us that if we repent of our sin and trust fully in what Jesus did for us, we will receive His righteousness and be saved from our sin (Romans 10:9-10,13; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Are you ready to take your first step? Are you ready to believe? Are you ready to trust fully in what Jesus did for you? We would love to share more with you about your first step. Give us a call, email us, or stop by the church. There is no greater decision to be made in life than this first step!
PROCLAIM
After belief, the next step in your Christian journey is baptism. There is a lot of confusion surrounding baptism. Here at Calvary, we believe that biblical baptism takes place after belief (Acts 2:41; 10:44-48). Because of this, we do not practice infant baptism. There is nothing about baptism that saves a person from their sins.
We also believe that baptism should be done by immersion. The word "baptize" means "to go under" or "to submerge". We see the example of immersion in the baptism of Jesus as well as the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. Therefore, we do not practice "sprinkling" or "pouring".
Baptism is a public declaration of an inward reality. When someone is baptized biblically, they are making a proclamation to everyone that they have trusted Jesus as their personal Savior. They are proclaiming that they are a part of the body of Christ, and they are identifying with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. They are declaring that they are a new creation and that they are going to die to the old self and live in newness of life pursuing Christ-likeness for the rest of their life.
If you have never been biblically baptized, we would love to talk to you about your next step of baptism. You can join a class to learn more about how to take this next step and proclaim your faith in Christ to everyone. It's the next step of obedience and the next step towards Christ-likeness.
CONNECT
As you continue on your journey, if you have placed your faith in Christ and publically proclaimed your salvation in baptism, your next step is to get connected to a local church. We see this example in the early church as well (Acts 2:41-42).
Why become a member of a local church? When you commit to a local body of believers, you commit to living your Christian journey in community. The Christian walk was never meant to be walked alone. With this next step, you invite others into your life who will help you grow. By becoming a member of a local church, you commit your life to others as well.
Here at Calvary, we have a great family of Christians who are taking this Christian journey together one step at a time. Here, you can find fellowship, accountability, prayer, and compassion. Here, life-long friendships can be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Here, you can enjoy a Christ-connected community that seek to build their lives on the Word of God, and live it out daily.
If you are interested in joining Calvary Baptist Church, we would love to talk to you more about church membership. Give us a call, email us, or stop by today. Let's take your next step together!
GROW
This next step in your spiritual walk will be one that you will take every day. From the moment you trust Jesus as your personal Savior to the moment you see Him face to face, you have the opportunity to grow.
There two key components to spiritual growth, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. In order to grow spiritually, we must be rooted in the Bible. We need to know what it says and understand what it means for us today. The Bible is not an outdated book of stories. The Bible is relevant for today and contains timeless truths for us to live by. As we start applying the wisdom of the Word of God to our lives, we will start to bear the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us more like the Son of God. This next step is a lifelong pursuit. It is a lifelong commitment to the Word of God - Readint it, hearing it, memorizing it, meditating on it, studying it, and living it out. We do all of this in the power of the Holy Spirit as we are changed from the inside out.
Are you looking for a Bible study to be a part of? Do you need help in understanding how to read the Bible? We would love to get you connected with someone who wants to study the Bible with you and we have a lot of resources that can help you in your lifelong pursuit in the Word of God. How can we help you take this crucial step?
SERVE
Another important step in the Christian walk is to find out where the Lord has gifted you and start using that gift in the body of Christ. The church is described as a body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and just like a physical body, a spiritual body is only as strong as its weakest parts. God has gifted every believer with a gift to use in order to build up His body. We all need to be using these gifts, if not, some members of the body are worn out for doing more than they should and others are left out for not being able to do what they should.
Here at Calvary Baptist, we want people to serve where they are gifted. We have many ministry opportunities for you to get involved in here, and if the Lord has burdened you for something that we don't currently have at our church, we would like to help you start it.
If you are a growing believer and are connected to Calvary, we want you to join in serving where you are gifted in the church. We would love to help you discover your gifting if you don't already know what God has gifted you in and we would like to get you plugged into a ministry that you are passionate about. Take your next step by talking with one of our pastors about how you might be able to use your gifts here at Calvary. Email Pastor Tucker or Pastor Greg to get started today!
MULTIPLY
The last step in the Christian journey is all about discipleship. The Bible makes it clear that growing believers serve the body of Christ and they make disciples. Jesus' parting statements to His disciples were for them to multiply themselves (Matthew 28:18-20). Making disciples requires a few things from the growing believer.
The first step to making disciples is going. We need to be purposeful in taking the good news of the gospel to other people. This happens on a personal level as we share our faith with friends, family, co-workers, roommates, and aquaintences. It also can happen at the church. Here at Calvary Baptist we seek to make connecting points with the community in order to reach outside of our walls with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you want an opportunity to reach out in our community, let us know. We will get you plugged into one of our events or if you have a great outreach idea, we would love to help you lead an effort to reach others with the gospel.
The Great Commission also talks about baptizing and teaching. If you notice, these are just the next steps for a young believer. The goal of multiplication or making disciples is to faithfully pass on the things you are learning in your own walk so they will be able to do the same (2 Timothy 2:2). Are you in the process of being discipled by a mature believer? Are you pouring your life into another believer that is just starting their walk? If not, who can you start investing in right now? What are the prayers you ought to be praying right now? If you need some direction in this area, please let us know and we will help you take another important step in your Christian walk.