Five Things...

I like things in groups of five.
I have five fingers.
There are five days to the work week.
I can usually remember 5 points.

So for the next FIVE days I post FIVE things that can grow your faith and our church.
These are going to be simple things.
Things that we within your power to do.
Things that you can start doing immediately.
Today I start with the basics...

"Five Things To Grow Your Relationship With God"
I think it goes without saying that when someone makes the leap of faith to become a Christian, they want to grow in their faith.  So here are five basic things you can do.
Five things that if you DO them, your faith will grow.
Five things that if you DO NO DO them, your faith will most certainly shrink.
Five things that many who say they are Christian are still not doing.


First: WORSHIP GOD!
When Christians say going to worship is optional, they are saying that worshiping God is optional.  They are functionally choosing to put other things before God.  The real value of corporate worship is in the long haul.  It's much less about the emotion or experience of one particular worship service.  It's about shaping your whole life to worship God.  According to the bible, that just can't happen without making worship at church priority number one!

Second: Invite and Bring someone to church
Inviting others to worship grows our faith because it's a little scary, causes us to pray a little more, and raises questions that we might find difficult to answer.  But until you start actively inviting people to church, you won't experience significant growth as a Christian.
Sometimes inviting a friend means making the invitation once, then letting it sit for a while, while you pray for them.  Sometimes it means nagging them every week!  Sometimes it means they start coming with you every week!

Third: Give
There is no way to deny it, no way to avoid it, no way to argue against it from the bible.  Giving grows our faith.  It aligns our worship with God and our values in the world.  The hardest easiest thing to do to grow our faith is just taking some of that cold, hard cash and giving it over to God.   I could give a hundred proofs and scriptures, but at the end of the argument the command is still the same:
Give sacrificially to God! (Check out our giving page which gives the basic biblical teaching.)

Fourth: Book an Appointment
Maybe first thing.  Maybe during your morning break.  Maybe as a family after dinner. 
But start meeting with God everyday in bible reading a prayer.  Keep it simple!  Get a children's story bible if you kids are young.  Or get yourself a study bible.  (I recommend the NIV Study Bible or the ESV Study Bible.  Both have numerous reading plans.)
Start with the Gospel of John.  Then Acts.  Then Romans.  Read a chapter from Proverbs every day of the month (there are 31 chapters in Proverbs).  Read a Psalm each day as a prayer. 
In your study time just ask three questions of the bible: What is it saying? What does it mean?  How can I apply this to my life?  Sometimes the application is a truth to be embraced, other times an action to be done.  You can figure it out.

Fifth: Go Home
Go to a home group.  We call them Connections Groups.
It's a big step, and it can feel really awkward at first.  But being a part of a group of Christians from a variety of ages and stages and backgrounds in life is part of what believers do.  We talk, we pray, we read the bible.  We grow our faith, we serve each other, we find ways to serve our community.  It's a beautiful thing.

Tomorrow:
"Five Things that Would Transform Your Worship Experience"