You Are Saved. Now What?

I have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I pray daily or almost daily and read my Bible. I even attend church regularly. More than once per day. Perhaps you do the same. I take part in the music ministry. I also build up, or edify others through my gift of teaching during Sunday School where I am one of four (4) teachers. I enjoy listening to the Word, whether it is preached or recorded on Bible cds. The Bible is still important to our culture and way of life. One can continue to learn from the Bible and share what you learn from it. Being involved in church and living the Christian life is important to me.

After some one has made a decision for Christ. They are considered saved. This is based on Romans 10:9. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. I learned early in life this truth. I accept and believe it. A great focus is placed on this. So how do you live life after you have been saved?

The early church began in Jerusalem, Israel in the upper room in the year 33 ad. This was the place where the Last Supper was held with Jesus and the 12 apostles in attendance. It is called the upper room because the upstairs is where the religious observances were held. The 11 apostles of Jesus and other followers totaling 120 persons tarried or waited and prayed for the promised power from on high, the Holy Ghost. During this time, Mathias, the twelfth apostle was chosen. He took the place of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus who took his own life shortly before the crucifixion of Christ.

Fifty (50) days after the ascension of Jesus back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to earth on day 50 to empower the 120 followers with God's unique power. This is the day that the church was born. The apostle Peter truly became the 'Rock' that day as he boldly preached about Jesus as some peopled mocked the unusual happenings they saw. His strong personality was fueled by the Spirit's power as he pointed out the sins of the ones who crucified Christ. After the Day of Pentecost, the church began to grow and expand.

After the beginning of the early church, attendees began to live out their new life. Many aligned themselves with congregations that held their gatherings in various places in and outside of Jerusalem. They lived together in communities and attended similar congregations. Each person gave money, possessions and time to operate the churches and meet the physical and spiritual needs of the church body. They discovered that each one had at least one spiritual gift that could be used in the service of God.

Modern day churches resemble the early church in worship styles and other details, such as scripture readings and in prayer. On Sunday mornings, many people still attend worship services. This is done as a regular part of life by many Christians.

You get up Sunday morning and go to church. As you arrive an usher is standing at the entrance to welcome you. He or she gives you a printed program of the order of worship. The church may also have information packets containing an ink pen, offering envelope, gospel tract and a vital statistic card. If you wish, you may give and offering and also fill out the card listing your name, address and telephone number. You give this information only if you want to be contacted by a church staff member. You may want to conduct your own interview of this church to make a decision about membership to this particular church. Your printed program has:

• Prayer and praise - you sing songs and pray to God asking him to bless the worship service and meet spiritual needs. (Invocation - asking God to be in the midst of the church services)
• Song selections - these are usually sung by the choir. Some people have congregational singing in the church at this time.
• Scriptures - passages read from the bible. They are taken from the Old and New Testaments
• Welcome and Announcements - the church secretary welcomes visitors to the church service and tells about the other activities for the week. Some churches have very few announcements made aloud. People who are interested in further happenings just read the programs announcements on their own.
• Offertory - giving to God is a part of worship. Many churches include this in the worship service. This is the time to give your money. There are, however, other times to give money, time or service.
• Altar prayer - People in church gather upfront and participate in prayer that's prayed by the minister or pastor of the church.
• Sermon preparation selection - this is sung by the choir or congregation before the sermon. This allows the congregants to get ready to 'hear from God' through the spoken word.
• Sermon - the spoken words. This is given by the minister or pastor of the church about a scripture passage read and studied from the Bible.
• Invitation or Invitation to Discipleship - this time is set aside allowing those who wish to join this particular church to do so. This is very important, because you decide at this point if you accept God's free gift. A time and date is set for you to participate in the service of Baptism. This is usually for first timers. Some people have taken the time to repeat their baptisms because of a new connection felt or better understanding of what to do this time around. This takes place in the adult years of some who were baptized as children.
• Communion or the Lord's Supper - In this case, a communion is performed monthly. Sometimes weekly in certain sects
• Benediction - this is the prayer blessing given by the pastor to the congregation at the close of the service.

In some church settings, on the day of your baptism, you are baptized and are given the Right Hand of Fellowship at the end of the service. This is a formality done for children and adults.

This is only one type of church service. There are a wide variety of church denominations that celebrate worship in different ways. Other types of programs are used depending on the church attended and the type of occasion from weddings to Church Anniversaries to other gatherings.

As some one who has a relationship with God, you look for ways to serve God by serving people. You find your niche, basically. Your ability to serve depends on what you do well or what you learn to do under the leadership of God. You continue in prayer and bible study. You do this privately or personally, as well as publicly with others. Retreats, small group encounters and Sunday school or bible study enable you to learn more about using scriptures in the bible to enrich your life and the life of others. Enlist the aid of fellow worshipers in discovering your talent or spiritual gift.

You share your time. Again you look for ways to be of service. This does take time out of your schedule. Various mission trips are planned through out the year to reach your community and those beyond. Mission trips also take place in other countries and on other continents. In the early days of the church in Jerusalem, the members took time to share with each other and have all things in common. Acts 6 tells us of a time in The Church where there was a problem involving the widows who lived at the time. What was put in to practice then is still in use today. Here is some background on this:

The people of Jerusalem:

• Hellenistic - Greek speaking populace in Jerusalem who heard the Gospel, accepted it and lived as part of the populace in Jerusalem. They had come from Judea to Jerusalem. They were more Greek in culture.

• Hebrews - Jews who lived in Jerusalem and were converted to Christianity. They spoke Aramaic.

These two groups lived together after the return of the Hellenistic people to Jerusalem. As the population grew, they experienced problems with getting their needs met. Many of the Hellenistic people felt that their widows were not being treated properly. They were being left out of the daily food distribution. In answer to the complaints of the widows, the apostles told the group of people to find seven men in the community to over see the administering of the distribution of food that was gleaned. These men were of good report or reputation in this community. Of course they were able to do this task properly. We should be willing to give of ourselves to our faith community and others. Let no one in need be left out.

You should always read the Bible in order to better understand it. Attending the activities that are geared to a better understanding of the Bible and how to apply it to our daily life will help in this regard. Don't neglect Bible study, Sunday (Church) School and special occasions, such as Vacation Bible School. Other examples of this are outings away from church set aside for specific groups (Seniors, men or women only). These events will strengthen you as you discover why you believe what you believe. These times of study can be very enriching. Taking time to go to a Christian book store is worth it. You can find a wide variety of extra-biblical sources to aid in the study of God's word and in the study of prayer as well as other aspects of the Christian life. Books written by various authors are in abundance and can enlighten you as you read and understand their journeys and perspectives on the Christian life. Don't forget to spend time in prayer, this opens you up spiritually. Enjoy that connection with God. Honor him by worshiping him in spirit and truth. Worship and serve with joy as you help others through various ministries in the church and in the world.