New Believers Guide | Eagle Brook Association

This guide is a series of weekly emails sent for twelve weeks. Each email includes a short message regarding common questions that new Christians typically have, and it will provide them with tips and resources along the way.

A Note From The Pastor

Hey << Test First Name >>!

First of all, way to go! Whether this is a first-time decision or a recommitment to follow Jesus, know that God loves you, desires this relationship with you, and has an incredible plan for your future. As a church, we couldn’t be more excited about your decision.

Now that you’ve put your trust in Jesus, you may be wondering what to do next. A great first step is the New Believers Guide. This resource will take you through the basics of how to grow in your faith—through Bible reading and prayer. You should receive the first email next week. My encouragement to you is to set aside time to read through the emails each week, watch the video(s), check out the resources, and take the steps provided.

Next, our pastors are here to help! You can expect to hear from a pastor at our campus in the next few days. My team is here to celebrate with you and be a resource for you going forward.

Once more, a huge congratulations on choosing to follow Christ. Your sins are forgiven; your new life has begun, and your eternity is secure. What a great day this is for you. If you have any questions along the way, reply to this email or give our office a call at 651.429.9227. We are committed to helping you on this journey.

Praying for you,

____

Name
Title
Church

Week 1

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Way to go on taking a step to invest time into learning how to grow in your relationship with Jesus! Faith in Jesus is less of what the world calls religion and more about a relationship. Think of someone you know who has been married a long time. If you ask them about how their relationship has grown over the years, you will likely hear them say their love for each other has deepened and that they love each other even more today than they did on their wedding day. That’s what it’s like with God—when we invest in our relationship with Him, we grow more and more in love with Him with each passing day.

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to spiritual growth. The important thing is that you continue taking steps every day to grow in your faith. As you begin this 12-week journey, take some time this week to watch the two videos below. They’ll help you understand our hope for you as you begin this journey and what happened when you made the decision to follow Jesus.

What We Want for You (6 min.)
In the same way that a plant needs the right environment to grow, our hearts can either be a rich or difficult environment for faith to grow. We want you to have a heart like rich soil so that your roots of faith grow down deep and your life has an impact on this world that produces a harvest of meaningful relationships.

What Just Happened To Me? (4 min.)
So, you made a decision to follow Jesus. You might be wondering, “What just happened to me?” Nothing weird is going on and you definitely don’t need to start acting weird. Just be yourself and allow God to direct your life on this new and exciting journey you’ve begun with Him. To help you get started, Jason will answer a few questions that people who are new to their faith often ask.

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:14

—Eagle Brook Church

P.S. Here are a couple resources for you of the scripture that was referenced in the two videos. Resource 1 // Resource 2

Week 2

Hey, ________.

Did you know that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book in the world? Its global sales and distribution exceed 17.75 million copies and it has been translated into 349 languages. Isn’t that crazy? The 2017 State of the Bible survey, put out by the American Bible Society, reported that 87 percent of American households own at least one Bible, but only 37 percent read the Bible on a daily or weekly basis and another 32 percent reported that they never read their Bibles. A lot of people are under the assumption that the Bible is dated and doesn’t apply to today’s society. Others say they don’t have time, don’t know where to start, or feel it’s confusing. So why should we read the Bible? Why is it so important to the life of a believer?

Check out this short clip from Retired Senior Pastor Bob Merritt’s message series titled Text: Get the Message on why we should read the Bible.

The Bible is God’s primary way of communicating with us. In essence, it’s God’s love letter to us. By reading the Bible, we begin to learn more and more about who God is—His character, personality, and passion to restore the world He created—and about who we are as a follower of Christ. It aligns our hearts with His, convicts us of the sin in our lives, and teaches us to live in obedience to Him. Reading God’s Word gives us wisdom beyond our years, it strengthens our souls, and it guides our lives. No other book in the history of the world has the transforming power that is found in the Bible.

As you begin your journey of faith, make it a priority to fill your heart with God’s Word every day.

—Eagle Brook Church

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

Taking it Deeper: The Bible is much more than a compilation of disconnected, individual thoughts—it's a story. It has a beginning, middle and end. It has a lavish setting, fascinating characters and an intriguing plot. Check out this video from The Bible Project (5 min.) for a quick snapshot of the grander story of the Bible.

Week 3

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Did you know that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book in the world? Its global sales and distribution exceed 17.75 million copies and it has been translated into 349 languages. Isn’t that crazy? The 2017 State of the Bible survey, put out by the American Bible Society, reported that 87 percent of American households own at least one Bible, but only 37 percent read the Bible on a daily or weekly basis and another 32 percent reported that they never read their Bibles. A lot of people are under the assumption that the Bible is dated and doesn’t apply to today’s society. Others say they don’t have time, don’t know where to start, or feel it’s confusing. So why should we read the Bible? Why is it so important to the life of a believer?

Check out this short clip from Retired Senior Pastor Bob Merritt’s message series titled Text: Get the Message on why we should read the Bible.

The Bible is God’s primary way of communicating with us. In essence, it’s God’s love letter to us. By reading the Bible, we begin to learn more and more about who God is—His character, personality, and passion to restore the world He created—and about who we are as a follower of Christ. It aligns our hearts with His, convicts us of the sin in our lives, and teaches us to live in obedience to Him. Reading God’s Word gives us wisdom beyond our years, it strengthens our souls, and it guides our lives. No other book in the history of the world has the transforming power that is found in the Bible.

As you begin your journey of faith, make it a priority to fill your heart with God’s Word every day.

—Eagle Brook Church

Week 4

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Last week we covered why we should read the Bible, but now you may be wondering how to read the Bible or where to even start. Here are a couple of quick facts about the layout of the Bible:

The Bible has 66 books and is broken up into two main sections—the Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament is a compilation of stories about God interacting with His people prior to Jesus coming to earth. The New Testament starts with the life of Jesus and the beginning of the early church.
Each book is divided into chapters and verses. If you're looking up John 3:16, John is the book title (which you can find in the table of contents), the 3 is the chapter, and 16 is the verse.
The first four books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—are called the Gospels. The authors of the Gospels were either eye witnesses to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus or closely connected to Him. Matthew and John were two of Jesus’ disciples. Mark and Luke were both companions of the Apostle Paul. Paul, known as Saul at the time, persecuted the Christians before becoming a follower of Christ. As a Christian, Paul partnered with the disciples to spread the Gospel and he ended up writing most of the letters to the churches in the New Testament.

Watch this short clip from Senior Pastor Jason Strand’s message "Read It" for an overview on how to read the Bible.

To help you get started, we’ve created a Bible Reading Plan just for you! Over the next four weeks, we’re going to read through the gospel of John. Each week, we’ll send the week’s Bible Reading Plan that includes a devotional for each passage. Devotionals allow for you to dig into the context of the scripture for the day, provide a few ways to apply what you read, and end with a short prayer.

–Eagle Brook Church

Week 5

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Way to go! You are already one-third of the way through the 12-Week Guide and we hope the time you've spent so far has been valuable as you've learned about spiritual growth and spending time in God’s Word. We are so proud of you for investing in your relationship with Jesus—developing these habits now will build a solid foundation for spiritual growth in the future.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” No matter what book of the Bible you flip to, if you read the introduction to the book, you will read about the author. In fact, there are approximately 40 different authors in the Bible.

But if it was written by humans, what does “inspired by God” actually mean? The Bible being inspired by God means that God used human authors to write scripture, but the content came from and was guided by God Himself. There are marks of both human authorship and divine authorship in Scripture. The language, style, grammar, and references to historical sources are all marks of the human perspective, but Jesus Himself teaches that Scripture is from God and He has come to fulfill it (e.g. Luke 24:44).

Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

This Bible’s divine authorship proves its trustworthiness, and as God’s Word, the Bible is our ultimate authority in regards to how to live and how to engage with the world around us. We all approach Scripture with preconceived opinions, thoughts, and ideas about different things. But the challenge for all of us is to let God’s Word speak to us and transform our hearts and minds—to let it shape our lives versus bending Scripture to fit our lifestyle as it is now. What area of your life do you need God to speak into and transform today?

–Eagle Brook Church

P.S. Here's your Week 2 Bible Reading Plan.

Week 6

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Stories are powerful. They connect to our hearts in a way that statistics, facts, and numbers don’t, and they propel us to action. So, when we look at the Bible as the story that it really is, it connects with our hearts in a new way. It tells us the story of God—His relationship with creation and how He’s working to bring all of creation back to Him.

All stories follow a common pattern—characters are introduced in a setting, there’s a problem, the characters struggle to overcome the problem, the story comes to a climax, and then there’s resolution.

The Bible is no different. It presents a story that follows this same pattern:

Creation (Genesis 1-2)—Characters: God, Adam and Eve (humanity), and Satan. Setting: The Garden of Eden
Problem (Genesis 3-11)—Sin is introduced and the world spirals out of control.
Redemption (Genesis 12–Revelation 20)—God is working to redeem the world and bring people back into relationship with Him. He does this by sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
Resolution (Revelation 21-22)—In the end, Jesus comes back and Satan is defeated. There’s healing and restoration and God’s eternal reign begins.

Now, suppose you were looking for a good story to read. When you arrive at the bookstore, it’s usually organized based on the type or genre of literature—comedy, drama, non-fiction, fiction, romance, tragedy. The list goes on. Often, when we think of the Bible, we mistakenly view it as one genre. But the Bible is actually a compilation of writings, full of multiple kinds of genres—historical narrative (Genesis), biography (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), wisdom (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), poetry (Psalms, Song of Solomon), letters (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians), prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah), and apocalyptic (Daniel, Revelation). And each of these genres should each be understood differently from one another. For example, to equate a science fiction book with a medical text would cause a lot of problems. Therefore, to help accurately understand and apply God’s Word to our lives, consider each book’s genre, purpose, and style. One easy way to do this is to use a study Bible and read the introduction to the book of the Bible you are about to read.

The Bible was written by 40 different authors over thousands of years. These 40 authors shared their story using an assortment of styles and genres, but each individual account fits into God’s grander story, as told in Bible.

So, what’s the point of knowing the pattern and genres of the Bible? The purpose of reading the Bible is to grow in our faith and in our relationship with God—to get to know God so that we can become more like Him. Recognizing the grander story of the Bible and identifying the different genres helps us understand the true meaning of what was being written, in its correct context, so that we can accurately apply it to our lives.

The best part is, God’s story isn’t complete! He continues to work out His plan to redeem the world. And, guess what? YOU are a part of that story.

–Eagle Brook Church

P.S. Here's your Week 3 Bible Reading Plan.

Week 7

Hey << Test First Name >>!

God invites us to spend time with Him on a regular basis. There are many ways to do this through spiritual disciplines and practices, but the key is in building the relationship between us and Jesus. When we get to know Jesus personally and connect with Him on a daily basis, we’re able to understand God’s heart better. We hope you’ve been enjoying the Bible Reading Plan the last three weeks and that you’ve grown deeper in your faith as you learn more about Jesus’ life and develop a habit of spending time with Him each day.

If you remember from earlier in this guide, Senior Pastor Jason Strand shared some helpful tips on how to read the Bible. He taught us that having a time, place, and plan is the best way to develop the discipline of spending time with God daily. If it’s not scheduled and we don’t have a plan, many of us lose track of time, forget about it, push it off, or dismiss it altogether.

What time works best for you? First thing when you get up in the morning? Your lunch break at work? Before you go to bed? It doesn’t matter what time or place you choose—there’s nothing more spiritual about having your devotions in the morning than at night. What matters is that you choose to do it. So, pick a time, grab a highlighter or pen, and designate a spot where you commit to meet God each day.

One way you can get the most out of your time when reading the Bible is a journaling method called SAP, which stands for Scripture, Application, and Prayer:

Scripture: When you read a passage of Scripture, focus on and write down one key thought from that Scripture in your journal.
Application: Take time to reflect on how you can put what you just read into practice. What does this verse mean? Write down some thoughts on how you can apply it to your life. The most important thing is to ask yourself: “How will I be different today because of what I’ve just read?”
Prayer: Write a prayer stemming from what you’ve just read. Then pray it silently or out loud.

The Gospel of John devotions from these past few weeks have been formatted to reflect this same pattern as an example for you—each devotion outlined the context of the passage, reflected on how you can apply the Scripture to your life, and ends with a prayer. It’s a simple yet effective way to dig into Scripture and let it speak into your life each day.

–Eagle Brook Church

P.S. Here's your Week 4 Bible Reading Plan.

Week 8

Hey << Test First Name >>!

We hope you've enjoyed the Gospel of John reading plan over the past four weeks and begun to develop a habit of spending time with God daily. Ready for more ways to keep reading the Bible and staying connected to God?

The Eagle Brook app is filled with fresh ways to continue growing in your relationship with God. When you download the app, you can access Bible reading plans, monthly devotionals, weekend extras, original music, and lots more! And when you enable the "Grow in Faith" notification found in settings, you'll be the first to know when new content comes to the app.

Using Eagle Brook's reading plan tools is just one way you can spend time in God’s Word. There are numerous resources out there for you to use as well. Whether you're interested in choosing from a variety of topical or book related reading plans or one that takes you through the whole Bible, check out these resources:

YouVersion Bible Reading Plans—Choose from more than 1,200 Bible versions in over 900 languages for your phone, tablet, and computer. You can highlight or bookmark your favorite verses and browse multiple reading plans and devotionals to help you engage with God’s Word every day.
The Bible Project—The Bible Project reading plan takes you through the entire Bible in one year by dividing it up into sixteen chapters that are organized in semi-chronological order. It also includes one Psalm a day and a short, animated video every time you start a new book of the Bible. Watch the Read Scripture video to learn more on how to best engage with this reading plan. Even if you don’t go through their reading plan, bookmark thebibleproject.com and watch their videos for a summary of each book and to help you understand some key biblical themes.

When starting a new Bible reading plan you'll want to pick a good Bible translation. The spectrum of translations range from word-for-word, like the King James version, to thought-for-thought, such as The Message. The New Living Translation (NLT), New International Version (NIV), and English Standard Version (ESV), are most commonly used at Eagle Brook and recommended for attenders because they're in the middle of the translation spectrum with a good mix of both.

Our hope in providing you with these resources is that you find the best one that helps you connect with God on a deeper level each day. If you ever have any questions, don’t hesitate to respond to this email or connect with the staff at your campus.

–Eagle Brook Church

P.S. Here is a helpful resource for how to read the Bible using the SAP method.

Week 9

Hey << Test First Name >>!

If you remember from the video in week two, Senior Pastor Jason Strand encouraged us to commit to listening to biblical teaching as one of two primary ways to grow in our faith. The obvious way to do this is to regularly attend church on the weekend, but another way is through listening to the teaching of other pastors and leaders through podcasts, Bible studies, or videos.

To make this easier for you, we've partnered with RightNow Media, an online video library that allows you access to thousands of Bible-based resources from great leaders, teachers, and pastors right in your living room—and it's completely free! You can watch these videos from your phone, tablet, and computer, or stream them through devices like Roku and Smart TV.

We’d like to invite you to create an account. Click here to register and log in, or learn more by visiting eaglebrookchurch.com/rightnowmedia. When you log in, you'll find tons of resources to browse through, including a special channel created for those who are new to their faith.

You don’t have to go through these studies alone. A lot of our attenders use this resource within the context of a small group. God created us to be in relationships—both with Him and through authentic relationships with other people. And we believe that transformation happens best when we have people in our lives who encourage, sharpen, and challenge us to become more like Jesus.

We encourage attenders to connect in their campus community by joining a group, serving, or even just taking the initiative to say hello to someone new in church. We desire for each person to be known and to understand that church is not about a building but about the people.

We’d love to help you get connected. To learn more about groups, check out eaglebrookchurch.com/groups. If you have any questions about groups or other ways to meet people at church, please email us.

–Eagle Brook Church

Week 10

Hey << Test First Name >>!

A couple weeks ago, we talked about the value of connecting in community through small groups. Well another great way to connect with others at your campus and surround yourself with other believers is to start serving.

In Galatians 5:13, the Bible states, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” When you serve, you are following Jesus’ example and fulfilling your purpose to love God and others. We serve because, even as the Son of God, Jesus served. He loved and cared for others and went above and beyond—even to death—so that people would see God’s incredible love and acceptance of them.

It’s our desire to see every person live out the value of serving by leveraging how God has gifted and wired them. Whether you have lots of time to volunteer each week or only a few hours every once in a while, consider making the kind of difference that only you can make. Because when you use your unique spiritual gifts, transformation—in our families, church, and community—inevitably follows.

Here are three ways you can get connected to serving at Eagle Brook. We’d encourage you to do one of the following this week:

Take an assessment to discover your gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12:7, we learn that, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” As a believer, you have a spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to every believer when they put their faith in Christ. These gifts are different than strengths or passions, but help us to find our sweet spot based on how God has wired us.
Talk to someone. Contact us to find out what might be a good first place for you to try serving. You can also ask about shadowing a volunteer role before making a commitment.
Skim the opportunities to serve at Eagle Brook here. You can filter serving roles by ministry areas or find a serving role that’s associated with one of your top five gifts.

Not only is there joy from giving love away and doing what God wants you to, but you will grow in your faith, develop relationships with others on your team, and be more connected and cared for. By the way, there’s no need to be a Bible expert to start serving. All you need is a willingness to create a welcoming environment where attenders feel valued. Hopefully this was done for you when you first came to Eagle Brook and now through serving, you have the opportunity to do it for someone else.

One of the greatest incentives to serve others is to recognize that Jesus Christ has a vast, unconditional love for you. As you begin to grasp this love, it will motivate you to want to serve others as an expression of gratitude to Jesus and all He’s done for you.

–Eagle Brook Church

Week 11

Take an assessment to discover your gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12:7, we learn that, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” As a believer, you have a spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to every believer when they put their faith in Christ. These gifts are different than strengths or passions, but help us to find our sweet spot based on how God has wired us.
Talk to someone. Contact us to find out what might be a good first place for you to try serving. You can also ask about shadowing a volunteer role before making a commitment.
Skim the opportunities to serve at Eagle Brook here. You can filter serving roles by ministry areas or find a serving role that’s associated with one of your top five gifts.

Week 12

Hey << Test First Name >>!

The moment of a new beginning is irresistibly exciting for everyone who sees it and gets to be a part of it. Whether you’re beginning a relationship with Jesus for the very first time or are recommitting your life to Him, you’re beginning a new chapter of life with Christ. Your adventure is just getting started and we want you to develop a firm foundation as you take next steps in your faith.

Check out this video from Senior Pastor Jason Strand to learn what next steps he suggests to help you develop a firm foundation as you experience your first year in Christ: What Does The First Year Look Like? (4 min).

We’ve talked about many of these steps over the past 12 weeks, but today we’d like to focus on one in particular—baptism.

Baptism is a symbol of our commitment to Christ—just like a wedding ring is a symbol of the covenant between a husband and a wife. And much like a wedding is a formal ceremony where the bride and groom profess their love and commitment to each other in front of family and friends, baptism is the public declaration of your faith and your relationship with Jesus.

In Mathew 28:19-20, Jesus says to His disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Throughout scripture we’re taught to live a life of obedience—to back up our faith with actions—so that we grow closer in our relationship with God and live a life that points others to Him. Baptism is the first step for those who choose to follow Christ. For more information about baptism and to register, click here.

As this 12-Week New Believer guide comes to an end, pick one or two of the steps Jason suggested as a starting point and then map out a plan to engage in all five within your first year. You can find a bunch of links and resources related to your next step by visiting our website.

–Eagle Brook Church

P.S. View this link to access and print your first year plan.

Wrapping Up

Hey << Test First Name >>!

Congratulations on completing the 12-Week New Believers Guide! We hope that over the last three months this guide has helped you build a solid foundation as you grow daily in your relationship with Jesus. Keep learning, growing, and pursuing Him! There’s so much more to learn, but we hope to have equipped you with some tools and resources to help you start well.

Here are three final things we’d encourage you to do this week as we wrap us this guide:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE
We’d love to hear about your experience with the 12-Week New Believers Guide and how we can make it better. Click here to fill out a brief survey. Your feedback will help us to better serve and support other new believers in the future.

SHARE YOUR STORY
If you haven’t had a chance to share your story with us, click here to submit it! We’d love to hear how you came to know Jesus and how he has been working in your life!

ASK QUESTIONS
Everyone has questions about their faith, the Bible, prayer, and so much more. Perhaps, over the past 12 weeks, something has sparked a thought or question that you’d love to dig in to more. We’d love to help you and talk through what has been on your heart. Simply reply to this email and we’ll be in touch.

Another great resource you can use to explore your questions is through a video series called ALPHA. This series explores the basics of the Christian faith. Each video session looks at a different question that people have about faith. It’s just an open, informal, and honest space to explore and discuss life’s big questions. You can stream all the video sessions online for free, but what would be even better is to gather a group of people and watch them together.

Lastly, look around you. Who can be a continued support system for you on this new journey? And who can you reach for Christ and invite to church? You now know the Gospel—the Good News—of Jesus Christ! Share it with those around you and let’s build His Kingdom together.

–Eagle Brook Church