We are so glad that you want to know God! Did you know that God desires to be in relationship with you? He made us, and the rest of creation, because he has an overabundance of perfect love to give; like a cup that keeps overflowing. If you want to know and experience God’s love, below are some simple steps to guide you into understanding and receiving this love that God has for you.
 

FIRST: Realize that you need God.
 
No matter how hard we strive to live a good, moral, or even perfect life, we still fall miserably short of being a good person. Day to day we make choices that hurt ourselves and others. This is because we are all sinners. The word "sin" is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark.” We all fall short of God's desire for us to be holy because we sin. The Bible says, "No one is good – not even one" (Romans 3:10 NLT). Although we fall miserably short of the mark, we do not need to be discouraged. It is possible to become who we are supposed to be with Jesus Christ.
 

SECOND: Recognize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you.
 
Sin created a barrier between us, sinners, and a God who is holy. It was a barrier that only God could remove, and thankfully one that he has removed. The Bible tells us, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). This is the Good News. God loves us so much that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, holy and sinless, to die on a cross, which was a punishment for sinners, so that we might be able to be in relationship with a holy and perfect God. It might seem ludicrous, but God did this because there is no better expression of love than someone taking your place when you least deserve it. 


THIRD: Repent of your sin.
 
Although Jesus made a way for us to be in relationship with God, we still sin and “miss the mark” daily. Jesus’ death and resurrection did not make us sinless, but gave us the gift of repentance. Now that the barrier is removed, we can pray to God, personally and intimately, and simply say “I’m sorry.” The Bible tells us, "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away" (Acts 3:19 NASB). There is no fancy prayer or lengthy to do list to seek forgiveness. It is no harder than what we make of it. All God wants is our heart of repentance to be sincere because he truly loves to forgive us. It is yet another aspect of being in relationship with a perfect God who loves us.


FOURTH: Receive Jesus Christ into your life.
 
Becoming a Christian is much more than belonging to a religion or following a set of rules. Being in relationship with God is having Jesus take precedence over our lives and take residence in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. In simpler terms, when we accept Jesus to be number one in our lives it changes everything about us for the better. We began to view the world around us the way Jesus does, and when we begin thinking the way he does it changes the way we act and the way we speak. Jesus’ perfect love rubs off on us, and so we desire not to sin, we desire to help others, we desire to be in constant communion with him, and we desire to love him the way he loves us. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth” (John 14:16-17 NLT). Another gift God has given us is the choice to allow him to be with us everywhere we go. He does this by sending us the Holy Spirit who will come and dwell in our hearts if we ask him to.

If you would like to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and experience this overwhelming perfect love, the final step is to tell him. He has made the way by destroying the barrier of sin; he has given the gift of repentance, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Now it is your turn to give. All you need to do is tell him you want to give him your heart. There are lots of ways to tell him, but if you need a little help here is a prayer you can pray:
 
Dear Lord Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have missed the mark in my life many times. I understand that I need you because there is nothing in my human power that I can do to save myself from my sin. I believe that you took my place and died on the cross for my sins, so that I might have a relationship with you. Right now, I am asking for the forgiveness of my sins, and I also want to give you my heart.  I confess that you are Lord and Savior of the world. Thank you for loving me and saving me. Amen.
 
If you sincerely prayed that prayer, the Holy Spirit is now dwelling in your heart! Your decision to follow Jesus Christ means that God has forgiven you and that when the world passes away you will spend eternity in heaven with him. The Bible tells us, “For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved" (Romans 10:10).

 

FIFTH: Reside in Community

Being in relationship with God does not mean everything will be easy here on out. We will still struggle with sin, hurt, pain, and everything else that makes life hard, but God will be there to comfort us and to love us. As if he hasn’t already given us enough, there is still another gift he has to offer, and that is the gift of being apart of the community of believers or “the body of Christ.” Praying, reading your Bible, and having a personal relationship with God is wonderful, but we can also be encouraged and strengthened and find new friendships and accountability when we serve and worship God along with other believers. Relationships with others is just another way we experience our loving God.
 
 

Is There More?

At South Coast Church we say YES! God has more for you to help you on your journey with him. God has graciously given us the Holy Spirit to help us and to empower us. In time, the Holy Spirit will lead you to make a public declaration before the world of your love for him through baptism by water. The Bible records Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist (Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 1:29-34), but more than mimicking Christ’s actions we are taking part in Christ’s death and resurrection. As you are immersed in water you take part in his death. Your old self is left behind. When you are raised from the waters, you take part in his resurrection, beginning a new life with him (Romans 6:4).

God still has yet another gift he wants to give us. As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, so does the power of God. The Bible teaches us that this empowering experience happened to the early church on the day of Pentecost, witnessed in the form of a wonderful prayer language (Act 2). This experience was the fulfillment of a promise that Jesus gave the church about empowerment and comfort (John 14:16; Acts 1:4-5,8). Many churches believe that this experience was only for biblical days during the life of the apostles, but at South Coast Church, and many other churches, we believe that the Holy Spirit still empowers us the way the early church was once empowered. All believers can expect to receive this prayer language, as it is a gift from God. Some believers receive it before others, but do not get discouraged. Continue to pray and ask God to bestow this gift upon you.

God has given us one last gift to help learn to love and understand him better. This gift is the Bible, the Word of God. At South Coast church we believe the Bible to be authoritative for our lives; even though it was written a long time ago it still guides us and instructs us to become better followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible is filled with examples of faith to follow, and examples of sin to stay away from. It is filled with history, prophecy, poems, songs, but most of all it helps us better understand the character and heart of the God we worship.