Follow Jesus

You don’t need to know everything about God before you start following Jesus. What is helpful is if you talk to God.

• Thank God that your relationship with Him can be fixed because of Jesus. He went through a whole lot so that you can have eternal life.
• Be honest. Tell God that you have made mistakes which have kept you far from him. Tell him that you’re sorry.
• Ask God to help you change to be more like Jesus – to love God and love others.

Tell someone else

Tell someone else. It’s a great idea to tell someone that you’ve decided to follow Jesus. Why?

• They will want to celebrate with you.
• They can help you as you begin your amazing adventure.
• You could tell your parents, your camp leader, someone from your church or kids club or your Pastoral Care Support Worker at school.

Join a church

Join a church. For over 100 years CE’s motto has been ‘For Christ and the Church’. Following Jesus sounds like an amazing adventure – and it is. But does it have to involve this church stuff? What’s with that? Well, yes, the two do go together.

The Bible describes the Church as “the body of Christ” and also as “the bride of Christ”. That’s about as close as you can get! Right at the heart of the gospel (the good news about God’s kingdom) is an invitation to join the family of God. You just can’t be adopted into His family and avoid your brothers and sisters.

What’s more, one of the main ways in which God will love you, care for you and build you up is through others in the church. We’re all parts of the body. If you’re a foot then being connected to the mouth, the eye and the ankle is going to help you go a lot further!

So Christianity has always and will always be a team sport. It’s not always easy but it’s incredibly rich if you persevere. That’s why one of CE’s 5 core practices is the practice of Christian community.

Finding a church

Finding a church. If you’re following someone you have to know where they are going. To find out where Jesus is going why not spend time with people who are already following Him?

1. Don’t just shop around for the best deal. What’s easiest for you isn’t necessarily what’s best for you. Easy, convenient church that doesn’t ask much of you is unlikely to turn you into a spiritual giant!
2. You’ll be tempted to look for a church that looks like you – that’s natural! But instead ask the question: Does it look like Jesus? That’s more important!
3. Choose a church that has a healthy connection with other churches – that is, the wider Church. Together we all make up the body of Christ.
4. Choose a church that is going to involve you as a player, not just a spectator. To really grow, you’ll need to do more than just watch and listen (though you’ll want to do plenty of that) – you’ll need to build some muscle by contributing too and being used by God to serve and bless others.
5. Choose a church that holds closely to Truth. Healthy churches know what they believe even when it’s not popular. They open the Bible a lot and let it shape all they do.
6. Finally, but by no means least, choose a church that prioritizes the lost and the poor like God does. A church that only thinks about and cares for itself is not like Jesus. Ask yourself “If I bring a non-Christian friend here, will they get the kind of welcome Jesus wants to give them? And like Jesus, will they make the first move – going to people who have yet thought of coming to them?”

Find a Bible

Find a Bible. It’s God’s story of how he rescued a broken world – and our rescuer is Jesus.

The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne–everything–to rescues the ones he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

Talk to God

Talk to God. Have a conversation with God – talk and listen. You learn a lot about someone by talking to them.

Tell yourself

Tell yourself. It might seem a bit silly, but writing a letter or drawing a picture about why you decided to follow Jesus and how you feel at this moment can help you if you ever feel lost again.

Join God in his work

Join God in his work. When you’re an apprentice you follow your boss around, learning on the job. Share life with people who follow Jesus. Read God’s Story of restoration. Talk with God, and listen to him. And as you become an apprentice of Jesus put what you learn into practice.

Still not sure and want to talk to someone?

Get in touch with us and we’ll do our best to help.

If you are at school you might find it helpful to talk to your Christian Pastoral Support Worker or chaplain.