Something significant just happened. Whether you made a decision to follow Jesus for the first time, or you've recently come back to faith, you are at the beginning of the most important journey of your life.
This booklet is your guide to what comes next. It's not complicated. It's not a list of rules. It's simply an introduction to the basics of following Jesus — what it means, what it looks like every day, and how to keep going.
At Shoreline, we exist for three things: to Know God, to Find Life, and to Make a Difference. Everything in these pages flows from that vision. Take it one chapter at a time. At the end of each one you'll find a single practical step you can take right away.
We are glad you're here. Now let's get started.
When you said yes to Jesus — whether that happened recently or you're taking that step right now — something real and permanent changed. You weren't just making a personal decision or signing up for a religion. You were born again.
Jesus told a man named Nicodemus, a respected religious leader, that unless a person is born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus was confused — how can someone be born a second time? Jesus explained: this is a spiritual birth. Something new comes to life inside you that wasn't there before.
Here's the honest truth that makes the good news incredibly good: every one of us was born separated from God. Not because God rejected us, but because of sin — the choices we make that fall short of God's perfect standard. Sin leads to death, and there was nothing we could do on our own to fix that gap.
God loved us too much to leave us there. So He sent Jesus — His own Son — to live the perfect life we couldn't live, and to die in our place, paying the full price for everything we've ever done wrong. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. That changes everything.
Grace is not a transaction. It's not something God gives you once and then steps back to see how you do. Grace is the ongoing story of what God is doing in you from the moment you said yes to Jesus.
It started before you did anything right. While you were still far from God, His grace reached down and found you. You didn't earn it, you didn't deserve it, and you couldn't have manufactured it. He simply loved you and made a way. That grace saved you.
And then something else happened. The moment you received Jesus, God gave you a new name and a new identity. You are no longer defined by your past, your failures, or your worst moments. You are forgiven, righteous, and fully accepted — not because of who you are, but because of who Jesus is. That same grace that saved you is now the foundation of everything you are.
But grace didn't stop there. The Bible says in Titus 2:11–12 that the grace of God teaches us — it trains us to say no to the things that were destroying us and yes to the life we were made for. You don't have to white-knuckle your way into a better life. Grace is doing the teaching from the inside out.
And because grace is a good teacher, it never leaves you to apply the lessons alone. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now lives in you, giving you the actual power to live what grace is teaching. You are not on your own. You were never meant to be.
This is the story grace tells in every person who says yes to Jesus. It finds you, it transforms you, it teaches you, and it carries you. The seven practices in this booklet are not things you do to earn more grace. They are simply the rhythms of someone who has been caught up in that story and is learning to live fully inside it.
The moment you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, these truths became permanently yours:
Your sins are totally forgiven. God is no longer counting your failures against you. The record has been cleared — completely and permanently.
The Holy Spirit has come to take up residence inside you. He is your guide, your counselor, and your source of strength. You are never alone again.
You are no longer separated from God. Because of Jesus, you are forgiven, accepted, and fully loved — not because of what you've done, but because of what He's done.
God's Word is filled with guarantees for your life — His faithfulness, His provision, His purposes. You now have an inheritance to draw on every day.
You have been born into the family of God. You have a Heavenly Father and brothers and sisters all around the world. You were not designed to do this alone.
You have a brand new identity in Christ. You are no longer defined by your past. God has prepared good works for you in advance — your life now has eternal direction and meaning.
Heaven is your home. This life is not the end of the story. Everything God has promised is waiting, and the best is still to come.
Once you've given your life to Jesus, the Bible is clear about what comes next: get baptized. Baptism is not what saves you — Jesus already did that. But it is the first public declaration of what has happened inside you.
The word "baptism" comes from the Greek word baptizo, meaning to immerse. When you go under the water, it symbolizes the death of your old life — the person you were before Jesus. When you come back up, it symbolizes resurrection — new life in Him. It's the same picture Paul describes in Romans 6:4.
Every baptism in the New Testament happened after a person made a personal decision to follow Jesus. It was never delayed. If you haven't been baptized since making that decision, talk to someone at Shoreline — we would love to celebrate that moment with you.
The most common word used in the New Testament to describe people who walk with Jesus is not "believer" — it's "disciple." A disciple is someone who actively follows Jesus, learns from Him, and shapes their life around Him.
That's what this booklet is about. Not just believing — but following. And following Jesus, it turns out, is the most alive you will ever feel.
A follower of Jesus orients their life around three things: being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus does.
Before anything else, following Jesus is about knowing God personally. Not knowing about Him — but actually spending time with Him, talking to Him, and letting His Word shape who you are. The three practices in this section are the foundation of your spiritual life. Everything else grows from here.
Prayer is not a religious ritual. It's a conversation with a Father who loves you and genuinely wants to hear from you.
One of the most remarkable things about being a follower of Jesus is this: you now have direct access to God. You don't need a priest to speak on your behalf. You don't need to have your life together first. You can talk to Him right now, exactly as you are.
Prayer is simply conversation with God. You talk to Him. He speaks to you. It doesn't have to be formal or use special language. God is your Heavenly Father — you can come to Him the way a child comes to a parent they trust completely.
There's no single right way to pray, but here is a simple framework to help you get started:
God wants to hear all of it — the big prayers about your family, your finances, your health, your future. And the small ones too. If it matters to you, it matters to Him.
Prayer is not just talking — it's also listening. God still speaks today. Not usually in an audible voice, but through His Word, through a quiet inner prompting, through wise people in your life, through the peace or unease you feel about a decision.
Learning to recognize God's voice takes time. Here's what helps most: spend regular time in the Bible. Scripture is how God has spoken most clearly and consistently to His people for thousands of years, and it is still how He tunes your ear to hear Him in the everyday. Stay connected to other believers, and pay attention to the promptings you sense. A good filter: God will never lead you somewhere that contradicts His Word or His character.
Worship isn't only what happens during a song at church. It's also the daily decision to give God first place in every area of your life. In the rhythm of your personal time with God, worship is one of the most powerful habits you can build.
True worship is a posture, not a program. It's the ongoing surrender of your whole life to God — your relationships, your finances, your ambitions, your fears. It's saying, every single day: "God, you are first. Not just on Sunday — in everything."
Think of it this way: you have given Jesus your heart. Worship — even in a quiet moment alone — is the daily act of giving Him every room that goes with it.
Worship is easy when things are going well. The real test is what you do when life is difficult — when the answer hasn't come, when you're afraid, when things feel unfair.
The Bible is full of people who chose to worship God in hard circumstances — and found that it changed them. Worship shifts your focus from the size of your problem to the greatness of the God who is with you. It doesn't always change your circumstances immediately, but it always changes you.
There will be seasons when worship is an act of pure faith rather than feeling. Do it anyway. It is always the right response. Sometimes the hardest season isn't a crisis — it's just a stretch where God feels distant and your faith feels thin. That's normal. It doesn't mean something is wrong with you or with God. The Psalms are full of people who felt exactly the same way. Keep showing up. The feelings tend to follow the faithfulness, not the other way around.
Here's something worth knowing at the start: when you say yes to Jesus, you step into a story that has an enemy. The Bible is honest about this. In Ephesians 6, Paul describes a real spiritual battle — not against people, but against forces that would rather you stayed disconnected from God. This isn't meant to scare you. Jesus has already won the decisive victory. But it does mean that some of the resistance you feel — the pull toward old habits, the sudden doubts, the days when prayer feels like talking to a wall — is not random. Don't be surprised by it. Don't mistake it for God being absent. The answer is always the same: stay close to Him, stay in community, and remember who you are.
The most important habit you can build as a new follower of Jesus is a daily time alone with God — and Scripture sits right at the heart of it. It doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to happen.
Find a time and a place. Bring your Bible. Read a little. Talk to God about what you read. Listen. Even ten minutes a day will begin to change you in ways you won't fully see coming.
This daily meeting with God is not about earning His approval — you already have it. It's about deepening a relationship with the person who loves you most, and letting His Word shape how you see everything else.
If you've never read the Bible before, start with the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It was written specifically to help people understand who Jesus is and why He matters. Read it slowly. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you're reading — He will.
After John, try the letters of 1 John, then the Gospel of Mark. As you grow, read through the rest of the New Testament.
Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. Here are simple ways to let it do its work in you:
There is something that happens when God's people gather together that cannot be replicated anywhere else.
Private worship is vital. But there is something that happens when the body of Christ gathers together that simply cannot be replicated on your own. The Bible describes God inhabiting the praises of His people — there is a presence, a weight, an atmosphere in corporate worship that is unique to the gathered church.
This isn't just a comforting idea. Scripture records moments when the physical atmosphere shifted during corporate worship. In 2 Chronicles 5, when the priests and the Levites joined their voices in praise, the cloud of God's glory filled the temple so powerfully that the priests couldn't even stand to minister. In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas sang hymns in prison at midnight, the very foundations of the building shook and every door flew open. There is power released when God's people worship together.
When hundreds of people lift their voices together and declare that God is good, something shifts in the room. And in you.
God didn't establish the Sabbath because He was tired. He built rest into the rhythm of creation because He knew you would need it. One day a week set apart — not to catch up, not to be productive, but to stop and acknowledge that the world does not depend on you to keep spinning. That is an act of worship in itself. It's saying: God, I trust you with everything I didn't get done this week.
Sabbath was never meant to be a solitary practice. In the Old Testament the people of God gathered, worshipped, and rested together. The New Testament church continued that same rhythm — meeting together, encouraging one another, and encountering God as a community. When you make Sunday a priority and gather with your church family consistently, you are not just attending a service. You are being planted.
There is a profound difference between a person who occasionally passes through a church and a person who is genuinely rooted in one. Planted people grow deeper roots, weather harder seasons, and bear more fruit over time. You were not designed to drift. You were designed to be planted.
Another thing you'll encounter when you gather with your church family is Communion — sometimes called the Lord's Supper. The night before He was crucified, Jesus took bread and a cup of wine and gave them new meaning. The bread represents His body, broken for you. The cup represents His blood, poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. He told His followers to keep doing this in remembrance of Him.
Communion is not what saves you — that's already done. But it is one of the most powerful moments in a church service: the whole community pausing together to say, "We remember what You did, and we belong to You." The next time it's offered at Shoreline, receive it. Let it be a fresh reminder of everything Jesus has already done for you.
Being planted in a local church and showing up consistently is not just a good habit — it's where God meets His people in a particular and powerful way. Don't treat Sunday as optional. Make it a non-negotiable part of your week, and watch what happens to your faith when you do.
Faith grows in an atmosphere of worship. You were created for this — to be in a room full of people declaring together that God is worthy, that He is faithful, that He is good. It does something in you that private devotion alone cannot produce.
Faith comes by hearing — and God has placed teachers in the church to open His Word and bring it to life in you.
Reading the Bible on your own is essential. But God never intended it to be your only source of His Word. The Bible is clear that He placed teachers in the church specifically to help His people grow. There is something that happens under anointed preaching — when someone who has spent time with God opens the Word and brings it to life — that personal reading alone cannot fully produce.
Your spirit receives the Word differently when it's spoken over you in a room full of people who are all listening for the same thing. That's not an accident. God designed it that way.
Ephesians 4:11–12 tells us that God gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up." This isn't an optional extra. It's part of God's design for how you grow.
When someone who has spent time with God opens the Scriptures and preaches, they are functioning as a gift to the church. God uses their preparation, their insight, and their anointing to speak into your life in ways you might not discover on your own. That's why showing up for the teaching matters just as much as showing up for the worship.
Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). He also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). The truth that sets you free is not just a set of ideas — it is a Person. The more time you spend in the Word, the more clearly you see Jesus. And the more clearly you see Jesus, the more everything else in your life makes sense.
Don't just hear the Word — let it change how you live. Here are ways to get more from every message and teaching you receive:
Being planted in a church where the Word is faithfully taught is not optional — it's part of God's design for how you grow. Show up. Sit under the teaching. Let the Word of God do its work in you through every channel God has provided.
Jesus never designed the Christian life to be lived in isolation. From the very beginning, He gathered people together — and the early church that formed after His resurrection did the same. They met in homes, shared meals, cared for one another's needs, and grew together. Finding life means finding it in community. This one practice makes all the others sustainable.
You have been born again into a new family. You were not designed to figure out this life alone.
When you gave your life to Jesus, something happened beyond the personal and the private: you were placed into a family. Not just spiritually, as a metaphor — but practically. The people around you at Shoreline who follow Jesus are genuinely your brothers and sisters. You belong to one another.
The Bible says that God "settles the solitary in a family" (Psalm 68:6). You were born again into a household. That household needs you, and you need it.
The New Testament is full of "one another" commands — love one another, encourage one another, bear one another's burdens, confess to one another, pray for one another. Every single one of these requires other people. You cannot obey them alone.
Isolation is one of the most common traps for new believers. Life gets busy. You feel like you can keep up with God on your own. But what slowly happens is that your faith gets thinner, your doubts get louder, and you lose the perspective and support that only community can give.
Two are better than one. When you stumble — and you will — you need someone to help you up. When you're celebrating, you need people to celebrate with. This is how God designed it to work.
Community at Shoreline is built in layers. Sunday gatherings are where you encounter God together — through worship, the Word, and prayer. But the depth happens in smaller settings. A small group is where you move from being known generally to being known personally.
In a small group, you can ask questions, be honest about your struggles, pray for one another by name, and grow in ways that simply aren't possible sitting in a row on Sunday morning. If you're not in one yet, that is your most important next step right now.
You may stumble. We all fall short — that is part of being human, and every follower of Jesus has known the weight of it. The question isn't whether it will happen. It's what you do when it does.
Here is the most important thing to know: falling short, messing up, or stepping back into the ways you used to live does not change what God has already done. The cross still stands. The forgiveness is still finished. Your sin is no longer who you are — so don't let your failure define you. It is something that happens, not someone you are.
The instinct when you stumble will be to pull away — from God, from your church, from the people who love you. Resist that instinct. Run toward God, not away. Talk to Him quickly and honestly. Tell Him what happened. Ask Him to forgive you. He is not surprised. He knew you would stumble before you did, and He loved you all the same.
And you are not alone in any of this. God is for you. Your church family is ready to journey with you through it — not to judge, but to walk beside you. Bring it to a trusted person in your small group. Pray together. Let them remind you of who you are when you've forgotten. Confession in community is one of the most powerful tools God uses for lasting change.
Your relationship with Jesus was never meant to be contained within your personal life. You have been made a representative of God in the world. Everything you do — the way you work, the way you treat people, the way you use your resources and your voice — is now an opportunity to reflect the love of Jesus to others. These three practices are how you join God's work in the world around you.
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. As His follower, that same heart lives in you.
Following Jesus is not a passive experience. You were not saved to sit still. God created you with specific gifts, a unique personality, and experiences that nobody else has — and He intends to use all of it.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10 that we are "God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Before you were born, God was already thinking about what you would contribute. Those good works are waiting for you.
You don't need a title or a platform to serve. Some of the most significant acts of service are the quiet ones — encouraging someone who's struggling, helping a neighbor, showing up consistently for people who need you.
The Holy Spirit gives us gifts — abilities to build up others and advance the Kingdom that go beyond our natural strengths. You may not know yet what yours are, and that's okay. The best way to discover them is to start somewhere and pay attention to what comes naturally and what seems to make a difference.
Love well, serve sacrificially, be present. Your home is your first mission field.
Every team, every ministry, every Sunday at Shoreline runs because people say yes. Your contribution matters.
God's love doesn't stop at the church door. Look for opportunities to serve your neighbors, your colleagues, and your community.
Serving is not a burden added to your life. It is the overflow of a life that has been genuinely changed. When you know what Jesus did for you, you naturally want to give.
How you handle your money is one of the clearest indicators of where your trust actually lies.
Jesus talked about money and generosity more than almost any other subject — because He knew that what we do with our resources reveals what we actually believe. Learning to hold your possessions loosely and trusting God as your provider is one of the most practical ways to say: "God, I trust you more than I trust my bank account."
The biblical starting place for generosity is the tithe — giving the first 10% of what you earn back to God through your local church. This has been the pattern of God's people for thousands of years, not as a tax, but as an act of worship and acknowledgment that everything belongs to God in the first place.
God makes an extraordinary promise around this practice in Malachi 3:10 — He invites His people to test Him in generosity and see if He doesn't open the windows of heaven over their lives. That's not a financial guarantee. It's a declaration that you cannot out-give God.
If giving 10% feels out of reach right now, start smaller — but start with a percentage. The posture matters more than the percentage. Begin with what you can, give it with a grateful heart, and trust God to do what only He can do with the rest.
Over time, as you experience God's faithfulness, generosity becomes one of the most joyful practices in a follower's life. People who give generously consistently report that it changes them more than it changes anyone else.
You don't need all the answers. You just need to be willing to share what Jesus has done in your life.
The Bible says that God has "entrusted to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). That means you. Right now, as a new follower of Jesus, you carry something that the people around you need — a real, lived experience of what it means to be forgiven, loved, and given a new start.
You don't need to be a trained theologian to share your faith. Your story — honest, simple, and personal — is one of the most powerful things you have.
Every person's faith story follows a natural shape. Yours does too:
What was your life like before you encountered Jesus? What were you searching for, struggling with, or missing?
How did you come to faith? What happened? What changed in the moment you said yes to Jesus?
What is different now? What has Jesus done in you since then?
You don't have to have a dramatic story. You just have to have a true one. And you do. Nobody can argue with what happened to you.
Often the most effective form of sharing your faith is the simplest: an invitation. "Would you like to come to church with me?" "Can I tell you what's been different for me lately?" "Can I pray for you?"
You don't need to close a theological argument. You just need to open a door. Many people are one honest conversation — or one invitation — away from an encounter with Jesus. God has placed you in the lives of people nobody else can reach quite the same way.
The most powerful witness is a life that is genuinely changed. When the people around you see real joy, real peace, real love for others — they will want to know why. Be honest about your faith. Don't hide what God has done for you. Let your life be the invitation.
You've just walked through seven practices. Prayer and devotion. Worship. The Word. Community. Serving. Giving. Sharing your faith. These aren't obligations tacked onto your life. They are the shape of a life fully alive — a life that knows God, finds life in community, and makes a difference in the world.
This is not the end of a process. It's the beginning of one. Discipleship is not a destination you arrive at. It's a daily decision to keep walking with Jesus — to be with Him, become like Him, and do what He does.
Following Jesus is not about adding God to your life. It's about centering your entire life on Him.
At Shoreline, you are surrounded by people on the same journey. People who are learning to worship, figuring out prayer, reading their Bibles, building community, finding their place to serve, learning to give, and telling their stories. Some of them have been following Jesus for decades. Some started last week. Every single one of them needed a next step at some point.
We believe in you. More importantly, God believes in you. He began a good work in you the moment you said yes to Jesus, and He will carry it to completion.
If you made a decision to follow Jesus — whether that was recently, or as you've been reading this booklet — mark it. Write it down. It matters.
One practical action from each chapter — start here.
Set a specific time and place to meet with God daily — even 10 minutes. Read the Bible, worship by thanking God for three things, talk to Him honestly, and listen.
Commit to being planted in a local church. Make Sunday attendance a non-negotiable part of your week. Show up consistently.
Commit to an atmosphere where the Word of God is being taught. Show up for the teaching. Come ready to hear and be changed.
Join a small group, or reach out to someone in yours outside your regular meeting time.
Find one specific way to serve — your family, your church, or your city — and do it this week.
Review your finances honestly as an act of worship. Decide on a percentage to give and start.
Think of one person to pray for daily. When the moment comes, share one thing Jesus has done in your life.