Josh Hatcher

What happens after you become a Christian?

For some people, salvation can almost sound like the end of the story. You believe in Jesus. Your sins are forgiven. You’re saved. Someday you’ll go to heaven. But if that’s all salvation means, it leaves us with an important question: What about the rest of our lives?

What does God want to do in us between the moment we first surrender to Jesus and the day we finally stand in His presence?

In Part 10 of our Basics series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, Pastor Zoe Hatcher explores a word Christians sometimes use without fully understanding: sanctification.

It sounds theological and complicated, but the idea behind it is beautifully practical. God doesn’t simply forgive us and leave us where He found us. He begins changing us. The Holy Spirit works within us, teaching us a new way to live, slowly removing old patterns of rebellion and forming the character of Jesus within us.

Salvation isn’t simply a moment. It’s the beginning of a life with God.

At the heart of this message is the promise found in Colossians 1:22. Through the death of Jesus, our relationship with God has fundamentally changed. We have been reconciled to Him, and now God continues His work in us.

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from ac
— Colossians 1:22 (NIV)

Watch the Full Sermon

Watch Pastor Zoe Hatcher’s complete message from Part 10 of the Basics series at Open Arms Community Church.

Please note: Due to a recording issue, the first few minutes of this sermon are missing audio. The teaching from that missing portion is included in the article below.

Salvation Is More Than Being Forgiven

There are three words that help us understand what God does when He saves us: justification, regeneration, and sanctification.

Justification means God sets us right with Himself. Our rebellion is forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us. Regeneration means God gives us new life. We aren’t merely pardoned; we’re welcomed into God’s family and given the ability to follow Christ.

Then comes sanctification.

Sanctification is God’s ongoing work of making us more like Jesus. Justification and regeneration change our standing with God. Sanctification begins changing the way we actually live.

John Wesley compared salvation to a house. Justification is like the porch, and regeneration is like the door. But nobody comes home simply to stand forever in the doorway. You go inside. You live there. And when you begin living in someone else’s house, you quickly discover that every house has its own way of doing things.

Maybe you’ve visited a home where everyone takes their shoes off at the door. If that’s not what you do at home, you have to learn a new habit. You don’t stomp through the living room with muddy shoes and announce, “Well, this is just who I am.” You learn how things work in this house.

The Christian life is something like that. We spent years learning how to live according to the patterns of a broken world. We developed habits and reactions. We absorbed ideas about anger, money, relationships, forgiveness, power, fear, success, and ourselves. Then Jesus welcomes us into His Kingdom. We belong. We’re forgiven. We’re home.

But we still have some mud on our shoes.

That’s where sanctification begins.

Peter describes this new life not as something that happens all at once, but as a process of growth:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
— 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

Notice that word: grow.

Growth takes time. A seed doesn’t become a mature plant the moment it breaks through the soil. In the same way, being made new in Christ doesn’t mean we instantly understand how to live every part of that new life. God begins teaching us the ways of His house.

Sanctification means becoming holy, and holiness can sometimes be misunderstood. To be holy means to be set apart for God’s intended purpose. God isn’t merely trying to make us behave better or become more respectable people. He’s restoring us so that we can increasingly become who He created us to be.

God Isn’t Just Interested in Your Past

Sometimes we think primarily about salvation in terms of what God has rescued us from: our sin, guilt, rebellion, and death. All of that is wonderfully true. But God also has something He is rescuing us for.

Paul writes:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
— Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

You are God’s handiwork. There is intention behind what He is doing in you. He has purposes for your life, and sanctification is part of how He prepares you to live those purposes.

God isn’t merely erasing your past. He is preparing you for a future.

That means He loves you enough to change the things in you that don’t belong in that future. The old habits, desires, attitudes, and patterns aren’t simply being removed for the sake of following a list of religious rules. God is restoring His original intention for us. He is teaching us to live as people who belong to His family and His Kingdom.

That kind of transformation is far beyond what we can accomplish through willpower alone.

Thankfully, God never expected us to do it alone.

The Whole Trinity Is on the Case

Becoming like Jesus is impossible through sheer willpower. We can make resolutions, promise ourselves we’ll do better, and try harder, but Christianity has never been a self-improvement program. Something supernatural is happening.

First Peter gives us a remarkable picture of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all involved in this process:

…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
— 1 Peter 1:2 (NIV)

The Father chose us. Jesus Christ cleanses us through His blood. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. As Zoe put it in the message, “The whole Trinity is on the case.”

We aren’t trying to manufacture holiness by ourselves. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit making us like Jesus so that we can enjoy the kind of relationship with the Father for which we were created. God has been working toward our salvation from the beginning, and He continues that work after we first believe.

And we need that work because being forgiven doesn’t automatically erase everything we’ve learned from living in a broken world.

You Can Take Tarzan Out of the Jungle…

Imagine Tarzan. He’s human, but he didn’t grow up around humans. He grew up in the jungle, so everything he knows about surviving, eating, fighting, communicating, and relating to others comes from the world in which he was raised.

Then he meets other human beings. Suddenly, he’s around people who are like him, but they don’t live anything like him. They wear clothes. They eat with utensils. They read books. They take baths. Tarzan may be human, but he has spent his entire life learning another way to live.

Jane can teach him the human way of doing things, but there’s a problem: she may be able to take Tarzan out of the jungle, but getting the jungle out of Tarzan is another matter.
That’s a surprisingly good picture of what happens to us. Jesus brings us out of an old kingdom and into His Kingdom, but we bring a lot of the old kingdom with us. We carry old habits, old wounds, old desires, old ways of responding when we’re angry or afraid, and old ideas about what will make us happy.

God gets us out of the jungle in a moment. Then He begins getting the jungle out of us.

That’s sanctification.

Surrender Is More Than a Moment

In the previous part of the Basics series, we talked about salvation as surrender. Rebels lay down their weapons, wave the white flag, and become servants of the King. There is a real moment when we surrender to Jesus and acknowledge Him as Lord.

But then we wake up the next morning.

The old ways of thinking don’t necessarily disappear. The old temptations may still be there. The attitudes, reactions, and desires we spent years developing can still feel natural to us.

It takes a moment for a rebel to surrender to the King. It takes much longer to learn how to stop thinking and living like a rebel.

Romans 6 describes this struggle in terms of two different masters:

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
— Romans 6:16–22 (NLT)

Before Christ, sin ruled us. Through Jesus, however, we have been set free from sin’s power and can now give ourselves to God. Paul doesn’t describe this as merely believing a different set of ideas. He describes a change in allegiance that begins producing a different kind of life.

Sanctification, then, is the work of moving from being saved by Jesus’ death to becoming imitators of Jesus’ life. We died with Christ, but we didn’t stay dead. Jesus rose again, and in Him we have been given new life. Now we are learning how to live it.

Who Is Forming You?

That raises an important question: Who are you following?

John Mark Comer makes the point in Practicing the Way that if we aren’t being intentionally formed by Jesus, we’re likely being unintentionally formed by someone or something else.

None of us is spiritually neutral. Our families shape us. Our experiences shape us. Our friendships, entertainment, habits, social media feeds, and culture shape us. Every day, we’re surrounded by voices teaching us what matters, what we should desire, what we should fear, what success looks like, and what kind of person we ought to become.

We can tell ourselves, “I’m just doing my own thing,” but even our idea of what our “own thing” should be came from somewhere.

The question isn’t whether you’re being formed. The question is: Who is forming you?

Jesus invites us to become His apprentices. In a skilled trade, an apprentice works closely with a master. The master teaches, corrects, demonstrates, and gives the apprentice opportunities to practice. Over time, the apprentice begins to think about the craft the way the master thinks about it and learns to do what the master does.

That’s a helpful picture of discipleship. We don’t merely believe things about Jesus. We stay close to Him so that we can learn to live like Jesus.

That kind of apprenticeship calls for more than halfhearted obedience. Jesus describes a life given completely to God:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
— Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

To love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind means there isn’t supposed to be a part of our lives that remains permanently off-limits to Him. Yet if we’re honest, most of us can identify places where our obedience is less than wholehearted. There are things we surrender quickly and other things we hold onto tightly.

So it’s worth asking: How open am I to being changed? When God reveals something in me that doesn’t look like Jesus, am I eager to learn and ready to change? Or does God have to drag me along while I fight Him every step of the way?

Those questions can feel uncomfortable. But God’s desire to change us isn’t evidence that He’s disappointed that we aren’t good enough.

It’s rooted in something much better.

He changes us because He loves us.

God Loves You Too Much to Leave You Unfinished

Being shaped isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes God puts His finger on something we don’t want to surrender. He may expose an attitude we’ve spent years defending, ask us to forgive when we’d rather hold onto resentment, or confront desires and priorities that have become deeply rooted in us.

It’s easy to interpret those uncomfortable moments as evidence that God is displeased with us. But what if they’re actually evidence of His love?

C.S. Lewis explored the idea that we sometimes wish God would be satisfied with less transformation. We’d prefer that He smooth out a few obvious rough edges but leave the deeper parts of us alone. Yet if God settled for less than what He created us to become, that wouldn’t be greater love. It would be less.

God sees what He created you to be. His love means He refuses to abandon His work in you.

Think of an artist working on a masterpiece. Leonardo da Vinci continued working on the Mona Lisa over many years, refining a work that was precious to him. God isn’t casually sketching our lives and then walking away when the work becomes difficult. We are His handiwork, and He remains committed to what He is creating in us.

You are God’s masterpiece, and He isn’t finished with you yet.

That changes the way we understand some of the uncomfortable parts of spiritual growth. God’s correction isn’t proof that He has rejected us. When He reveals something that needs to change, it’s because He knows what that part of our lives can become when it is surrendered to Him.

Stay Soft in the Potter’s Hands

Scripture gives us another powerful picture of God’s transforming work in the story of Jeremiah and the potter.

God sends Jeremiah to a potter’s house, where he watches a craftsman shaping clay on a wheel. When the vessel doesn’t turn out as the potter intended, he doesn’t throw the clay away. He keeps working with it and reshapes it.

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ² “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” ³ So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴ But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

⁵ Then the Lord gave me this message: ⁶ “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
— Jeremiah 18:1–6 (NLT)

There’s something both comforting and challenging about that image. The potter hasn’t abandoned the clay because it isn’t finished. His hands are still on it. He still sees what it can become.

But clay has to remain workable.

We can resist what God is doing. We can harden our hearts. We can decide there are certain areas of our lives where God is no longer welcome. Or we can remain surrendered to Him and allow the Potter to keep working.

Maybe one of the most important prayers we can learn to pray is simply: “God, keep me soft in Your hands.”

Keep showing me what doesn’t look like Jesus. Keep exposing the things I’ve carried with me from the old kingdom. Keep reshaping my desires and attitudes. Keep making me into the person You created me to be.

Sanctification requires that kind of openness. God can transform every part of us that we surrender to Him, but He doesn’t force us into submission. We can cooperate with His work or resist it.

You’re Still His Beloved Child

At this point, it’s important to understand something about our identity. God’s ongoing work in us does not mean He’s waiting to love us until we finally get everything right.

Remember the Scripture that opened this message:

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
— Colossians 1:22 (NIV)

Through Jesus, we have already been reconciled to God. Paul describes us as being presented to Him holy, without blemish, and free from accusation.

That creates an important distinction in the way we understand ourselves:

We are no longer sinners striving to become saints one day. We are saints who sometimes still sin.

That doesn’t minimize sin. Sanctification means God is actively working to free us from the things that don’t belong in our new life. But our failures don’t continually rewrite our identity.

Think about the relationship between a parent and a child. When a child makes a bad choice, that child doesn’t suddenly stop belonging to the family. They may need correction. There may be consequences. They certainly still need to grow. But their failure doesn’t erase the relationship.

The same is true when we belong to God. When we stumble, we’re still His beloved children. The Holy Spirit continues working in us, teaching us to walk more fully in the freedom and holiness that belong to our new identity in Christ.

Some Christians live as though God is constantly reconsidering whether He wants them. They fail and imagine Him backing away. They struggle with an old sin and assume He must be disgusted. They see how far they still have to go and wonder whether anything has really changed.

Sanctification tells a different story.

God is working on you because you belong to Him.

His conviction isn’t rejection. His discipline isn’t abandonment. His shaping isn’t evidence that you’ve failed beyond repair. It’s evidence that His hands are still on the clay.

The places where you aren’t finished yet don’t have to become places of hopelessness. They can become places of surrender.

Salvation Isn’t a Box You Check

It’s possible to think about salvation as though it’s primarily a transaction. We pray a prayer, receive forgiveness, make sure our eternal destination is secure, and then return to life mostly as we knew it before.

But that’s much smaller than the life Jesus offers.

Jesus doesn’t simply invite us to believe enough facts about Him to get into heaven. He invites us to follow Him. Salvation brings us into a relationship with God that begins now, and sanctification is part of learning how to live that new life with Him.

This is why surrender can’t be limited to one moment in our past. There may have been a day when we first said yes to Jesus, but following Him means continuing to say yes. We surrender our habits, our relationships, our plans, our wounds, our ambitions, our fears, and even the parts of ourselves we’ve become accustomed to defending.

Sometimes that surrender happens quickly. Other times, God patiently works on the same place in our hearts for years.

The goal isn’t simply to become a slightly nicer version of the person we used to be. It’s to become more like Jesus.

What Does It Mean to Become Like Jesus?

Becoming like Jesus doesn’t mean losing your personality or becoming a carbon copy of another Christian. God created us with different personalities, abilities, experiences, and purposes. Sanctification isn’t God erasing those differences.

It’s God transforming what sin has distorted.

Our anger can become patience. Our selfishness can become generosity. Pride can give way to humility. Fear can be replaced by trust. Resentment can become forgiveness. Instead of asking only what we want, we begin learning to ask what pleases God and serves the people around us.

This is why holiness is much richer than simply avoiding a list of bad behaviors. Jesus summed up the life God desires with a command that reaches into every part of who we are:

God isn’t looking for one carefully controlled corner of our lives. He wants our whole heart, soul, and mind.

And that means sanctification will eventually reach into places we’d rather keep to ourselves.

What Are You Still Holding Onto?

Most of us probably have areas where surrender comes more easily than others. We may gladly trust God with one part of our lives while keeping a tight grip on another.

We can worship on Sunday and still refuse to forgive someone on Monday. We can trust God with eternity while struggling to trust Him with our finances. We can ask Him to guide our future while quietly insisting that certain plans are nonnegotiable. We can pray for God to change us while hoping He won’t bring up that particular thing again.

This is where sanctification becomes deeply personal.

It’s easy to talk about becoming more like Jesus in general. It’s much harder when the Holy Spirit identifies something specific.

Forgive this person.

Let go of this resentment.

Tell the truth.

Change this habit.

Stop feeding this desire.

Apologize.

Trust Me with this.

The Christian life isn’t merely agreeing that Jesus is right. It’s learning to trust Him enough to obey when His way conflicts with ours.

What Is God Shaping in You Right Now?

Maybe there’s an old habit you’ve been excusing. Maybe there’s resentment you’ve carried so long that it feels like part of your personality. Maybe God has been asking you to forgive someone, confront your pride, change a priority, or surrender something you’ve been determined to control.

Or maybe the work is quieter. Perhaps you’re beginning to notice that your reactions are changing. You’re becoming more patient than you used to be. Something that once controlled you has less power. You’re quicker to recognize when you’re wrong. You’re learning to forgive sooner. You’re beginning to want what God wants.

Don’t dismiss that growth because it isn’t dramatic.

Sanctification is often slow enough that we don’t notice it while it’s happening. But over time, the fingerprints of the Potter begin to appear in the clay.

You don’t have to transform yourself. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. Your part is to remain surrendered—to listen, obey, repent when necessary, and keep following Jesus.

And when you stumble, you don’t have to assume you’ve returned to the beginning. Get back up. Turn toward your Father again. His hands haven’t left the clay.

God isn’t finished with you. And that’s very good news.

A Prayer of Surrender

Father, thank You for loving me enough not only to forgive me, but to transform me. Thank You that through Jesus I have been reconciled to You and welcomed into Your family.

Holy Spirit, show me the places where I’m still holding onto the ways of my old life. Keep my heart soft in Your hands. Teach me the ways of Jesus. Show me what needs to change, and give me the courage to surrender it when You do.

When I fail, remind me who I am in Christ. When growth feels slow, help me trust that You are still working. I don’t want to simply know about Jesus. I want my life to increasingly look like His.

Make me more like Jesus, one day at a time.

Amen.

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Understanding the Incredible Gifts Jesus Gives Through Salvation

Many people think of salvation as simply having their sins forgiven. That is certainly part of what Jesus accomplished, but it is only the beginning of the story. The Bible describes salvation as something far richer than escaping judgment. Through Jesus Christ, God restores a broken relationship, welcomes us into His family, gives us new life, and empowers us to live differently than we ever could on our own. These are not separate gifts handed out over time; they are the gracious work of God that begins the moment a person repents and believes in Christ.

As part of the Basics series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford PA, Pastor Zoe Hatcher explored one of the most encouraging questions in the Christian faith: What are the benefits of salvation? Throughout this message, Scripture reveals that salvation is not merely about what God rescues us from, but also about what He brings us into. Whether you’ve followed Jesus for decades or you’re searching for answers about Christianity and looking for a church in Bradford PA, this study offers a biblical picture of the incredible blessings that belong to everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ.

Watch the Full Sermon

If you’d rather watch or listen first, you can view the complete sermon below. Then continue reading as we walk through the message, following the same passages and progression found throughout the sermon.

Salvation Begins With What Christ Has Already Done

Before looking at the benefits of salvation, it’s important to remember why salvation was necessary in the first place. This message builds on the previous weeks in the Basics series, where we saw that humanity’s sin created two devastating problems. First, our relationship with God was broken. Sin alienated us from the One who created us and turned us into rebels instead of faithful children. Second, sin brought death into the world, leaving humanity powerless to rescue itself. Those two realities—separation from God and the power of death—are the backdrop for everything the gospel promises.

The good news is that Jesus addressed both of those problems completely. Through His death on the cross, He reconciled sinful people to the Father. Through His resurrection, He conquered death and defeated the power of the enemy. The previous message in this series explained that we participate in that reconciliation and rescue through repentance and faith. Repentance is laying down our weapons of rebellion and surrendering to the rightful King. Faith is trusting Him completely and placing our lives into His hands. Salvation is not earned through good works or religious effort; it is received by responding to what Christ has already accomplished.

That brings us to the question at the heart of this message: What actually happens when someone is saved? Scripture answers with remarkable clarity. Those who repent and believe are pardoned by God, welcomed into His family, and given resurrection life and power. These are not abstract theological ideas reserved for Bible scholars. They are the present reality for every follower of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul introduces these blessings with one of the most comforting verses in the New Testament.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1 (NIV)

Everything that follows grows out of that single declaration. Because of Jesus, those who trust Him have peace with God. The hostility created by sin has been removed. The relationship has been restored. Condemnation no longer defines the believer’s standing before God because Christ has already borne the punishment that sin deserved. Romans 5 will continue to unfold the richness of that reality, but it begins with the assurance that peace with God is no longer something we strive to achieve—it has already been secured through Jesus Christ.

The First Benefit of Salvation: We Are Pardoned

When people hear the word pardon, they often think of a judge releasing someone from a sentence or forgiving a particular offense. Webster’s Dictionary defines a pardon as “the action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offense.” That definition is helpful, but it barely scratches the surface of what the Bible means when it speaks about God’s forgiveness. Throughout Scripture, pardon is not simply the cancellation of a punishment. It is the complete removal of everything that separated us from God.

David celebrates this truth in one of the most joyful psalms ever written.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Psalm 32:1–2 (NKJV)

David begins by describing the joy of the person whose sin has been forgiven and whose transgressions have been “covered.” That image is beautiful in itself, but the original Hebrew reveals even more. The word translated covered carries the idea of something being concealed or put completely out of sight. God is not merely overlooking sin or pretending it never happened. Through His mercy, He removes it from view.

The next phrase goes even deeper. David says that the Lord does not “impute” iniquity. To impute something is to charge it to someone’s account or hold them responsible for it. In other words, God no longer counts the believer’s sin against them. Even the word iniquity reaches beyond individual sinful actions. It includes the guilt of sin, the condition of sin, the consequences of sin, and the punishment that sin deserves. When Jesus Christ pardons sinners, He deals with every part of humanity’s broken condition. He removes not only sinful deeds but also the guilt, shame, condemnation, and punishment attached to them.

That truth reshapes the way Christians understand forgiveness. God’s pardon is not temporary, partial, or reluctant. He is not waiting for an opportunity to bring the past back into the conversation. Through Jesus Christ, everything that stood against us has been dealt with completely. The believer does not stand before God hoping that old failures will eventually be forgotten. Instead, those failures have already been answered at the cross, where Christ paid the full price for sin once and for all.

God Doesn’t Simply Cover Sin—He Removes It Completely

David’s words in Psalm 32 paint a beautiful picture of forgiveness, but the prophet Micah takes that picture even further. God’s pardon is not passive or reluctant. He doesn’t simply acknowledge our sin and decide to ignore it. Instead, He acts decisively to remove it.

He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all [a]our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:19 (NKJV)

Micah describes a God who delights in mercy. He doesn’t forgive because He’s forced to or because He has run out of options. Forgiveness flows from His character. He is compassionate toward His people, and His mercy triumphs over the judgment we deserve.

The prophet then gives one of the most memorable pictures of forgiveness in all of Scripture: God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. That’s language worth slowing down to consider. The Hebrew word translated cast carries the idea of throwing something away with force. It isn’t carefully placed where it might be retrieved later. It is hurled far away. The emphasis is intentional. God removes our sins completely.

Micah also reminds us that God casts all our sins into the sea. Not only the respectable sins. Not only the mistakes we have learned to forgive ourselves for. Every act of rebellion, every failure, every shameful moment, every hidden thought—everything that separated us from Him is included in His pardon. As with Psalm 32, the biblical picture extends beyond individual actions to include the guilt, condemnation, and punishment attached to sin itself. Christ dealt with the whole problem, not just isolated offenses.

The image of the sea is equally important. In the ancient world, the depths of the sea represented a place beyond human reach. Once something disappeared into those depths, it was gone. God is communicating that He has chosen to remove our sins beyond recovery. He is not storing them away to use against us later. He is not building a case file that can be reopened when we fail again. Through Christ, those sins have been removed completely.

That truth stands in sharp contrast to the way people often forgive one another. Even after reconciliation, old failures have a way of resurfacing. During an argument, someone says, “Remember when you…” Past mistakes become fresh accusations, and forgiven offenses are brought back into evidence. Human forgiveness is often imperfect because human hearts struggle to let go.

God’s forgiveness is different.

When God pardons, He truly pardons. He removes what stood against us and refuses to hold it over our heads. That doesn’t mean He has forgotten because He lacks knowledge. Rather, He chooses not to treat us according to those sins anymore. The prophet Isaiah helps us understand that remarkable truth.

“I Will Remember Your Sins No More”

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins.

Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV)

At first glance, that statement can raise an obvious question. How can an all-knowing God forget anything? Scripture consistently teaches that God is omniscient. Nothing escapes His knowledge. Isaiah is not suggesting that God develops divine amnesia or somehow loses information.

Instead, this is the language of covenant relationship. When God says He will not remember our sins, He is saying He will no longer act toward us on the basis of those sins. He chooses not to bring them forward as the grounds for condemnation because Jesus Christ has already borne that condemnation on our behalf.

One illustration helps capture the idea. Imagine discovering that termites have infested your home. You call an exterminator, who thoroughly treats the house. A year later, someone asks whether you’ve had termites. You answer honestly, “Yes, we did.”

You haven’t forgotten the infestation.

You simply don’t live as though the termites are still there.

You aren’t calling the exterminator every week. You aren’t tearing apart the walls looking for damage that has already been dealt with. The problem has been resolved.

In a far greater way, God has dealt with the problem of sin through Jesus Christ. He doesn’t deny that our sins existed. The cross itself proves how serious they were. But because Christ has paid the price in full, God no longer relates to His redeemed children as condemned rebels. Their sins have been answered by the sacrifice of His Son.

This is why the gospel is such good news. If forgiveness depended on our ability to earn God’s favor, we would constantly wonder whether we had done enough. If it depended on our ability to maintain a perfect record, every failure would leave us questioning our standing before Him. Instead, forgiveness rests entirely on what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

The believer’s confidence is not found in personal performance but in Christ’s finished work. God’s mercy is greater than our failures because His justice has already been satisfied through His Son.

That leads naturally to the next benefit of salvation. God doesn’t simply remove our old life—He gives us an entirely new one.

More Than a Fresh Start

Many people think becoming a Christian is like turning over a new leaf or deciding to become a better person. The Bible describes something far more profound than self-improvement. Salvation is not merely the renovation of the old life; it is the creation of a new one.

The New Testament calls this regeneration—the miracle by which God gives spiritual life to those who were dead in sin. He doesn’t simply forgive us and send us on our way. He changes us from the inside out.

Paul begins explaining that transformation in Romans 6, where he describes believers as people who have died with Christ and been raised to walk in newness of life. That new life is the next great benefit of salvation, and it reveals that God’s work doesn’t stop with pardon. He also gives us the power to become the people He created us to be.

Regeneration: God Gives Us New Life

If pardon answers the question of what God has taken away, regeneration answers the question of what He has given us.

The gospel is not simply about having a clean slate. If salvation only removed our guilt, we would still be left trying to live the Christian life in our own strength. God had something much greater in mind. He not only forgives sinners; He transforms them. He gives them a completely new life.

That is why Paul writes the way he does in Romans 6.

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

Paul says that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, “even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Notice that Paul doesn’t describe salvation as merely making bad people a little better. He speaks about resurrection. Something that was dead has been made alive. Something that had no hope has been given a future. The Christian life isn’t built on trying harder; it’s built on receiving a life that only God can give.

The word translated newness is important. It doesn’t simply mean something recent or something that has been cleaned up. It carries the idea of something new in quality—something fundamentally different from what existed before. God doesn’t polish up the old sinful nature and ask us to improve it. He creates something entirely new within us.

That truth changes the way we think about following Jesus. Christianity isn’t behavior modification. It isn’t merely adopting better habits or trying to avoid certain sins. Those outward changes matter, but they are the fruit of something much deeper. They grow out of the new life God has already placed within His people.

More Than Biological Life

One of the most fascinating observations from the sermon comes from the Greek language itself.

The New Testament uses more than one word for life. One refers to physical, biological existence. It’s the kind of life every human being possesses simply by being born.

But another Greek word describes the kind of life God gives through Christ.

That word is zoē.

It’s a fitting word to notice, especially because Pastor Zoe’s name comes from it. While her name simply reflects the Greek word, the biblical meaning behind it is remarkable. Zoē refers to life in its fullest sense—the very life of God shared with those who belong to Him. It is spiritual life, abundant life, eternal life. It isn’t merely existing; it is truly living.

Jesus used this same word when He described His mission.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 (NKJV)

Jesus wasn’t promising an easier life or a life free from hardship. Christians still experience suffering, disappointment, sickness, and loss. The abundant life Jesus offers is something deeper than circumstances. It is the life of God filling the believer, producing hope, joy, peace, and purpose regardless of what happens around them.

That is one of the greatest benefits of salvation. God doesn’t simply promise heaven someday. He begins His transforming work today.

Living From a New Identity

Because believers have received new life, Paul repeatedly calls them to live differently. Notice the order. He doesn’t say, “Live differently so you can become God’s child.” Instead, he says, “Because you have become God’s child, live like who you already are.”

That distinction is essential.

Religion often tells people to change their behavior so God will accept them. The gospel declares that God accepts those who come to Christ in faith, and then begins changing them from the inside out. Obedience becomes the evidence of new life, not the means of earning it.

Paul develops that thought in his letter to the Colossians.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)

Because believers have been raised with Christ, they are called to set their minds on things above rather than becoming consumed by earthly priorities. Their old life has died, and their true life is now hidden with Christ in God.

That doesn’t mean Christians ignore everyday responsibilities. They still work, care for their families, pay bills, and navigate the ordinary realities of life. But those responsibilities are no longer the center of their identity. Their identity has been anchored in Christ.

Everything begins to change when we understand who we are.

Instead of living as condemned sinners hoping to earn God’s approval, believers live as forgiven sons and daughters who have already been welcomed into His family. Instead of being controlled by guilt and shame, they are motivated by gratitude. Instead of asking, “What do I have to do so God will love me?” they begin asking, “How can I honor the God who already loves me?”

That is the difference regeneration makes.

A Life That Keeps Growing

Receiving new life doesn’t mean believers instantly become spiritually mature. Just as a newborn child must grow, learn, and mature, so does every follower of Christ. Regeneration is the beginning of a lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus.

God continues shaping His people day by day. He teaches them through His Word. He strengthens them through prayer. He works through the fellowship of the Church. Even trials become opportunities for spiritual growth as He forms the character of Christ within them.

Salvation, then, is far more than forgiveness. It is the beginning of an entirely new way of living. The same God who removes our guilt also supplies the power to live a transformed life.

And that transformation leads naturally to another incredible benefit of salvation. God doesn’t simply forgive rebels or even give them new life. He welcomes them into His own family, making peace with those who were once His enemies. That is where Romans 5 takes us next.

From Rebels to Family: Peace With God

One of the greatest misunderstandings about Christianity is the idea that salvation is simply about avoiding hell. While the Bible certainly teaches that Christ rescues us from judgment, His purpose reaches much further than that. God is not merely interested in keeping people out of hell; He is restoring the relationship that sin destroyed. The heart of the gospel is reconciliation.

Paul returns to this theme throughout Romans 5. He has already declared that those who have been justified by faith have peace with God. That peace is much more than an inner feeling of calm. It is an objective reality. Before Christ, humanity stood in opposition to God. Through Christ, that hostility has been removed.

This can be difficult to accept because we naturally think of ourselves as basically good people who occasionally make mistakes. Scripture paints a different picture. Sin is not merely a collection of bad decisions. It is rebellion against the rightful King. Every person has chosen independence over obedience and self-rule instead of God’s authority. Left to ourselves, we are not neutral toward God—we are His enemies.

To understand the grace of the gospel, imagine a kingdom where a group of citizens openly rebels against a good and righteous king. They reject his authority, ignore his laws, and declare that they will no longer live under his rule. Eventually the rebellion is crushed. Justice demands a response, and the king has every right to punish those who have taken up arms against him.

Now imagine the king doing something no one expected.

Instead of carrying out the sentence, he offers a full pardon. But he doesn’t stop there. He invites the rebels into his palace. He seats them at his own table. He gives them the privileges of his household and treats them as members of his own family.

That sounds almost impossible.

Yet the gospel goes even further.

God has done exactly that for those who trust in Jesus Christ.

God Loved Us Before We Loved Him

The astonishing truth of Romans 5 is that God acted first. He did not wait for humanity to clean itself up before extending mercy. He didn’t require sinners to prove they were worthy of His love before sending His Son.

For when we were still without strength, [a]in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6–8 (NKJV)

Paul reminds us that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

Those five words change everything.

God’s love is not a reward for good behavior. It isn’t earned through religious devotion, generous giving, or faithful church attendance. Before we ever turned toward Him, God had already turned toward us. While we were still living in rebellion, Christ willingly took our place, bearing the punishment our sins deserved so that we could be reconciled to the Father.

That means our confidence rests entirely on Christ’s finished work, not our own performance. God didn’t begin loving us after we became good enough, and He doesn’t continue loving us because we’ve managed to maintain a perfect record. His love was demonstrated once and for all at the cross.

Peace That Changes Everything

Because Christ has reconciled us to the Father, believers now have peace with God. This is much more than an emotional feeling that comes and goes with life’s circumstances. Feelings fluctuate, but the peace Paul describes is rooted in something that cannot change.

If you belong to Christ, God is no longer your Judge alone—He is your Father.

Your guilt has been removed.

Your sentence has been satisfied.

Your debt has been paid.

The relationship has been restored.

Nothing remains between you and God because Jesus has already dealt with every barrier sin created.

Paul continues by saying that “through Him we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” That language speaks of permanent welcome. We don’t approach God wondering whether we’ll be accepted today. We stand in His grace because our standing depends on Christ’s righteousness, not our own.

Welcomed Into God’s Family

Perhaps the greatest surprise of salvation is that God doesn’t simply forgive His enemies. He adopts them.

Throughout the New Testament, believers are described as sons and daughters of God. Salvation is not merely a legal declaration that changes our record; it is a relational miracle that changes our identity. The King doesn’t simply pardon rebels and send them on their way. He welcomes them into His household and calls them His own.

That new identity changes everything. We no longer live as people trying to earn God’s acceptance. We live as children who have already been accepted through Jesus Christ. Our obedience flows from gratitude rather than fear. We pursue holiness not because we’re trying to become part of God’s family, but because we already are.

And the Father doesn’t leave His children to figure out the Christian life on their own. The same God who pardons sinners, removes their guilt, and welcomes them into His family also gives them the power to live differently. Through His Spirit, He continues the work He began, shaping His children into the likeness of Christ.

That brings us to the final benefit of salvation: God not only gives us a new identity, He gives us His power to live a new life.

Empowered to Live a New Life

The final benefit of salvation is one that Christians often overlook. God doesn’t simply forgive our past, restore our relationship with Him, and promise us eternity in heaven. He also gives us the power to live differently today.

That power doesn’t come from greater determination or stronger willpower. Left to ourselves, we eventually return to the same patterns that have always mastered us. The Christian life was never meant to be lived through human effort alone. It is lived through the presence and power of God’s Spirit working within His people.

This is why the New Testament consistently describes believers as people who are no longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer has the final word. Temptation is still real. The struggle against the flesh continues. Christians are not suddenly perfect when they trust Christ. But they are no longer powerless.

The same God who raised Jesus from the dead now lives within those who belong to Him.

That resurrection power enables believers to forgive when forgiveness seems impossible. It gives strength to persevere through suffering, courage to stand for truth, and grace to love people who are difficult to love. As God continues His work, the fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly evident. Our desires begin to change. Our priorities begin to change. Our character begins to resemble the character of Christ.

This transformation is not instantaneous. It is the lifelong work of God. Scripture calls it sanctification—the process of becoming more like Jesus. Some days the growth is obvious. Other days it feels painfully slow. Yet God remains faithful. He continues the work He has begun, shaping His children until the day they stand complete in His presence.

When we step back and look at the whole picture, the benefits of salvation are astonishing.

God pardons our sin.

He removes our guilt.

He chooses not to hold our failures against us.

He gives us new life.

He welcomes us into His family.

He fills us with His Spirit.

He empowers us to live as new creations.

And He promises that one day the work He has begun will be brought to completion.

None of these gifts can be earned. They are not rewards for moral achievement or religious devotion. They are gifts of God’s grace, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation has always been, and always will be, about what Christ has accomplished—not what we can accomplish for ourselves.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus, these promises are an invitation. God is still calling people to lay down their rebellion, turn to Him in repentance and faith, and receive the new life only He can give. No one is beyond His mercy. No past is too broken. No sin is too great for the grace of God revealed in Christ.

And if you already belong to Him, remember who you are. You are not defined by your failures, your fears, or your past. You are forgiven. You are loved. You are a son or daughter of God. You have been given new life, and God’s Spirit is at work within you even now.

That is the incredible hope of the gospel.

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If you’re looking for a church in Bradford PA where you can continue growing in your faith and studying God’s Word, we’d love to welcome you to Open Arms Community Church in Bradford PA. Whether you’re exploring Christianity for the first time or have followed Jesus for many years, there’s a place for you here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of salvation?
According to the Bible, salvation brings forgiveness of sins, peace with God, adoption into God’s family, new life through Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the hope of eternal life.

What does Romans 5 teach about salvation?
Romans 5 teaches that those who are justified by faith have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It explains that Christ died for sinners, reconciles believers to God, and demonstrates God’s love through His sacrifice.

Can anyone receive salvation?
Yes. The Bible teaches that salvation is available to everyone who repents of sin and places their faith in Jesus Christ.

One of the most important questions anyone can ever ask is also one of the most misunderstood: What is required for salvation? In Part 8 of our Basics series, Pastor Dan Robinson opens God’s Word and carefully traces the answer from Genesis to Romans. Rather than relying on tradition or popular opinion, this message lets Scripture define the Gospel itself. It reminds us that salvation isn’t something we achieve through religious effort, but something we receive through God’s grace by repenting of our sins and believing in Jesus Christ.

Watch the full message here:

What Is Required for Salvation?

Imagine someone walking up to you tomorrow morning while you’re grabbing coffee, standing in line at the grocery store, sitting at work during lunch, or waiting for your child’s sporting event. They ask a simple question: “What do I have to do to be saved?”

How would you answer?

It’s one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask because the answer determines eternity. Yet if you asked one hundred people that question, you would probably hear one hundred different answers. Some would say you need to be a good person. Others would point to church attendance. Some would insist that baptism is the key. Others might tell you to read your Bible more, pray more faithfully, or simply try harder to live a better life.

The truth is, none of those things are bad. Every one of them is a healthy part of following Jesus. Christians should gather with the church. We should spend time in prayer. We should hunger for God’s Word. Baptism is a beautiful act of obedience that Jesus Himself commands. But as important as those things are, they are not what saves us.

They are the result of salvation—not the requirement for salvation.

Scripture gives an answer that is both wonderfully simple and eternally significant. The only requirement for salvation is to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ. We are not saved because we finally became good enough, cleaned ourselves up enough, or earned God’s acceptance. We are saved because God, in His mercy and love, reached down to sinners through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our response is repentance and faith. Everything else in the Christian life grows out of that one foundational truth.

We Didn’t Find God. God Found Us.

People often tell their testimony by saying, “I found God.”

There’s something beautiful about that expression because it captures the moment someone’s life was forever changed. But the Bible paints an even bigger picture. The reality is that God wasn’t the One who was lost.

We were.

Long before anyone begins searching for Him, God is already at work. Throughout Scripture, He is the One pursuing people, revealing Himself, and calling them back to Himself. One of the clearest examples of that truth is found in the story of Jacob.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[c] though the city used to be called Luz.

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord[d] will be my God 22 and[e] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Genesis 28:10-22
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+28%3A10-22&version=NIV

Jacob wasn’t enjoying a spiritual high point when God appeared to him. He was running from the consequences of his own sin. After deceiving his father and stealing his brother Esau’s blessing, he found himself alone in the wilderness with nothing more than a rock beneath his head. His family had fallen apart. His brother wanted him dead. Humanly speaking, his life was a mess.

Yet it was there—in the middle of fear, failure, and uncertainty—that God chose to reveal Himself.

Jacob didn’t ask for a vision. He didn’t earn God’s attention. He wasn’t seeking the Lord with extraordinary faithfulness. God simply came to him. The Lord spoke first. The Lord renewed His promise. The Lord reminded Jacob of the covenant He had already established with Abraham and Isaac before declaring, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go… I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

What an incredible picture of grace.

God’s faithfulness wasn’t based on Jacob’s performance. His promises weren’t dependent on Jacob deserving them. God acted because that is who He is.

That same truth should fill every believer with hope today. If salvation depended on us finding God first, none of us would ever make it. Left to ourselves, we naturally drift farther from Him, not closer. But throughout the Bible we meet a God who pursues people before they ever think to pursue Him. He speaks. He convicts. He draws. He reveals Himself. From Genesis until today, He is still making the first move.

Looking back, many Christians can recognize moments when God was already writing their story long before they understood what He was doing. Maybe it was a praying grandparent. Maybe it was an invitation to church that almost got ignored. Maybe it was a difficult season, a painful diagnosis, or the loss of someone deeply loved that caused deeper questions to rise to the surface. At the time, those moments may have seemed random. Looking back, they reveal the fingerprints of a faithful God who had been drawing His children to Himself all along.

Jesus made that truth clear when He said:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
John 6:44
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A44&version=NIV

God always makes the first move.

But His invitation still calls for a response.

Grace comes first. Our response comes next. Scripture calls that response repentance and faith. Salvation is never something we achieve through effort or religious performance. It is something we receive through the grace of God.

Repentance Is More Than Feeling Sorry

If salvation begins with God reaching toward us, what does our response look like?

The Bible answers with two words that appear again and again throughout the New Testament: repent and believe.

Repentance is one of those words that can feel intimidating because it’s often misunderstood. Some hear it and immediately think of shame, guilt, or condemnation. Others imagine someone angrily shouting at people to clean up their lives.

But biblical repentance is far more beautiful than that.

Repentance begins when we see ourselves honestly before God. It happens when we stop making excuses, stop comparing ourselves to everyone else, and stop pretending that our sin isn’t really that serious. Instead, we agree with God about our condition and recognize our desperate need for His mercy.

That kind of honesty is exactly what David models in one of the most personal psalms ever written.

You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NIV

Psalm 139 reminds us that there is nothing hidden from God. He knows every thought before we speak it. He knows every success and every failure, every joy and every regret. He knows where we’ve been and where we’re going. There isn’t a corner of our lives that escapes His attention.

For someone trying to hide from God, that’s a frightening thought.

For someone who belongs to Him, it’s incredibly comforting.

There is nowhere we can wander where His presence cannot reach us. There is no valley so dark that He cannot walk beside us. There is no mistake so great that He is surprised by it. He already knows us completely, yet He continues to pursue us with perfect love.

David doesn’t end the psalm by asking God to ignore his failures. Instead, he invites God to expose them.

He prays for God to search his heart, reveal anything that doesn’t belong there, and lead him in the everlasting way.

That’s the heart of repentance.

Repentance isn’t pretending we’ve never sinned. It isn’t minimizing our sin or trying to justify it. It is inviting God to shine His light into every corner of our lives and then responding with humble surrender.

Jesus began His earthly ministry with that very invitation.

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 1:15
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1%3A15&version=NIV

Notice that Jesus didn’t simply tell people to feel guilty.

He called them to repent.

The word itself literally means to change one’s mind—to turn around. It’s the picture of someone traveling in the wrong direction who realizes they’re headed away from their destination. Recognizing the mistake isn’t enough. Eventually, they have to stop, turn around, and begin walking the other way.

That’s what repentance looks like spiritually.

It’s more than feeling bad about sin. It’s choosing a new direction because Jesus is now Lord. Sorrow may accompany repentance, but repentance always moves beyond emotion into surrender. It is a change of heart that results in a changed life.

Faith Is More Than Believing Facts

Repentance is only half of the response. The other half is belief.

Like repentance, belief is often misunderstood. In everyday conversation, believing something usually means agreeing that it’s true. A person can believe George Washington was the first President of the United States without that belief changing the way they live.

Saving faith is different.

Biblical faith isn’t simply agreeing that Jesus existed or acknowledging that He was a good teacher. It isn’t even believing that He died on a cross or rose from the grave as historical facts. Saving faith places the full weight of life upon Jesus Christ. It trusts Him completely. It rests entirely on what He accomplished through His death and resurrection rather than anything we could ever accomplish ourselves.

One of the clearest examples of that kind of faith comes from the Philippian jailer in the book of Acts. After an earthquake shook the prison and he realized something supernatural had happened, he fell before Paul and Silas with a question that echoes through history:

He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Acts 16:30-31
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A30-31&version=NIV

The answer wasn’t a list of religious requirements.

Paul didn’t tell him to earn God’s favor through good works. He didn’t hand him a checklist of spiritual disciplines. He pointed him to one Person.

Jesus.

That same message appears throughout the New Testament.

Paul writes:

He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Romans 10:9-10
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9-10&version=NIV

And again:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-9&version=NIV

Those verses leave very little room for misunderstanding. Salvation is by grace. It is received through faith. It is God’s gift, not something earned through human effort. No one can boast because no one contributes to the work that Jesus has already finished.

That truth is incredibly freeing.

So many people spend their lives wondering whether they’ve done enough for God. Have they been good enough? Have they prayed enough? Have they attended church enough? Have they overcome enough sin to finally deserve His acceptance?

The Gospel answers every one of those questions with the same response.

You will never be enough.

That’s why Jesus came.

He lived the perfect life none of us could live. He died the death our sins deserved. He rose again in victory over sin and death so that everyone who repents and believes in Him can be forgiven and made new.

That is the heart of salvation.

Not striving.

Not earning.

Not performing.

Simply trusting the One who has already done everything necessary to save us.

Salvation Changes More Than Our Eternity

One of the greatest misunderstandings about Christianity is the idea that good works somehow earn God’s acceptance. It’s an easy trap to fall into because, by nature, we like the idea of earning what we receive. We understand working hard for a paycheck or training hard to achieve a goal. It feels natural to think our relationship with God works the same way.

But the Gospel turns that way of thinking upside down.

Good works don’t produce salvation.

Salvation produces good works.

That’s an important difference because getting it backward changes everything. Church attendance doesn’t save us. Baptism doesn’t save us. Reading the Bible, serving others, giving generously, or living a moral life doesn’t save us either. Those things are all good, and they are all part of a healthy walk with Christ. But they are the fruit that grows from a life that has already been transformed—not the root that makes salvation possible in the first place.

Think about a healthy apple tree. It doesn’t become an apple tree because someone hangs fruit from its branches. It bears fruit because that’s what a healthy apple tree naturally does.

The Christian life works much the same way.

When God changes a heart, a changed life follows. The desire to obey Him grows. Love for others begins to replace selfishness. Sin that once seemed normal becomes something we grieve. None of that happens overnight, and none of us experiences that growth perfectly. But when Jesus changes a life, change begins to happen.

That’s why the Christian life isn’t about trying harder to impress God. It’s about walking with the One who has already rescued us.

A New Family. A New Future.

The Gospel doesn’t stop at forgiveness.

God doesn’t simply erase our sins and leave us where we are. He welcomes us into His family.

That beautiful picture unfolds in Romans 8.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:12-18
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A12-18&version=NIV

Through Christ, believers are adopted as sons and daughters of God. That means our identity is no longer defined by our failures, our past, or even our greatest successes. We belong to Him. We have been welcomed into His family and invited to call the Creator of the universe “Father.”

What incredible grace.

That doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes easy. Following Jesus has never been a promise of comfort or convenience. Christians still experience sickness. We still grieve. We still walk through disappointment, loss, and suffering. We still live in a broken world that desperately needs the hope of the Gospel.

But we no longer face those things alone.

Our future is secure because our future rests in Christ.

Paul reminds us that the sufferings of this present time aren’t even worth comparing with the glory that is waiting for those who belong to Him. That doesn’t minimize today’s pain. It magnifies tomorrow’s hope. The trials we experience now are real, but they are temporary. The inheritance God has prepared for His children is eternal.

That hope changes the way we live today.

We don’t obey God because we’re trying to earn heaven.

We obey Him because heaven is already our home.

The Invitation Still Stands

By the end of this journey through Scripture—from Jacob’s encounter with God in the wilderness, through David’s prayer of repentance, to the teachings of Jesus, the message of Paul, and the promise of adoption in Romans—the answer to our original question is remarkably clear.

What is required for salvation?

Not perfection.

Not a lifetime of good works.

Not becoming religious enough.

Not cleaning yourself up before coming to God.

The requirement is the same today as it was when Jesus began His ministry.

Repent of your sins.

Believe in Jesus Christ.

God has already made the first move. He demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die for our sins and rise again in victory over death. Now He invites each of us to respond. Not by trying harder to earn His acceptance, but by placing our faith completely in the One who has already accomplished everything necessary for our salvation.

If you’ve never trusted Christ, that invitation is for you today.

If you’ve been following Jesus for years, let this truth fill your heart with gratitude once again. Our confidence has never rested in how well we’ve performed. It has always rested in how faithful our Savior is.

The Gospel really is that simple.

Repent.

Believe.

And receive the gift of salvation that only Jesus can give.

We’d Love to Welcome You

Whether you’re exploring faith for the first time or looking for a church to call home, we’d love to meet you at Open Arms Community Church. Join us as we worship together, study God’s Word, and grow in our relationship with Jesus.

👉 Plan Your Visit: https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/plan-your-visit/

If this ministry has encouraged you and you’d like to help us continue sharing the hope of Jesus in Bradford and beyond, your generosity makes a difference. Every gift helps us reach people with the life-changing message of the Gospel.

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In this message from the Acts series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, Josh Hatcher unpacks what it means to be “Devoted to the Fellowship.” Looking at the early church in Acts, this teaching challenges us to rethink what church really is—not a place we go, but a people we belong to, led by Jesus as our Shepherd.

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Who Are You Following?

In a world full of noise, voices are constantly competing for attention. Culture speaks. Fear speaks. Social media speaks. Personal impulses speak.

But Jesus makes a clear statement: His sheep know His voice.

The question isn’t whether people are following something. Everyone is. The real question is: who is leading?

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”6Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.8All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:1–10

If Jesus is the Shepherd, then His people are the sheep. That image might feel strange today, but throughout Scripture it’s a powerful and consistent picture of dependence, trust, and guidance.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

To follow Jesus is not just to believe in Him—it is to recognize His voice and choose to trust His leadership.

The Blueprint of the Early Church

After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the early church exploded with growth. What began as a small group quickly became thousands. But the real question isn’t just how many—it’s how they lived.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42–47

They were devoted to a few simple, but powerful things:

• The apostles’ teaching (the truth of Jesus)
• Fellowship (deep, shared connection)
• Breaking bread (life together, including meals)
• Prayer (a shared conversation with God)

This wasn’t casual commitment. It was devotion.

And that devotion produced something undeniable.

What Happens When the Church Is Healthy?

When the early believers lived this way, the results were clear:

• Lives were changed
• Miracles happened
• People were united
• Needs were met
• Joy was evident
• God was praised
• The community took notice
• People were saved daily

There was both power and presence.

There was both truth and relationship.

And perhaps most importantly, there was authenticity. Scripture describes their hearts as sincere—a word that literally means “without wax.” Nothing fake. Nothing hidden. Just real people, living real lives together before God.

What the Church Is Not

Somewhere along the way, especially in Western culture, the picture of church has become distorted.

Church is not:

• A building you go to
• A nonprofit organization
• A service you attend to be fed
• A personality you follow

Those things may exist—but they are tools, not the foundation.

The church is a people, led by Jesus, living in relationship with one another.

A Family That Takes Care of Each Other

One of the most striking parts of the early church is how they handled need.

They didn’t create systems first. They responded personally.

They saw a need—and they met it.

They gave, not out of obligation, but out of love.

This wasn’t about avoiding responsibility. Scripture holds both truths together:

• People are called to work and take responsibility
• People are also called to care for one another

When the church is healthy, no one is used—and no one is ignored.

It becomes a place where burdens are shared, not shifted.

Living in a Way the World Notices

Even in the midst of persecution, the early church experienced something remarkable: favor with people.

Why?

Because their lives were different.

They didn’t just talk about love—they lived it.
They didn’t just gather—they belonged.
They didn’t just believe—they embodied what they believed.

For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:19–25

Jesus, the Shepherd, laid down His life. And those who follow Him are called to walk in that same pattern—humility, sacrifice, and trust in God.

The Call Still Stands

Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep.”

Not to replace the Shepherd—but to serve under Him.

That call still stands.

It’s a call to:

• Serve
• Care for others
• Step into responsibility
• Help bring people home

This isn’t about building a personal platform. It’s about participating in God’s work.

So… Who Is Leading Your Life?

Every voice is trying to lead somewhere.

But only one Shepherd leads to life.

The invitation is simple, but not easy:

• To stop just believing about Jesus
• And begin fully following Him

To trust His voice.
To surrender control.
To walk in obedience.

Because the church becomes what it was always meant to be when people choose to follow the Shepherd together.

Next Steps

The early church didn’t just believe—they lived this out together.

You’re not meant to do life alone.

If you’re looking for a place to belong, to grow, and to be part of something real, we’d love to walk with you.

👉 Plan your visit: https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/visit
👉 Find a microchurch: https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/microchurches/

As part of our Acts series at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, Melissa Robinson brings a powerful and personal message centered on a question that still confronts every believer today: “What shall we do?” Building on the foundation of the early church after the resurrection, this message walks through conviction, response, and what it really means to follow Jesus in everyday life.

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A Life Transformed… Again and Again

Last week, we stepped into this series by looking at the early church in the book of Acts, after the resurrection of Jesus.

We saw a group of people whose lives had been completely transformed—not once, not twice, but three times—by Jesus. And He wasn’t done yet.

First, their lives were turned upside down when they chose to follow Him, leaving behind everything they knew. They witnessed His miracles, His teaching, His power.

Then came the crucifixion. One of the darkest moments in history. The One they believed was the Messiah was beaten, tortured, and killed. Their hope seemed lost, and fear drove them into hiding.

Then came the resurrection. Jesus defeated death. Yet even with the empty tomb and eyewitness accounts, doubt and confusion still lingered.

In most of these moments, they didn’t immediately recognize Him. It often took hearing His voice or seeing something familiar for their eyes to be opened.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1

Unbelief can blind us to what God is doing. Faith requires us to trust beyond what we can see.

And through it all, one question remained:

What shall we do?

The Tension of the Question

Hope and belief always demand a response.

You cannot encounter the truth of Jesus and stay the same. At some point, you have to decide what you’re going to do with it.

That tension shows up clearly in the story of the road to Emmaus.

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus(E-May-Us), about seven miles from Jerusalem.
14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?”he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning
23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.
24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together
34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Luke 24:13–35

Two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem. They’ve seen the crucifixion. They’ve heard about the empty tomb. They know something has happened—but they’re confused, discouraged, and unsure.

They say it plainly:

“We had hoped…”

Their expectations didn’t match reality.

And while they’re walking in confusion, they’re also walking in the wrong direction—away from where God is moving, away from community.

That’s what disappointment does. It isolates. It pulls us back when we most need to lean in.

And in that place, it becomes easy to miss Jesus—even when He’s right there.

When Understanding Is Missing

Jesus responds by taking them back to Scripture.

He shows them that the cross wasn’t a failure—it was the plan all along.

The problem wasn’t that they didn’t know Scripture. It’s that they misunderstood it.

They interpreted it through worldly expectations—power, control, dominance.

And that’s still happening today.

But in God’s kingdom:

• Greatness looks like humility
• Leadership looks like service
• Victory comes through sacrifice

Then in a familiar moment—breaking bread—their eyes are opened.

Everything changes.

They turn around and go back.

Back to community.
Back to where God is moving.

A Changed Life Doesn’t Stay Isolated

When focus shifts to disappointment and frustration, it becomes easy to withdraw from the very people and places where God is working.

But when eyes are lifted and attention turns toward Jesus, even familiar moments become powerful.

Sometimes it takes seeing Him clearly.
Sometimes it takes something simple—like shared bread—to recognize Him again.

And often, it takes the presence of other believers to help us see what we’ve been missing.

A New Kind of Boldness

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.”
Acts 2:14a

Peter stands up and speaks—and this is not the same man.

This is the one who denied Jesus.
The one who failed.
The one who fell short.

Now he is bold.

Because God doesn’t disqualify people for their failures.
He restores them.
Redeems them.
And uses them.

The Moment of Decision

Peter declares the truth:

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:36–41

Jesus is Lord.

And the people are cut to the heart.

They ask the question:

“What shall we do?”

Conviction without response leads nowhere.

Feeling something is not the same as doing something.

What It Means to Respond

Peter gives a clear answer:

Repent.
Be baptized.
Receive the Holy Spirit.

Repentance is not just feeling sorry—it’s a turning. A change in direction.

Baptism is identifying with Jesus and His people.

The Holy Spirit empowers the new life that follows.

Three thousand people responded that day.

And what did they do?

They stepped into community.
They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, and prayer.
They didn’t isolate—they engaged.

The Kind of Witness We Become

5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Luke 8:5–8

The parable of the sower shows that the condition of the heart determines the outcome.

Some hear and never understand.
Some receive it but fall away.
Some are distracted and choked by life.
Some take root and produce fruit.

The question isn’t just how we hear the Word.

It’s how we live it.

What kind of witness will we be?
What kind of disciple maker will we become?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

Faith That Moves

Faith isn’t just belief—it’s action.

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[b] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:14–26



For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8–9

Grace saves.
Faith responds.
Action follows.

The Christian life isn’t powered by self—it’s sustained by the Holy Spirit.

Living With Purpose

7 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

1 Peter 1:17–23

This life is not the final destination.

There is a call to live differently—to love deeply, to walk in reverence, and to reflect the reality of what Christ has done.

This isn’t about empty effort.

It’s about a transformed life marked by obedience, love, and purpose.

The Question Still Stands

So the question comes back again:

What shall we do?

For some, the answer is to respond for the first time.

For others, it’s to turn back after drifting away.

For others, it’s to stop striving alone and begin relying on the Holy Spirit.

The early church didn’t just ask the question.

They answered it.

They acted.

And everything changed.

The Call

Jesus is not passive. He is relentless in His pursuit.

He meets people in their doubt.
He meets people in their failure.
He meets people in their confusion.

He opens eyes.
He softens hearts.
He calls people forward.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16–20


But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

Believe.
Be baptized.
Be a witness.
Make disciples.

And then go and live it out—in love and in the power of Jesus.

Take Your Next Step

If this message challenged or encouraged you, don’t stop here.

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Open Arms Community Church meets Sunday mornings at 71 Congress Street in Bradford, PA. If you’re looking for a church in Bradford PA where you can grow, connect, and take your next step in faith—we’d love to meet you.