What your fresh start in the family of God looks like:

God doesn’t hold your past against you. In fact, He is waiting to forgive you of everything you’ve done in the past, and move forward as if it never happened. He wants to give you a fresh start!

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12, ESV)

A shift in focus from worldly things to God and the church is what everyone needs. The Bible tells us that everything in this world is rotting and susceptible to decay, whereas the things of God are not. God wants you to have a new focus on Him and the things that last forever!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19–20, ESV)

Everyone wants to belong to something bigger than themselves, and find a place of belonging there. This is exactly what God wants for His family of believers!

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” (Acts 4:32, ESV)

The world gives pain, anxiety, sadness, and death. God gives life, hope, peace, and a future!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, ESV)


Everyone in the family of God is important, and has something to bring to the table to serve others. This is God’s plan for every human.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” (1 Peter 4:10, ESV)

Without God, our lives have only superficial meaning. Everything feels hallow and lifeless if we don’t have God and heaven to look forward to. It doesn’t matter how much we’ve accomplished in life, we’ll always feel empty without God. But in the family of God, our true purpose in life is found, and we don’t have to keep searching to find meaning in life.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, ESV)

God invites each of His believers to gather to worship Him every week because He knows how good it is for us to direct and align our lives with something greater and more significant than ourselves. Each week, we get the opportunity to do that together as a family!

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” (Psalm 95:1–6, ESV)

God has provided us with His Word so we can learn about Him and how to serve Him. Bible study is a habit for all believers, and shapes their lives to be like Jesus.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

There are no stronger bonds than those between believers. God designed it that way so that when the struggles of life inevitably come up, we have people to lean on and ask for help.

“For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:10, ESV)

God has offered Himself as a sacrifice for each of our sins when Jesus died on the cross, and He extends that forgiveness to all who believe and become part of His family, giving us true hope for the future to know that everything will be alright.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, ESV)

God promises His Holy Spirit for everyone who is added to His family. It helps to lead believers in doing what God asks of them, and gives them a sense of true joy and peace in the world.

“And Peter said to them, “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.” (Acts 2:38, ESV)

God’s amazing message of belonging, forgiveness, and love does not end here! When you become a part of the family of God, you get to participate in spreading that message to people who have not heard it yet, so the cycle continues.

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)