Starting over again — a re-beginners guide to the Christian life

Are you someone who used to be a Christian, somehow lost your way, and want to start again? This page is for you.

Ultimately there are just two things to remember about starting again:

1) God wants you back and

2) You can start back today.

Where are you starting from?

Where are you starting from? Do you have a clear picture of the Christian Gospel, or is it something vaguer, like a general sense of the goodness of God, or just a notion that there must be a God? It's worth reading our Becoming a Christian section to refresh your memory, or perhaps even to discover the Good News for the first time. Read more >>>

Why did you stop?

If you know where you started from, do you know why you stopped? There are all kinds of reasons why people temporarily lose touch with God. You may be surprised to know that the most common reason is moving house! Moving breaks up our network of relationships and changes our daily timetables. People move house and then don't find a church where they easily fit in. Christians need other Christians to stay spiritually alive, and without a local church, things begin to fade.

For young people, one of the biggest reasons is getting involved in a romantic relationship with someone who doesn't want to be involved with Christianity. This can go in all kinds of directions, but as a general rule, it usually ends up with neither person being involved with Jesus Christ.

Some lifestyles are not compatible with being a Christian. Getting mixed up with the wrong friends, or occasionally, in the wrong job (for example, any job that makes you lie to people…) can lead you away from Jesus. And so can stubbornness. If you know you've done something which is wrong, you can either go back to God to ask for forgiveness, or you can stubbornly cling to it. Stubbornly clinging to it quickly destroys your walk with God.

It's not so often that people have a crisis of faith, but it does happen — especially if, instead of facing up to your doubts, you try to carry on regardless. Sometimes people have been mistreated by other Christians — this is very sad, but is not usually the main reason why people stop believing… although it's often the reason people give when asked.

The reason you stopped doesn't mean you can't start again

Whatever the reason was you stopped, it doesn't need to hold you back, though you may want to get some help from a mature Christian to help deal with it. Across 20 centuries and the entire world, Christians have discovered that Jesus Christ is bigger than their problems.

Living as a Christian — again

Church. Being a Christian and going to church aren't the same thing — but starting to go to church again is for most people the biggest step in re-beginning the Christian life. Other Christians will support you, encourage you, and, if you ask them, keep an eye out for you. If you live in or near Stechford, we would love to welcome you at our church. If you've found this page on the web, though, and you don't live anywhere near us, here is what to look for in a church Read more >>>

The Bible. If you want to re-establish your Christian faith, it's time to get into the Bible again. Any Christian bookshop can provide you with Bible Reading Notes, or the Church Army will send you daily Bible Reading Notes for free by email. Click here to go to their site. Or you can go to this site. The important thing, though, is to read the Bible on a regular basis — it's about filling your mind with God's mind. You might like to work through our basic Bible studies for new Christians, as a way of helping to re-establish your faith. Read more >>>

Prayer. If you've been through a period of not wanting to be a Christian, prayer can seem a strange and perhaps even frightening thing to begin again. But actually, God wants you to pray!  If you want to read more about prayer, you could look at this site, although prayer isn't something you need to know a lot about. We've got some simple guidelines for prayer here on our site, but the main thing is — start praying. Read more >>>

Share your faith. The last thing that Jesus said before he went into heaven was that we should tell other people about our faith. How you do this depends a lot on your personality and your situation. You certainly don't need to try to be someone else. But find ways to make it clear to other people that you do belong to Jesus Christ — without giving offence or causing arguments.

Stechford Baptist Church • Victoria Road • Stechford • Birmingham B33 8AH. Map. Stechford is in the Stechford and Yardley North Ward, and is close to Hodge Hill.