How to return to Christian beliefs?

[ANewLifeIsMine]

Maybe the title of this thread is misleading.

I am middle aged. As a child I was Christened and went to Sunday School.

In my early youth my parents vehemently decided that suddenly they did not believe in God, and we were taken out of Sunday School and no longer attended church, with the exception of Christenings, Marriages and Funerals.

It would be true to say that my childhood was difficult. It was one of those upper middle class childhoods whereby your DCs are a badge of honour. We were brought out and displayed to make my parents look good, though as parents they were hands off, unless we did something very right that they could show off, or very wrong for which they could admonish us. Religious beliefs were scorned.

However, I feel strongly that God has never left me. I believe in the God my Grandparents spoke of, and the valuable lessons I learned through them e.g. do unto others.

I believe that God is in everything, not just churches.

My own relationship with God has been remote, but I have always felt that he is with me.

I see my return to faith as a very personal thing, I neither want, nor need, to go to church. As I said, I believe that God is everywhere.

How do I return to my Christian faith? In a chaotic world, how do I learn more about the lessons of the bible?

I do not want to go on a formal course. As I say, my relationship with God is very personal. I'm asking; how do I enhance, enrich and grow my faith further? How do I pray, for example?

Apologies for the length of this post. I'm serious about this and would be grateful for any serious answers.

I tried the Hallow app but a lot is behind a paywall.

I've tried various Bible in a Year books and podcasts but couldn't keep up with them, but that's something you can do if you're interested in reading the Bible all the way through, and there's often online groups for reading it in a year.

I found that focusing on a particular topic helped me to become deeper in faith. Then I wasn't just looking at anything that might help, but looking for people that would help me pray for this. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I think it's less confusing to focus on one (social justice?) thing at a time.

OP, a lot of churches stream their services online via Youtube. You can find one whose worship style suits you better than your two local ones.
You are correct that God is always with you, and you have a direct relationship with Him through prayer, but joining in communal worship and helping with local Christian charitable endeavours is important too. He asks us to love our neighbours, not just Him.
Perhaps you could give the traditional church full of oldies a fair trial - many of us Christians are elderly, but we are still friendly human beings with interesting lives and would welcome you as a younger member!
I remember taking DD to church when she was a rebellious young teen. She deliberately wore a mini skirt and fake purple knitted dreadlocks. Instead of the shock effect she was aiming for, nobody batted an eye, and one old lady came over beaming and said “Oh, I wish I was young again- I love your outfit!”.

@Troubledwords I did the same approach as you I think. I liked Fr. Mike Schmitz best as found him easiest to follow. I watched his YouTube videos on topics that I had questions about like importance of faith in a marriage, why be Catholic and not just Christian etc (because those were the sort of questions I had for myself, there's loads of topics covered) I found this approach helped the most as it cemented my decision in joining the Church. I'd recommend him even to anyone not wanting to be Catholic as he really helps make sense of why we do what we do in a really lovely way,

Yes, I'm listening to his Catechism in a Year and managing to keep up with that as it's more consistently shorter than the Bible in a Year one was.

I've been listening to the Gospels/NT read by David Suchet recently. I highly recommend it, he reads so beautifully and while using the traditional language it's somehow not at all stuffy and feels very 'alive'. Also you can't go far wrong with CS Lewis (if you account for his being a bit old-fashioned in some respects, I don't know what your views are obviously). The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity are my favourites. I do think church community - and Communion - are important and historically this is how Christians have worshipped, but I understand it may not be for everyone. I go to a local C of E church with a rather elderly congregation and am usually the youngest one there by at least a decade but I do find beauty in the services and I like to think I'm doing my little bit to keep those traditions alive.😊

I do also like the Quakers a lot and feel quite drawn to them but I think I would miss the Communion aspect of it and the liturgy. Definitely not into the fundamentalist type of Christianity.

Sorry, third post in a row but just remembered a podcast I've really enjoyed recently called Undeceptions. So wanted to recommend that as well.

To pray, just talk to God. Literally, just talk to him. I pray on walks in nature, or when I'm alone, sometimes out loud if no one is about and sometimes in my head.

My son is a practising Christian and says the fundaments of prayer are: Sorry, Thank you, Help. Sometimes I divide my prayers into those three categories. I apologise for going off course, I thank God for all the good things in my life and ask for help with the things that worry me or that I am failing at.

Like you I came from an atheist family but went to a Christian school (as local primaries were by default in those days) and that sense of God never left me. I remember a book with a picture of a gorgeous sunset, blossoms and a rainbow, with the words 'God is everywhere'. I asked a grown up what it meant and they explained God was in every flower, every raindrop, even in me, and that made total sense. Still does. Meditative walks in nature lead me to God, and are lovely in themselves. You could start with them!

I have him on cd somewhere, and should find it, as you're right he does a lovely reading of the Bible.

Yes, I'm quite often the youngest at Church, especially at events, but I don't think it matters, and I'm seeing more and more families come in slowly.

I really like the Pray As You Go app, it has a daily prayer to listen to with some music and a short Bible reading. It also gives you a couple of questions to think about and it only lasts about 12 minutes!

I also like watching the Lumo gospels on YouTube to engage with the Bible.

I just reread your original post and think I misinterpreted it, you do specify Christianity. I tried to delete my post but don't think I can so just ignore it 🙂

I was brought up
A Christian
But I believe God Is everywhere
That God wants the best for us and is guiding us but we need to listen
These days I'm more spiritual than any particular religion.
Try exploring the teachings of Abraham Hicks - very uplifting.

The Unitarian Universalists are very good at accepting everyone has their own spiritual path to follow . That may be someone could look into ? Charles Dickens and a few American Presidents were UU but it seems to have fallen out of favour in the UK. Its a very tolerant group .

I find this site helpful.
https://www.sacredspace.ie/
it included a daily Bible reading explanations and guided mediation.
it’s very gentle

Hi @FurElsie - we've helped you withdraw your initial post now.

"How do I return to my Christian faith? In a chaotic world, how do I learn more about the lessons of the bible?

I do not want to go on a formal course. As I say, my relationship with God is very personal. I'm asking; how do I enhance, enrich and grow my faith further? How do I pray, for example?"

Posting because I want to come back to this thread and answer you properly, but am just off out now - to Mass, ironically!

I wanted to quickly ask where (roughly) you live?

Honestly, Jesus has done all you ever need to do to be able to have a direct relationship with God, he is the way, you just have to accept and follow Him. A Christian is a follower of Christ.

Then start talking to him. Mentally or out loud.
When you look at the bible people pray prayers of joy and praise, of frustration and despair, they pray about their hopes and dreams. They are authentically them.

I like listening to Elevation Worship for uplifting praise. I also like Charles Stanley's 20 minute sermons from In Touch Ministries. I tend to stick something like that on in the background when I'm in the car or pottering about the house.

I find He talks to me when I'm gardening. Nature and farming imagery is mentioned a lot in the bible. I will be praying about my daughter and I will see a little sapling that I thought was struggling suddenly flourish, or I will be removing the extra healthy shoots that drain the resources from a tomato plant and cause it to produce less tomatoes and I will be reminded that putting energy into too many things (even things that seem good) and losing focus on Him will make me less fruitful.

I don't know if that makes sense to you, I just find God talks to me the most in the garden. PP had mentioned she felt close to Him in nature walks, He is everywhere and my relationship with Him is woven into all things.

I am part of a church community too and I get a lot out of that and belive it to be important, but the time that I spend with God, praising him, talking to him and hearing from him is so much more than one hour a week on a Sunday morning.

Sorry, I should have said, to follow Him you obviously need to be aware of what He teaches, so reading the Bible, especially the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and having an awareness of what he has said and in what context is very important.

I'm an atheist, so not particularly knowledgeable, but in our local (small and rural) community the methodist churches are very open and community minded, more so than the other churches.

They do an awful lot of 'nice' things, not particularly religious. Not active worshipping. Like a youth club, and cinema nights, they have a cafe, do craft days for kids, have a room they offer to homeless people, all sorts. As a result the congregation is much younger and very active. But in a 'doing nice things' way, rather than a 'preaching' way. It's something I've noticed about other methodist groups too - they seem to actually do things, rather than just telling other people they should be doing things!

Are there any groups like that near you? Not necessarily methodist. That maybe have coffee mornings and things where you could go along and get a feel for the people and what they're about?

It sounds to me like you would like a sort of soft/easy/gentle group to drift in and out of, have the community of shared values but not overt teaching or preaching?

There are many YouTube channels where Bible study, sermons and worship are carried out (at all levels of faith), but you do have to be a bit careful sorting through them.

Currently I listen to How to Faith a Life (she's very exuberant but I don't mind, makes me smile) as I discovered Bible journalling and wanted to give it a try. I am currently doing her Bible Study Bootcamp course which is online and you can do it at your own speed. It is great and a very good way to get into the Bible more actively and understand it better. I use a Bible dictionary alongside the Bible (really useful and fascinating thing to have) and also use Bible Hub for commentaries.

I also like David Diga Hernandez, he's very clear and easy to understand. As I am house bound I have started to revisit online Sunday church services. I used to attend HTB Brompton a very long time ago and they do livestreams of their service.

The way to reconnect with God is via the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour he already dwells in you and is always there, speaking to you, even if you can't as yet hear him. Reading and studying the Bible will help you to start hearing his voice. The fact that you are posting here shows God is leading you back to him.

At some point, Christians need to be in fellowship with other Christians, whether that is as part of a church or something like a house group or bible study group. Church isn't performative and it's not solely about what you need or want to get out of it - it's also about what you can give to others, in terms of mutual encouragement, support, prayer, teaching, serving. I think you can only go so far in your journey as a Christian flying solo.

Sorry a little late to the party. I think your starting point is to take a step back. What do you feel spiritually? What do you want from your spiritual life? What do you believe is there? What you largely describe sounds like a type of pantheism, rather than Christianity as typically envisaged. You are probably immediately looking towards Christianity because that is what you are familiar with as setting out the “something more”. Are you drawn to Christianity trying to find a connection to your grandparents who you obviously loved?

spiritual journeys ask a lot of questions, some of the answers can be difficult. It can take a lot of work, a lot of time.

Exoteric Christianity/religion can shortcut some of this journey but it’s a lot harder to find out your on the right path and it can curtail your spiritual exploration, but for many this is the best path of them and fulfills their spiritual needs and answers their questions.

More esoteric routes suit some where there is work towards a deeper personal understanding, but it’s not for everyone- western history is full of these routes (although for obvious reasons often concealed by state sponsored religions.

I’ve been through several Christian denominations. I was brought up mainly CofE, went to a catholic convent school, many relatives were Methodists, some spiritualists. What you have to remember that none of these religions have any direct connection to God, they are all man made, with histories of varying degrees of corruption and lies. Even the bible as it usually stands is a complication drawn together with a man made agenda.

But start exploring- read the Bible (I’d personally recommend John). Look outside the cannon at the other Gospels that have been rediscovered over the years. Read the history of various western esoteric traditions, read philosophy esp Greek. Read poets like Coleridge and Blake. Read Jungian psychology. Spirituality is less about the answers than the questions