Week One
Explore Christianity 101 Week One - how the Bible reveals God, why Jesus bridges the gap of sin, and how you can begin a personal relationship with Him.
BY B. GIRON JR.
12/230/2025
Can I Really Have a Relationship with God?
Welcome to the Journey
I’m so glad you’re here. Over the next six weeks, we’re going to dive into some of the biggest questions life has to offer. Our goal isn’t just to fill your head with facts, but to help you understand who God is, how He sees you, and how you can actually walk through life with Him. We’ll cover everything from the Bible and the person of Jesus to what it means to live out your faith every day.
Let’s Talk About Our Foundation: The Bible
Before we get into today’s big question, we have to talk about where we’re getting our information. We’re leaning on the Bible. Now, I know the Bible can feel intimidating it’s a massive collection of 66 books, written by about 40 different people over 1,500 years. But here’s the amazing part: despite all those different authors and languages, it tells one single, beautiful story about God’s love for us.
We believe the Bible is God’s way of speaking to us. It’s accurate, it’s trustworthy, and honestly, it’s incredibly practical for what we’re going through today. It’s not just an old book; it’s our "North Star."
The Big Question: Can I Have a Personal Relationship with God?
This is where it gets personal. A lot of people think of God as a distant force or a strict judge in the sky. But the core message of Christianity is that God wants to know you.
So, how does He make Himself known? He usually does it in two ways:
1. He leaves "clues" in the world around us. If you’ve ever looked at a sunset or the complexity of a DNA strand and thought, "There has to be a Creator," you’re feeling what the Bible talks about in Psalm 19. Creation is like God’s fingerprint. He also put a conscience inside you that inner "moral compass" that tells you right from wrong. These things tell us God exists, but they don’t tell us His name or His heart. For that, we need something more.
2. He tells us His story in the Bible. The Bible is where God gets specific. He shows us His plan to rescue us through Jesus. You see, the "problem" is that our mistakes and our "self-first" nature (what the Bible calls sin) created a gap between us and a perfect God. But God didn't want that gap to stay there. He sent Jesus to bridge it.
What Does a "Personal Relationship" Actually Look Like?
Think about any close friendship you have. For that relationship to work, you need three things: two people, a way to connect, and a choice to stay connected. It’s the same with God.
There has to be a way to relate. Because God is perfect and we aren't, we couldn't get to Him on our own. So, Jesus did the heavy lifting. By dying on the cross and rising again, He cleared the wreckage of our mistakes. As Colossians 1:20 says, He made peace through His blood. He opened the door.
There has to be a choice. God is a gentleman; He won’t force His way into your life. In the book of Revelation, there’s a famous image of Jesus standing at a door and knocking. He’s waiting for you to hear His voice and open the door.
God has already made His choice, He chose to love you and sacrifice for you. Now, the ball is in your court. A relationship starts when you hear that invitation and decide to "receive" Him, trusting that what Jesus did was for you personally.
The Bottom Line
So, can you really have a relationship with God? Absolutely. It’s not about being perfect or following a long list of rules. It’s about a God who is seeking you out and a simple choice on your part to let Him in.
This Week’s Big Ideas
The Bible is our reliable guide for understanding God.
God reveals Himself through the beauty of the world and the truth of Scripture.
Jesus bridged the gap that our sins created.
A relationship with God starts with a personal choice to respond to His invitation.
Student guide.
Course Goals
Over these six weeks, our aim is:
To help you begin or deepen a relationship with the God of the Bible.
To help you understand how God has revealed Himself and what He has done for us.
To help you grasp the foundational truths of the Christian faith.
Course Overview
Week 1: Can I Have a Personal Relationship with God?
Week 2: Who Is Jesus Christ and Why Is He Unique?
Week 3: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
Week 4: What Does “Salvation” Mean and Why Do I Need It?
Week 5: If I Need Salvation, How Can I Obtain It?
Week 6: How Can I Be Sure I’m Going to Heaven?
Our Foundation: The Bible
Christianity 101 is built on one central conviction:
The Bible is God’s revealed truth.
That means we believe:
The Bible is inspired by God.
The Bible is completely accurate in its original writings.
The Bible is trustworthy.
The Bible is relevant, practical, and authoritative for our lives today.
Because of this, you’ve been given a message by Lon Solomon called “The Reliability of the Bible” (Parts 1 & 2). It explains why Christians trust the Bible and why you can, too. A written summary is in Attachment 1 at the end of your booklet, along with:
Attachment 2: Additional questions and answers about the Bible.
Attachment 3: Non-biblical (philosophical) arguments for the existence of God.
What Is the Bible?
The Bible is a collection of 66 books:
39 in the Old Testament
27 in the New Testament
It was written by about 40 human authors, in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), over approximately 1,500 years.
The word “Bible” comes from the Greek biblos (“book”).
The Bible usually calls itself “Scripture,” meaning “writing.”
The word testament means a legal declaration, covenant, or witness. So:
The Old and New Testaments together are:
A legal, written declaration of God’s character and purposes.
A covenant between God and His people.
A witness to who God is and what He has done.
The Old Testament looks ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ.
The New Testament looks back on His coming, His life, death, and resurrection, and explains what this means for us eternally.
Taken as a whole, the Bible tells one great story:
God’s love and His desire to have a relationship with us.
Today’s Topic
Can I Have a Personal Relationship with God?
To answer that, we first need to understand how God makes Himself known.
1. How Does God Reveal Himself?
“Revelation” means God making Himself known to human beings in ways we could not discover on our own. It is His initiative, not ours.
The Bible shows two broad kinds of revelation:
Outside the Bible – creation and conscience
Inside the Bible – Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation
1A. Revelation Outside the Bible: Creation & Conscience
Creation
Psalm 19:1–4a
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Creation constantly points beyond itself to a powerful, intelligent Creator.
Conscience
Romans 2:15
“The requirements of the law [God’s standards] are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness.”
Within every human being is a moral awareness a sense of right and wrong. This “inner law” points to a Lawgiver.
What can creation and conscience show?
They:
Support belief in the existence of God.
Show something of God’s power and divine nature.
But they are limited. They don’t fully explain:
God’s character in detail
His specific plan to save us from sin
Still, they leave us without excuse for ignoring God.
Romans 1:19–20
“Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Two “Light Switches”:
God has turned on two “lights” for every person:
The light of creation
The light of conscience
We can choose to respond to that light or to ignore it.
John 3:19
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”
If I honestly seek God, will He respond?
Yes.
Deuteronomy 4:29
“If from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”Proverbs 8:17b
“Those who seek me find me.”Matthew 7:8
“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
1B. Revelation Inside the Bible: Jesus Christ & Salvation
Inside the Bible, God reveals truths we would never discover on our own, especially:
That we are sinners separated from God
That we need a Savior
That Jesus Christ is that Savior
Key verses:
Matthew 1:21
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”John 3:16–17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”Acts 4:12
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
If God has gone to such lengths to reveal Himself, it must be because He wants to be known personally.
2. What Is a Personal Relationship?
We all instinctively know the difference between:
Knowing about someone (facts, information), and
Knowing someone (a personal relationship).
A personal relationship, human or divine, requires:
Two real persons
A way to relate
A choice to relate
With God, that means:
There must be a way for us to relate to Him.
There must be a mutual choice:
God must choose to relate to us.
We must choose to respond and relate to Him.
These ideas form the outline of this week’s lesson.
The Bible’s answer to “Can I have a personal relationship with God?” is a clear yes.
3. There Must Be a Way for Us to Relate to God
How has God made that way?
Colossians 1:20
“For God was pleased … through him [Jesus] to reconcile to himself all things … by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
From this verse we learn:
Jesus reconciled us to God.
Jesus made peace with God through His blood on the cross.
Reconciliation means restoring a broken relationship bringing two alienated parties back into harmony. Sin had separated us from God; Jesus’ death on the cross removes the barrier.
4. There Must Be a Choice to Relate
4A. God’s Choice to Relate to Me
How has God shown that He wants a relationship with you?
God loved you and sent His Son.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God reconciled you through Christ’s death.
Colossians 1:22a
“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death…”
God stands at the “door” of your life and knocks.
Revelation 3:20
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
God has already moved toward you He has taken the initiative.
4B. My Choice to Relate to God
How do I respond?
From Revelation 3:20 and John 1:12, three key words describe our response:
Hear – I listen to His voice, His message.
Receive – I “open the door” and welcome Him into my life.
Believe – I trust Him and rely on Him personally.
Revelation 3:20
“…If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”John 1:12
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
When I hear, receive, and believe, I enter into a personal relationship with God He becomes my Father, and I become His child.
5. So, Can I Really Have a Relationship with God?
Yes.
It is not only possible to know about God; the Bible says you can know Him personally.
God has revealed Himself in creation and conscience.
God has spoken clearly in Scripture and in Jesus Christ.
God has already provided the way—through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
God is actively inviting you into relationship.
You must decide how you will respond.
You may have already trusted Christ, you may be in the process of exploring, or you may do so in the coming weeks. This course is designed to help you consider that decision carefully and clearly.
Week One – Key Takeaways
The Bible is God’s written revelation and our foundation for truth.
The Bible is inspired, accurate, trustworthy, and authoritative.
God reveals Himself both outside the Bible (creation, conscience) and inside the Bible (Jesus and salvation).
Knowing facts about God is not the same as having a relationship with Him.
God wants a personal relationship with you.
God has taken the initiative—through Jesus to make that relationship possible.
You must choose to respond to Him through hearing, receiving, and believing.
You really can have a personal relationship with God.
If you’d like, I can next:
Turn this into a teaching script (for a class or small group),
Adapt it into a discussion guide with questions, or
Rewrite it in a more conversational / youth-oriented style.
Week One FAQ – To Use with the Guide
You can drop this in at the end of Week One or use it as a handout. Feel free to tweak wording to match your church/ministry context.
1. What is this course actually about?
This six-week course is designed to help you explore who God is, what the Bible says about Him, and how you can have a real, personal relationship with Him. It’s not just information; it’s an invitation to know God and walk with Him.
2. Do I need to know a lot about the Bible to be here?
No. You’re in the right place even if you’ve never really read the Bible before. This course is meant to be an introduction. You can ask basic questions, admit what you don’t know, and learn as you go.
3. What Bible translation should I use?
Use any faithful translation you’re comfortable reading. Common, readable options include:
New International Version (NIV)
English Standard Version (ESV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
If you don’t have a Bible, let us know—we’d be happy to help you get one or recommend a good Bible app.
4. Is it okay to have doubts or hard questions?
Yes. Doubts and questions are normal. God is not afraid of your questions. This course is a safe place to wrestle with what you believe, ask honestly, and seek real answers.
5. What do you mean by a “personal relationship with God”?
A personal relationship with God means:
You know about Him from the Bible.
You learn to know Him through prayer and trust.
You respond to His invitation to believe in Jesus and follow Him.
It’s not just following rules or attending services. It’s a living, ongoing connection with the God who loves you.
6. Can I really have a relationship with God if I’m not even sure He’s there?
Yes, you can start exploring that possibility right where you are. The Bible says God can be found by those who honestly seek Him. If you’re unsure, your next step is simply to say, “God, if You’re real, help me see the truth,” and to keep seeking through Scripture, questions, and conversation.
7. Why is Jesus so central to this whole conversation?
According to the Bible, our sin—our self-centeredness and rebellion—separates us from a holy God. We can’t “fix” that on our own. Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again to pay the price for our sin and reconcile us to God.
In short: Jesus is the way God made for us to have a restored relationship with Him.
8. Isn’t being a good person enough?
Being kind and moral is important—but the Bible teaches that no one is perfectly good by God’s standard. Our problem isn’t just bad behavior; it’s a broken heart and a broken relationship with God.
Christianity isn’t “good people vs. bad people”; it’s about forgiven people who have received God’s grace through Jesus.
9. Why should I trust the Bible?
In this course we’re treating the Bible as our foundation because:
It claims to be God’s Word.
It has been carefully preserved and copied over centuries.
Its historical details and many prophecies have strong support.
Its message is consistent across 66 books and 40 authors over 1,500 years.
We’ll point you to resources (like the attachments mentioned in the guide) that dive deeper into the Bible’s reliability.
10. What if I come from another religion or no religion at all?
You are welcome. This guide isn’t assuming you already believe what it teaches. It’s laying out the Christian view clearly and inviting you to consider it. You’re free to listen, question, compare, and respond at your own pace.
11. What if I’ve done things I’m really ashamed of?
You’re not disqualified. In fact, the heart of the Christian message is that Jesus came for sinners—for people who know they need forgiveness.
No sin is too big for God’s grace. Jesus’ death on the cross is enough to cover your past, your failures, and your shame when you come to Him in faith.
12. How do I actually start a relationship with God?
According to the Bible, starting that relationship involves:
Hearing His invitation (through the message about Jesus).
Believing that Jesus died and rose for you.
Receiving Him—saying “yes” to Him in trust and surrender.
This often looks like a simple, honest prayer, such as: “Jesus, I believe You died and rose for me. I admit I’ve sinned. I want to turn to You and receive You as my Savior and Lord.”
13. What if I don’t feel anything when I do that?
Feelings can be helpful, but they aren’t the foundation. God’s promises in His Word are. Some people feel a lot when they come to Christ; others feel very little at first. What matters most is the reality of who Jesus is and your genuine trust in Him, not the intensity of the emotion in the moment.
14. How do I talk with God?
Talking with God is called prayer. You don’t need fancy words or a special formula. You can:
Thank Him for who He is and what He’s done.
Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness.
Ask for help, wisdom, strength, and guidance.
Pray for others.
Think of it as an honest conversation with a loving Father who is actually listening.
15. What if I start this and then mess up again?
You will. All Christians do. The Christian life is not about never failing; it’s about learning to turn back to God quickly when you do. When you sin, you don’t need to “get saved again.” You come back, confess, receive His forgiveness, and keep walking with Him.
16. Can I lose my relationship with God?
The Bible teaches that when you truly put your trust in Christ, you become God’s child, and He holds onto you. Genuine faith leads to a changed life over time, but your security is based on what Jesus did and God’s promise—not your perfection.
If you’re struggling with this question, talk with a leader; we’d love to walk through it with you.
17. Is Christianity against science?
No. Christianity is not anti-science. Many Christians see science as exploring how God made the world work, while the Bible explains who made it and why. This course won’t answer every science question, but it will help frame how Christians see God, creation, and truth.
18. Why does God feel distant sometimes, even if I’m trying?
Many people experience seasons where God feels far away. That doesn’t mean He is far away. Emotions fluctuate; God’s presence and promises don’t.
In those times, keep:
Reading Scripture
Praying honestly
Staying connected to other believers
Often, God uses “dry” seasons to deepen our trust in Him.
19. What if I miss a week or fall behind?
Don’t give up. If you miss a session:
Ask for notes or the guide content.
Read through the Scriptures and questions on your own.
Jump back in the next time you can.
This is a journey, not a test you’re going to be graded on.
20. What should I do after Week One?
Here are some simple next steps:
Keep reading the Bible (start with one of the Gospels like John or Mark).
Keep asking questions—bring them to the group or a leader.
Begin talking to God daily, even briefly.
Come back for Week Two and see how the story continues.
Ready?
Let's dive into Week two: Who is Jesus Christ and Why is He Unique?
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