Where It Began

By Gloria Fennell

As a nine-year-old child and a new Christian not knowing what Christianity was all about the author knew her life would be different now but How? What’s this Christianity all about?

In this book, she attempts to fill in the blanks for the things a “New Christian” needs to know besides the fact that “now I’m a Christian.” Questions Like: Now what? Where do I start? What’s the next step? Where do I go from here? She takes you along from her first experience of becoming a Christian, to growing up, to her adulthood, sharing her experiences with you as she tries to find her way. She experiences hard times, good and bad times but as she grows and finds her way the blanks begin to fill in one by one. Her methodology is discussed in a way that if one knows nothing at all about what to do or what’s next, she will lead you down the path that led her to finding her answers.

Walk with her and see “Where It Began.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385007301

Gloria Fennell

At the age of nine, the Holy Spirit called her to give her life to Jesus and be her savior. She didn’t know what all that meant for sure but she knew it was good. Since then, she has been a Christian all her Life with an intimate relationship with Jesus. She dreamed that someday she would write a book sharing with others the things she needed to learn and didn’t know as a new Christian. At times it is assumed that now you’re a Christian you automatically know what to do next but that is far from what it really is. As she matured the circumstances and trials of life taught her lessons she could share with others. In this book, she hopes to help people by sharing from her own life well-learned lessons with those who know nothing about being a Christian and ask What do I do Now? She went on to teach numerous Sunday school classes, and Bible school classes, and currently teaches an adult Bible study class for the past 12 years. She has gone through her life at times that were lonely, chaotic, and empty, but With Jesus in her life, she is filled with His unconditional love and His peace that surpasses all understanding.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Gloria Fennell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

All Scriptures are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD

BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975,

1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0729-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0730-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023917495

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/28/2023

CONTENTS

Dedication

About The Author

Where It Began

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. It is everlasting. Luke 21:33

The Bible Is The Truth

Exploring the Old Testament vs. the New Testament

Chapter 2

Who Is God

Gods Many Names

Gods -Angels

Gods Gifts

The Covenants Of God

Gods Blessings

Chapter 3

Finding Jesus

Finding Jesus Again

Jesus – The Christ

Jesus is the Son of God – King Of Kings & Lord Of Lords

Jesus the Messiah

Genealogy Of Jesus

Chapter 4

Jesus Purpose

Salvation

Commitment to Salvation

The Crucifixion, The Burial, and The Resurrection

Jesus Burial

Jesus Resurrection

The Great Commission

Jesus Asked Us To Obey 2 Ordinances

Jesus Baptism

Prayer

The Lords Prayer

The Beatitudes

The Holy Spirit

Chapter 5

Starting A New Life

The Call Of God

Answering The Call

Discipleship Is Witnessing

Obey – Do I Have To?

Hope Or Hopeless"

Got Faith?

Trust A Big Word

Is Patience A Virtue?

Worry Is It Worth It?

Got Courage?

Forgiveness Is Bliss Because it will set you free!

And the greatest of these is . . . L O V E 1 Corinthians 13:13

How To Choose An Account Partner

Chapter 6

What About Church

How I found my church

Learning To Worship

Prayer Part Of Worship

Fellowship With Others

M O N E Y What About It

Tithing

Resources

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to you MOM my Mentor.

We studied the New Testament verse by verse while

You patiently answered all my many questions.

Now it is my turn to say -

THANK YOU

John 15:13

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At the age of nine, the Holy Spirit called her to give her life to Jesus and be her savior. She didn’t know what all that meant for sure but she knew it was good. Since then, she has been a Christian all her Life with an intimate relationship with Jesus. She dreamed that someday she would write a book sharing with others the things she needed to learn and didn’t know as a new Christian. At times it is assumed that now you’re a Christian you automatically know what to do next but that is far from what it really is. As she matured the circumstances and trials of life taught her lessons she could share with others. In this book, she hopes to help people by sharing from her own life well-learned lessons with those who know nothing about being a Christian and ask What do I do Now?

She went on to teach numerous Sunday school classes, and Bible school classes, and currently teaches an adult Bible study class for the past 12 years. She has gone through her life at times that were lonely, chaotic, and empty, but With Jesus in her life, she is filled with His unconditional love and His peace that surpasses all understanding.

42023.jpg

WHERE IT BEGAN

As I sat at my desk looking out the window gazing at all that was going on outside it brought a smile to my face seeing how the leaves on the trees were dancing in the breeze, The birds chirping their songs to one another and the squirrels running about chasing to and from hiding their treasures. The sun warms the air nourishing the plants while they grow. I became mesmerized as I reflected on where it all began thinking what a magnificent miracle God had made when He created the earth and everything in it. Only God who is omnipresent everywhere at the same time, omnipotent, all-powerful, and sovereign who can do anything could create the earth and every living thing on and in it. There are so many miracles around us we take for granted and we don’t even give a second thought. The Bible teaches us that it all started in the beginning, so that’s where I will start my journey from my beginning to the now. Hopefully, this will help you as you travel along with me and learn and find the truth that will set you free.

I was nine years old, the oldest of two daughters and one brother. My folks loved us dearly and took very good care of us. As over-protected as they were living a sheltered life there was always an abundance of love and reassurance that we were wanted, loved, and a very important part of their life. Dad worked hard every day and any day he could to provide for us. With little education and coming from a very abused family, he wanted to provide the very best he could for his family no matter what. He was adamant about Mom not working, he wanted her to be the one raising his children along with him rather than a babysitter and keep up our home. She was a good and loving mom as my father, and she was always trying to set a good example for us to follow. When we would come home from school she was always there. Throughout the week upon our arrival, we could smell the homemade bread just coming out of the oven, and a special treat for us was when she made homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk was there for us to snack on after what we thought was a hard day at school. Dad would tell us make-believe stories of Pistol Pete at bedtime after we said our prayer and always kiss us good night and tell us how much he loved us. How blessed we were with parents like this. Even though we were not poor but not rich either, we got what we needed. I remember Dad saying if you need something we had to put your order in so that Dad could plan for it out of his next paycheck.

Mom was the one who took us to church and Sunday School every Sunday. It was very important to them for their children to know about God, Jesus, and the Bible. Dad being exhausted from working as a plasterer all week chose to rest on Sunday to get ready for another week of hard work. Mom would take us to church where we would sing beautiful hymns, read the Bible, pray, and of course hear what the Pastor had to say. I didn’t understand a lot of what he had to say but I knew he was talking about Jesus and how He loved me and died on the cross to forgive me of my sins. I needed Him in my heart so that I could go to heaven and be with Him when I died. As a nine-year-old little girl, I was content going to Sunday School and church every Sunday with my mom and siblings. But one Sunday it was different. When the sermon ended, I began to feel something different, an overwhelming feeling of love, and warmth came over my whole body. As I stood there I felt my heart beating very fast, I felt a strong passion of love overwhelm me and I began to cry as my whole body shook. I knew it was the Holy Spirit calling me to give my life to Jesus and be my savior. I didn’t know what all that meant for sure but I did know it was good and that I had to move from my seat and go and pray with the preacher and follow up in baptism. Each person’s experience is different when they decide to give their life to Jesus. But this was mine. Since then, I have been on a journey throughout my life with an intimate relationship with Jesus knowing this is Where it began.

42023.jpg

HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL

PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS

WILL NOT PASS AWAY. IT IS

EVERLASTING. LUKE 21:33

As I grew older, I continued to attend church, and youth group. I loved to sing the hymns so I always sang in the choir, they always made me feel so close to God. When I was a teenager, my brother came along and joined our family our family is now complete. My parents had their two daughters and a much-wanted son at last.

Not long after that I was a married adult with two little ones of my own, a very handsome little boy and a beautiful little girl. I started bringing them to church at an early age so that they would grow up knowing about Jesus and how much He loved them too. I needed to get more into the Bible to learn how I was to live as a Christian so that I could learn for myself and teach my children as well.

When I was nine no one taught me what to do next since I made my decision to follow Jesus, I guess they figured as I grew older, I would read my bible and learn on my own. I could just grow and follow the examples that were there for me. I could go to the bible and find out what to do in certain situations and that would help me with my problems. How was that so? I didn’t understand how the Bible could help me with a problem I’m having nowadays and give me an answer when the bible was written in those days. So, I began to study the book I was basing my new life on. If this book was what I was going to live my whole life by I needed some answers that I could understand and apply to my life now and always. I was frustrated that I wasn’t taught these things all along and felt that there were probably a lot of people like me who needed to know these things but were never taught either or hadn’t a clue where to go to find anything. So, I decided to share what I learned