Skip to content ↓

Just for Starters

Resources Collection cover image

Have you ever seen someone become a Christian and found yourself wondering how you can best serve him as he grows in his new-found faith? It’s something I’ve wondered often. “Now that he’s a Christian, what can I give him to help him learn the basics?” In those early days a person is best-served by having a Christian come alongside him, so the kind of resource that can be done one-on-one is especially valuable.

Matthias Media offers a very good solution in their For Starters booklets. The first two resources are geared toward follow-up, toward establishing the basics after a person has made a profession of faith. The third is meant to follow and will lead the person a little bit deeper.

Just for StartersJust for Starters looks at what the Bible teaches on seven fundamental topics: Saved by God, Trusting in God, Living God’s way, Listening to God, Talking to God, Meeting with God’s Family, Meeting the World. It is intended for use in one-to-one discipleship, so a more mature Christian will go through this material with a new Christian, leading him through the seven lessons. The booklet is in a Q&A format: you will read a passage of Scripture and then answer questions related to it. There are questions of comprehension, questions of application and verses to memorize. Each lesson is just a few pages long and could be completed in 30 minutes or so.

Christian Living for StartersChristian Living for Starters is the follow-up, continuing where the first one leaves off. It looks to seven more topics related to Christian living: Confident Hope, Living by Faith, Love like the Son, Joy in Adversity, Gracious Generosity, Holiness and Spirit-Filled Living. It is identical in format, with the same Q&A format, the same emphasis on both comprehension and application. And again, the lessons will not take too long to complete.

Short StepsAfter these two, Matthias Media offers Short Steps to Long Gains, which consists of 26 short Bible studies (starting with A for Assurance and finishing with Z for zeal), each one based on a Bible verse, with half a dozen questions to stimulate encouraging conversation and prayer. It’s meant to be the kind of thing you can do over lunch or breakfast once a week with a friend.

So there you have it–three resources you may want to stock up on in order to go through with a new believer. Priced at just a couple of dollars each, they certainly won’t break the bank.


  • Sermon Introduction

    Three Levels of Sermon Introduction

    Though every sermon necessarily needs a beginning, it does not necessarily need a formal introduction. Though it has to begin somewhere, there is no rule that it must begin with some kind of story or illustration. A preacher can jump straight into his text if he so desires. Some do.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 4)

    A LA Carte: Causes of division in the church / Union with Christians / The 1%-er rhetoric / Pray or sleep? / Distinguishing shame from guilt / Many more Kindle deals / and so on.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 3)

    A La Carte: Never too late to learn how to pray / Walking with those who weep / Rethinking the role of pastor’s wife / What does the Bible mean when it teaches wives to submit? / Does God want some to go to hell? / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Most Pleasant Show on Television

    The Most Pleasant Show on Television

    I rarely review, recommend, or even mention movies and television programs. I rarely do so because I am aware that tastes vary and so too do family rules and personal consciences. Not only that, but I am not very adept at understanding the themes or messages in visual media and wouldn’t wish to inadvertently lead…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 2)

    A La Carte: Our dance with distinction / You are not your theology / The challenges of motherhood / God hates sin / Random thoughts on preaching / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 1)

    A La Carte: John Piper evaluates Jordon Peterson / Church coffee / Disciplines to help your marriage / “Love is Blind” / A knife at her throat / So many Kindle deals / and more.