What advice would you give to a new Christian?

First and foremost, find a church where God’s Word is ministered and where people will welcome and nourish you. Usually, if there is a solid ministry of the Word and the church welcomes you, it is a good sign that you will find Christians there who will nurture you.

Secondly, build a regular discipline of reading Scripture and praying, which is a lifelong activity. You do not grow in grace overnight—it doesn’t just happen. You need to make a habit of reading Scripture. There are various ways to do that. For example, you could join a Bible reading program.

An excellent way to study the Bible, maybe the best way, is to subscribe to Tabletalk magazine because it will lead you passage by passage through Scripture. Tabletalk provides a page for each passage you are studying, which will help you understand it. It will be like somebody sitting beside you and helping you walk through the passage. That Tabletalk is a physical magazine you can stick in your Bible is also a really helpful reminder to keep you on track with reading Scripture.

I was not thinking about Tabletalk when I began answering that question. However, if someone asked me, “What is the first thing I should buy?” I would say Tabletalk because it will also indicate other helpful Christian resources. It is a wonderfully reliable magazine. I often recommend it to people, and not just because of my connection with Ligonier.