How Does Living Bread Help Me Walk With Christ?

What this chapter is, and is not

Every chapter before this one stood on its own, whether or not you ever open an app. This one is different. You asked how to come to Christ, and you have landed on a place called The Living Bread, and it is fair to wonder what that place is and what it would be like to walk with. This chapter answers that as plainly as we can. It is not a feature list, and it is not a sales pitch. It is a description of the steps a person takes with Christ, and of where Living Bread helps with each one.

It begins with a promise. Everything in Living Bread points to Jesus Christ and to His command to love one another. It confesses Jesus as Lord and God, crucified and risen. It is free. It has no ads. It does not sell your prayers or your attention. It is not a church and does not want to replace yours; it exists to help you find your way into the family of God and stay there.

The shape of the walk

The inner map of the app is called the Guide, and it is organized not by technology but by the way a person walks with Christ. Its six parts are worth knowing because they mirror what this whole guide has described.

• Meet Jesus. Everything begins with knowing who Jesus is and saying yes to Him.
• Be with Him. Faith is a friendship. You talk with Him in prayer, hear Him in the Word, and love Him in worship.
• Belong. Jesus gave you a family. You were never meant to follow Him alone.
• Go and serve. Love for Jesus becomes real when it reaches the person next to you.
• Grow. Following Christ is a long road, and He forms us slowly and kindly.
• Be cared for. You do not have to carry anything alone. Help is always near.

Each of those has rooms inside it. Here is how they line up with the steps you have been reading about.

Meet Jesus: the words of Christ and a place to say yes

When you first open Living Bread, it does not hand you a dashboard. It begins with a welcome and a small set of questions about where you are, and then a few simple first steps. One of the places you can go is The Way, a walk through the sayings of Jesus, one saying each day, with a prayer to answer it. If you have been reading this guide and want to meet Him in His own words, that is where it leads, and it never shames you for a missed day.

The Bible is there too, to read, search, and memorize, and there are short lessons to understand the faith. You can read the Gospel of John on the app as easily as on this page. What to read first in the Bible tells you where to begin.

If you are ready, there is a quiet place to say yes to Christ. It is a simple, unhurried screen where you say your yes in your own words. It is yours to keep between you and God, or to share with the family if you choose. How to say yes to Jesus says what it is and what it is not.

Be with Him: Today, the Word, and prayer

A walk needs a rhythm. Today is the place where each day is gathered: a Scripture, a prayer, and the people you are carrying, so that you can sit with God for a few minutes without deciding what to do. It is meant to be short and gentle, and it never counts your misses.

Prayer is at the center. You can ask for prayer and pray for others. You can keep a private list of the people you pray for. If you need to ask for prayer without giving your name, there is a way to do that. You can pray at set times through the day, and you can hear how God has answered others. There is also a place to worship with songs. None of this is sold or turned into a game. The point is that you will not pray alone unless you want to. More on that in how to pray when you do not know how.

Belong: the family

Here is the part that people say surprises them. Living Bread is built around the conviction that Jesus gave you a family, and that a faith with no people is thin. So it has a Family, a feed where you see what believers near you are sharing. You can find and join groups of believers. You can walk with one person who helps you grow, a kind of two by two discipleship. There is a way to welcome new members, because someone welcomed you.

It also helps you find a church. There is a directory of churches across the United States and many other countries, by city and state, with what each believes and how to visit. The purpose is to get you in a room with people, and Living Bread will happily point you away from itself and toward a congregation. Baptism, communion and finding a church explains what to look for.

Go and serve

Jesus said that whatever we do for the least of His people, we do for Him. Serve is where love meets a need. You can see what the family has asked for and what it can give, find where your time and gifts are needed, and offer them. A person who has just come to Christ often finds that serving is where faith grows legs. It does not require you to be advanced. The simplest act of care counts, and there is a way to send one person a word of care.

Grow: the slow work

Growth is the work of a lifetime, and Living Bread does not pretend otherwise. There are practices to learn, such as silence, fasting, and study, offered as invitations and not scorecards. There are reading plans. There is a place to keep your prayers and notes, and to write a letter to your future self. The aim is formation, not engagement, and the design is meant to leave you quieter and closer to Christ, not hungrier for the next notification.

Witness: telling what Christ has done

Many people who come to Christ want to tell someone and do not know how. Witness is a place to do that on your terms. There is a private place for your own account of what Christ is doing, which no one else sees unless you choose. And there is an outward side, for those who wish to share their story and invite others in. You never have to. The Bible asks believers to explain their hope gently and with respect, and Witness is built to be gentle.

Be cared for: the Guide and the help button

If you ever feel lost inside Living Bread, there is a Guide, organized by the walk, with a short explanation for every room and a search that finds what you need. Every room has a small question mark that explains what that room is for. You can also ask a companion named Simon about Scripture, prayer, and how things work. Simon is a guide to the app, not a person and never God, and he does not speak for God. We say that clearly because we take the line seriously.

And there is always a button labeled help now. It leads to real crisis resources first, before anything else. It is the same help described in the last chapter of this guide.

What it will not do

We think a description of a thing is more honest if it includes its limits.

• It will not pretend to be a church. It will point you toward one.
• It will not speak as God, or put words in His mouth. Our own words are marked as ours.
• It will not sell your prayers, show you ads, or use guilt to bring you back.
• It will not make you perform. There are no streaks that shame you, and no score of your faith.
• It will not replace a doctor, a counselor, or a crisis line.
• It will not quote Scripture from memory. Scripture on this site is read from stored, carefully preserved text.

How to begin

You can begin without the app, by reading and praying with the earlier chapters. If you would like a place to walk it out, begin on Living Bread, or find the app for iPhone and iPad or for Android. It is free. If you want to see the whole map first, the get the app page shows what is inside.

If you would like to know more about who we are and how we decide what to publish, about Living Bread and our editorial policy are open to read.

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:”

Considering one another and stirring each other toward love is the whole spirit of the place. If you come, you will be considered, and you will be asked to consider others. You will not be left alone with this.

Where to go next

More on the site: Get the appBegin on Living BreadAbout Living BreadHow we write: editorial policyWhat we believeFind a church near youPray with othersWalk with me

Back to the whole guide: How to come to Christ