You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.
- Acts 22:15–16
The purpose of this guide is to help you notice how God has already been at work in your life, and to begin putting your story into words. Whether your path has felt long or short, clear or confusing, one thing is certain: God has been present all along. It is a joy to journey with you, and to listen for his voice in your story together.
In the stories of Scripture and church history, we see people come to faith in many different ways. Some meet Jesus suddenly; others are gently drawn through relationships and conversation. Some wrestle with big questions and deep longing. Others live with spiritual tension for years before being awakened to God’s love in a powerful way. Each story is unique, and so is yours.
Telling your story is part of learning the faith, what the Christian tradition has long called catechism. It is not just about memorizing or mastering facts. It is a process of growing in relationship with God, where your heart, mind, and life come together in response to his love, as he has revealed himself through history and through your life now. You will learn through Scripture, prayer, stories, and community, step by step, with others walking alongside you, as you prepare to live your faith fully: to be baptized, to join the Church, and to follow Jesus in your own calling with courage, clarity, and joy.
This guide invites you to begin exploring your own story: how God has been present in your life, and how you’ve come to know him. You don’t need to write a full autobiography.
What we’re offering here is a space to reflect, a way to begin putting words to your journey with Jesus. To help with that, you’ll spend time with four snapshots: brief glimpses into the lives of Peter, Priscilla, Augustine, and Teresa of Ávila. Each of them encountered Christ in a different way. These are not long stories, but they offer meaningful windows into how God works in real lives.
Some met Jesus in an instant.
Some were gently drawn over time.
Some wrestled with doubt, desire, or distraction.
All of them were changed.
After each snapshot, you’ll find a summary of what to notice. Watch for the same five movements in each story:
1. Jesus is present first.
2. They recognize who Jesus is.
3. They confess Jesus as Lord.
4. They acknowledge their sin.
5. They follow Jesus, turning their whole life toward what God is doing.
At the end, you will find prompts to help you begin to articulate, and pay attention to, how God has been at work in your own story.
This isn’t about comparing your story to someone else’s. It’s about recognizing that Jesus has been near all along, often in quiet, surprising, or ordinary ways. You’re invited to pay attention, to remember, and to respond with honesty and hope. Your story is sacred and still unfolding, and through this process, we pray you’ll begin to see it more clearly: not just as your own, but as part of God’s greater story of grace.
Since the early church, Christians have been formed in the faith through three basic tools: the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Around the year 420, Augustine wrote a short handbook of the faith organized around faith, hope, and love. (Enchiridion) The Creed teaches us what to believe, the Lord’s Prayer teaches us how to hope and pray, and the Commandments teach us how to love God and our neighbour.
Learning the Faith follows that same pattern, together with baptism and life in the church, where that faith is received and lived out together.
Each guide stands on its own, so you can begin wherever you are.
Go slowly. These are not textbooks to finish, but invitations to linger. Read a section, then sit with it.
Read the Scripture. Each section opens with a passage. Read it in full, and let it speak before the teaching does.
Use the questions. Every section ends with questions for reflection and study. Write your answers down, or talk them through.
Learn together. Faith is personal, but never private. Work through the guides with a friend, a formation group, a mentor, or the elders, and bring your questions to them.
Come back again. Catechesis never quite ends. Return to these guides in new seasons of life, and you will find more in them each time.
A fisherman called by Jesus who became a disciple, confessor of Christ, and leader in the early church. (Read Luke 5:1–11.)
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
- Luke 5:1–11 (ESV)
Jesus is present first: Before anything happens, Jesus steps into Peter’s boat (v. 3).
Peter recognizes who Jesus is: He calls him “Master” and listens, even when it doesn’t make sense (v. 5).
Peter confesses Jesus as Lord: After the miracle, Peter calls him “Lord” and falls to his knees (v. 8).
Peter acknowledges his sin: He’s overwhelmed and honest: “I am a sinful man” (v. 8).
Peter follows Jesus: He leaves everything to follow where Jesus leads (v. 11).
An early Christian woman of wisdom and courage who helped teach the faith and led the church from her home. (Read Acts 18:1–3, 18–19, 24–26; Romans 16:3–5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19.)
After being forced to leave Rome under the emperor’s orders, Priscilla and her husband Aquila settled in the bustling city of Corinth. They made their living as tentmakers, quietly rebuilding life in a foreign land. It was there that they met Paul, who had also come to Corinth, and who also made tents. He came to stay with them and work alongside them (Acts 18:1–3). Day after day, as they stitched and sewed, Paul spoke about Jesus: the Messiah who had come, who had died, and who had risen.
Priscilla listened. What began as conversation slowly stirred something deeper in her. The God she had long worshipped, the God of Israel, had indeed acted, and Paul’s words rang with truth. In time, both she and Aquila believed. Their hearts turned toward Christ, and their home began to fill with his presence. (Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly when Priscilla and Aquila first believed; this telling imagines how their faith may have grown alongside Paul.)
When Paul left Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila went with him as far as Ephesus (Acts 18:18–19). There, they settled again, opening their doors to others and making room for the growing church. One day, a gifted speaker named Apollos arrived from Alexandria. He was eloquent and passionate, speaking boldly in the synagogue, but his understanding of Jesus was incomplete. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they didn’t dismiss him. Instead, they invited him into their home and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:24–26).
Priscilla’s faith had grown strong: deep enough to teach others, bold enough to correct with gentleness. Her house became a centre of Christian life (1 Corinthians 16:19). Wherever she went, she followed the movement of the Spirit, always making room: for the church, for the gospel, for God’s people.
Notice a few things:
Jesus is present first: working through Paul, initiating the relationship that would transform Priscilla’s life (Acts 18:1–3).
Priscilla recognizes who Jesus is: hearing the gospel from Paul, and receiving it with belief (Acts 18; affirmed in Romans 16:3–5).
She confesses Jesus as Lord: through her life of ministry and her leadership in the early church (Romans 16:3–5; 1 Corinthians 16:19).
She acknowledges her need to grow, and helps others grow: receiving teaching and then passing it on to Apollos (Acts 18:26).
Priscilla turns her whole life to follow what God is doing: opening her home, risking her safety, and serving the church wherever she went (Romans 16:3–5; 2 Timothy 4:19).
St. Augustine of Hippo: a restless seeker turned theologian and bishop, whose writings shaped Christian thought for centuries. (From his Confessions, Books I–IX.)
Augustine was born in North Africa, in the city of Thagaste. His mother, Monica, was a devoted Christian, but his father wasn’t a believer. From a young age, Augustine was incredibly smart and curious. He had a deep desire to find truth, but his heart was also pulled in other directions: ambition, pride, popularity, and pleasure. Even as he searched for meaning in success, relationships, and philosophy, God was already near. “You were more inward to me than my innermost, and higher than my highest.” (Confessions, III.6.11)
Monica never stopped praying for him. Over the years, Augustine studied and travelled, living in Carthage, Rome, and Milan. He started to listen more seriously to Christian teaching, especially from Bishop Ambrose, whose wisdom deeply impacted him. Still, Augustine felt torn. He wanted truth, but wasn’t ready to give up his old way of life.
Then one day, in a garden in Milan, everything came to a breaking point. Overwhelmed and in tears, he heard a child’s voice say, “Take and read.” He picked up a Bible and read: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14).
That moment changed everything. The weight of his past lifted, and God’s love filled him. “How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys… You drove them from me, You who are the true, the sovereign joy.” (Confessions, IX.1)
Augustine was baptized by Ambrose soon after. He gave up his former life, returned to North Africa, and eventually became Bishop of Hippo. He spent the rest of his life writing, teaching, and pointing others to the God who had pursued him all along. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” (Confessions, I.1)
Notice a few things:
Jesus is present first: pursuing Augustine even in his rebellion, speaking through Monica, Ambrose, Scripture, and even a child’s voice (Confessions, Books I–VIII).
Augustine recognizes who Jesus is: first intellectually, then personally, as the only one who can satisfy his deep longing (Books VII–VIII).
He confesses Jesus as Lord: in tears, surrendering in the garden, and later in baptism (Book VIII.12).
He acknowledges his sin: unflinchingly honest about his pride, lust, and confusion (Book II.4; Book X.30).
Augustine turns his whole life to follow what God is doing: giving up his old ways, embracing humility, and becoming a voice for the Church for generations (Book IX and following).
A famous book written by Saint Augustine, and one of the first spiritual autobiographies in Christian history. In it, Augustine tells the story of his life: how he searched for truth and meaning, made mistakes, and eventually found God. He writes honestly about his struggles, questions, and sins, and how God never stopped calling him. The book is written as a prayer to God, not just a history. It shows how God’s grace was working in Augustine’s life even before he realized it.
The bishop of Milan, and an important Christian leader in the fourth century. He was wise, kind, and a great preacher. When Augustine was still searching for truth, he went to hear Ambrose speak, and was deeply moved. Ambrose helped explain the Bible in a way that made sense to Augustine, and he played a big role in Augustine’s journey to faith. Later, Ambrose baptized Augustine, marking the beginning of Augustine’s new life with Christ.
A sixteenth-century mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church who led others into deeper prayer and renewal. (From The Life of Teresa of Jesus, 1565.)
Teresa grew up in 1500s Spain, in a Catholic family. As a young girl, she loved God so much that she once tried to run away with her brother to become a martyr! But as she got older, her faith started to fade. At age twenty, she joined a convent, not because she really wanted to follow God, but because it seemed like the right thing to do. For years, Teresa felt stuck. She went through the motions of prayer, but her heart wasn’t in it. She later wrote that she spent nearly twenty years this way, torn between God and the world. (Life, ch. 8)
Then she got very sick, so sick she nearly died. That moment changed her. She started to realize that God was calling her to something deeper. One day, while praying before an image of the wounded Christ, she broke down, throwing herself before him in tears and begging him to strengthen her once and for all. (Life, ch. 9)
From then on, Teresa’s life began to change. She spent more time in prayer, and felt closer to Jesus than ever before. Years later, in her book The Interior Castle (1577), she described this deep life of prayer as an “interior castle”: a place in your heart where you meet God. Even though she went through some really hard times, she knew that love was the most important thing.
Teresa also saw that many convents had become lazy and distracted. With God’s help, she started a reform, creating new communities that focused on prayer, silence, and simple living. She also wrote books and poems about her faith and how much she loved Jesus. “Let nothing disturb you… God never changes.” (Nada te turbe)
She died in 1582, full of love for God. Many years later, the Church named her a Doctor of the Church, the first woman ever to receive that title. Teresa’s story shows us that even when our hearts feel distracted, God never gives up on calling us back to him.
Notice a few things:
Jesus is present first: through her early desire, her illness, her inner restlessness, and her conversion (Life, chs. 1–9).
Teresa recognizes who Jesus is: not just as Saviour, but as the Lover of her soul, drawing her into a deep, interior life (Life, chs. 10–27).
She confesses Jesus as Lord: fully surrendering to his love in prayer, and in her mission to reform the Church (Life, chs. 19–25).
She acknowledges her sin and weakness: admitting years of spiritual apathy and distraction (Life, chs. 7–8).
Teresa turns her whole life to follow what God is doing: reforming the Carmelite order, mentoring others in prayer, and writing as a witness for generations to come (Life, chs. 32–40).
A book Teresa wrote about her own life, a kind of spiritual autobiography. In it, she tells the story of how she came to know and love God more deeply. She’s honest about her struggles, her doubts, her experiences in prayer, and how God slowly changed her heart. The book isn’t just about facts; it’s written like a conversation with God. Teresa shares what it felt like to be close to him, and how prayer became the centre of her life. Today it is one of the most famous spiritual books in the Church, and it still inspires people to grow in their relationship with God.
A group of men and women in the Catholic Church who live a life focused on prayer, simplicity, and community. It began in the 1100s on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land (in modern-day Israel), where some Christians lived as hermits to grow closer to God. By Teresa’s time in the 1500s, many Carmelite communities had become too relaxed. Teresa felt called to reform the order, helping the Carmelites return to their original focus: a quiet, simple life of deep prayer and closeness to God. The communities she started were small, peaceful, and centred on love and prayer.
A title meaning that this person’s life and teaching help us grow closer to God and understand our faith more deeply.
You’ve just read a few short stories of people whose lives were changed by meeting Jesus. Each journey was different, and yours will be too. But you’ll have similar elements. Let’s take a closer look.
These prompts are adapted from Gordon T. Smith, Transforming Conversion (2010).
1. Look at the bigger picture. The Holy Spirit isn’t working in isolation. There’s always a backstory: the social, religious, or historical things that shape how people experience God. Think about it like this: someone from a Muslim background might feel disconnected from God, but still really value the reverence their faith taught them. The Spirit is working there, even if it doesn’t look like what we’d expect.
What is your background?
2. Pay attention to the people around you. Family, friends, communities: they all play a part in shaping us. But don’t overhype just one person’s influence. It’s a collective thing. Paul once said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Often it’s a whole group of people, some we barely even noticed at the time, who played a role in our spiritual journey.
Who stands out to you?
3. Scripture is a big deal. When people talk about finding faith, the Bible usually has a part to play. Whether it’s hearing it in a message or reading it on your own, the Bible speaks to people in a way that cuts through the noise.
What passages come to mind?
4. Recognize turning points. Life hits us with major moments, like losing someone, a breakup, or stress about school and work. These moments can push us toward God. But don’t make everything about just one big event. It’s easy to focus on the time you “accepted Jesus” and forget about other moments that might have been just as important. Sometimes we give more weight to experiences our church talks about a lot, and ignore others that don’t fit the usual mould.
Was there an important or big moment in your life so far?
5. Don’t forget about the church. Whether it’s been a positive or negative influence, your faith community plays a role. Baptism, for example, is a big moment for some people, even if they didn’t fully get it at the time. The church has a way of showing up in the bigger story of our spiritual growth.
What was church like? What did you learn about God there?
6. Embrace the mystery. A lot of people have had experiences with God that they can’t fully explain. Maybe it was something in nature, or during worship, or just a moment when everything felt different. These are encounters with God that weren’t planned by anyone, and often it’s only later that we’re able to connect the dots and realize it was Jesus meeting us there.
Have you had a moment like this?
God’s people have always told one another what he has done. Your story is not only for you: it encourages the church, and it can open a door for someone else. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
At Renewal, those being baptized share their story of resurrection with the church before they enter the water. Whether you are preparing for baptism, for membership, or simply want to tell a friend, these reminders may help:
Be honest. Tell what actually happened, even if it seems ordinary.
Make Jesus the centre. Your story is really about what he has done.
Use the five movements. How was Jesus present first? How did you come to recognize him, confess him, see yourself honestly, and begin to follow?
Name the people. Thank God for those he used along the way.
Keep it unfinished. Your story is still unfolding. Share where you are now, and where you sense God leading.
Augustine, Confessions
James M. Houston and Jens Zimmermann, eds., Sources of the Christian Self: A Cultural History of Christian Identity (Eerdmans, 2018)
Richard Peace, Spiritual Autobiography: Discovering and Sharing Your Spiritual Story (NavPress, 1998)
Gordon T. Smith, Transforming Conversion: Rethinking the Language and Contours of Christian Initiation (Baker Academic, 2010)
Teresa of Ávila, The Life of Teresa of Jesus and The Interior Castle