What Is Truly Needed

As we step into a new year, there’s no shortage of voices telling us what we should change, add, or improve. New habits. Better discipline. Clearer goals. Many of those things are good—but as I spent time praying about where to lead us as a church, a simpler question kept surfacing in my heart: What is actually needed?

That question led me back to Scripture, where moments of urgency strip life down to what truly matters. In Acts 16, a jailer finds himself in the middle of chaos—chains broken, doors open, his future collapsing in front of him. And in that moment, he asks the most important question a person can ask: “What must I do to be saved?”

It’s striking how clear the answer is. Paul and Silas don’t give him a list of requirements or a long process to follow. They simply say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation, the Bible tells us, is not something we achieve—it’s something we receive. It’s an invitation to trust Christ fully, to surrender our lives to Him, and to stop relying on ourselves for what only He can do.

What follows that moment of belief is just as powerful. The jailer responds. He listens. He cares. He is baptized. Faith doesn’t stay hidden—it moves us toward obedience and joy. Baptism doesn’t save us, but it marks us. It’s the public declaration that our lives now belong to Jesus.

So as we begin this series, What Is Needed, we start here on purpose. Before priorities. Before practices. Before maturity. We begin with knowing God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—the foundation beneath everything else.

If you find yourself asking, quietly or desperately, “What is truly needed?” hear the good news: God’s answer is not complicated or crushing. It’s gracious. Believe in the Lord Jesus—and take the next step He’s inviting you to take.