What Will Be Required of me if I Join a Temecula Church Like Sunridge?

The prospect of joining a church for the first time, or coming back to church after a long time away, can be a bit daunting for some people. There are often concerns about what will be required of them if they decide to join—or even attend—a Temecula church. Will there be pressure to do things they aren’t comfortable with?

We can’t speak for all Temecula churches, but here are some common questions that people tend to have about church, and how Sunridge responds to them:

Will I Be Required to Change my Lifestyle?

At Sunridge, we don’t require you to change your life simply to attend our church. We invite you to come as you are to hear about what the Bible teaches and what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. You don’t have to “clean yourself up” in any way or pretend to be someone you’re not. All are welcome at our Temecula church!

It is our prayer, however, that once you encounter the goodness of God, and accept the grace that is offered to everyone through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, that you will surrender your life to Him.

Those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus can tell you that this is life-changing! There will be things in your life that you no longer desire to do, but there will also be things that you will feel convicted to change about yourself that will be a struggle to change. As a church, we can walk with you through this process (which we call “sanctification”) and encourage you as you grow and change in response to the gospel.

Will I Be Required to Get Baptized?

We don’t force anyone to get baptized, but we highly encourage all believers in Jesus to take this important step. Baptism is a way for believers to publicly profess their faith. Jesus himself called for believers to be baptized (Matthew 28:19), and we see many instances in the Bible of the early church leaders baptizing believers immediately upon conversion.

If you are a believer in Jesus and have never been baptized, or if you were baptized as an infant and want to be baptized as a believer, we invite you to be baptized at Sunridge! All you have to do is let one of our pastors or staff members know and they will arrange for you to be baptized as soon as possible!

Will I Be Required to Donate Money?

We believe that giving to the church is something that is between you and the Lord. At Sunridge, we don’t require anyone to give. We don’t ask anyone to sign a contract or commit to a certain dollar amount or percentage of their income to the church.

We do, however, believe that Christians are called to give. The Bible says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”(2 Corinthians 9:7).

If you attend our Temecula church long enough, you’ll eventually hear one of our pastors talk about giving during a Sunday morning service. This isn’t to guilt you into giving, but rather, it’s because our pastors teach from the Bible and the Bible talks about giving and generosity.

Our church is completely funded by the generous donations of those who are led to give, not out of compulsion, but cheerfully from their heart. We consider it a trust and privilege whenever someone chooses to partner with us financially to help us accomplish our mission of helping people find and follow Jesus. We strive to be good stewards of every dollar entrusted to us.

If you just started attending Sunridge, there is no expectation for you to give, but if you are someone who calls Sunridge “home,” we would ask that you prayerfully consider supporting our ministry in the Temecula Valley and beyond.

Do you have any other questions about what it would be like to join our Temecula church? You can put them in the comments below, or better yet, attend one of our Welcome to Sunridge sessions that we hold once a month and have your questions answered in person!