Just go & participate without feeling like you have to convince them of being worthy to be accepted......when they get to know you, they will know you are by your actions & not your words.

I went to a Bible study at a group that was a part of another church when I first moved here. I was a total outsider but they were wonderful at just accepting me for who I was & only once in awhile when we were having small group discussions would I bring up an experience that had to do with the topic & that was how they got to know me.....& there were many things left unsaid about my past......found that many others had gone through many bad situations also when we think we are the only ones, it's surprising what others have gone through also that comes out during small group sharing in a safe environment. Just not good to do a memory dump....piece at a time....it gets put together or then again at times we end up putting the pieces together for them if needed in the long run. Memory dumps tend to frighten people away from my own personal experiences & groups get to know on a need to know basis as it trickles out.