Can I Join Any Church I Like?

 May 2, 2024

Thursday

So, you are looking for a new church. Does God direct you to that church or do you choose one that you like? Are there features that you should look for in a new church?

Of course, you need a church grounded in God's word, the Bible. Otherwise, you are guaranteed to receive heresy. Beyond that, there is only one thing a person walking with the Lord needs to know. Is there a ministry for me in this church?

Too often, church attenders are consumers looking for the best deal. They want to spend their time in a place that pays off. The sermons and music should be uplifting. The ministries should be the best for them and their families. The youth ministry must interest their children. The children's ministry must engage their children. The music should be like a concert that no one can forget. The whole church needs to be cool, too. Only the "in" people should attend the church they attend.

It is this attitude that has squeezed the life out of churches. The churches who are under this pressure do not understand that it is God who builds His church. They are marketing themselves just like the rest of the world because they are not just in the world, they are of the world.

Those who are walking with the Lord must have a ministry that God walks with them through. They need to know that the church that is walking with God will be attacked. They need to know that the church walking with God will be a challenge. They need to know that God may have them in a church that isn't so perfect and it may be filled with genuine sinners who need a savior. They need to know that the church needs them if God has sent them to a church walking with God. The church is a body and every part of the body has a function. They need to know that being a part of the church God has for them will not let them be attenders only. They need to know God expects to use them to grow His church. 

Some of you reading this have a ministry. A ministry means that you go where God tells you to go. God bless you. You are truly walking with the Lord. God is working in you.

Philippians 2:13 (NASB 2020) ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.