A dear sister wants to consider uniting with a new local church in San Antonio but is not sure what to expect. So, I gave her the following advice:
“Pray about it. Check it out. And, let the Lord lead you either to move or stay where you are.
Some things to observe when considering a local church:
1. Do they have a written statement of their beliefs?
2. How often do they have corporate and small group prayer meetings?
3. Do they preach, teach, and believe in living by the Bible(no one is perfect, of course)?
4. Do they believe in telling others about the death of Christ for their sin and His resurrection from the dead?
5. Do they encourage getting involved in outreach ministries (schools, prisons, rest homes, hospitals, crisis pregnancy centers, police and firemen chaplaincy, homeless and juvenile
centers, overseas ministry, etc.)?
6. Are they knowledgeable of and able to give a biblical response to current events
and ideologies?
Understandably, many of these things will come as the church grows spiritually and numerically. According to their spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11), the members will get involved.
At the beginning stages of any church or ministry, there are always challenges, but as it stays on course and grows spiritually, the power of God is all the more manifested.
Joining a church is always a step of faith, and it takes lots of prayer and patience to grow with it. But, once the leadership becomes more important than what the Bible says and uses Jesus’ name simply to impress others, and the choir arouses emotions with entertaining songs, its ministry becomes shallow even though it’s lively on the surface. Jesus described such a church in Revelation 3:1-6.
That’s a lot to consider but worth it.
Blessings!”
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