Finding A Good Church
The three greatest choices that you will ever make in your life are listed below:
(a) Your choice of Eternal Home (i.e. your decision to get saved, click here for more information);
(b) Your choice of Spouse;
(c) Your choice of Church and Pastor.
Your choice about what church to go to and which pastor to sit under is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. Therefore it is vitally important that you make the right choice.
Reality Check One
Sadly, there is no such thing on this earth as 'a perfect church' - so don't go looking for one, it doesn't exist and you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. Any church which is arrogant enough to claim that it is 'perfect' is greatly mistaken.
Reality Check Two
Sadly, good churches don't grow on trees. Finding one (depending on where you live and how far you can travel) can be a bit difficult. The good news however is that it is not impossible.
As a new Christian, you should find the following pointers to be of use. You don't have to follow them; but if you do decide to follow them, you may find that they will save you a lot of grief, headaches, confusion and misunderstanding as you seek to live the Christian life.
If you cannot find a church that lives up to all of the criteria mentioned on this webpage, then you may have to settle for the one that fulfills some or most of it.
FIRSTLY, talk to God. Ask Him to guide you to a good church - the kind of church that He wants you to go to.
SECONDLY, do not even consider attending ANY church, meeting or denomination where the minister calls himself by the title of 'Father' or 'Fr' (see Matthew 23:9). These churches will put on a daily or weekly service called 'Mass' or 'Eucharist'. They will be led by a world leader who assumes the title of 'Pope' or 'His Holiness' (neither of which are found in the Bible). These titles and / or religious services can be found listed on the church's website, or they can be found listed on the church's noticeboard (usually located outside or just inside the main entrance). All religious gatherings that put on a 'Mass' or 'Eucharist', or are led locally by a clergyman who calls himself 'Father' or 'Fr' are part of the counterfeit 'harlot church' that the Bible warns us about in Revelation 17 and 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18 (click here, here, here and here for more information). In obedience to Revelation 17 and 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18, true Christians and churches will have no links, joint meetings or cooperation with the counterfeit 'harlot church'.
In addition to avoiding the counterfeit 'harlot church' of Revelation 17, make sure that you avoid cults - by 'cults' we mean heretical fringe groups like the Jehovah Witnesses (click here for more information), Mormons (click here for more information), the 'Church of Christ' (click here for more information), Seventh Day Adventists (click here for more information), and others.
Finally, be careful to avoid the false 'Word of Faith' churches. Normally these churches don't call themselves 'Word of Faith', they go by a wide variety of names - but once you've come across one of them, they can generally be very easy to notice. They tend to promote people like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard Browne, Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin. These unstable, corrupt and abusive churches will promise you everything! Answered prayers, physical healing and financial prosperity can all be yours in exchange for cash and letting them boss you around in every single area of your life. This kind of manipulation is known as 'heavy shepherding'. Despite the fact that they are experts at playing on your emotions and can put on a very impressive and convincing show, churches like this are just money-making rackets run by slick, unscrupulous salesmen posing as pastors. Some of these alleged 'pastors' are little more than crooks and sociopaths. Your average false 'Word of Faith' church is like a cross between a circus and a very bad multi-level marketing / time-share / pyramid scheme. These churches and their pastors frequently leave behind themselves a trail of casualties and broken lives wherever they go. They are nothing more than scams. Avoid them like the plague. Please click here, here, here, here, here and here or more information.
THIRDLY, you need to know what a good church believes.
A good church is an 'evangelical church'.
What is an 'evangelical church'?
An 'evangelical church' will believe the following 6 points...................
Take your time, pray and ask God to help you as you read through the following 6 points. A good church (i.e. an 'evangelical church') will believe......
[1] A good church will believe that God is a Trinity. This means that there is one God. That one God exists forever in three persons. These three persons are equal to each other. These three persons are called The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. All three of these persons are God in their own right, but that doesn't mean that they are '3 Gods' (they are still only one God). Now don't worry if you don't understand everything about that, you aren't supposed to understand it. In fact, no human being on this earth will ever be able to fully understand it. It is a mystery. God is a pretty big subject after all and it is OK for you not to fully understand everything about Him. God knows that it is impossible for us to understand everything about Him. Just believe what the Bible says, understand what you can and then leave the rest up to God, see Deuteronomy 29:29. The good news is that you will eventually fully understand everything about God when you get to Heaven, see 1st Corinthians 13:12. For more information on the Trinity, please click here, here and here.
[2] A good church will believe that the Bible is the Word of God. That means that the Bible is perfect. Inotherwords, the Bible is:
Inspired (i.e. the Bible came from God - it was 'breathed out' by Him, see 2nd Timothy 3:16);
Infallible (i.e. the Bible is completely reliable as the source of all spiritual truth, see John 17:17);
Divinely Inspired (i.e. the Bible was inspired by God, not man - it is a work of God, not a work of man - see 2 Peter 1:21);
Plenary Inspired (i.e. all of the Bible is inspired - not just parts of it, see 2nd Timothy 3:16);
Verbally Inspired (i.e. everything in the Bible is inspired - even the individual words, verb tenses and smallest details - see Psalm 12:6);
Inerrant (i.e. there are no mistakes whatsoever in the Bible, not even in the smallest details - see 2nd Timothy 3:16 and John 17:17);
Sufficient (i.e. the Bible is complete - therefore it doesn't have any bits that are missing, see Revelation 22:18);
Perfectly Preserved (i.e. the Bible didn't get 'lost' somewhere down through the centuries, it is still with us today, it is still complete and it is still perfect, the Bible will always be perfect, it will always be complete and it will last forever, see Psalm 12:6-7, Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 119:89 and 1st Peter 1:25).
For the reasons given above, all true Christians and churches will stand for the Bible and depend upon it.
True Christians and churches will therefore accept the Bible as their supreme and only authority - governing all matters of thought, belief and action. One of the many positive effects of this is that true Christians and churches SHOULD believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis (i.e. that Creation took place in six literal 24 hour days and that Noah's flood covered the entire world).
Ideally, if you are an English-speaker, you will want to attend a church that holds to the King James Bible. Now why is that? Unlike the many hundreds of modern Bible versions that have flooded the book market in recent years, the King James Bible is the only Bible that can be trusted and has no mistakes in it (click here for more information). On many occasions however, it is sadly not always possible to find a good church that holds to the King James Bible - therefore you may have to settle for one that doesn't. If you do have to settle for a church that doesn't hold to the King James Bible, don't try and push the issue with them - just silently pray for them and trust God to open their eyes on the matter.
[3] A good church will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully God AND fully man (see John 20:26-28 and 1st Timothy 2:5). Now, don't worry if that isn't easy to understand. Like the Trinity (explained earlier in point [1]), this is a bit of a mystery (the Bible itself says so, see 1st Timothy 3:16).
Jesus is, was and always will be the Eternal Son of God.
Even before He came to earth, Jesus existed in Heaven in eternity past, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
When He came to earth, He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, He lived a sinless life and He provided atonement for our sins by His death at Calvary. He died for us - being punished for our sins and in our place.
Three days after He died for us at Calvary, Jesus was 'bodily resurrected' (i.e. he came back to life again) by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what people are referring to when they say that Jesus 'rose again from the dead'.
Forty days after that (see Acts 1:3), He ascended to God the Father in Heaven - where He lives forever in order to plead our case before the heavenly throne room. This is kind of like having our very own personal Barrister, free of charge, continually representing us 24 hours a day in the throne room of Heaven. And it gets better, this particular Barrister (i.e. Jesus) has never once lost a case and He is equal to the Judge in both status and authority. Furthermore, this Barrister is never overruled and the Judge never disagrees with Him (see 1st John 2:1 and Hebrews 7:25).
Finally, all true Christians and churches will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. This is called 'The Second Coming' (or, to use old fashioned language, 'The Second Advent') of Jesus Christ. As a result of this, true Christians and churches are waiting for the day when Jesus shall literally, visibly and physically return to the earth. See 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17, Matthew 24:36, Jude 1:14, John 14:3, Acts 1:10-11 and Revelation 1:7.
[4] A good church will believe that God takes sin very seriously.
A few of you may find some of the things mentioned in this point (i.e. point [4]) quite hard to take, but please take a few moments now and ask God to help you grasp the truth about what is being said, ask Him to help you persevere and read on through everything that is laid out here. If you doubt that anything you read in this point is true, then please pray about it, read the Bible for yourself and check out what it says.
Everyone in the entire human race is, by nature, a sinner. Therefore no one is good enough to go to Heaven.
That means that we are all 'sinners' - those of us who are Christians (i.e. 'saved') are 'forgiven sinners', whilst those of us who are not Christians (i.e. 'unsaved') are 'unforgiven sinners'.
Therefore, the only difference between someone who is a Christian (i.e. a saved person) and someone who is not a Christian (i.e. an unsaved person) is the forgiveness of God.
The person going to Heaven is forgiven, whilst the person going to Hell is not.
The only thing that stands between the Christian and Hell is the forgiveness of God.
We all have our own criteria for determining whether or not we think that someone is 'a good person'. So too, God has His own criteria that He uses in order to determine whether or not someone is 'a good person' - in order for God to consider you to be 'a good person', you have to be as good as Jesus (i.e. you have to be perfect). Now, if you are not as good as Jesus is (i.e. if you are not perfect) - then God, according to the criteria that He uses in order to determine 'goodness', does not think that you are a good person.
In fact, no human being on the face of this earth is able to meet the criteria that God has laid down in order to define someone as 'a good person'. Therefore, using this criteria to define 'goodness', God is quite justified in saying that we are all sinners, that we are all going to Hell and that we all deserve to go to Hell. Now you are probably thinking that this is very strong language. That is true. However, we must remember that the same God who loves you enough to die for you used some very strong language indeed to describe your sinfulness - for example, in Roman 3:10-12, it says: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (see also Romans Chapters 1 to 3).
In order to fully grasp, understand and appreciate the 'good news' of Jesus Christ, people need to realise the 'bad news' about themselves. It is for this reason that the God who wrote the Bible loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves - namely that we are all sinners from the very moment that we are conceived (see Romans 3:23 and Psalm 51:5).
Many people don't know this truth about themselves - instead they mistakenly believe that, whilst they aren't perfect, they are still basically good people. Therefore, the truth about our own sinfulness and unworthiness can be very painful for us to bear when we first hear it - it hurts us, it offends us, it upsets us, it wounds our feelings, it injures our pride (this human reaction is touched upon by Galatians 5:11 and 1st Corinthians 1:18-25). No one likes to be told that they are a sinner, that they are going to Hell or that they deserve to go to Hell. Yet, all of these things are true (that is, if we use God's criteria for determining whether or not someone is 'good'). God clearly thinks that this is important because He repeatedly mentions it in the Bible - therefore we need to know these things and we need to realise the truth about ourselves.
If you ever hear someone proclaiming themselves to be 'good enough to go to Heaven', then respectfully and lovingly challenge them (see Ephesians 4:15) by asking the simple question - 'are you as good as Jesus? are you perfect?' When they respond by saying 'well, no one is as good as Jesus, no one is perfect', then respond by saying, 'you are absolutely right, no one can be that good, therefore none of us are good enough to go to Heaven'.
Once again, please remember that God loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves - and as a result of that, we should love Him enough to trust Him and believe that, when He says something to us, He is speaking the truth. Therefore, a good church will believe that all human beings are, by nature, sinners. Every human being is separated from God, responsible for their own sins and headed to Hell (see Romans 3:23 and Psalm 51:5). Thankfully however, God didn't just leave us in this horrible condition. He still loved us enough to help us, He still loved us enough to do something about it - that is why He sent Jesus to take our place, endure the punishment that our sinfulness deserved and wash away our sins.
[5] A good church will believe that - despite the fact that we are all sinners, God still loves us. For that reason, God offers salvation (i.e. entry to Heaven) freely to all of us. We get to Heaven by the grace of God (and that alone) - through faith alone - in Christ alone. The 'grace of God' is a phrase that refers to God showing us 'kindness that we don't deserve' - and this is exactly what God does when He lets you into Heaven - He shows you 'kindness that you don't deserve'. This is what we mean when we talk about 'the grace of God'.
Now, how do you get this 'grace of God' that allows you into Heaven? Simple! God is already offering it to you right now as a free gift, totally free of charge, urging you to take it - therefore all you need to do is just receive it by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ contains what you need - i.e. the grace of God. He is God's free gift to you. Therefore, when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ - you are receiving God's free gift to you - and you are therefore receiving the grace of God. When you receive Jesus - Jesus receives you. This is why the Bible says in John 1:12 that "as many as received him (i.e. Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name".
Religious activity, baptism and / or good works (whether they are your good works or those of someone else performed on your behalf) play no part whatsoever in your salvation. Going to church or being religious doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can remove our sin and then impute (i.e. attribute) to us the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ and therefore make us able to enter Heaven (see 1st John 1:7-9) - therefore, when we receive Jesus, His blood washes away all of our sins (including our future sins that we haven't even committed yet) and then imputes (i.e. attributes) to us the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ - thus making us able to enter Heaven.
[6] A good church will believe that, when someone dies, they either go to Heaven or Hell. Christians go to Heaven and those who are not Christians go to Hell. Heaven and Hell are literal places, both of them last forever. Those in Heaven experience conscious bliss for all eternity. Those in Hell experience conscious torment for all eternity. See 2nd Thessalonians 1:7-9 and Revelation 21:8.
If you don't know whether or not a church believes in the 6 points listed above, please check out their website which should contain details about what they believe. Don't be afraid to book an appointment with the pastor and ask him if he believes in the 6 things listed above (print out this webpage to help you at the meeting). Pray to God before and after this meeting, ask Him to give you wisdom. If, during your conversation with the pastor, he doesn't agree with the above 6 points, or comes across as a bit slippery or seems to be evasive and unwilling to give you a straight answer - then you will know that it may be best to avoid attending his church.
FOURTHLY, when you attend a church for a couple of weeks, you will begin to notice that there is a certain vibe about the place. Every church will have an emphasis or a distinctive character that will become apparent to you.
Ask yourself - what do these people emphasise? Where is the emphasis placed in this church?
Do they emphasise Jesus or their denomination?
Do they emphasise Jesus or healing and financial prosperity?
Do they come across as being serious about serving God and reaching people with the gospel or are they just lazy and basically don't care?
Do you get the impression that this church is actually going somewhere?
Do they depress you?
Do they come across as very cold people?
Is the church and / or its people unfriendly?
The answer to these questions may help you to decide whether or not this is the church for you.
As Reinhard Bonnke once said: "Christianity is supernatural but supernaturalism is not Christianity. If the central truth of salvation is absent, phenomena can be a deception. Cross-less wonders are likely to develop into extreme and egotistical displays. The extraordinary is a telescope through which to see the face of God. "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1,29) Many admire the telescope of the supernatural but never look through it. By wonders and the Word, our commission is to cry “O be ye reconciled to God!" (2 Cor. 5:20)."
FIFTHLY, if you find a good church and begin to attend it - determine to be a good asset to your church, its pastor and its people. Be humble, be helpful, be considerate, be gracious, be patient, be kind, be generous, be reserved, have good manners and be supportive.
Don't push personal beliefs that are not shared by the pastor, the church or the other people who attend it.
The Bible defines gossip as unhealthy, idle chatter aimed at stirring up unnecessary trouble amongst believers. Never engage in gossip. Don't even listen to it. If someone tries to enlist you in gossip or intrigue - politely and firmly stop them in their tracks, tell them that you don't wish to get involved, tell them to deal with their concerns in a biblical manner, and then politely change the subject. If they refuse to take the hint and persist in trying to infect you with their gossip - just walk away from them when they are in mid-sentence. The Bible condemns gossip in Proverbs 11:12-13, Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 18:7-8, Proverbs 20:19, 1st Timothy 5:12-13, Romans 1:29b-32 and Proverbs 21:23. Gossip can destroy pastors, wreck churches, depress Christians, ruin marriages and break up friendships - that's why you must have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to gossip.
SIXTHLY, when you attend a church or are chatting with other Christians - remember to protect your heart. Sadly, it is necesary to keep your guard up at all times, even when surrounded by pastors or Christians. Be friendly, but don't tell people all of your business, don't tell them everything about your past, don't tell them everything about your relationship-history. Always remember that Christians and pastors need to earn your trust. Don't trust people too quickly, even if they are a pastor. The Bible warns us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing (see Matthew 7:15).
IN CONCLUSION
By the time you've read to the bottom of this webpage, you will find that you are in an excellent position to really excel and succeed in the Christian life. In fact, by the time you've read to the bottom of this webpage, you'll probably know more about God, the Bible and church than most Christians.
(a) Your choice of Eternal Home (i.e. your decision to get saved, click here for more information);
(b) Your choice of Spouse;
(c) Your choice of Church and Pastor.
Your choice about what church to go to and which pastor to sit under is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. Therefore it is vitally important that you make the right choice.
Reality Check One
Sadly, there is no such thing on this earth as 'a perfect church' - so don't go looking for one, it doesn't exist and you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. Any church which is arrogant enough to claim that it is 'perfect' is greatly mistaken.
Reality Check Two
Sadly, good churches don't grow on trees. Finding one (depending on where you live and how far you can travel) can be a bit difficult. The good news however is that it is not impossible.
As a new Christian, you should find the following pointers to be of use. You don't have to follow them; but if you do decide to follow them, you may find that they will save you a lot of grief, headaches, confusion and misunderstanding as you seek to live the Christian life.
If you cannot find a church that lives up to all of the criteria mentioned on this webpage, then you may have to settle for the one that fulfills some or most of it.
FIRSTLY, talk to God. Ask Him to guide you to a good church - the kind of church that He wants you to go to.
SECONDLY, do not even consider attending ANY church, meeting or denomination where the minister calls himself by the title of 'Father' or 'Fr' (see Matthew 23:9). These churches will put on a daily or weekly service called 'Mass' or 'Eucharist'. They will be led by a world leader who assumes the title of 'Pope' or 'His Holiness' (neither of which are found in the Bible). These titles and / or religious services can be found listed on the church's website, or they can be found listed on the church's noticeboard (usually located outside or just inside the main entrance). All religious gatherings that put on a 'Mass' or 'Eucharist', or are led locally by a clergyman who calls himself 'Father' or 'Fr' are part of the counterfeit 'harlot church' that the Bible warns us about in Revelation 17 and 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18 (click here, here, here and here for more information). In obedience to Revelation 17 and 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18, true Christians and churches will have no links, joint meetings or cooperation with the counterfeit 'harlot church'.
In addition to avoiding the counterfeit 'harlot church' of Revelation 17, make sure that you avoid cults - by 'cults' we mean heretical fringe groups like the Jehovah Witnesses (click here for more information), Mormons (click here for more information), the 'Church of Christ' (click here for more information), Seventh Day Adventists (click here for more information), and others.
Finally, be careful to avoid the false 'Word of Faith' churches. Normally these churches don't call themselves 'Word of Faith', they go by a wide variety of names - but once you've come across one of them, they can generally be very easy to notice. They tend to promote people like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard Browne, Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin. These unstable, corrupt and abusive churches will promise you everything! Answered prayers, physical healing and financial prosperity can all be yours in exchange for cash and letting them boss you around in every single area of your life. This kind of manipulation is known as 'heavy shepherding'. Despite the fact that they are experts at playing on your emotions and can put on a very impressive and convincing show, churches like this are just money-making rackets run by slick, unscrupulous salesmen posing as pastors. Some of these alleged 'pastors' are little more than crooks and sociopaths. Your average false 'Word of Faith' church is like a cross between a circus and a very bad multi-level marketing / time-share / pyramid scheme. These churches and their pastors frequently leave behind themselves a trail of casualties and broken lives wherever they go. They are nothing more than scams. Avoid them like the plague. Please click here, here, here, here, here and here or more information.
THIRDLY, you need to know what a good church believes.
A good church is an 'evangelical church'.
What is an 'evangelical church'?
An 'evangelical church' will believe the following 6 points...................
Take your time, pray and ask God to help you as you read through the following 6 points. A good church (i.e. an 'evangelical church') will believe......
[1] A good church will believe that God is a Trinity. This means that there is one God. That one God exists forever in three persons. These three persons are equal to each other. These three persons are called The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. All three of these persons are God in their own right, but that doesn't mean that they are '3 Gods' (they are still only one God). Now don't worry if you don't understand everything about that, you aren't supposed to understand it. In fact, no human being on this earth will ever be able to fully understand it. It is a mystery. God is a pretty big subject after all and it is OK for you not to fully understand everything about Him. God knows that it is impossible for us to understand everything about Him. Just believe what the Bible says, understand what you can and then leave the rest up to God, see Deuteronomy 29:29. The good news is that you will eventually fully understand everything about God when you get to Heaven, see 1st Corinthians 13:12. For more information on the Trinity, please click here, here and here.
[2] A good church will believe that the Bible is the Word of God. That means that the Bible is perfect. Inotherwords, the Bible is:
Inspired (i.e. the Bible came from God - it was 'breathed out' by Him, see 2nd Timothy 3:16);
Infallible (i.e. the Bible is completely reliable as the source of all spiritual truth, see John 17:17);
Divinely Inspired (i.e. the Bible was inspired by God, not man - it is a work of God, not a work of man - see 2 Peter 1:21);
Plenary Inspired (i.e. all of the Bible is inspired - not just parts of it, see 2nd Timothy 3:16);
Verbally Inspired (i.e. everything in the Bible is inspired - even the individual words, verb tenses and smallest details - see Psalm 12:6);
Inerrant (i.e. there are no mistakes whatsoever in the Bible, not even in the smallest details - see 2nd Timothy 3:16 and John 17:17);
Sufficient (i.e. the Bible is complete - therefore it doesn't have any bits that are missing, see Revelation 22:18);
Perfectly Preserved (i.e. the Bible didn't get 'lost' somewhere down through the centuries, it is still with us today, it is still complete and it is still perfect, the Bible will always be perfect, it will always be complete and it will last forever, see Psalm 12:6-7, Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 119:89 and 1st Peter 1:25).
For the reasons given above, all true Christians and churches will stand for the Bible and depend upon it.
True Christians and churches will therefore accept the Bible as their supreme and only authority - governing all matters of thought, belief and action. One of the many positive effects of this is that true Christians and churches SHOULD believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis (i.e. that Creation took place in six literal 24 hour days and that Noah's flood covered the entire world).
Ideally, if you are an English-speaker, you will want to attend a church that holds to the King James Bible. Now why is that? Unlike the many hundreds of modern Bible versions that have flooded the book market in recent years, the King James Bible is the only Bible that can be trusted and has no mistakes in it (click here for more information). On many occasions however, it is sadly not always possible to find a good church that holds to the King James Bible - therefore you may have to settle for one that doesn't. If you do have to settle for a church that doesn't hold to the King James Bible, don't try and push the issue with them - just silently pray for them and trust God to open their eyes on the matter.
[3] A good church will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully God AND fully man (see John 20:26-28 and 1st Timothy 2:5). Now, don't worry if that isn't easy to understand. Like the Trinity (explained earlier in point [1]), this is a bit of a mystery (the Bible itself says so, see 1st Timothy 3:16).
Jesus is, was and always will be the Eternal Son of God.
Even before He came to earth, Jesus existed in Heaven in eternity past, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
When He came to earth, He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, He lived a sinless life and He provided atonement for our sins by His death at Calvary. He died for us - being punished for our sins and in our place.
Three days after He died for us at Calvary, Jesus was 'bodily resurrected' (i.e. he came back to life again) by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what people are referring to when they say that Jesus 'rose again from the dead'.
Forty days after that (see Acts 1:3), He ascended to God the Father in Heaven - where He lives forever in order to plead our case before the heavenly throne room. This is kind of like having our very own personal Barrister, free of charge, continually representing us 24 hours a day in the throne room of Heaven. And it gets better, this particular Barrister (i.e. Jesus) has never once lost a case and He is equal to the Judge in both status and authority. Furthermore, this Barrister is never overruled and the Judge never disagrees with Him (see 1st John 2:1 and Hebrews 7:25).
Finally, all true Christians and churches will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. This is called 'The Second Coming' (or, to use old fashioned language, 'The Second Advent') of Jesus Christ. As a result of this, true Christians and churches are waiting for the day when Jesus shall literally, visibly and physically return to the earth. See 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17, Matthew 24:36, Jude 1:14, John 14:3, Acts 1:10-11 and Revelation 1:7.
[4] A good church will believe that God takes sin very seriously.
A few of you may find some of the things mentioned in this point (i.e. point [4]) quite hard to take, but please take a few moments now and ask God to help you grasp the truth about what is being said, ask Him to help you persevere and read on through everything that is laid out here. If you doubt that anything you read in this point is true, then please pray about it, read the Bible for yourself and check out what it says.
Everyone in the entire human race is, by nature, a sinner. Therefore no one is good enough to go to Heaven.
That means that we are all 'sinners' - those of us who are Christians (i.e. 'saved') are 'forgiven sinners', whilst those of us who are not Christians (i.e. 'unsaved') are 'unforgiven sinners'.
Therefore, the only difference between someone who is a Christian (i.e. a saved person) and someone who is not a Christian (i.e. an unsaved person) is the forgiveness of God.
The person going to Heaven is forgiven, whilst the person going to Hell is not.
The only thing that stands between the Christian and Hell is the forgiveness of God.
We all have our own criteria for determining whether or not we think that someone is 'a good person'. So too, God has His own criteria that He uses in order to determine whether or not someone is 'a good person' - in order for God to consider you to be 'a good person', you have to be as good as Jesus (i.e. you have to be perfect). Now, if you are not as good as Jesus is (i.e. if you are not perfect) - then God, according to the criteria that He uses in order to determine 'goodness', does not think that you are a good person.
In fact, no human being on the face of this earth is able to meet the criteria that God has laid down in order to define someone as 'a good person'. Therefore, using this criteria to define 'goodness', God is quite justified in saying that we are all sinners, that we are all going to Hell and that we all deserve to go to Hell. Now you are probably thinking that this is very strong language. That is true. However, we must remember that the same God who loves you enough to die for you used some very strong language indeed to describe your sinfulness - for example, in Roman 3:10-12, it says: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (see also Romans Chapters 1 to 3).
In order to fully grasp, understand and appreciate the 'good news' of Jesus Christ, people need to realise the 'bad news' about themselves. It is for this reason that the God who wrote the Bible loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves - namely that we are all sinners from the very moment that we are conceived (see Romans 3:23 and Psalm 51:5).
Many people don't know this truth about themselves - instead they mistakenly believe that, whilst they aren't perfect, they are still basically good people. Therefore, the truth about our own sinfulness and unworthiness can be very painful for us to bear when we first hear it - it hurts us, it offends us, it upsets us, it wounds our feelings, it injures our pride (this human reaction is touched upon by Galatians 5:11 and 1st Corinthians 1:18-25). No one likes to be told that they are a sinner, that they are going to Hell or that they deserve to go to Hell. Yet, all of these things are true (that is, if we use God's criteria for determining whether or not someone is 'good'). God clearly thinks that this is important because He repeatedly mentions it in the Bible - therefore we need to know these things and we need to realise the truth about ourselves.
If you ever hear someone proclaiming themselves to be 'good enough to go to Heaven', then respectfully and lovingly challenge them (see Ephesians 4:15) by asking the simple question - 'are you as good as Jesus? are you perfect?' When they respond by saying 'well, no one is as good as Jesus, no one is perfect', then respond by saying, 'you are absolutely right, no one can be that good, therefore none of us are good enough to go to Heaven'.
Once again, please remember that God loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves - and as a result of that, we should love Him enough to trust Him and believe that, when He says something to us, He is speaking the truth. Therefore, a good church will believe that all human beings are, by nature, sinners. Every human being is separated from God, responsible for their own sins and headed to Hell (see Romans 3:23 and Psalm 51:5). Thankfully however, God didn't just leave us in this horrible condition. He still loved us enough to help us, He still loved us enough to do something about it - that is why He sent Jesus to take our place, endure the punishment that our sinfulness deserved and wash away our sins.
[5] A good church will believe that - despite the fact that we are all sinners, God still loves us. For that reason, God offers salvation (i.e. entry to Heaven) freely to all of us. We get to Heaven by the grace of God (and that alone) - through faith alone - in Christ alone. The 'grace of God' is a phrase that refers to God showing us 'kindness that we don't deserve' - and this is exactly what God does when He lets you into Heaven - He shows you 'kindness that you don't deserve'. This is what we mean when we talk about 'the grace of God'.
Now, how do you get this 'grace of God' that allows you into Heaven? Simple! God is already offering it to you right now as a free gift, totally free of charge, urging you to take it - therefore all you need to do is just receive it by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ contains what you need - i.e. the grace of God. He is God's free gift to you. Therefore, when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ - you are receiving God's free gift to you - and you are therefore receiving the grace of God. When you receive Jesus - Jesus receives you. This is why the Bible says in John 1:12 that "as many as received him (i.e. Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name".
Religious activity, baptism and / or good works (whether they are your good works or those of someone else performed on your behalf) play no part whatsoever in your salvation. Going to church or being religious doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can remove our sin and then impute (i.e. attribute) to us the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ and therefore make us able to enter Heaven (see 1st John 1:7-9) - therefore, when we receive Jesus, His blood washes away all of our sins (including our future sins that we haven't even committed yet) and then imputes (i.e. attributes) to us the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ - thus making us able to enter Heaven.
[6] A good church will believe that, when someone dies, they either go to Heaven or Hell. Christians go to Heaven and those who are not Christians go to Hell. Heaven and Hell are literal places, both of them last forever. Those in Heaven experience conscious bliss for all eternity. Those in Hell experience conscious torment for all eternity. See 2nd Thessalonians 1:7-9 and Revelation 21:8.
If you don't know whether or not a church believes in the 6 points listed above, please check out their website which should contain details about what they believe. Don't be afraid to book an appointment with the pastor and ask him if he believes in the 6 things listed above (print out this webpage to help you at the meeting). Pray to God before and after this meeting, ask Him to give you wisdom. If, during your conversation with the pastor, he doesn't agree with the above 6 points, or comes across as a bit slippery or seems to be evasive and unwilling to give you a straight answer - then you will know that it may be best to avoid attending his church.
FOURTHLY, when you attend a church for a couple of weeks, you will begin to notice that there is a certain vibe about the place. Every church will have an emphasis or a distinctive character that will become apparent to you.
Ask yourself - what do these people emphasise? Where is the emphasis placed in this church?
Do they emphasise Jesus or their denomination?
Do they emphasise Jesus or healing and financial prosperity?
Do they come across as being serious about serving God and reaching people with the gospel or are they just lazy and basically don't care?
Do you get the impression that this church is actually going somewhere?
Do they depress you?
Do they come across as very cold people?
Is the church and / or its people unfriendly?
The answer to these questions may help you to decide whether or not this is the church for you.
As Reinhard Bonnke once said: "Christianity is supernatural but supernaturalism is not Christianity. If the central truth of salvation is absent, phenomena can be a deception. Cross-less wonders are likely to develop into extreme and egotistical displays. The extraordinary is a telescope through which to see the face of God. "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1,29) Many admire the telescope of the supernatural but never look through it. By wonders and the Word, our commission is to cry “O be ye reconciled to God!" (2 Cor. 5:20)."
FIFTHLY, if you find a good church and begin to attend it - determine to be a good asset to your church, its pastor and its people. Be humble, be helpful, be considerate, be gracious, be patient, be kind, be generous, be reserved, have good manners and be supportive.
Don't push personal beliefs that are not shared by the pastor, the church or the other people who attend it.
The Bible defines gossip as unhealthy, idle chatter aimed at stirring up unnecessary trouble amongst believers. Never engage in gossip. Don't even listen to it. If someone tries to enlist you in gossip or intrigue - politely and firmly stop them in their tracks, tell them that you don't wish to get involved, tell them to deal with their concerns in a biblical manner, and then politely change the subject. If they refuse to take the hint and persist in trying to infect you with their gossip - just walk away from them when they are in mid-sentence. The Bible condemns gossip in Proverbs 11:12-13, Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 18:7-8, Proverbs 20:19, 1st Timothy 5:12-13, Romans 1:29b-32 and Proverbs 21:23. Gossip can destroy pastors, wreck churches, depress Christians, ruin marriages and break up friendships - that's why you must have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to gossip.
SIXTHLY, when you attend a church or are chatting with other Christians - remember to protect your heart. Sadly, it is necesary to keep your guard up at all times, even when surrounded by pastors or Christians. Be friendly, but don't tell people all of your business, don't tell them everything about your past, don't tell them everything about your relationship-history. Always remember that Christians and pastors need to earn your trust. Don't trust people too quickly, even if they are a pastor. The Bible warns us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing (see Matthew 7:15).
IN CONCLUSION
By the time you've read to the bottom of this webpage, you will find that you are in an excellent position to really excel and succeed in the Christian life. In fact, by the time you've read to the bottom of this webpage, you'll probably know more about God, the Bible and church than most Christians.