How Do I Find a Good Church?

00:00:00.000 | It seems like every week we get emailed this question, "How do I find a good local church?"

00:00:11.360 | And we finally address the question today in the form of an email from an anonymous

00:00:15.240 | woman.

00:00:16.240 | "Dear Pastor John, thanks be to God for your ministry and glory be to Him for your faithfulness

00:00:20.240 | and helpful insight on this podcast.

00:00:22.680 | Here is my situation.

00:00:24.440 | I moved to a new city and there are wonderfully a number of doctrinally faithful churches

00:00:29.200 | in my area of town.

00:00:30.400 | It's a great problem to have, I know.

00:00:33.400 | If you were in my situation, how would you narrow down these good options?

00:00:38.080 | I don't want to make a decision based merely on my preferences, but what role do preferences

00:00:43.240 | make in a church decision like mine?"

00:00:47.000 | Let's take that last question first.

00:00:48.960 | In general, I would say preferences, by which I assume she means tastes that don't have

00:00:57.480 | any direct biblical mandate behind them.

00:01:00.840 | These preferences can be a legitimate part of your decision to the degree that they are

00:01:06.800 | shaped and formed by the Word of God, even if not mandated, shaped, and to the degree

00:01:14.120 | that they don't take precedence over more important things.

00:01:19.480 | And by such preferences, I mean things like a small church versus big, meditative versus

00:01:25.760 | exuberant, formal versus casual, traditional versus contemporary, organ versus guitar,

00:01:34.680 | pews versus chairs, 10 o'clock service versus 11, evening service, no evening service, and

00:01:41.920 | on and on and on.

00:01:43.680 | We all have our preferences on such things, and if they're shaped by the Word of God and

00:01:51.560 | they're subordinate to more important biblical things, then it would be okay, I think, for

00:01:57.720 | them to guide you as part of your decision-making process.

00:02:02.080 | So let me go away to the more important things and mention nine steps that you might take

00:02:11.040 | in searching for a home church.

00:02:12.720 | This is not just your situation.

00:02:14.240 | I'm thinking maybe more broadly, but I think it'll apply to your situation as well.

00:02:20.800 | Number one, pray earnestly, Psalm 25.

00:02:24.920 | "Make me to know your ways, O Lord.

00:02:27.720 | Teach me your paths.

00:02:29.400 | Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.

00:02:33.880 | For you I wait.

00:02:35.160 | I'm waiting for you all day long.

00:02:37.880 | Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

00:02:45.800 | He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way."

00:02:50.500 | So the Lord loves you and would delight in your being in a healthy church with all your

00:02:56.800 | gifts to use.

00:02:58.800 | You have good reason to believe he'll answer this prayer of Psalm 25.

00:03:03.660 | Number two, be clear on what a healthy church is.

00:03:08.840 | Maybe take this season of searching and hit refresh on your own biblical grasp of what

00:03:16.360 | a healthy church is, just to make sure your picture is wholly biblical.

00:03:20.920 | I'd recommend you use Mark Dever's book, "What is a Healthy Church?"

00:03:25.880 | Nine Marks, to clarify afresh what you're looking for.

00:03:30.680 | Number three, talk to people you know in the city or who know the city.

00:03:36.720 | Personal recommendations are probably the most reliable source of information, if the

00:03:42.800 | people are reliable.

00:03:44.280 | This is more trustworthy, I think, than quick impressions from a one Sunday visit at the

00:03:51.040 | church.

00:03:52.120 | Number four, we have huge advantages today, don't we, over previous generations because

00:03:58.360 | of the internet.

00:04:00.280 | So explore the internet for churches and study their websites.

00:04:05.880 | Now don't base it on how glitzy their website is.

00:04:11.280 | The best churches may have a lousy website, but you want information, not impressions.

00:04:16.520 | I typed into Google just yesterday, "Churches in the Twin Cities that Believe the Doctrines

00:04:23.000 | of Grace."

00:04:24.000 | I typed that right into Google.

00:04:26.880 | Number two on the list was Cities Church, which is a church plant from Bethlehem where

00:04:32.400 | I minister, and number four was Bethlehem.

00:04:36.640 | I would recommend both of those churches to anybody in the Twin Cities.

00:04:41.960 | Of course, that kind of search is not enough.

00:04:47.040 | Don't base your choice on a search like that.

00:04:49.320 | You can get some real wacko results on Google.

00:04:52.880 | It's just a start, and it is liable.

00:04:55.720 | That kind of search is liable to serious error.

00:04:59.320 | Far better would be to, say, go to the Gospel Coalition website and look for connected churches.

00:05:08.160 | That would be a good starting place, maybe, than just out of the blue typing something

00:05:12.000 | into Google, but that can be helpful.

00:05:14.600 | Number five, look for a church with a certain kind of leadership, and a good place to start

00:05:20.520 | is 1 Peter 5, 2 through 4, "Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising

00:05:27.000 | oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you."

00:05:32.520 | So look for joyful shepherds who love to serve others, not for shameful gain, but eagerly.

00:05:39.800 | Look for shepherds who don't love money, whose lives are simple, and who manifestly

00:05:45.800 | are eager to do the work, and they do it without pay if they could.

00:05:50.680 | Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

00:05:54.560 | So look for shepherds who are humble.

00:05:56.800 | They don't feed on power.

00:05:59.360 | They follow Jesus' words that, if you want to be really great, you've got to be the

00:06:03.600 | servant of everybody, and they motivate by example and are not coercive and demanding.

00:06:10.760 | So number five is a certain kind of leadership.

00:06:15.240 | Number six, look for a church with a certain kind of people.

00:06:18.520 | 1 John 3:14 says, "We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love

00:06:27.680 | the brothers.

00:06:28.680 | Whoever does not love abides in death."

00:06:31.240 | So a membership should be born again.

00:06:34.880 | How do you recognize people who are born again?

00:06:37.600 | John says they love other believers.

00:06:40.720 | So do you smell any kind of exclusiveness that pushes away believers of different races,

00:06:51.360 | believers of different economic levels, believers of different education?

00:06:55.480 | Do you smell a kind of exclusionary attitude that's foreign to born-again love?

00:07:05.640 | So after describing the kind of leaders a church should have, 1 Peter 5, Paul goes on

00:07:13.080 | to describe the people.

00:07:14.800 | "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another.

00:07:20.080 | Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all your anxieties on him because

00:07:25.560 | he cares for you."

00:07:26.640 | So look for a church who are loving, and look for a church who are humble and who roll their

00:07:33.520 | anxieties onto God.

00:07:35.760 | Number seven, then turn your attention to the teaching.

00:07:40.360 | Look for a church that is not ashamed of any teaching in the Bible.

00:07:45.240 | Don't go to a church that is fearful of displeasing people who are more shaped by the culture

00:07:51.760 | than the Scripture.

00:07:53.960 | One of the ways to test this is usually the matters of manhood and womanhood, matters

00:08:01.080 | of sexuality, because that's such a hot, controverted issue in our day.

00:08:07.440 | What do they teach?

00:08:08.800 | How do they teach on matters of the roles of men and women and sexuality?

00:08:13.920 | Do they teach the whole counsel of God, all of Scripture, as God's infallible Word, unashamedly?

00:08:21.320 | Number eight, then ask, "Could you serve in this church?"

00:08:26.220 | Do they think in terms of people being ministers and the pastors equipping the saints for

00:08:31.060 | the work of the ministry?

00:08:33.160 | You don't want to be a mere pew sitter.

00:08:36.940 | And finally, number nine, I would ask, "Is the tone or the spirit of the life of this

00:08:44.720 | church one of serious joy?"

00:08:49.660 | Are they people who have learned to suffer by the grace of God and not become embittered

00:08:58.480 | or oblivious, naive?

00:09:02.160 | Do they know how to be sorrowful yet always rejoicing?

00:09:06.880 | Are they real with their problems and with their suffering?

00:09:11.480 | Those are the steps I would take.

00:09:14.600 | They certainly don't have to happen in that order, and I would end where I began.

00:09:22.480 | Some just begin with prayer, saturate every step with prayer, and God will guide you.

00:09:29.800 | He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble His way.

00:09:36.480 | That is a great process laid out here.

00:09:38.360 | Thank you, Pastor John.

00:09:39.360 | And Pastor John here mentions TGC's church directory.

00:09:42.780 | You can find it through a web search for the Gospel Coalition Church Directory.

00:09:46.940 | Also check out the Nine Marks Church Search.

00:09:50.480 | It has proven helpful to me over the years.

00:09:52.700 | Search for it by name, Nine, the number nine, Nine Marks Church Search.

00:09:57.840 | Two super helpful tools for you to do some initial church reconnaissance, particularly

00:10:02.460 | if you're looking for a church inside the United States.

00:10:06.560 | And thank you for joining us.

00:10:07.560 | If you have not subscribed to Ask Pastor John, what are you waiting for?

00:10:11.520 | Consider doing so right now in your favorite podcast app, in YouTube or in Spotify, for

00:10:15.480 | our entire archive of episodes, or to submit a church question of your own.

00:10:20.300 | Go to DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.

00:10:25.040 | Well God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

00:10:29.200 | Amen.

00:10:30.420 | But wouldn't God also be glorified in us if we were just His minions, just slavish laborers

00:10:35.960 | for Him?

00:10:36.960 | It's a very important question at the heart of Christian hedonism, and it's up next.

00:10:41.880 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.

00:10:43.760 | We'll see you on Monday.

00:10:45.360 | Have a great weekend.

00:10:46.540 | [End of Audio]

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How Do I Find a Good Church?

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