How Should My Family Choose a New Church?

Church and MinistryEcclesiology

How Should My Family Choose a New Church?

25 min

Church and MinistryEcclesiology

How Should My Family Choose a New Church?

25 min

Episode 545 Show Notes

From the Show

A church that focuses on Jesus, on his gospel, that brings together sinners from all different stripes into this family and community of faith where we can grow together, not just on a Sunday morning, but throughout the week, that is what you want to look for. Prioritize God’s word, prioritize the gospel, and then ask yourself, where is that at? Where am I going to be nourished by the truth of the gospel and securely grounded in those truths? That is where you want to be.

–Adriel Sanchez

Questions in this Episode

1. I have many good Christian friends who say that the mark of the beast is an actual physical mark of your body. My view is that it’s simply a figurative way of speaking about the devil’s ownership, much like being sealed with the Spirit refers to our security in belonging to Jesus. I tried to explain my view to a friend recently and her angry response was: “Well, I believe what the Bible says.”I wanted to retort, “Well, so do I.”How can I lovingly present a balanced Biblical view on this matter?

2. Can you explain John 6:65?

3. I am currently moved and I’m looking for a new church. I really don’t like the term “church-shopping”because our family in Christ isn’t something we buy for ourselves, but I also wonder if I don’t reflect this idea when I compare the different churches I visit. I like this one’s preaching, that one’s music, that one’s location, or the people in this other one. How can I wisely choose a church without feeling like I’m shopping for a new car?

4. Recently I have been struggling with some doubts about the bible, particularly with the historicity of Noah’s ark. The Bible paints this event as an event that happened in real space-time history, but what do we do when it seems like modern science says that this has been “proved false”? Is our faith in vain if Noah’s ark didn’t actually happen?

Resources

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Communityby Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Michael Horton (Ph.D., Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Coventry University) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California and Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Sola Media.

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