How to find a Good Church (Church Search Helps)

I would argue that being committed to a good local church is foundational to one's walk with Christ. We were saved to be part of a body, a community. We are not the "church" alone; not without other believers to meet with, grow alongside of and learn from. We need others to walk this Christian walk, we were not meant to go it alone. Paul specifically tells believers he is writing to that they should not be "giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Heb 10:25). If you've been in not-good churches, or even been hurt by people in a church, don't give up looking for a good one!

First, I should probably define what a "good" church is.  Excluding specific secondary doctrinal issues, here's what you want to be looking for in a good church:

1. Expositional Preaching. This means that the preaching almost always is structured so that it goes through a book of the Bible verse by verse and carefully dissects and explains the text for the purpose of teaching and instructing the congregation accurately. Good preaching also interprets Scripture based on the rest of Scripture, not primarily presuppositions or assumptions or only looking at one text alone.

2. Biblical Theology. This may differ depending on how you interpret Scripture on some secondary issues (ex. baptism), but the point is, the church needs to be rooted in theology that is defensibly Biblical and orthodox.

3. Biblical understanding of the Gospel. The Gospel message should be clear and not watered down. A clear, Biblical explanation of sin, Christ's atonement and the need for repentance and faith are central to a healthy church.

4. Biblical understanding of Conversion. This goes in part with the last point; a church can present a fairly clear gospel and yet still have a muddled view of conversion and what it really means to become a Christian, which is really important. 

5. Biblical understanding of evangelism. Basically, we're supposed to be doing it, but the way we do it also matters. Is the church winning people to their church, to their programs, or to truly following Christ? This is why the previous point is also really important.

6. Biblical understanding of Church membership. Belonging and being committed to a local community of believers is really important for accountability, relationships and building community (see next two points).

7. Biblical church discipline. This really can't be practiced well without the last point. Holding church members accountable, correcting and rebuking if needed is important for a healthy church. 

8. Promotion of church discipleship and growth. It's not a healthy church if people aren't growing in their faith practically in daily life and in their understanding of Scripture. We should also be growing relationally, growing in what it means to love others. Church is more than Sunday morning, the church should be at least seeking to grow it's members with Bible study and discipleship opportunities as well as fostering relationships/community outside of Sunday mornings.

9. Biblical understanding of Church leadership. The Biblical model for church leadership is a plurality of elders/pastors. This is not as common today as it should be, but it is ideal for a healthy church. (Note that some churches/pastors view this as important and desire to move in this direction but it takes qualified men and often time to be able to make this happen.) At the very least the church should have a pastor/leaders who are faithful and committed to Scripture,

Credit for these points goes to 9Marks Ministries, for more on these points see this article.  

 

Here are the links I share when people are looking for a church: 

Master's Seminary Alumni church finder. This is an excellent, solid seminary and graduates of here would be assumed to be leaders of likewise solid and healthy churches: https://tms.edu/find-a-church/

9Marks has a database/church finder with churches that meet these 9 qualifications: https://www.9marks.org/church-search/

Of course there's more churches out there that would also meet the qualifications but for various reasons are not on these sites, and you should also keep in mind that there are still churches in there that are healthier than others based on how important they view these things or how well they do them - which can make a big difference. 

 

When checking out a church, here's some tips:

1. Look for a church website.

a) You're particularly looking for their statement of faith and other statements/documents like "church mission" or "what we value". How clear is it, and what do they stand for that's also important to you? (I always look for a clear and more specific statement of faith, some churches statements are more vague which, to me, can be an indication of something lacking.)

b) Most websites will have information on the pastor(s)/leadership team so you can learn a bit about them. Where the pastor(s) went to seminary or their past experience can be an indication of the kind of church it will be. Not always of course, but it can be telling. Denominational or church affiliation can be really helpful as well.

c) Look for online sermons, or even a livestream that you could watch. This can give you a great feel for the church before you actually visit. Obviously, a church is going to be different in-person, but watching a service online will let you know what they value about a church service, a general feel for the "church culture", the kind of music/songs/lyrics they are using to teach the congregation (which can sometimes be telling), the leadership and preaching style, and a whole lot more. If there's no livestream, then listen to some sermons (I usually recommend listening to at least 2 in case for some reason a particular sermon just wasn't that good that week). 

d) Websites also usually have information on other ministries in the church. Do they do small groups, Bible Study or prayer meetings? Adult and children's education/Sunday school? Outreach? What other ministries do you value for your family? (ex. youth group, Awana-type kids ministry, mens/ladies Bible studies.) Some churches may not have much going on outside of Sunday's - for various reasons, some out of their control. But at least some of these are pretty valuable and should at least be areas the church leadership desires to grow in... mainly because they help a great deal in fostering relationships and discipleship. 

2. Visit in-person. And visit more than once! (It's always good to give a church a second chance unless you're very sure it's not for you).

a) Assuming you think the 9 Marks are already met, look for a sense of community. Friendliness is not an indication of community. Lots of churches have friendly people, but it doesn't always go beyond that. Do the people there seem to genuinely care about each other? About you? Do people just casually talk or does there seem to be deeper, more meaningful conversations happening? Church is much deeper than a service on Sunday mornings, it's supposed to be a community, a family.

b) Intentionally meet some of the members, and the pastor, his wife, and/or other leaders. Have some questions to ask them about the church, ministries, etc. Here's some great questions: "What do you value about this local church?" "Where do you see the need for growth in this local church?" "What needs does this church have?" "In what ways have you been blessed by the church here?" 

Good churches can be hard to find! Pray, pray, pray as you look for one. If you can't find one, move or consider starting one!

Home Sweet Homebirth: Daniel Alan's Birth Story

The original plan for this home birth was to have it at my mom’s house, because she has a nice jacuzzi tub in a lovely master bedroom suite – and that’s where my daughter was born two years ago. My mom had everything all ready for us there, but this little guy, like his older brother apparently, didn’t want to follow our plans for location. We had also hoped for Tuesday 8/9 for the birth because of some work-related things of my husband’s, but baby decided that he also liked having the same month and day for a birthday – again like his brother – and came a day early (2 days before due date).

 

Sunday (the day before) was a busy day! We went to a picnic with Faith Baptist where Mommy’s nephew got baptized and we went swimming in the lake. Big sister Liberty was making Mommy be pretty active with her love of the water. We had ice cream for dinner because it was really hot out and apparently it ended up being out last outing as a family of 4! That evening while getting out of the shower, I slipped just a bit pulling some muscle between my legs. That was rather painful and left me wondering if/how it would affect labor. Not sure if it did trigger something or not, but just before 1am on Monday morning, I had what they call “the bloody show”. Contractions started shortly after, but I tried going back to bed to get some sleep… after calling the midwife to let her know the status. Mild contractions continued, but they were 7-10 minutes apart so I didn’t think too much of it (and didn’t want to bother people in the middle of the night!). I dozed some and around 6am I got up after the contractions seemed to be getting more intense (but were still consistently about 10 minutes apart). Almost immediately, the contraction pace picked up to 3-4 minutes apart. When I text updated the midwife and said I thought we should definitely leave for my mom’s, she called me and said “we’re going to come to you, you should go lay down”. So I did. Contractions slowed a little and gave us time for her and her assistant (Sue) to both get there around 7:30-7:45AM. I had called my sister (Auntie Alicia) around 6:30 who came over to help get Liberty and Keller up and then she took them to her house (thanks sis!!!!)

 

Daniel was born at 8:59AM, after me pushing for about a half an hour. He came out in one final push, fairly fast, and cried right away! It’s such an amazing feeling seeing/holding your baby after all that hard work! His cord was pretty short, so he was next to me until it stopped pulsing. Once it was cut he was on my chest. After the placenta came out a bit later, I did have some mildly serious bleeding that the midwives managed fairly quickly and successfully (but I did have to get two shots and extra pushing on my tummy for the next half hour-hour to make sure I wasn’t still unusually bleeding inside). None of that was fun at all, and my poor husband got a bit scarred by it, but everything ended up fine! Because of that I was also a little weaker for the next day or so, but by the end of the 2^nd day was feeling pretty good! A week later, I'm feeling pretty good except for tension in my back/neck that gives me headaches (chiropractor visit today hopefully will help), and my blood pressure is still a bit on the high side so I'm trying to rest as much as possible. Midwife is still checking on Daniel and I for another 5 weeks so I feel quite supported during this season.

 

Daniel weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, 21.75 inches long - my smallest baby by far... my other two were both over 8 pounds! I had rather hoped for a small baby and I got one! He’s so little! He was a rather uninterested eater the first two days… it took him a little bit to figure out that nursing was now how he was supposed to be fed, so it took quite a bit of time and patience nursing, especially through that first night and second day. You forget how hard it can be when they are so little and learning to nurse. But he figured it out and is turning into a champ! A week old and he's back up and over his birth weight!

 

On realizing we weren’t going to make it to my mom’s, I was slightly disappointed to not get a water birth, but in the end 1) we didn’t have to go anywhere which was nice, and 2) we didn’t have to travel home/going anywhere after having him either! As hard work as natural birth is, I’m a big advocate of it, and of home births. It was so sweet to be in our own room and home and have midwives there to help take care of us/things and avoid so many interruptions by nurses and extra people and who knows what else. I was able to just lay in my own bed holding my baby until I was ready to hand him over for his newborn check, and just stay there.

 

I felt very weak going into this birth, for various reasons. I’ve dealt with a bit more anxiety/fear this time and prayed a lot for God’s strength, through the delivery especially. I was given the strength I prayed for. I am also so thankful for such a helpful husband and a supportive family who’s helping us in various ways these first days and weeks, and friends who have offered meals/help. Big brother Keller was a bit confused at first that “baby brother” was no longer in my belly but is quite sweet about his arrival. Big sister Liberty could pretty much care less, and is mostly ignoring him. Haha! It will be a bit of an adjustment for her as she’s been very much a Mommy’s girl, but she’s already getting used to spending more time with Daddy so that’s sweet too. I’ve been rather apprehensive of going to 3 kids, but I know we will adjust and have a “new normal”. God will continue to give grace and strength.

 

Why we chose his name: Names and their meaning are important to us so we prayed and waited for the name we thought our son should have.

DANIEL: His name means "God is my Judge", and he is named after the man of great wisdom, faith and courage in the Bible. The name felt special as it seemed to almost come to Mike, waking him up in the middle of the night, even though it would not have normally been one of his picks. When he talked to me the next day, I told him that I’d actually been thinking a lot about that name too even though we hadn’t discussed it! I’ve always liked the name but didn’t think I’d really end up using it because it’s more common. But we’re very happy with his name.

ALAN: Alan is the name of his paternal grandfather and we are glad to honor him in this way. There are various opinions on the meaning of the name; the Gaelic origin means "handsome, cheerful" (and we certainly hope he's both of these characteristics!), but we also like the Celtic meaning which is "little rock; harmony, peace".

 

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is He who will save us." (Isaiah 33:22)

 

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)