Which Church Should I Join

Which Church Should I Join?
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

Membership in the universal church is a simple matter. Acts 2:47 tells us that God adds all penitent, baptized believers to the body of the saved, which is the church; "the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23). Colossians 1:13 puts it a little differently, but the same thought is contained in that verse. It tells us that after "rescuing us from the power of darkness," God "transfers" us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son. Notice that this transferal is God's doing, and is predicated merely upon our obedient faith. Local church membership is somewhat different. It involves human agreement. People of like precious faith (2 Peter 1:1) enter an agreement with one another to work and worship together. One simple, approved, apostolic example will suffice in making this point.

Immediately following his conversion to Christ in Damascus, Paul "stayed with the disciples some days" (Acts 9:18-19). Upon hearing the news that the Jews were plotting to kill him, Paul left Damascus and moved to Jerusalem. What was the first thing Paul did upon his arrival? Acts 9:26 tells us that Paul "tried to join himself to the disciples." The word "join" or "unite" as some versions have it, means "to join firmly; to glue or cement together." Paul’s actions prove that local church fellowship is a responsibility. But which local church do I join? There are some Bible guidelines:

1. Look for a church that holds forth the New Testament as its exclusive guide of faith and practice. It should be obvious to all that fewer and fewer churches are placing their faith and confidence in the Bible as their exclusive standard for determining right from wrong, and truth from error. Even though Paul said to "beware of human philosophies" (Col. 2:8), yet these philosophies are steadily replacing divine precepts in many pulpits. The members of many churches are so drunk on the charm of their charismatic speakers that they fail to notice the absence of Scripture in the sermons.

We are commanded to preach the perfect, simple, understandable, instructive, God-breathed, and powerful word of God (2 Tim. 4:2; Jas. 1:25; 2 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 3:4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rom. 1:16). We are to do this respecting the actual language of God. We are to "speak as the oracles of God"(1 Peter 4:11). Either the failure or refusal to "speak according to this word" means that the speaker "has no light in him" (Isaiah 8:20). This means that God will not favorably countenance those who disregard His holy word, substituting their own thoughts and musings for God’s wisdom. Christians must remember that their faith is built and based upon God's infallible word. Be sure and look for a church that demands book, chapter, and verse preaching, and will settle for nothing less! More to come…

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.