CHURCHES
RECOMMENDED CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS UK
How do you tell good churches from bad ones
There is no clear-cut answer for this, but here are a few things that may help.
Make sure it is Bible-based. What does this mean? It means that the church teaches the Bible and that it matches up with what it says in the Bible. This will be a lot easier to discern if you have been a Christian for a while and have a good knowledge of the Bible, but even if you are a brand new Christian you can be encouraged that the more you read your Bible and pray to God, the more you will be able to spot good Bible-based churches. Look at what the person is teaching; write notes. If it doesn’t match up with what you read in your Bible, there could be a chance it is not a Bible-believing church — only teaching some parts of the Bible that sound good, not the whole counsel of God. Take your time with a church, be discerning and wise, ask God for wisdom. If you have any questions please email me on the contact page
Does the church love? 1 John 3:11 says this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. This is love from God, that is not sensual or self-seeking but a love that genuinely cares for others’ best interests.
It preaches the Gospel. A good mark of a church is that it preaches the Gospel. If you are unsure what this is, please go to the page “What is the Gospel?” / An explanation of the Gospel. It is this — each one of us in our lives have done wrong things whether that is to steal something, lie or murder. Of course some things are worse than others but whether big or small it is still sin and God hates sin because He is a perfect and Holy God, but all sins can be forgiven by God except one: continually rejecting God. If we continue to reject God we will have to face Him on Judgement Day and give an account for our sins. God is a good God and He has given us a way that we can be set free to be with Him forever in heaven. Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary for the sins of the world. That we can have peace with God and that if we turn from our sins (repent) and turn to Jesus by trusting in Him alone for salvation we will not go to hell as our sins deserve but we will be a child of God and live in heaven forever — a place where there will be no more tears, pain or suffering, but joy forevermore in the presence of a loving God. If this is never preached in your church or very rarely, it may be a place you need to avoid as it is not preaching the true gospel.
My prayer for you is that you will find a church that will be a blessing for you. It won’t be a perfect place as churches are full of people that have sinful behaviours that are slowly being perfected day by day by Jesus but will only be perfect when we get to heaven.
I pray you will feel at home in your church, as a member of the church family, that you will receive good biblical teaching, you will receive the Gospel, you will be encouraged to tell others about the good news you have received and there will be opportunities for you to serve there.