1. Does this church preach that Jesus is the only way?
Jesus himself states that through Him is the only way to God in John 14:2-6
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
This question is the most important for a church to have right. Without Jesus, any religion is based on something not designed by God. There are many "Christian" churches that promote Jesus but then either add things, or reinterpret them to suit their needs. Be sure to ask how you get to Heaven? If they add anything other than believing in Jesus then I would advise you not to return.
2. Is this church a place where I can connect with God and worship him freely?
This does not mean that you can believe whatever you want about God; it has to do with the mode of worship of the church. While all churches have their slant on how they like to do things, some become dogmatic and ritualistic. Don't get me wrong, rituals are not evil. However, when too much emphasis is placed on procedures and rules in a worship service it can become focused more on people than on God. It would be impossible to go through every possibility so let's try to make it easy. Will this church allow you to show your love to God however you see fit as long as it doesn't distract others from worshiping or do you have to do it this specific way?
3. Will I learn about the Bible here?
When supposedly “Christian" churches add things to salvation, they also tend to add other items to the Bible to make it all work out. On top of that, some churches ignore entire parts of the Bible because they don't like them. Some have added complete books in addition to the Bible. This is not the place to get into a discussion on specific churches, so I encourage you to do serious research before committing yourself or your family to a church. All churches ARE NOT equal. Make sure what they preach is found in the Bible and that it's not taken out of context.
4. Does the church "reach out" by sending missionaries, and through financial giving and local outreach?
This may not sound important but the idea behind the question is, “Does this Church really believe what they say they do?” Beside the fact that Jesus commanded us to share His story with the world, the simple fact of finding hope in a hopeless world should make believers excited to share this Truth with others. This question also goes hand in hand with question #3. If they truly follow the Bible, they will be doing something to share the Good News with the world.
These questions cover the basics. There is a Sunday School curriculum that has a motto at its center that sums all this up; it's called KNOWN. It stands for KNOW God – OWN His teachings – Make Him KNOWN to the world. If a church can help you with these three things, keeping in line with the Bible then it should be ok. Most everything else is personal preference. Music doesn’t matter; preaching style doesn’t matter; service times don’t matter. Don’t place these things over spiritual truth.
Finally, don’t forget to pray. Spend some time alone with God. Give Him a chance to direct you to the place where He wants you to be. Ultimately, God has a place for all of us. He has a place where he wants us to worship and to serve.
