I. Pray

II. Introduction:

This morning we come to our last Sunday together for this class. It is my hope that you have learned this semester the importance of the local Church and the responsibilities that believers have towards the Church. The last issue that we want to deal with this morning is that of finding a new Church. Some of you are college students and hopefully at some point you will graduate from Union. Now, although we would love for you to stay in Jackson and at Cornerstone for the rest of your years, I realize that many of you will leave Jackson and this Church. Thus, at that point you will be faced with a difficult question: 'How do I find a new Church?' We want to address that very question this morning. Since hopefully this will not be a question that the rest of us have to answer too soon, I also want to try and answer the question, 'When should we advise someone to leave a Church?' This second question can be very difficult and yet we may face it often in our lives. Thus, we need to be prepared to deal with this question faithfully. First, we will deal with how to find a new Church.

III. The main criteria for finding a new Church is whether or not they handle the Word of God faithfully.

A. One of the purposes of this semester has been to point you to the Word of God and what it has to say to believers concerning their responsibilities to the local Church. If we were talking about joining a Church, serving in a Church, participating in the ordinances, or whatever, we have tried to stress the importance of letting the Word drive all these responsibilities. Thus, it should not be surprising that we would say that the main criteria for finding a Church centers around how the Church handles the Word of God. I want us now to consider some specific areas.

B. Expository preaching-The most important consideration one is to make in deciding a new Church involves how the Word is handled in the pulpit. So much can be discovered about a Church in simply observing the pulpit ministry. If the Word is held in high regard in the pulpit, then even if other areas are not where we would like for them to be, there is a good chance that they will be reformed by the preaching of the Word. Not that we ignore all the other ministries, but we should place a great emphasis on the preaching of the Word. Therefore, we should look for a preacher who preaches expositionally (the main points of the text are the main points of the sermon). We must be careful not to compromise on this issue. As believers, we need the Word to be taught to us faithfully. Thus, we need to be under expositional preaching of the Word. This does not mean that a preacher can never teach topically or some other way, but our consistent diet of hearing the Word needs to be that of expositional preaching.

C. Biblically based doctrines and beliefs-Something else we should research concerning how the church handles the Word is in the Churches stated beliefs. If the Church has no stated beliefs, then you should indeed be weary. Otherwise, find out all you can about their beliefs (constitution, covenant, webpage, etc.) What do they believe about conversion, ordinances, God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Bible, etc.? Researching this area will tell you what they believe about the major doctrines of the Church and it will also reveal how they let the Word govern their beliefs.

D. Biblically based Church government-I will admit that finding a Church with biblically based Church government can be difficult. Very few Churches (especially Baptist) have a plurality of elders. Yet, the real issue is whether or not they take seriously the New Testament's call to offer oversight to their members. In other words, looking for a plurality of elders may be difficult, but looking for a Church where the leadership (whatever their title be) offers oversight is very important for your spiritual well being. Again, this is a hard criteria, but I think it is important enough to be considered. As believers, we need to be around other believers who will hold us accountable to what we confess. This needs to be a discipline that the local Church takes seriously.

E. Other ministries-Do the other ministries of the church handle the Word correctly? This involves children's ministries (if that applies), Sunday school, corporate worship times, etc. Researching these ministries will help you evaluate how the Church handle's the Word of God as a whole. Let me say here, we must be weary of becoming over judgmental in these areas. That is why I placed expositional preaching first on my list. At times, these other ministries in the Church will be in the process of reforming to what is being preached in the pulpit, and that is a great thing. Just remember, sometimes this is a slow process and we have to consider the individual ministries in light of what is going on in the Church (especially in the pulpit).

IV. How do we determine how a Church handles the Word?

A. First, in response to this question, let me give you a warning. You need to be aware that most Churches confess to handling the Word well, but how they practice may prove otherwise. Seemingly, no Church is going to openly claim that they mishandle the Word of God (of course in our day even this is changing). Yet, most Churches at least want to give the impression that they handle the Word correctly. Thus, the question becomes how do they define correctly handling the Word? This can be difficult but we do not need to be fooled by simple lip service devotion to the Word. So what can we do?

B. We need to talk with ministers and staff and ask many questions. I have a copy of Steve and Devan McDaniel's list of questions that they would ask pastors when they were looking for a Church. In fact, they asked Lee these very questions when they were trying to decide if they were going to join here at Cornerstone. This is a great resource and I can make it available to anyone who would like to see it. Also, in Donald Whitney's book Spiritual Disciplines for the Church he offers a list of questions to ask ministers (see pages 200-202). Both of these lists have general and specific questions. This is important because it helps reveal precisely what a Church (or minister) believes and practices. Again, it is easy to give lip-service to handling the Word well, thus, we must ask questions about specific practices and ministries.

C. A second thing to do is to talk with a wide variety of members in the Church. We need to talk with new members, old members, young members, older members, etc. This will help us understand what the people believe in the Church and what they are passionate about. Again, seeking a wide variety is important so that our information will not be biased. In talking with these people, you can ask them many of the same questions that you asked the ministers. This may be awkward, but it is helpful in researching a local Church.

D. A third way to research the Church is to simply attend a variety of ministries. We must attend more than just one Sunday morning service. It is not really fair to exclude a Church based on one Sunday morning service. Also, we need to try to attend more than just Sunday morning services. We should attend Sunday school or some other small group session. If there are other ministries that have particular interest for you then you should try to attend them as well.

E. Let me make mention of one more important consideration: there is no perfect Church. In looking for another Church we are not to be snobby and judgmental, as we have all the answers for the Christian life and living that out in a community of believers. Truth is, we have much to learn and should always labor to be humble. Yet, seeking for a Church that handles the Word correctly in most of its practices is a responsibility that we need to take seriously as believers. We do need to be careful about compromising and we do need to be willing to show grace as well. Thus, I cannot encourage you enough to take the task of finding a new Church very seriously.

V. When should I leave a Church or when should I advise someone to leave a Church?

A. First, we should always prize a faithful Church and see it as central to the life of a believer. I hope this semester has encouraged you toward faithful involvement here at Cornerstone. My hope is that you would long to remain at this Church and that you would value the ministries it offers. We are laboring to handle the Word correctly at this Church, and this is a labor that involves us all.

B. Second, we should never encourage flippancy toward Church membership. I never want to hastily encourage someone to leave a Church. If it is possible for someone to remain at a Church and to labor there for reform, then they should seek to do that. However, this means that the person must actively seek reform in a way that is Christ honoring, not attempting to split the Church over their own agenda. Rather, we must encourage people to take the long view and to be committed to the spiritual well being of their fellow believers at their Church.

C. Yet, it needs to be said that repeated mishandling of the Word of God is grounds for leaving a Church. It is impossible to go into every scenario that would merit a believer leaving a Church, so instead I just want to remind us to pay attention to the most critical criteria, namely, the handling of the Word of God. If the pulpit ministry of the Church is done in such a way as to consistently deny the authority of the Word of God, then we must be careful in remaining at that Church. If the leadership in a Church is leading the Church to deny the authority of the Word, then we must be weary. This will result in us not being able to trust and submit to the leaders (Hebrews 13:17), which is required of those who seek to be faithful in their Church membership. If seeking for needed reform will only cause division and hostility toward the leadership, then we need to be careful. In the end, we must judge the Church by the Word of God. Again, this must be done with grace and humility, but the Word is the final criteria.

VI. Conclusion:

It has been a great semester looking at the responsibilities of believers to the local Church. My hope and my prayer is that we will take these responsibilities seriously and that we will labor to be faithful to the local Church. May we indeed keep our covenant here at Cornerstone with one another and labor to remain in a faithful Church that handles the Word of God correctly all of our lives.

VII. Close in prayer

On Finding a New Church