Finding a Church
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor of Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
The Sabbath was central in the life of Old Testament believers. Likewise, in the New Testament, the Christian Sabbath held a central focus. It continues to be central to the life of a Christian. Of course, we know that the Christian Sabbath was changed to the first day of the week from the last because Jesus was raised on Sunday morning. His bodily resurrection is the foundation of our hope and life. Every Lord’s Day is a celebration of the bodily resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Believers gather to worship God every Sunday. Believers have a desire to worship God. Yes, it is clearly a duty, but it is much more. Corporate worship is a desire in the heart of every Christian. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” *2 Corinthians 5:17). God has made His people new creations with new desires, supremely a desire for Him!
This is a profound truth for everyone who is in Christ. A genuine Christian has been born again by the Spirit of God working in concert with His Word. When God raises the spiritually dead, He makes him a new creation. As reflected above, God gives new desires. God gives the desire to worship Him with other believers. Therefore, it is paramount for every believer to find a body of believers with whom he can worship God in spirit and truth.
Let us be clear concerning who it is who desires to worship God. A true worshiper is one who has been saved, is being saved, and will be saved. The Bible reveals God's order of salvation in Romans 8:28-30. First, God effectually calls a dead person to come to life.
Second, the effect of His call is regeneration. All men are born dead in sin. God must raise a sinner from death to life. This is what Jesus said is being born again in John 3.
Third, God converts a sinner to a saint. In conversion God gives two gifts. One is the gift of faith and the second is the gift of repentance. Those gifts are exercised by those who receive them.
Fourth, the result of turning from sin and turning to Jesus is justification. Justification is a legal term. God declares a sinner to be in right standing before Him only by the merit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God covers the sinner with the perfect life of Jesus Christ and transfers the sinner’s sin to Jesus. This is called double imputation. Justification is by faith alone, sola fides.
Fifth and following justification, God adopts the sinner into His family. Those changed by God become heirs of His promise in Christ, namely heaven.
Sixth, after justification God begins His work of sanctification. As justification covers the sinner with perfect righteousness, sanctification is God’s progressive work to make the sinner righteous from the inside out. In sanctification, the sinner responds to God’s work in him. God promised to make us increasingly more like Christ.
Seventh and finally, the result of sanctification is what is called glorification. God promised to take us to glory. Every believer will be in glory in heaven. The comforting fact of glorification is that God sees us as already glorified. Notice Paul's use of the past tense for all the verbs in Romans 8:30.
Therefore, a genuine Christian as described desires to worship God with fellow Christians. This desire is an expression of God's adoption. Christians demonstrate their desire for God within the visible church. Christians gather to praise God, pray to Him, and hear Him speak both in the reading and proclamation of Scripture. As a result, believers are edified or if you choose to use this word, fed. Believers grow spiritually by participating in corporate worship. Finding a church is critical for living in Christ. Finding a church in which one can grow up into Christ requires knowing what constitutes a "true church."
The Bible reveals three marks of a true church. They are necessarily present in every local congregation that calls itself Christian. The first mark is that the pure word of God is preached. The second is that the two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, are administered in accordance with Christ's institution. The third is that church discipline is exercised in accordance with God's word.
Christians are often deceived by pragmatists and others who base supreme value on "what works" to grow in numbers. Christians too often seek churches with the right programs, or an age group of those of similar life circumstances. It sometimes seems that God-centered worship and ministry have fallen on hard times, especially in the American Evangelical Church.
If a church is preaching the pure word of God, that church will worship God as He has commanded. May you find such a God-centered church. God has ordained that Christians will grow spiritually through the ministry of a local church centered on Him.
