FINDING THE RIGHT CHURCH With the many thousands of different churches, how can they all be right if they are all teaching different doctrines?

Introduction In the world today there are many churches. Each one claims to be ok with God. And many of them are doing good works in the community. And most are attracting good, honest, people as members. So, how can this be wrong? Matthew 7:21-23

Introduction Why would anyone criticize this situation? As we look at these many different churches from a purely humanistic point of view, it seems that everyone would be content with what is being done religiously in the world and go along with the situation. IOW, you’re OK, I’m OK, everyone is OK. But they are not OK because they are the problem.

Introduction Many people look on the religious scene in the world through this kind of rose-colored glasses; They see only the apparent good to society of these institutions that is being accomplished Yet they miss the greater and more important aspect of true religion. Are they serving God His way?

Introduction The social good that is being accomplished today is not wrong from a humanistic view. But the failure to follow God's instructions makes void the good works that may be accomplished. The key to correctly serving God is to follow His instructions. Reminder—His instructions are the Bible.

Pleasing God The greatest failure of the kind of religious division that exist in the world today is the fact that God does not now approve of division. {i.e., a plurality of diverse philosophies on the doctrine of the Bible, etc} John 17:21, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father,(art) in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me; {ASV}.

Pleasing God Since The Lord does not approve of religious division, it behooves man in his religious pursuit to work diligently for its eradication from all religious relationships. To eliminate religious division is to object to the religious structure that is acceptable to most of the world's population today. You see, there are literally thousands of religious people in all nations of the earth practicing some kind of religion,

Pleasing God Many of these religions are completely in contradiction one with the other. So they cannot all be right. So, how do we find the right church? The only correct religion is the religion that is approved by God. The only religion that has the approval of God today is the religion that God himself has authored via His Book {i.e., the Bible}.

The Church Of Christ We also need to define what we mean by the Church of Christ. Most religions recognize this church as the one established by Christ. Matthew 16:18…upon this rock, I will build my church… But the world considers any religion that believes this to be a part of this church of Christ.

The Church Of Christ So are these various religious institutions a part of this church according to these people? Well, yeah! So, once again the question. How can they preach different doctrines and still be a part of Christ? They can’t.

The Church Of Christ We read in the Bible that it began in the 1 st century. Acts 2. It began with a powerful beginning. Most of the mainline religious groups started much later, (and we have dates to prove it). And they started out by teaching things not found in the Bible right away. This was the beginning of division.

The Church Of Christ The Church established by Christ will continue until the Lord comes again to raise the dead and judge all mankind – John 12:48, He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings,hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day;{ASV}. After the judgment the saved {i.e., the Lord's church will be delivered to the Father by Christ, 1 Cor 15:24-28, Then (cometh) the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.>For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. >The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. >For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him. >And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all {ASV}.

The Church Of Christ Since these things are so, let us seek the current acceptable process for gaining and maintaining a right relationship with God. God requires obedience from man in order to receive the benefits of God's grace. Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. Since the grace of God is already available to mankind, man is obligated to do whatever is necessary to acquire its benefits.

What Shall We Do? Therefore, the question is simply: Acts 2:37, Now when they heard (this,) they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? John 6:68, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life;

What Shall We Do? The answer to that question is: Everything God commands from His Bible. Rejecting anything that does not come from His Bible. Do our best to follow His instructions without compromise or change. IOW, stick to the Bible. 1 Peter 4:11 As you may have realized, most of those religions claiming to follow Him, have already rejected the authority of the Bible.

Following The Bible: We find a Scriptural Name The church of Christ, (Romans 16:16) The body of Christ, (Ephesians 1:22-23) The household of God, (1 Timothy 3:15) Whatever name we use, it should reference who we belong to, and who is in charge.

Following The Bible We find a scriptural entrance. Believe the Word Mark 16:15-16 Repent of sin, Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38 Confess Christ as Messiah, Romans 10:9-10. Be baptized, Acts 2:38. 1} For remission of sin 2} A burial in Water, in the likeness of the D,B,R Romans 6:1-5. God adds one to the church (Acts 2:47)

Following The Bible We Find A Scriptural Work 1. Evangelism 2. Edification 3. Limited Benevolence—it is limited because God did not allow benevolence for anyone who was not a Christian. (However, that general kind of benevolence is a responsibility of every Christian as we have the ability to do so.)

Following The Bible We have a scriptural worship. 1. Must be from the heart. 2. Must be in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24) 3. We sing (Ephesians 5:19) (no authority for mechanical instrument found in the Bible). 4. We pray to God through Jesus. (there is no authority to pray to Jesus). 5. We observe the memorial feast that Jesus instructed all saints to do. 6. The teaching must be according to scripture.

Conclusion To find the right church, one only needs to go to the Bible. We find examples of what the early Christians did. We get the teaching about this church from the Bible. The challenge for anyone wishing to serve God properly is to find a church that most closely follows the Bible. It is just common sense. Have you found the right Church?