August 29, 2024 • 40 mins
Welcome back to another episode of "We Think Biblically." In this episode, we apologize for the previous audio issues and dive into an essential topic: finding the right church. We discuss the importance of sound biblical doctrine, fellowship, prayer, and Christ-centered worship when choosing a church.
We reflect on our own experiences and share insights on how to ensure that the church you attend is feeding you spiritually, challenging you to grow, and encouraging you to live a life that honors God. Join us as we explore what the Bible says about the purpose of the church and how to find a congregation that helps you draw closer to God.
We also touch on the importance of not choosing a church based on comfort or personal preferences, but rather on its alignment with God's Word and its ability to help you fulfill your spiritual needs.
We hope this episode strengthens and encourages you in your walk with Christ. Tune in to "We Think Biblically" on YouTube, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcast, and more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:15):
Hey guys, and welcome back to We Think Biblically. Here we are again, another episode.
Hopefully this episode you can hear me. Yes, we're gonna go ahead and just kick
it off. I'm so sorry for last episode.
Yep, we're kicking it off with an apology. Another apology.
Another episode, another apology.
Well, as we said before, we had new mics and we could not hear each other talking
(00:41):
onto them. So we did not know that Brianna's mic, for whatever reason,
sounded like she was stuck in a cup of water or something.
I don't know what was going on. It was like underwater the whole episode for
some reason. And it was honestly, believe it or believe it not, it was way worse.
And we used an AI-improved tool thing, and it kind of boosted up our audio and lowered mine.
(01:02):
Yeah. But anyway, so. But still, it wasn't very good, honestly.
No, it was still terrible, and we apologize for that. That maybe somewhere down
the road we'll do a redo of that episode.
In all honesty, guys, I was going to go ahead and re-record it.
Write that in there. And then Brianna was like, oh, we didn't got to post it.
Let's just let it be. It ain't even going to feel like genuine.
(01:24):
We're just going to be like going back. Because I was just going to like basically
like just go back over and listen to everything we said. And then just like.
There ain't no way I can remember what I said.
Redo it. Like just to make, just improve the audio.
But Brianna. We'll have to redo it. We're going to do that.
So there's actually a couple episodes i wouldn't
mind redoing i would like to touch on the
importance not redoing actually just add
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into yeah making another one like just kind of some more
stuff i didn't get into the first episode extra stuff
we need to get into right not over not like
still be on there just just like an updated version it's
a revised a revised version yeah okay anyway there
was episode i done the very first one the importance of
the word of god i was like super nervous and super nervous super yeah he honestly
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re-recorded that like 50 times or more yeah i couldn't get over welcome to our
thing biblically i was like in
the bedroom yeah i was i was at the door listening the whole time i kept.
Deleting recording deleting recording it was funny and yeah
we still got a long way to go but man
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it's a lot easier having somebody talk to you so i
didn't start until what that was you started september i
started in the last of october i believe so about
you know for about four months by yourself yeah something like
that but anyway guys we pray
you guys are doing well whoever's listen to
this pray to this episode
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oh wait we have another apology too about spotify
did you fix that yeah it wasn't on spotify i think we got it fixed yeah also
okay also we wanted to talk to a friend then they said they couldn't find it
on spotify so so i think we got it we're so sorry about all this we're trying
so hard guys to get it worked out but sometimes you just hit little.
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Bumps in the road and you just gotta keep moving forward
yeah so we're truly trying to
improve on to it and and honor god
and bring him glory and all that we all that we
do so we pray that this episode would encourage
you guys strengthen you in your walk as always
if you want to get your bible out and read
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along with us you can find us on youtube spotify iheart
radio Apple Podcast and a
bunch of other ones I really don't even know anywhere you can
find a podcast you'll basically find it we also got a website yeah
but we also I didn't know it's not as easy to find as what it like can be like
(03:57):
if you google we think publicly I don't think you can find it yeah you're not
going to find it that way like you have to go like to Apple Podcast or Podbean
and then you'll find it but we're going to try to make some improvements on that as well.
Where you can just google it and it'll pop up Yep.
So that's something else, guys, to be dated, but we're working on it.
I promise. We're trying to make improvements, but we're trying.
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We have a lot going on, just trying to juggle a bunch of things.
And I'm doing homeschooling with Finney for, and this is our second week and
it's been a little difficult year in there, but we're getting there.
Yeah, so how's that been going? Like, having a good time?
Yeah, we are actually having a really good time. And it's a really good bonding time with him, too.
And he's learning. And he's learning a lot of stuff out of the Bible.
You can, like, ask him questions and stories, and he knows them.
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And he's really learning a lot, and I'm really proud of him.
And I've been helping him with his homework, which we forgot to do last night.
And they forgot to do homework.
And his teachers are real meanie.
So, we had to double up on homework tonight. Yeah, there was two pages of homework
tonight because he didn't do it last night, but,
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Hopefully his dad will make him do his homework every night because that's his responsibility.
Yeah, I was slacking last night, guys.
But anyway, our topic this week, I don't really know the title of what you would...
I got what to look for in a church.
Yeah, we can go with that. We'll see what happens. What do you have? I just...
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What to look for when choosing a church. When choosing a church.
Were things to look for when buying a car
wait what no buying a car what to
look for the fastest car what to look for
when you're choosing a church to attend and at
some point hopefully hopefully a lot of you guys that's listening
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is already in a good church to a biblical church that's preaching the word of
god that's that you're being fed and growing spiritually but But if there's
somebody that's listening that is not in a church, has not found a church yet.
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Hopefully we can kind of give you some biblical direction that will help and
encourage and kind of get you on the right track, things to look for.
And also, I want to add something. I'm using my computer tonight,
and I'm not used to nothing onto it. So, when I'm reading something, just bear with me.
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I don't know what I'm doing. You got this. Not really.
Okay, so let's first understand the purpose of church.
In order to know what you're looking for or know what to look for when choosing
a church, we really need to understand what was the purpose of a church anyway.
Of a church. What was it for? Why do we need a church?
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Just understanding this role. What is it accomplishing in the life of a believer?
Like what is the purpose of it so we're gonna look
into the book of acts chapter 2
verse 42 and it
says and this could be basically a purpose
statement for the church this is like basically what how they started out this
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was their their purpose statement acts 2 42 says and they They continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers.
They devoted the themselves to the apostles teaching.
That's doctrine to fellowship. That is another important part of the church
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to the breaking of bread and to prayers.
A couple of this is just something to think about here. Some of the activities that was like.
Consisted of a church, was teaching biblical doctrine, having a place of fellowship for believers.
It's a gathering of believers, this church, observing the Lord's Supper.
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You know, 90% of us take communion at least, I believe, once a month, at least.
Some churches observe that a little more often than that.
And then the fourth thing they done was prayer. It It was a place to pray.
So that's something just to be mindful of when we're talking about choosing
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a church and what to look for, understanding the purpose of it. It was for these things.
You got anything you want to add before I move on a little bit more?
Keep going. Okay, this is still talking about basically the purpose of the church
and understanding its role in the Christian's life.
Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25 says, and let us consider one another to
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provoke unto love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So this here, this Bible verse is telling us to consider one another to provoke
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unto love and to good works.
It says not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
And that is what the church is for. And it's the assembling of believers to
come together to provoke and to encourage each other into the Lord, to exhort one another.
And let me just kind of- Wait, wait, wait. You stole my verse.
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What? That's my verse. Hebrews 10.25.
I'll read it in my version. Go ahead.
We should not stop gathering together with other believers as some of you are doing.
Instead, Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see
the day of the Lord coming.
I want to read a little bit in my commentary in my Bible.
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It says, Pray about where you should fellowship. Make sure your church home calls sin what is sin.
Don't become a spiritual butterfly. If you are going from church to church,
how will your pastor know what type of food you are digesting? I asked me this earlier.
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My answer was by your weight. the bible
says that your shepherd is accountable to god
for you hebrews 13 and
17 you can look that up later on if you want to but go ahead
i just wanted to add that in also i guess we'll take a little side note right
here because i'm going to always just be like so fast and trying to get through
(10:31):
it well tell them a little bit about your bible you enjoying that yeah i am
i'm really enjoying it what is it a evident evidence study bible yeah there it is.
It's evidence study bible new king james version by oh yeah ray comfort not
(10:52):
paul washer i'm gonna say by paul washer but it's by ray comfort and i really like the ray comfort,
And guys, that Bible, I can... The Bible is really, really good.
Yeah, I can testify to that. I mean, it's not that I'm like nobody.
I'd advise you to get one. We don't ever really endorse anything.
And there may even... Let me stop right here. Not the written word.
Oh, I'm sorry. I just hit the microphone with the Bible. We're not talking about
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the written word into it. But maybe some of the commentary could be off. I ain't gonna say that.
It could be. But most of it is like really, really... It's got a very apologetic form to it.
Like it talks about all different religions and different beliefs and how to
share your faith, how to share the gospel with people of different religions,
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with different beliefs.
That's what I really like about it. It really explains to you how to share the
gospel. It's really for witnessing.
Yeah, it is. So if somebody's seeking direction in that and wanting a good Bible
for that, this is definitely it.
Like I said, it's got a very apologetic form. An evidence study Bible.
And how to answer tough questions. It's got lots of quotes from all different
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people. So, like I said, some of the commentary may be off.
We're not talking about the written word. We're talking about the commentary.
There's a lot more I could have read right there, but I'm just going to stop for the sake of time.
It's a good Bible. It is a good Bible. Check it out. I advise you guys to get one.
There is one kicker about it, and I'm the only one that would probably complain about this.
What? It is only available in New King James. Because I really like pink. Oh.
(12:20):
I think it's only available in translation. Translation. Well, Brianna.
I ordered this Bible and I had to wait for like two months and I still didn't
get a pink one. So I just said, forget it. I'm just going to order a brown one.
So I decorated mine up with some stickers. I really don't care about the color.
I really wanted a pink one so bad. The translation is the only kicker for me.
It's New King James, which ain't a big deal. But anyway. Okay.
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Okay. Sorry, we're getting off. Back to the episode. So let's understand into the Old Testament.
Oh, and when I read Hebrews 10, 25, that was in God's word Bible. Okay.
That's a good translation too. If you're using online. I really like that too.
Into the Old Testament before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed,
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it was still, it was still the major temple.
Focal point of the Jewish religious life, but we also had synagogues.
They functioned basically as a church did today.
They functioned into the Old Testament as community centers that could support
the spiritual and physical needs of those in the community.
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So we had synagogues. You will see that as something you had even in Jesus' time.
You'll see he was in and out of synagogues. And basically what a synagogue was is a modern day church.
So what they'd done into the synagogue, they taught the law.
It was to support the spiritual and physical needs of those into that community.
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And also, there had to be a certain number of people into the community in order
to be able to have a synagogue.
So that's something to remember but it was
the purpose of it was to support the spiritual and physical
needs of those in that community same way
that's what the local church is for the church you are attending it
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is to support your spiritual and your physical needs something to keep in mind
so some of the some of the important things we're going to talk about here is
biblical doctrine make for sure the church that you are going to attend,
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or that you are already attending, that it is teaching and preaching biblical doctrine.
This is one thing that the church is for, is to teach and to preach sound biblical doctrine.
That is what the synagogues done. They taught the law.
They made it known. They used it to preach.
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Encourage and strengthen the believers. So Ephesians 4 and 14 says that we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slate of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
This is important, guys. We need to attend churches, the churches that we would attend.
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We need to make for sure that they That the teachers, that Sunday school,
whoever's doing teachings, maybe a Wednesday Bible study, that's the pastor
and his sermons, that it is biblical, sound doctrine.
Because we need this, because there are so many Christians today who are being,
just like this Bible verse says, tossed to and fro, and they're carried about
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with every wind of doctrine.
There's all kinds of wacky, crazy doctrines going around today. day.
You can name off, I could sit here and name off probably 15 of them.
We're not going to, but I'm just saying we need to have a church that is giving
us the true word of God that we can be strengthened and encouraged to know how
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to stand firm in our faith.
And people may ask, what is the true word of God?
Do you have an answer? What do you mean exactly?
Okay, because like you read the bible and then like
it's like there's a lot of people that like twist scripture yes
oh so how do you know what is twisting scripture
and what isn't twisting scripture read it in context
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that is well i mean no way that's get it out of me that's a very good question
uh how to know what is the true word of god you let the word of god speak for
itself guys now there are some times we have to read it for yourself in like
king james version or something no i'm not meaning that
exact whatever you read don't just take one verse and then just
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run with it you can do a lot of damage to yourself and to
others what all the verse means yes read the whole chapter read
read like verses before read verses after find out where it's coming from yes
know exactly what happened in the bible yeah like a story right know the exact
setting of what was going on yeah know who it was to know who was writing it
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you know there was always i believe it's the five,
W's, I'm probably gonna butcher this, but when studying the Bible, there was five W's.
There was what, when, where, why, and who.
What was being said, where it was being said, who was saying it,
why they were saying it, and what was the other word?
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I can't remember, I had it wrote down in my book. There was another one,
but you guys get the point.
Ask questions and make, the Bible, you know, there's, if you would allow it
to, the Bible will interpret itself for you. You know, scripture will interpret scripture.
That is basically the principle we should all use. Let the Bible speak for itself.
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We don't need man's words. We need God's words. So I hope that kind of answered Brianna's question.
Yeah, it was a good answer. Good job. Okay.
Just in case somebody was wanting to know. Good question. You got anything you
want to add to that? We're talking about biblical doctrine. No. Okay.
Another important part of the church, which we talked about,
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it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.
That was the doctrine. That was the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostles was
the ones commissioned to go out and to share that. Okay. We are too, but I'm just saying.
So this doctrine, we need biblical doctrine. And it says fellowship.
So, another thing to look for, and it is a very important part of the church,
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is fellowship and encouragement.
The church is to be a place of fellowship and encouragement.
1 Thessalonians 5 and 11 says, Wherefore, comfort yourselves together,
and edify one another, even as also you do. Do you have that Bible verse you want to read?
No, actually, earlier when you were saying something about, let's see,
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something about fellowship.
No, I was giving them back.
I'll just read this because this really went along with it. 2 Timothy 3,
16 and 17 says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, and righteousness,
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that the man of God may be perfectly furnished unto all good works.
We need to have a church that will correct us and instruct us.
Yes, that is something I'm going to be touching on later. That really,
really, earlier, oh, earlier you said something about that, though.
Yeah, I probably did. Okay, go ahead.
We'll touch on that, too, though. That's very good. True.
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Talking about fellowship and encouragement, Proverbs 27 and 17.
And guys, we apologize if we go through these Bible verses so fast.
Sometimes, though, time just wraps around on here so fast.
We want to make sure we're getting through at least the important parts of what
we're wanting to talk about. I'm trying to make it short so it ain't so long
and people's like, man, are they ever just going to shut up or get to the point?
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When we first started this, I was saying like 15 to 20 minutes.
We blew that out the door. And now we're like 40 minutes tops, maybe.
Proverbs 27, 17 says, Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Galatians 6 and 2 says, Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
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So these are very important Bible verses here that encourage fellowship,
and not only just fellowshipping together, but when we get together with believers,
we are to encourage one another.
It is encouragement. The Bible says, iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the
countenance of his friend.
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11 to comfort ourselves together,
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to edify one another it tells us also to
bear one another's burdens and the church is what
that is that is where we find these things at
is the church or the body of christ helps us
bear one another's burdens to encourage one
another versus which one first thessalonians
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5 and 11 is that what you just read yep i read that i got first thessalonians
5 and 11 all the way through sorry i'm not really like it at this computer 28
go ahead and read it i'm gonna go ahead and read it real quick you can if it's
going along with this i mean you want to go for it okay.
Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing.
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Now, brothers and sisters, we ask you to recognize the value of those who work hard among you.
Those who, as followers of the Lord, care for you and tell you how to live.
Show them the highest respect and love because of the work they do.
Live in peace with each other. We ask you, brothers and sisters,
to warn those who will not work.
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Encourage those who are afraid. Help those who are weak.
Be patient with everyone. be sure that no one
pays back wrong for wrong but always try to do what
is good for each other and for people for all people always be
full of joy never stop praying whatever happens
always be thankful this is how god wants you to live in christ
jesus don't stop the work of the holy spirit don't treat
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prophecy like something that is not important but test
everything keep what is good keeps and stay
away from everything that is evil we pray that god
himself the god of peace will make make you
pure only to him we pray that
your whole self spirit soul and body will be kept safe
and be blameless when our lord jesus
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christ comes the one who choose you will do
that for you you can trust him brothers and sisters
please pray for us give a give all the brothers and
sisters a special greeting of god's people i tell you the authority of the lord
to read this letter Let's read it.
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Amen.
So true. true like because in this verse up here it was saying encourage each
other strengthen each other,
so that if i don't see i don't want to go up there oh where was i at um don't
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stop the work of the holy spirit the test everything keep what is good i don't
know if you can hear me the one.
We're definitely not gonna hear you whispering i'm just trying to find that
verse Therefore, okay, yeah, encourage each other and strengthen one another
as you are doing. That's what I wanted to go back to.
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That was a lot of reading. That was a lot of reading. Good. Brianna just likes
to, like, read the whole Bible to us.
We're going to start a new segment, guys. It's called Brianna Reads the Whole Bible to Us.
Sorry, but I really wanted to read all that. So true.
Another purpose of the church was prayer. It said they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread,
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which was communion, and in prayers.
Yes. So another function of the church was prayer.
We can even see this in Acts chapter 12, verse 5.
It says, Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without seizing
of the church unto God for him.
So you see, that was one characteristic of the church. A biblical church is
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going to have sound biblical doctrine. There'll be fellowship and encouragement.
Whenever a group of believers get together, there'll be encouragement and edification
one to another. And prayer is a characteristic of a biblical church.
This is another function of it.
It says prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
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Matthew, this is words of Jesus in Matthew 21 and 13.
And said unto them, this is Jesus talking. It is written, my house shall be
called the house of prayer.
But you have made it a den of thieves. And we could probably say a lot more
America's made church today we've made it a place a comedian Center who've made it a a,
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Rock concert a well, you name it guys.
We've got it going on anymore I mean It's sad to say but we need to get back
to what the Bible says it was supposed to be and it was his house was supposed
to be called the house of prayer and.
So this is just some things to think about. And there is a book,
and I ain't even going to, I'll probably make people mad when I say this,
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but there is a book, and I'm going to kind of talk about this book,
but I ain't even going to give the name of what this book was,
just for certain reasons,
because there's maybe a few little parts into the book that I didn't agree with,
so I don't want people to think I'm endorsing it, and then you guys read it,
and then be like, oh, why would you say this book, or whatever.
So anyway, there was this book about this young man.
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He got saved early on, and he was just a young Christian. He was trying to find a church.
And in his search for the right church, he ended up in all kinds of different churches.
I can't even remember how many different churches this young Christian man ended up into. to.
He was in word of faith churches where it was all about positive thinking,
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positive confessions, just the prosperity, the healings, wealth.
And I believe his sister passed away from cancer or whatever it was.
And people in the church made him feel like it was because of a lack of his
faith and just different things like that. And that hindered him.
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Well, Then he went to another church where it was all just, it was all about grace, basically.
It was a progressive church, and basically, like, it just affirmed him and his,
he had addictions in his life as a young man.
He struggled with lust and different things, and he had addictions in his life.
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And this church that he, this next church he started attending,
they affirmed him in And, you know, he basically just patted him on the back and told him it was OK.
There was no that the messages was not preaching against sin,
but rather it was condoning sin.
It was not preaching about sanctification being set apart, but it was all about
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love and acceptance and forgiveness.
He found he found himself in a bunch of different churches and because there
was not a true biblical church in this book,
he talks about how it hurt him and how he got to the point where he was just
into a place where he was so confused.
He didn't really know what to do. And he just got himself in a really,
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a really dry, distant place from God, all because of these different churches.
And when he even found one, he, He would look for a church, and he was trying
to find one based on what he thought should be right.
And he was seeking something based upon his flesh at one point.
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And even when he found the church that was catering to his flesh,
it was satisfying everything in his flesh, condoning his lifestyles,
his sin, affirming him into it.
His spirit was not being fed, and he said he could feel himself drifting from
God and getting more distance from him and called. So this is why it is important
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for us to understand when we're seeking a church to be a part of.
That's why we're trying to give some things to look for.
It is very important the church we choose. Make for sure, and this isn't, don't hop around.
You know, when you get to a church, me and Brianna has, it's kind of bittersweet.
I thank God that we have a church to now attend into the summertime,
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and we have a church to attend into the winter.
But it's kind of bittersweet because you never truly get to get fully settled in and get involved.
We're gone for five to six months. We're down home five or six months,
and you never really get the chance to be involved.
And that's hard, guys. It's not easy. It's not very convenient.
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But when you when you do find
a good church stick with it guys join it become
a member and seek opportunity to be
used and don't always seek the big positions to big
things but be content to help out of us picking up a pop can out of a soda can
whatever you want to call it yeah cleaning the toilet scrubbing the floor holding
the door open be content to help out so when seeking a church to be a part of
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some things we should be seeking is sound biblical teaching and preaching from
the pastor and teachers.
That's like, shouldn't be the main thing. That's number one. That's number one.
Church is not made up of just one thing, guys.
There's many things to make the
church work and, and, and allow it to accomplish its purpose. The, the.
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Preaching and teaching, sound biblical teaching and preaching, that's number one.
We should also be making for sure the church we are attending is providing Christ-centered worship,
that the worship leader or leaders is not seeking their own glory or having
us focus on ourselves, and that is what we see a lot of today.
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Many of our worship leaders and singers is seeking their own glory,
trying to glorify their selves or even having us just to focus on ourselves.
But a true worship leader's purpose is to lead us in worship to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
They would seek to give God glory and Him alone.
True worship leaders is to lead us in the worship of God. You got anything you
(31:03):
want to add on any of that?
Yeah, I want to read this out of my commentary again in my Bible.
It says, you are working together for the same thing, the
furtherance of the kingdom of god i mean
yeah the kingdom of god on earth this is why you attend church
not because you have to but because you want to yes so true so we want biblical
(31:26):
teaching and preaching christ-centered worship and we can't don't just be satisfied
oh it's all about the the preaching and teaching oh it's all about the worship
i've heard people like Like,
they're satisfied with just one of those.
Guys, we need to get to a church where we are being encouraged and strengthened by both ends of that.
(31:50):
We should also be seeking a church where we feel, and this is very important,
where we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Where the preaching is encouraging us to draw closer to God and forsake any
sin that we may have. When you're seeking a church, and it is easy,
me and Brianna has actually faced this task.
(32:12):
I don't want to choose a church just because my flesh is comfortable into it.
Like I'm going to say, I don't got nothing against modern Christian music, nothing like that.
But some of it has kind of got out there. And I believe for Silk,
some of the important things that we used to hold to, I ain't got nothing against it.
(32:35):
But with that being said I've had to ask myself the question when we've been
when we was looking for a church Why?
Why do I want to go here? Why don't I? Is it because my flesh is comfortable or not comfortable?
Or is it truly something that's not biblical that my spirit is something inside
of me is saying the spirit of the Holy Spirit inside of me saying,
(32:56):
no, this ain't right for you.
This ain't where you were being fed. This ain't where you were growing.
We need to truly make for sure when choosing a church that we are choosing a
church that is going to feed us spiritually.
And notice what I said spiritually, because this is very important. written
many times when we are seeking a church we are seeking
churches and we choose a church that is feeding our flesh
(33:18):
and you say how in the i know it's got it's it is
a shame that i even said you can find that there should not be a church at all
that is catering the needs and feeding our flesh yeah but guys let's be honest
the sad truth of it is there's churches out there yeah that is doing that and
we need to make for sure that the church we are attending that we are
(33:41):
seeking to be a part of,
that we are going to join, that we are attending,
that it is feeding us spiritually.
Is the pastor's sermons encouraging you to draw closer to God?
Is it Christ-centered? Is it biblical doctrine that he is teaching?
Is he teaching and preaching the precepts of God?
(34:02):
Is he preaching against sin, not condoning it, talking about repentance.
Always bringing the The gospel, guys, everything hinges on that.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, what he done to redeem us.
And we should be seeking a church that we are not being affirmed in our sinfulness,
(34:24):
just like that person that wrote that book I was telling you about.
He got to a church that just affirmed everything he was doing,
patted him on the back and condoned it.
We don't need a church that condones everything. We need a church that's going
to hold us accountable, that's going to say, no, you need to separate yourself.
Make us change. Yes, sanctify yourself.
We need a church that challenges us. And I like what Leonard Raven...
(34:45):
Hey, I have that wrote. We need a church that challenges us.
See, we're on the same point.
We need a church that challenges us, but not only just to challenges us,
but it challenges us to allow God to change us.
And this is the purpose of that. Leonard Ravenhill said this.
I love Leonard Ravenhill, great minister, great books he wrote.
(35:07):
And he said no, right? Yeah.
I actually seen where he was buried at. He's dead.
The question isn't, this is Leonard Ravenhill, a quote by him,
he said, the question isn't were you challenged? The question is, were you changed?
And it's not enough just to be challenged, guys. We have to be changed.
But the main point is change won't come if you're never hearing about what can
(35:29):
bring the change, the true gospel that changes us from the inside out.
And we need to place ourself in a church, not where we are comfortable,
not where the that the worship is just making us focus on us or praising the worship leaders.
But guys, it's all about God. Everything that we do, everything that we should
be focusing on is the Lord and bringing Him glory in every area of our lives.
(35:55):
This is what the church is for, is to strengthen us, to fill us up.
We need to be seeking a church that is filling us up, so to speak,
that we can go out and proclaim Jesus.
Jesus you need to be fed the church think
about it this way the church is a fill-up station
where we get filled up with biblical teaching where
(36:17):
we get filled up through praise and worship and then we are going back out into
the world and we are going to proclaim and we are going to share that that is
what the church is to do Brianna you got anything you want to say or add on
that I'll just Just read my last Bible verse that I have. Okay.
1 Thessalonians 3.15 says, So that even if I cannot come soon,
(36:42):
Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with my voice.
So that even if I cannot come soon, you will know how people should live in the family of God.
That family is the church of the living God. Yes. And God's church is the support
and foundation of the truth.
Yes. so true I really like that one of course it's really good and also one
(37:04):
other thing just hit my mind,
Don't just seek a church if it is not a biblical, sound church just because
they're giving you the opportunity to do something.
I don't know why I felt to say that. That you're comfortable.
Yes. So we talked about that just because you're comfortable with people,
(37:25):
you like certain people.
Guys, listen, it's about God. Ultimately, it is about God and bringing him glory.
You can't just attend the church
because... Oh, wait, no, that wasn't 1 Thessalonians, that was 1 Timothy.
Sorry, I got mixed up. I told you I'm so not used to this computer. It's okay.
(37:45):
1 Timothy 3 and 15. 1 Timothy 3 and 15. Yeah, that's what that was,
not Thessalonians. Sorry.
Amen. Go ahead. We should seek a church, not because they are allowing us to do certain things.
And you should be allowed to do things. If you were abiding by the Bible and
(38:05):
you were living a separated life unto the Lord,
trying your hardest to abstain from sin and not practicing sin and having a
willful, rebellious lifestyle.
Again, a church should have certain standards and bylaws which you must abide by.
Don't just pick a church because they don't have no standards or bylaws or because
it agrees with your moral lifestyle. lifestyle, choose a church because it is
(38:29):
lining up with the Word of God, and it is preaching, teaching,
the worship is Christ-centered.
I ain't going to go through it all again, but guys, let's choose a church that
is Bible-based, that we can find characteristics out of the Bible and say,
yes, this church has them. This is something else.
You have to find the church that is right for you,
(38:52):
not the perfect church, because there ain't a perfect church, guys
there's going to be little faults and failures but make
for sure that some of the little faults and failures is not major theological
problems that it's not that's
not deal-breaking errors there might be simple little
things oh we don't we only take communion once a month
or no we take it every week those ain't deal-breakers
(39:14):
guys right but stuff about jesus christ and his atoning death all about this
this word of faith stuff going stuff like that's deal-breakers guys So we must
be careful and choose the right church and allow the Spirit of God to lead us.
So we pray this episode has given you guys some direction and just maybe some
(39:38):
understanding upon the function of the church and its purpose.
We pray this episode has strengthened you, encouraged you. And Brianna?
We'll catch you next time on We Think Biblically.
Music.
Music.
(00:15):
Hey guys, and welcome back to We Think Biblically. Here we are again, another episode.
Hopefully this episode you can hear me. Yes, we're gonna go ahead and just kick
it off. I'm so sorry for last episode.
Yep, we're kicking it off with an apology. Another apology.
Another episode, another apology.
Well, as we said before, we had new mics and we could not hear each other talking
(00:41):
onto them. So we did not know that Brianna's mic, for whatever reason,
sounded like she was stuck in a cup of water or something.
I don't know what was going on. It was like underwater the whole episode for
some reason. And it was honestly, believe it or believe it not, it was way worse.
And we used an AI-improved tool thing, and it kind of boosted up our audio and lowered mine.
(01:02):
Yeah. But anyway, so. But still, it wasn't very good, honestly.
No, it was still terrible, and we apologize for that. That maybe somewhere down
the road we'll do a redo of that episode.
In all honesty, guys, I was going to go ahead and re-record it.
Write that in there. And then Brianna was like, oh, we didn't got to post it.
Let's just let it be. It ain't even going to feel like genuine.
(01:24):
We're just going to be like going back. Because I was just going to like basically
like just go back over and listen to everything we said. And then just like.
There ain't no way I can remember what I said.
Redo it. Like just to make, just improve the audio.
But Brianna. We'll have to redo it. We're going to do that.
So there's actually a couple episodes i wouldn't
mind redoing i would like to touch on the
importance not redoing actually just add
(01:47):
into yeah making another one like just kind of some more
stuff i didn't get into the first episode extra stuff
we need to get into right not over not like
still be on there just just like an updated version it's
a revised a revised version yeah okay anyway there
was episode i done the very first one the importance of
the word of god i was like super nervous and super nervous super yeah he honestly
(02:11):
re-recorded that like 50 times or more yeah i couldn't get over welcome to our
thing biblically i was like in
the bedroom yeah i was i was at the door listening the whole time i kept.
Deleting recording deleting recording it was funny and yeah
we still got a long way to go but man
(02:31):
it's a lot easier having somebody talk to you so i
didn't start until what that was you started september i
started in the last of october i believe so about
you know for about four months by yourself yeah something like
that but anyway guys we pray
you guys are doing well whoever's listen to
this pray to this episode
(02:53):
oh wait we have another apology too about spotify
did you fix that yeah it wasn't on spotify i think we got it fixed yeah also
okay also we wanted to talk to a friend then they said they couldn't find it
on spotify so so i think we got it we're so sorry about all this we're trying
so hard guys to get it worked out but sometimes you just hit little.
(03:17):
Bumps in the road and you just gotta keep moving forward
yeah so we're truly trying to
improve on to it and and honor god
and bring him glory and all that we all that we
do so we pray that this episode would encourage
you guys strengthen you in your walk as always
if you want to get your bible out and read
(03:37):
along with us you can find us on youtube spotify iheart
radio Apple Podcast and a
bunch of other ones I really don't even know anywhere you can
find a podcast you'll basically find it we also got a website yeah
but we also I didn't know it's not as easy to find as what it like can be like
(03:57):
if you google we think publicly I don't think you can find it yeah you're not
going to find it that way like you have to go like to Apple Podcast or Podbean
and then you'll find it but we're going to try to make some improvements on that as well.
Where you can just google it and it'll pop up Yep.
So that's something else, guys, to be dated, but we're working on it.
I promise. We're trying to make improvements, but we're trying.
(04:19):
We have a lot going on, just trying to juggle a bunch of things.
And I'm doing homeschooling with Finney for, and this is our second week and
it's been a little difficult year in there, but we're getting there.
Yeah, so how's that been going? Like, having a good time?
Yeah, we are actually having a really good time. And it's a really good bonding time with him, too.
And he's learning. And he's learning a lot of stuff out of the Bible.
You can, like, ask him questions and stories, and he knows them.
(04:42):
And he's really learning a lot, and I'm really proud of him.
And I've been helping him with his homework, which we forgot to do last night.
And they forgot to do homework.
And his teachers are real meanie.
So, we had to double up on homework tonight. Yeah, there was two pages of homework
tonight because he didn't do it last night, but,
(05:03):
Hopefully his dad will make him do his homework every night because that's his responsibility.
Yeah, I was slacking last night, guys.
But anyway, our topic this week, I don't really know the title of what you would...
I got what to look for in a church.
Yeah, we can go with that. We'll see what happens. What do you have? I just...
(05:27):
What to look for when choosing a church. When choosing a church.
Were things to look for when buying a car
wait what no buying a car what to
look for the fastest car what to look for
when you're choosing a church to attend and at
some point hopefully hopefully a lot of you guys that's listening
(05:48):
is already in a good church to a biblical church that's preaching the word of
god that's that you're being fed and growing spiritually but But if there's
somebody that's listening that is not in a church, has not found a church yet.
(06:09):
Hopefully we can kind of give you some biblical direction that will help and
encourage and kind of get you on the right track, things to look for.
And also, I want to add something. I'm using my computer tonight,
and I'm not used to nothing onto it. So, when I'm reading something, just bear with me.
(06:29):
I don't know what I'm doing. You got this. Not really.
Okay, so let's first understand the purpose of church.
In order to know what you're looking for or know what to look for when choosing
a church, we really need to understand what was the purpose of a church anyway.
Of a church. What was it for? Why do we need a church?
(06:50):
Just understanding this role. What is it accomplishing in the life of a believer?
Like what is the purpose of it so we're gonna look
into the book of acts chapter 2
verse 42 and it
says and this could be basically a purpose
statement for the church this is like basically what how they started out this
(07:14):
was their their purpose statement acts 2 42 says and they They continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers.
They devoted the themselves to the apostles teaching.
That's doctrine to fellowship. That is another important part of the church
(07:37):
to the breaking of bread and to prayers.
A couple of this is just something to think about here. Some of the activities that was like.
Consisted of a church, was teaching biblical doctrine, having a place of fellowship for believers.
It's a gathering of believers, this church, observing the Lord's Supper.
(07:59):
You know, 90% of us take communion at least, I believe, once a month, at least.
Some churches observe that a little more often than that.
And then the fourth thing they done was prayer. It It was a place to pray.
So that's something just to be mindful of when we're talking about choosing
(08:20):
a church and what to look for, understanding the purpose of it. It was for these things.
You got anything you want to add before I move on a little bit more?
Keep going. Okay, this is still talking about basically the purpose of the church
and understanding its role in the Christian's life.
Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25 says, and let us consider one another to
(08:43):
provoke unto love and to good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So this here, this Bible verse is telling us to consider one another to provoke
(09:04):
unto love and to good works.
It says not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
And that is what the church is for. And it's the assembling of believers to
come together to provoke and to encourage each other into the Lord, to exhort one another.
And let me just kind of- Wait, wait, wait. You stole my verse.
(09:26):
What? That's my verse. Hebrews 10.25.
I'll read it in my version. Go ahead.
We should not stop gathering together with other believers as some of you are doing.
Instead, Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see
the day of the Lord coming.
I want to read a little bit in my commentary in my Bible.
(09:47):
It says, Pray about where you should fellowship. Make sure your church home calls sin what is sin.
Don't become a spiritual butterfly. If you are going from church to church,
how will your pastor know what type of food you are digesting? I asked me this earlier.
(10:10):
My answer was by your weight. the bible
says that your shepherd is accountable to god
for you hebrews 13 and
17 you can look that up later on if you want to but go ahead
i just wanted to add that in also i guess we'll take a little side note right
here because i'm going to always just be like so fast and trying to get through
(10:31):
it well tell them a little bit about your bible you enjoying that yeah i am
i'm really enjoying it what is it a evident evidence study bible yeah there it is.
It's evidence study bible new king james version by oh yeah ray comfort not
(10:52):
paul washer i'm gonna say by paul washer but it's by ray comfort and i really like the ray comfort,
And guys, that Bible, I can... The Bible is really, really good.
Yeah, I can testify to that. I mean, it's not that I'm like nobody.
I'd advise you to get one. We don't ever really endorse anything.
And there may even... Let me stop right here. Not the written word.
Oh, I'm sorry. I just hit the microphone with the Bible. We're not talking about
(11:13):
the written word into it. But maybe some of the commentary could be off. I ain't gonna say that.
It could be. But most of it is like really, really... It's got a very apologetic form to it.
Like it talks about all different religions and different beliefs and how to
share your faith, how to share the gospel with people of different religions,
(11:33):
with different beliefs.
That's what I really like about it. It really explains to you how to share the
gospel. It's really for witnessing.
Yeah, it is. So if somebody's seeking direction in that and wanting a good Bible
for that, this is definitely it.
Like I said, it's got a very apologetic form. An evidence study Bible.
And how to answer tough questions. It's got lots of quotes from all different
(11:55):
people. So, like I said, some of the commentary may be off.
We're not talking about the written word. We're talking about the commentary.
There's a lot more I could have read right there, but I'm just going to stop for the sake of time.
It's a good Bible. It is a good Bible. Check it out. I advise you guys to get one.
There is one kicker about it, and I'm the only one that would probably complain about this.
What? It is only available in New King James. Because I really like pink. Oh.
(12:20):
I think it's only available in translation. Translation. Well, Brianna.
I ordered this Bible and I had to wait for like two months and I still didn't
get a pink one. So I just said, forget it. I'm just going to order a brown one.
So I decorated mine up with some stickers. I really don't care about the color.
I really wanted a pink one so bad. The translation is the only kicker for me.
It's New King James, which ain't a big deal. But anyway. Okay.
(12:44):
Okay. Sorry, we're getting off. Back to the episode. So let's understand into the Old Testament.
Oh, and when I read Hebrews 10, 25, that was in God's word Bible. Okay.
That's a good translation too. If you're using online. I really like that too.
Into the Old Testament before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed,
(13:06):
it was still, it was still the major temple.
Focal point of the Jewish religious life, but we also had synagogues.
They functioned basically as a church did today.
They functioned into the Old Testament as community centers that could support
the spiritual and physical needs of those in the community.
(13:29):
So we had synagogues. You will see that as something you had even in Jesus' time.
You'll see he was in and out of synagogues. And basically what a synagogue was is a modern day church.
So what they'd done into the synagogue, they taught the law.
It was to support the spiritual and physical needs of those into that community.
(13:54):
And also, there had to be a certain number of people into the community in order
to be able to have a synagogue.
So that's something to remember but it was
the purpose of it was to support the spiritual and physical
needs of those in that community same way
that's what the local church is for the church you are attending it
(14:16):
is to support your spiritual and your physical needs something to keep in mind
so some of the some of the important things we're going to talk about here is
biblical doctrine make for sure the church that you are going to attend,
(14:36):
or that you are already attending, that it is teaching and preaching biblical doctrine.
This is one thing that the church is for, is to teach and to preach sound biblical doctrine.
That is what the synagogues done. They taught the law.
They made it known. They used it to preach.
(14:59):
Encourage and strengthen the believers. So Ephesians 4 and 14 says that we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slate of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
This is important, guys. We need to attend churches, the churches that we would attend.
(15:22):
We need to make for sure that they That the teachers, that Sunday school,
whoever's doing teachings, maybe a Wednesday Bible study, that's the pastor
and his sermons, that it is biblical, sound doctrine.
Because we need this, because there are so many Christians today who are being,
just like this Bible verse says, tossed to and fro, and they're carried about
(15:45):
with every wind of doctrine.
There's all kinds of wacky, crazy doctrines going around today. day.
You can name off, I could sit here and name off probably 15 of them.
We're not going to, but I'm just saying we need to have a church that is giving
us the true word of God that we can be strengthened and encouraged to know how
(16:09):
to stand firm in our faith.
And people may ask, what is the true word of God?
Do you have an answer? What do you mean exactly?
Okay, because like you read the bible and then like
it's like there's a lot of people that like twist scripture yes
oh so how do you know what is twisting scripture
and what isn't twisting scripture read it in context
(16:31):
that is well i mean no way that's get it out of me that's a very good question
uh how to know what is the true word of god you let the word of god speak for
itself guys now there are some times we have to read it for yourself in like
king james version or something no i'm not meaning that
exact whatever you read don't just take one verse and then just
(16:51):
run with it you can do a lot of damage to yourself and to
others what all the verse means yes read the whole chapter read
read like verses before read verses after find out where it's coming from yes
know exactly what happened in the bible yeah like a story right know the exact
setting of what was going on yeah know who it was to know who was writing it
(17:13):
you know there was always i believe it's the five,
W's, I'm probably gonna butcher this, but when studying the Bible, there was five W's.
There was what, when, where, why, and who.
What was being said, where it was being said, who was saying it,
why they were saying it, and what was the other word?
(17:35):
I can't remember, I had it wrote down in my book. There was another one,
but you guys get the point.
Ask questions and make, the Bible, you know, there's, if you would allow it
to, the Bible will interpret itself for you. You know, scripture will interpret scripture.
That is basically the principle we should all use. Let the Bible speak for itself.
(17:56):
We don't need man's words. We need God's words. So I hope that kind of answered Brianna's question.
Yeah, it was a good answer. Good job. Okay.
Just in case somebody was wanting to know. Good question. You got anything you
want to add to that? We're talking about biblical doctrine. No. Okay.
Another important part of the church, which we talked about,
(18:19):
it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.
That was the doctrine. That was the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostles was
the ones commissioned to go out and to share that. Okay. We are too, but I'm just saying.
So this doctrine, we need biblical doctrine. And it says fellowship.
So, another thing to look for, and it is a very important part of the church,
(18:41):
is fellowship and encouragement.
The church is to be a place of fellowship and encouragement.
1 Thessalonians 5 and 11 says, Wherefore, comfort yourselves together,
and edify one another, even as also you do. Do you have that Bible verse you want to read?
No, actually, earlier when you were saying something about, let's see,
(19:04):
something about fellowship.
No, I was giving them back.
I'll just read this because this really went along with it. 2 Timothy 3,
16 and 17 says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, and righteousness,
(19:25):
that the man of God may be perfectly furnished unto all good works.
We need to have a church that will correct us and instruct us.
Yes, that is something I'm going to be touching on later. That really,
really, earlier, oh, earlier you said something about that, though.
Yeah, I probably did. Okay, go ahead.
We'll touch on that, too, though. That's very good. True.
(19:47):
Talking about fellowship and encouragement, Proverbs 27 and 17.
And guys, we apologize if we go through these Bible verses so fast.
Sometimes, though, time just wraps around on here so fast.
We want to make sure we're getting through at least the important parts of what
we're wanting to talk about. I'm trying to make it short so it ain't so long
and people's like, man, are they ever just going to shut up or get to the point?
(20:10):
When we first started this, I was saying like 15 to 20 minutes.
We blew that out the door. And now we're like 40 minutes tops, maybe.
Proverbs 27, 17 says, Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Galatians 6 and 2 says, Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
(20:31):
So these are very important Bible verses here that encourage fellowship,
and not only just fellowshipping together, but when we get together with believers,
we are to encourage one another.
It is encouragement. The Bible says, iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the
countenance of his friend.
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11 to comfort ourselves together,
(20:55):
to edify one another it tells us also to
bear one another's burdens and the church is what
that is that is where we find these things at
is the church or the body of christ helps us
bear one another's burdens to encourage one
another versus which one first thessalonians
(21:16):
5 and 11 is that what you just read yep i read that i got first thessalonians
5 and 11 all the way through sorry i'm not really like it at this computer 28
go ahead and read it i'm gonna go ahead and read it real quick you can if it's
going along with this i mean you want to go for it okay.
Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing.
(21:37):
Now, brothers and sisters, we ask you to recognize the value of those who work hard among you.
Those who, as followers of the Lord, care for you and tell you how to live.
Show them the highest respect and love because of the work they do.
Live in peace with each other. We ask you, brothers and sisters,
to warn those who will not work.
(21:58):
Encourage those who are afraid. Help those who are weak.
Be patient with everyone. be sure that no one
pays back wrong for wrong but always try to do what
is good for each other and for people for all people always be
full of joy never stop praying whatever happens
always be thankful this is how god wants you to live in christ
jesus don't stop the work of the holy spirit don't treat
(22:20):
prophecy like something that is not important but test
everything keep what is good keeps and stay
away from everything that is evil we pray that god
himself the god of peace will make make you
pure only to him we pray that
your whole self spirit soul and body will be kept safe
and be blameless when our lord jesus
(22:41):
christ comes the one who choose you will do
that for you you can trust him brothers and sisters
please pray for us give a give all the brothers and
sisters a special greeting of god's people i tell you the authority of the lord
to read this letter Let's read it.
(23:10):
Amen.
So true. true like because in this verse up here it was saying encourage each
other strengthen each other,
so that if i don't see i don't want to go up there oh where was i at um don't
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stop the work of the holy spirit the test everything keep what is good i don't
know if you can hear me the one.
We're definitely not gonna hear you whispering i'm just trying to find that
verse Therefore, okay, yeah, encourage each other and strengthen one another
as you are doing. That's what I wanted to go back to.
(23:53):
That was a lot of reading. That was a lot of reading. Good. Brianna just likes
to, like, read the whole Bible to us.
We're going to start a new segment, guys. It's called Brianna Reads the Whole Bible to Us.
Sorry, but I really wanted to read all that. So true.
Another purpose of the church was prayer. It said they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread,
(24:17):
which was communion, and in prayers.
Yes. So another function of the church was prayer.
We can even see this in Acts chapter 12, verse 5.
It says, Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without seizing
of the church unto God for him.
So you see, that was one characteristic of the church. A biblical church is
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going to have sound biblical doctrine. There'll be fellowship and encouragement.
Whenever a group of believers get together, there'll be encouragement and edification
one to another. And prayer is a characteristic of a biblical church.
This is another function of it.
It says prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
(25:04):
Matthew, this is words of Jesus in Matthew 21 and 13.
And said unto them, this is Jesus talking. It is written, my house shall be
called the house of prayer.
But you have made it a den of thieves. And we could probably say a lot more
America's made church today we've made it a place a comedian Center who've made it a a,
(25:29):
Rock concert a well, you name it guys.
We've got it going on anymore I mean It's sad to say but we need to get back
to what the Bible says it was supposed to be and it was his house was supposed
to be called the house of prayer and.
So this is just some things to think about. And there is a book,
and I ain't even going to, I'll probably make people mad when I say this,
(25:51):
but there is a book, and I'm going to kind of talk about this book,
but I ain't even going to give the name of what this book was,
just for certain reasons,
because there's maybe a few little parts into the book that I didn't agree with,
so I don't want people to think I'm endorsing it, and then you guys read it,
and then be like, oh, why would you say this book, or whatever.
So anyway, there was this book about this young man.
(26:12):
He got saved early on, and he was just a young Christian. He was trying to find a church.
And in his search for the right church, he ended up in all kinds of different churches.
I can't even remember how many different churches this young Christian man ended up into. to.
He was in word of faith churches where it was all about positive thinking,
(26:35):
positive confessions, just the prosperity, the healings, wealth.
And I believe his sister passed away from cancer or whatever it was.
And people in the church made him feel like it was because of a lack of his
faith and just different things like that. And that hindered him.
(26:56):
Well, Then he went to another church where it was all just, it was all about grace, basically.
It was a progressive church, and basically, like, it just affirmed him and his,
he had addictions in his life as a young man.
He struggled with lust and different things, and he had addictions in his life.
(27:19):
And this church that he, this next church he started attending,
they affirmed him in And, you know, he basically just patted him on the back and told him it was OK.
There was no that the messages was not preaching against sin,
but rather it was condoning sin.
It was not preaching about sanctification being set apart, but it was all about
(27:39):
love and acceptance and forgiveness.
He found he found himself in a bunch of different churches and because there
was not a true biblical church in this book,
he talks about how it hurt him and how he got to the point where he was just
into a place where he was so confused.
He didn't really know what to do. And he just got himself in a really,
(28:02):
a really dry, distant place from God, all because of these different churches.
And when he even found one, he, He would look for a church, and he was trying
to find one based on what he thought should be right.
And he was seeking something based upon his flesh at one point.
(28:22):
And even when he found the church that was catering to his flesh,
it was satisfying everything in his flesh, condoning his lifestyles,
his sin, affirming him into it.
His spirit was not being fed, and he said he could feel himself drifting from
God and getting more distance from him and called. So this is why it is important
(28:43):
for us to understand when we're seeking a church to be a part of.
That's why we're trying to give some things to look for.
It is very important the church we choose. Make for sure, and this isn't, don't hop around.
You know, when you get to a church, me and Brianna has, it's kind of bittersweet.
I thank God that we have a church to now attend into the summertime,
(29:08):
and we have a church to attend into the winter.
But it's kind of bittersweet because you never truly get to get fully settled in and get involved.
We're gone for five to six months. We're down home five or six months,
and you never really get the chance to be involved.
And that's hard, guys. It's not easy. It's not very convenient.
(29:32):
But when you when you do find
a good church stick with it guys join it become
a member and seek opportunity to be
used and don't always seek the big positions to big
things but be content to help out of us picking up a pop can out of a soda can
whatever you want to call it yeah cleaning the toilet scrubbing the floor holding
the door open be content to help out so when seeking a church to be a part of
(29:57):
some things we should be seeking is sound biblical teaching and preaching from
the pastor and teachers.
That's like, shouldn't be the main thing. That's number one. That's number one.
Church is not made up of just one thing, guys.
There's many things to make the
church work and, and, and allow it to accomplish its purpose. The, the.
(30:18):
Preaching and teaching, sound biblical teaching and preaching, that's number one.
We should also be making for sure the church we are attending is providing Christ-centered worship,
that the worship leader or leaders is not seeking their own glory or having
us focus on ourselves, and that is what we see a lot of today.
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Many of our worship leaders and singers is seeking their own glory,
trying to glorify their selves or even having us just to focus on ourselves.
But a true worship leader's purpose is to lead us in worship to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
They would seek to give God glory and Him alone.
True worship leaders is to lead us in the worship of God. You got anything you
(31:03):
want to add on any of that?
Yeah, I want to read this out of my commentary again in my Bible.
It says, you are working together for the same thing, the
furtherance of the kingdom of god i mean
yeah the kingdom of god on earth this is why you attend church
not because you have to but because you want to yes so true so we want biblical
(31:26):
teaching and preaching christ-centered worship and we can't don't just be satisfied
oh it's all about the the preaching and teaching oh it's all about the worship
i've heard people like Like,
they're satisfied with just one of those.
Guys, we need to get to a church where we are being encouraged and strengthened by both ends of that.
(31:50):
We should also be seeking a church where we feel, and this is very important,
where we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Where the preaching is encouraging us to draw closer to God and forsake any
sin that we may have. When you're seeking a church, and it is easy,
me and Brianna has actually faced this task.
(32:12):
I don't want to choose a church just because my flesh is comfortable into it.
Like I'm going to say, I don't got nothing against modern Christian music, nothing like that.
But some of it has kind of got out there. And I believe for Silk,
some of the important things that we used to hold to, I ain't got nothing against it.
(32:35):
But with that being said I've had to ask myself the question when we've been
when we was looking for a church Why?
Why do I want to go here? Why don't I? Is it because my flesh is comfortable or not comfortable?
Or is it truly something that's not biblical that my spirit is something inside
of me is saying the spirit of the Holy Spirit inside of me saying,
(32:56):
no, this ain't right for you.
This ain't where you were being fed. This ain't where you were growing.
We need to truly make for sure when choosing a church that we are choosing a
church that is going to feed us spiritually.
And notice what I said spiritually, because this is very important. written
many times when we are seeking a church we are seeking
churches and we choose a church that is feeding our flesh
(33:18):
and you say how in the i know it's got it's it is
a shame that i even said you can find that there should not be a church at all
that is catering the needs and feeding our flesh yeah but guys let's be honest
the sad truth of it is there's churches out there yeah that is doing that and
we need to make for sure that the church we are attending that we are
(33:41):
seeking to be a part of,
that we are going to join, that we are attending,
that it is feeding us spiritually.
Is the pastor's sermons encouraging you to draw closer to God?
Is it Christ-centered? Is it biblical doctrine that he is teaching?
Is he teaching and preaching the precepts of God?
(34:02):
Is he preaching against sin, not condoning it, talking about repentance.
Always bringing the The gospel, guys, everything hinges on that.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, what he done to redeem us.
And we should be seeking a church that we are not being affirmed in our sinfulness,
(34:24):
just like that person that wrote that book I was telling you about.
He got to a church that just affirmed everything he was doing,
patted him on the back and condoned it.
We don't need a church that condones everything. We need a church that's going
to hold us accountable, that's going to say, no, you need to separate yourself.
Make us change. Yes, sanctify yourself.
We need a church that challenges us. And I like what Leonard Raven...
(34:45):
Hey, I have that wrote. We need a church that challenges us.
See, we're on the same point.
We need a church that challenges us, but not only just to challenges us,
but it challenges us to allow God to change us.
And this is the purpose of that. Leonard Ravenhill said this.
I love Leonard Ravenhill, great minister, great books he wrote.
(35:07):
And he said no, right? Yeah.
I actually seen where he was buried at. He's dead.
The question isn't, this is Leonard Ravenhill, a quote by him,
he said, the question isn't were you challenged? The question is, were you changed?
And it's not enough just to be challenged, guys. We have to be changed.
But the main point is change won't come if you're never hearing about what can
(35:29):
bring the change, the true gospel that changes us from the inside out.
And we need to place ourself in a church, not where we are comfortable,
not where the that the worship is just making us focus on us or praising the worship leaders.
But guys, it's all about God. Everything that we do, everything that we should
be focusing on is the Lord and bringing Him glory in every area of our lives.
(35:55):
This is what the church is for, is to strengthen us, to fill us up.
We need to be seeking a church that is filling us up, so to speak,
that we can go out and proclaim Jesus.
Jesus you need to be fed the church think
about it this way the church is a fill-up station
where we get filled up with biblical teaching where
(36:17):
we get filled up through praise and worship and then we are going back out into
the world and we are going to proclaim and we are going to share that that is
what the church is to do Brianna you got anything you want to say or add on
that I'll just Just read my last Bible verse that I have. Okay.
1 Thessalonians 3.15 says, So that even if I cannot come soon,
(36:42):
Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with my voice.
So that even if I cannot come soon, you will know how people should live in the family of God.
That family is the church of the living God. Yes. And God's church is the support
and foundation of the truth.
Yes. so true I really like that one of course it's really good and also one
(37:04):
other thing just hit my mind,
Don't just seek a church if it is not a biblical, sound church just because
they're giving you the opportunity to do something.
I don't know why I felt to say that. That you're comfortable.
Yes. So we talked about that just because you're comfortable with people,
(37:25):
you like certain people.
Guys, listen, it's about God. Ultimately, it is about God and bringing him glory.
You can't just attend the church
because... Oh, wait, no, that wasn't 1 Thessalonians, that was 1 Timothy.
Sorry, I got mixed up. I told you I'm so not used to this computer. It's okay.
(37:45):
1 Timothy 3 and 15. 1 Timothy 3 and 15. Yeah, that's what that was,
not Thessalonians. Sorry.
Amen. Go ahead. We should seek a church, not because they are allowing us to do certain things.
And you should be allowed to do things. If you were abiding by the Bible and
(38:05):
you were living a separated life unto the Lord,
trying your hardest to abstain from sin and not practicing sin and having a
willful, rebellious lifestyle.
Again, a church should have certain standards and bylaws which you must abide by.
Don't just pick a church because they don't have no standards or bylaws or because
it agrees with your moral lifestyle. lifestyle, choose a church because it is
(38:29):
lining up with the Word of God, and it is preaching, teaching,
the worship is Christ-centered.
I ain't going to go through it all again, but guys, let's choose a church that
is Bible-based, that we can find characteristics out of the Bible and say,
yes, this church has them. This is something else.
You have to find the church that is right for you,
(38:52):
not the perfect church, because there ain't a perfect church, guys
there's going to be little faults and failures but make
for sure that some of the little faults and failures is not major theological
problems that it's not that's
not deal-breaking errors there might be simple little
things oh we don't we only take communion once a month
or no we take it every week those ain't deal-breakers
(39:14):
guys right but stuff about jesus christ and his atoning death all about this
this word of faith stuff going stuff like that's deal-breakers guys So we must
be careful and choose the right church and allow the Spirit of God to lead us.
So we pray this episode has given you guys some direction and just maybe some
(39:38):
understanding upon the function of the church and its purpose.
We pray this episode has strengthened you, encouraged you. And Brianna?
We'll catch you next time on We Think Biblically.
Music.
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