Recommend a Church to a new believer in Christ

[Brother-Paul]

You could be an evangelist or you could be just a born again Christian.
(If there is such a person who is 'just' a born again Christian other than an humble one maybe:thumbsup

Anyway, lets say you are in another town and you have not been there before, you don't know anyone in or near that town and you are not visiting any church,you are passing through maybe got off one bus and was waiting another.

You are sat next to a person and start talking, maybe asking if they have any spiritual beliefs and who do they think Jesus is for starters, as the discussion continues the person confirms he/she thinks they go to heaven automatically when they die, so step by step you reveal scripture to them, the person didn't know we are all sinners and that we must be born again. You continue until you are in a position that you can ask, are you ready to accept Jesus into your heart, the person says yes, you pray together and then you are stuck...

A baby Christian has just been born and you don't know the area, what would you do at this stage, you are in a place you have never been before, you don't know what churches there are and which are scripture based Jesus filled churches? If the person is left to find one his or herself every minister in every church they ask will say theirs is a scripture based Jesus filled church!

 

[Travis]

What church did the Ethiopian eunuch attend when he went back home?

 

[Brother-Paul]

Acts 8:36-38 (KJV)
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Here Philip evangelised to the eunuch, as we did with the example above, the Word was preached and received by the recipient in the person's heart who repented of all sins. In this lovely piece of scripture, there was water to be baptised but not in the example in the post.

Our example is a chance meeting, on a journey, maybe changing coaches or aeroplanes, there is a waiting time, we are sat next to another person and start to talk to them about Jesus. The person accepts Jesus and repents of his/her sins but now we must join the next step of our journey. We are in a place we have never been before and so is the person we speak to. The person is going to another place we do not know either.

This is not a trick question, it is a genuine comment on what could be a genuine meeting where we have been given chance to evangelise and the Lord worked through us by the Power of the Holy Spirit. We now have a new born babe, a brand new Christian that needs further nurturing to grow in faith. But we have to leave them and go on our journey, the person is also going on his/her journey but in another direction.

How do we recommend a church in a place we do not know?

 

[Brother-Paul]

I ran out of time editing the above, I intended to add...

The person who has just accepted Jesus has never before even considered going to church so has no idea which church in the area he/she is going would be right.

How do we recommend a church to a person who has just repented and accepted Jesus into their heart, in a place neither of us have any knowledge of?

 

[Dovegiven]

I ran out of time editing the above, I intended to add...

The person who has just accepted Jesus has never before even considered going to church so has no idea which church in the area he/she is going would be right.

How do we recommend a church to a person who has just repented and accepted Jesus into their heart, in a place neither of us have any knowledge of?

What's been tried and true is to tell them to read through the New Testament as though a novel, immediately. Do without TV until that's done. Without a handle on the Word it's really tough to know what to look for in a church.
Probably most people attend a church without ever doing that, taking a lifetime to encounter a small percentage of the Bible. There is no stronger beginning for a new Christian. Do that first, then know His voice to be led. Introduce them to TJ where they can get quick answers to questions! Lots of Christians still don't know about the existence of online Christian chat and blogs, but are experts about Facebook..

When Seeker gets home, take that knowledge along, looking for someone the Lord will let Seeker hear testifying Jesus is Lord. The quickest way to find folks that love that is to start telling people simply "Jesus is Lord, be blessed today." it's rare that offends anyone. I show people one or more of my phone Bible apps, write down a few URLs or help them navigate to a good free one. I believe the best and quickest way to find a scriptural congregation is to ask such a person who blesses Seeker back where they attend. Attending their Bible home study is a great way to find out how Bible & Jesus oriented they are. I don't recommend visiting the pastors to seek such insight, as that's often like visiting Ford car sales people for opinions about which car maker is best. Inspect the sheep. If they are doers of the word according to what was learned by reading through the NT, then it's likely they have a great pastor, and the seeker will be groomed to serve God's kingdom quickly.

 

[Brother-Paul]

What's been tried and true is to tell them to read through the New Testament as though a novel, immediately. Do without TV until that's done. Without a handle on the Word it's really tough to know what to look for in a church.
Probably most people attend a church without ever doing that, taking a lifetime to encounter a small percentage of the Bible. There is no stronger beginning for a new Christian. Do that first, then know His voice to be led. Introduce them to TJ where they can get quick answers to questions! Lots of Christians still don't know about the existence of online Christian chat and blogs, but are experts about Facebook..

When Seeker gets home, take that knowledge along, looking for someone the Lord will let Seeker hear testifying Jesus is Lord. The quickest way to find folks that love that is to start telling people simply "Jesus is Lord, be blessed today." it's rare that offends anyone. I show people one or more of my phone Bible apps, write down a few URLs or help them navigate to a good free one. I believe the best and quickest way to find a scriptural congregation is to ask such a person who blesses Seeker back where they attend. Attending their Bible home study is a great way to find out how Bible & Jesus oriented they are. I don't recommend visiting the pastors to seek such insight, as that's often like visiting Ford car sales people for opinions about which car maker is best. Inspect the sheep. If they are doers of the word according to what was learned by reading through the NT, then it's likely they have a great pastor, and the seeker will be groomed to serve God's kingdom quickly.

I asked the question as it can and does happen, expect the unexpected I always think. Be prepared.

It is hard when you leave a new believer and haven't pointed them to a Bible believing, Jesus centered church. I guess because God has chosen to use us, we feel we have a responsibility especially as they are new baby Christians.

The one think I do try do is exchange names and mobile numbers or email addresses to have some contact but again this is not always possible.

Pointing them to the New Testament has to be the right option and if they haven't got one maybe offering to send them a Bible. I never thought about the internet or TJ, just shows... It's good to talk :thumbsup:

What church did the Ethiopian eunuch attend when he went back home?

I feel it is different nowadays, there were no denominations in the early church, now there are so many, I appreciate there have always been cults, but there is just so many churches with head Christian, some run like social clubs, we certainly need to point new Christians to Churches with heart Christians with good preaching of the Word.

This talk has been useful, I am now starting to prepare some sheets to add into the back of my Bible with a few questions regarding, sin, wages of, Jesus, heaven and hell and some scripture to confirm what the Bible says about these and that we must be born again. Back to the be prepared I think.

Thank you

 

[Dovegiven]

I asked the question as it can and does happen, expect the unexpected I always think. Be prepared.

It is hard when you leave a new believer and haven't pointed them to a Bible believing, Jesus centered church. I guess because God has chosen to use us, we feel we have a responsibility especially as they are new baby Christians.

The one think I do try do is exchange names and mobile numbers or email addresses to have some contact but again this is not always possible.

Pointing them to the New Testament has to be the right option and if they haven't got one maybe offering to send them a Bible. I never thought about the internet or TJ, just shows... It's good to talk :thumbsup:



I feel it is different nowadays, there were no denominations in the early church, now there are so many, I appreciate there have always been cults, but there is just so many churches with head Christian, some run like social clubs, we certainly need to point new Christians to Churches with heart Christians with good preaching of the Word.

This talk has been useful, I am now starting to prepare some sheets to add into the back of my Bible with a few questions regarding, sin, wages of, Jesus, heaven and hell and some scripture to confirm what the Bible says about these and that we must be born again. Back to the be prepared I think.

Thank you

A sideline post retirement business for me has been to go to wherever to consult a rancher concerning the building of lakes for watering cattle, or maybe making a trophy fishing lake for an outdoorsman's club. Most of the families I served didn't have a local church, all residents of their county being very isolated. There wasn't usually a local church, and I certainly had no idea about that, being a stranger. Usually there were no motels near enough to be practical, so I stayed with the clients. The best I could do was add substance to their communion with God, making suggestions. I think most of the world is like that, there being no reasonable expectation of a physical church facility even in the USA.

The first century Church didn't have sanctuaries as we thing of them, a physical place to assemble. For 3 centuries the Christians met in secret, in their homes at peril of having their homes confiscated. Emperor Constantine somewhat ended that situation, even restoring property of Christians to Christians. Only then did physical church building emerge and survive until Muslims came to destroy them, then later by modern world wars.

Looking at the Bible verbatim, I see no requirement to be a member of a structured physical church ion one spot on earth. The newly birthed Church met in the flesh and blood, but not in recognizable structures. Christians in India and China have for example for the past century mostly assembled in forests, remote fields. World Christians have typically been individual members of the body of Christ as isolated individuals, leaving no or little trace to brethren that their governments or religions zealots could find and destroy them.

That's a major basis I go by to not emphasize a need to join up with "First LXM Church of Yangupon" without knowing Jesus is welcome there according to his teachings. Know the Lord first, then align with fellow believers wherever they might assemble. Those assemblies are few and far between.

 

[Brother-Paul]

Does this not bring us back to what is a church. Above we have been used by God to help a sinner become a new Christian. Our hearts are torn as to where we should guide this new baby Christian, to a Church in a place, neither we nor the other person knows. The person who has just accepted the Lord, has no knowledge of the Word except what we have discussed prior to them accepting Jesus, they think a church is a building, (as do many that attend churches weekly), How could we possibly recommend them to a denomination if we do not know what they preach is true to the Word.

How could we possibly point them to a 'church' if we do not know any born-again Christian who come together as the church of Jesus Christ?

The word church comes from the Greek word ekklēsia, from which we derive our word ecclesiastical, meaning a meeting. But in those days the word ekklēsia could be a meeting or people or all types, not just born again Christians.

@Dovegiven you say... 'The first century Church didn't have sanctuaries as we thing of them, a physical place to assemble. For 3 centuries the Christians met in secret, in their homes'. These were the ekklēsia, the meeting points the early church came together, to worship together, to pray together, to sing praises together.

@Dovegiven you also say... 'Looking at the Bible verbatim, I see no requirement to be a member of a structured physical church ion one spot on earth. The newly birthed Church met in the flesh and blood, but not in recognizable structures.' Amen brother Amen.

I find it interesting what you state regarding the ranches, in our ever increasing population of cities, towns and villages we tend to forget those with large farms and ranches. Thank you for this reminder. Even in these situations the church can come together, when two or three come together in my name, says the Lord.

I often reflect on the rapture, we do not want to be 'Left Behind', but imagine if we were allowed as an on looker after the event. How many people would still go back to their church buildings and still see them that taught them there also! How many people in their homes, large and small, that didn't go to these church buildings will have gone to be with the Lord. A church building is a meeting point which comes from the Greek word ekklēsia, from which we derive our word ecclesiastical, meaning a meeting. A church building should be called what it actually is, A House of God, A House of Prayer and Worship,it is a meeting point for these things.

The true church of Jesus Christ is, baptised, born again believers, coming together to pray, sing, worship and have fellowship one with another and with our Lord.

 

[Kevin]

I am one of those born again Christians who was never told about this...I thank you both for this post as I have learned a lot from this...I was welcomed into the family of believers and then left on my own,it is very frustrating not knowing in what direction to go...again I thank you for these answers to some of my questions...God bless you both,I look forward to chatting with you on upcoming posts...

 

[Brother-Paul]

I am one of those born again Christians who was never told about this...I thank you both for this post as I have learned a lot from this...I was welcomed into the family of believers and then left on my own,it is very frustrating not knowing in what direction to go...again I thank you for these answers to some of my questions...God bless you both,I look forward to chatting with you on upcoming posts...

Kevin, our dear brother and friend,

I am sure many on here will feel their hearts torn by what you have said, 'I was welcomed into the family of believers and then left on my own,it is very frustrating not knowing in what direction to go', true born again believers have Jesus in their hearts and hold a deep love for one another, Col 1:24, our fellow believers, as together we make up the Body of Christ, 1 Cor 12:12-26, His Church. (We also hold a deep love for the lost souls in the world, it is out Fathers wish that not one soul will be lost. 2 Peter 3:9)

To be welcomed into a family of believers and then left on your own is terrible, it should never happen, but sadly it does. The pastor/minister and church elders/leaders are responsible for the flock. Places of worship all have single men or single women, people with joy in their hearts and people who are hurting, people who make friends easily and others who need to be helped. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to look after the sheep, to see the bouncing lamb, and also to notice the ones who need help in what ever way. Sadly their are many 'churches/places of prayer and worship' who are soaked in religion and lack true faith in and through Jesus Christ. They have the attributes of 'religion' but lack true faith in Jesus Christ, to many do not preach the Truth in the Word, they reply on the softly softly approach of selected readings rotated on a one two year basis, they may read once John 3:3 but skip over it or miss getting the message out in the sermon. It is so sad, many are just religious social clubs, some have their own translations of the Bible!!!

Do not let your heart be troubled Kevin, but in everything pray... make your concerns known to God, through Jesus Christ, our most precious and loving Lord and Saviour.

1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Join us on the forum, it has been blessed with many good teachers of the Word, we pray you will be blessed also.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Welcome to the fold Kevin, hopefully you will receive the blessings you require, hopefully on here we can share together, I am referring to the whole family of Born Again believers on here. Hopefully you will not feel ignored again.

The True Church, baptised, born again believers worldwide, not this denomination or that denomination, the True Church is the True believers of every race and colour that are born again with Jesus in their hearts (not their heads)

When 'Jesus Returns' to collect 'His Church', he will not bring a fleet of wagons, nor will it be this denomination or that denomination, (denominations were created by man and it is not surprising why it happened) the True Church is the born again believers not the buildings.

When we say... Come Lord Jesus, do we really appreciate the urgency. But we must say... Come Lord Jesus. Amen

The vine is constantly being pruned, John 15. Time is short... the workers are few.

Peace be with you always. Jesus loves you, we do too.

 

[Kevin]

Kevin, our dear brother and friend,

I am sure many on here will feel their hearts torn by what you have said, 'I was welcomed into the family of believers and then left on my own,it is very frustrating not knowing in what direction to go', true born again believers have Jesus in their hearts and hold a deep love for one another, Col 1:24, our fellow believers, as together we make up the Body of Christ, 1 Cor 12:12-26, His Church. (We also hold a deep love for the lost souls in the world, it is out Fathers wish that not one soul will be lost. 2 Peter 3:9)

To be welcomed into a family of believers and then left on your own is terrible, it should never happen, but sadly it does. The pastor/minister and church elders/leaders are responsible for the flock. Places of worship all have single men or single women, people with joy in their hearts and people who are hurting, people who make friends easily and others who need to be helped. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to look after the sheep, to see the bouncing lamb, and also to notice the ones who need help in what ever way. Sadly their are many 'churches/places of prayer and worship' who are soaked in religion and lack true faith in and through Jesus Christ. They have the attributes of 'religion' but lack true faith in Jesus Christ, to many do not preach the Truth in the Word, they reply on the softly softly approach of selected readings rotated on a one two year basis, they may read once John 3:3 but skip over it or miss getting the message out in the sermon. It is so sad, many are just religious social clubs, some have their own translations of the Bible!!!

Do not let your heart be troubled Kevin, but in everything pray... make your concerns known to God, through Jesus Christ, our most precious and loving Lord and Saviour.

1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Join us on the forum, it has been blessed with many good teachers of the Word, we pray you will be blessed also.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Welcome to the fold Kevin, hopefully you will receive the blessings you require, hopefully on here we can share together, I am referring to the whole family of Born Again believers on here. Hopefully you will not feel ignored again.

The True Church, baptised, born again believers worldwide, not this denomination or that denomination, the True Church is the True believers of every race and colour that are born again with Jesus in their hearts (not their heads)

When 'Jesus Returns' to collect 'His Church', he will not bring a fleet of wagons, nor will it be this denomination or that denomination, (denominations were created by man and it is not surprising why it happened) the True Church is the born again believers not the buildings.

When we say... Come Lord Jesus, do we really appreciate the urgency. But we must say... Come Lord Jesus. Amen

The vine is constantly being pruned, John 15. Time is short... the workers are few.

Peace be with you always. Jesus loves you, we do too.

Thank you Paul,I look forward to fellowshipping with you all here on Talk Jesus and thank you for the welcome and words of encouragement .I will be going through the threads to hopefully find more warm and kind people such as yourself.I pray that the Lord will continue to bless this forum and all the people who are here,in Jesus name amen...God bless you all

 

[Brother-Paul]

I pray that the Lord will continue to bless this forum and all the people who are here,in Jesus name amen...God bless you all

And we all say Amen. In Jesus Name, Amen

 

[Dovegiven]

Thank you Paul,I look forward to fellowshipping with you all here on Talk Jesus and thank you for the welcome and words of encouragement .I will be going through the threads to hopefully find more warm and kind people such as yourself.I pray that the Lord will continue to bless this forum and all the people who are here,in Jesus name amen...God bless you all

Yes, there is a lot of Holy Spirit wisdom shared by many here. I'm happy you are searching through the forums, because you will learn a lot. I do most of my learning by sharing, and sharing by doing due research, reconfirming over and over what I believe and why I believe. It boils down to whether I truly believe the word of God, or believe some hybrid of interpretation.

We've been added to the Church one by one like yourself. The next step for each believer is "what next to do?". Will I be absorbed by the local body to mostly just attend services and support financially? Well, that's good to a point. But look at Paul for an example. He was a very religious fellow, but not making the cut according to Jesus. In short order the man was sent out into the known world to begin spreading the gospel message of Christ. While warming a pew for an hour or two a day, enjoying praise and worship, being encouraged, learning some word, there remains far more the Lord probably wants from us.

New believers that have taken the time and effort to at least read through the Bible once their first year of new birth tend to make waves. We find our place in the lineup of disciples of Jesus in those waves. We can't claim authorship to those waves, it being the power of God in that word making waves.

Learn quickly and thoroughly, then seize every opportunity to share (teach) each lesson the lord gives you. Share here first if you wish. Here your lesson will be weighed according to the word, then perhaps challenged, subject to correction by authority of the word of God, some by experience, others by opinions. Consider that attention a great blessing. The word promotes the idea that iron sharpens iron. Proverbs 27:17 (KJV) Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

You are iron for the Lord, needing sharpening by other irons, thereby better equipped to sharpen other swords. I learned that no knife remains sharp whether used to slice foods, or left in a drawer for years untouched. The iron oxidizes, rusts, enough to dull the edge. Slicing one knife against another dull one sharpens both, I suppose by knocking off the rust. This is a great way to expose truth, to discern it from among the many earthly ideas out there. Over time when you speak up locally, people will take note. Not all, but the ones the Lord uses you to help.

Thanks for you prayer of encouragement.

 

[Kevin]

Yes, there is a lot of Holy Spirit wisdom shared by many here. I'm happy you are searching through the forums, because you will learn a lot. I do most of my learning by sharing, and sharing by doing due research, reconfirming over and over what I believe and why I believe. It boils down to whether I truly believe the word of God, or believe some hybrid of interpretation.

We've been added to the Church one by one like yourself. The next step for each believer is "what next to do?". Will I be absorbed by the local body to mostly just attend services and support financially? Well, that's good to a point. But look at Paul for an example. He was a very religious fellow, but not making the cut according to Jesus. In short order the man was sent out into the known world to begin spreading the gospel message of Christ. While warming a pew for an hour or two a day, enjoying praise and worship, being encouraged, learning some word, there remains far more the Lord probably wants from us.

New believers that have taken the time and effort to at least read through the Bible once their first year of new birth tend to make waves. We find our place in the lineup of disciples of Jesus in those waves. We can't claim authorship to those waves, it being the power of God in that word making waves.

Learn quickly and thoroughly, then seize every opportunity to share (teach) each lesson the lord gives you. Share here first if you wish. Here your lesson will be weighed according to the word, then perhaps challenged, subject to correction by authority of the word of God, some by experience, others by opinions. Consider that attention a great blessing. The word promotes the idea that iron sharpens iron. Proverbs 27:17 (KJV) Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

You are iron for the Lord, needing sharpening by other irons, thereby better equipped to sharpen other swords. I learned that no knife remains sharp whether used to slice foods, or left in a drawer for years untouched. The iron oxidizes, rusts, enough to dull the edge. Slicing one knife against another dull one sharpens both, I suppose by knocking off the rust. This is a great way to expose truth, to discern it from among the many earthly ideas out there. Over time when you speak up locally, people will take note. Not all, but the ones the Lord uses you to help.

Thanks for you prayer of encouragement.

Thank you very much...There has been more info given to me in the past 48 hours than in almost 18 months,I will surely take your suggestion to heart about sharing here for correction ...now comes the hard part and that is finding a church or some one who baptizes according to scripture out here in the Okanagan.Again thank you all for pointing me in the right direction...Have a blessed day and God bless you all...

 

[B-A-C]

out here in the Okanagan

I suppose we are sort of neighbors. I am currently in north central Washington.
Welcome to TalkJesus.

 

[Brother-Paul]

...now comes the hard part and that is finding a church or some one who baptizes according to scripture out here in the Okanagan.Again thank you all for pointing me in the right direction...Have a blessed day and God bless you all...

Hello again Kevin,

Have you tried searching in Google, (Pray first, I am sure you are doing) something like... Okanagan usa Jesus centered church, try a few variations, you know your area I don't, see what comes up. Most places of worship now have a website so it is a start in your search for the place for you.

TalkJesus is always here for you whether you find a place right now or not.

God Bless you

ASAP --- Always say a Prayer

 

[Brother-Paul]

I suppose we are sort of neighbors. I am currently in north central Washington.
Welcome to TalkJesus.

I was reading my Bible earlier and I read the words... who is my neighbour?

God Bless you

 

[Kevin]

Hello again Kevin,

Have you tried searching in Google, (Pray first, I am sure you are doing) something like... Okanagan usa Jesus centered church, try a few variations, you know your area I don't, see what comes up. Most places of worship now have a website so it is a start in your search for the place for you.

TalkJesus is always here for you whether you find a place right now or not.

God Bless you

ASAP --- Always say a Prayer

Hello again Brother Paul,I have used google for churches in my area but when it comes to baptizm they tell me that they believe that baptizm is nothing more then welcoming some one to the church and not as Jesus was baptized ,in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit,thank you for the suggestion and I will expand my search area to include Vernon and Enderby as well which is 10 mins one way or 15 mins the other way.Again thank you.
God bless you

 

[Kevin]

I suppose we are sort of neighbors. I am currently in north central Washington.
Welcome to TalkJesus.

Good morning B-A-C yes we are kinda sorta neighbors...I have been as far as Seattle ,I'm not sure but I think I am about 3 hours from the border.
God bless you

 

[Kevin]

:thumbsup:

I was reading my Bible earlier and I read the words... who is my neighbour?

God Bless you

I never used to like to read until I picked up the best book ever written and now in 18 months I have read it twice and am in John for the third time...I love reading the Bible,it is very hard to put it down...
God bless