Questions to ask a Church

When looking for a church what are some good questions to ask or at least some good things to look for in their literature

How to Find a Good Church



Almost 25 questions that will save you a lot of Sundays
by Todd Friel (todd@wayofthemasterradio.com)





Looking for a good church? Join the club. Church-shopping can be a long and painful process.

To shorten your search, call the pastor of the church before you visit and ask the following

questions. This might save you a lot of Sundays.





1. What is man's biggest problem?

Seeker sensitive and felt-needs churches focus on man’s hurts and problems. The Bible says

that man’s biggest problem is sin.



2. What must a man do to inherit eternal life?

Repent and trust is the Biblical answer. If the word “repent” is never used, say, “Thank you.”



3. How do you deliver the salvation message?

Ask the pastor to describe specifically what he says. Does he encourage people to simply say a prayer? Does he tell people to ask Jesus into their hearts? The salvation message should include: God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, God’s response (hell), God’s kindness (Jesus on the cross), man’s response (repentance and faith).



4. How hard is it to become a Christian?

The “formula” is simple, doing it is not. It is not easy to believe.



5. How often do you talk about sin, righteousness and judgment?

Balance is key. This should not be the only emphasis, but it should be a regular emphasis.



6. How seeker sensitive is your church?

It is o.k. for a church to be “seeker aware” but seeker sensitive means that they lean toward

seekers and not the saved.



7. Who do you do church for, seekers or members?

“Both” is not acceptable. Church should be done for members and the unsaved are welcome to attend.



8. Do you dumb down your sermons?

If he says yes, he is probably not trying to wean his members from milk to meat. Answers like,

“We try to make our sermons accessible to everyone” are sermons that are not meaty.



9. What is your mixture of topical vs. expository preaching?

Topical preaching is fine, but if a pastor never or rarely preaches expositionally (verse by verse),

then you are going to be learning from the pastor and not God’s Word.



10. Do your sermons emphasize theology or are they relevant?

Everyone should say their sermons are relevant, what you are looking for is if they teach

theology.



11. Describe your youth programs.

If fun and games is the major (and usually first) emphasis, you have a youth program that is trying

to compete with MTV.



12. Describe your evangelism programs.

Don’t just accept, “We have an evangelism committee.” Dig. Are they serious about saving

souls?



13. What church growth model do you follow?

Hopefully they don’t have one. Churches should be reaching out to the lost, but churches that

are plugged into new church growth models tend to follow man’s modern ideas rather than the

Bible.



14. How much do you give to missions and the hungry?

Again, this reveals the heart of the church. While most churches give to missions, many never

consider the poor.



15. Do you believe the Bible contains no errors or contradictions?

No equivocation allowed here.



16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?

Jesus did (Matt.19:4).



17. Do you believe in a literal hell and eternal punishment?

Jesus did (Matt.25).



19. When you distribute the Lord's Supper, do you emphasize the need to examine

yourself?

Paul did (I Cor.11:27-32).



20. Can a person who is living in a persistent lifestyle of sin inherit eternal life?

Sinners can certainly be forgiven, but practicing sinners cannot inherit eternal life (I John 3:8,9).



21. Does your church exercise church discipline?

Paul said we should (I Cor.5).



22. Do Sunday school teachers, nursery, and youth volunteers fill out an application to answer questions about their core beliefs, or are all volunteers accepted?



23.What are the essentials of the faith?

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Salvation through faith alone, the inerrancy of Scripture.



24. Do you have a cross in your sanctuary?

Many remove it because they fear it will turn off seekers. They should glory in the cross.

The cross should be the central focus of every church.

Quote :

16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?

Jesus did (Matt.19:4).

I have a little issue with this one. I read Matthew 19:4, and it doesn't give justification for Jesus' belief in a literal 6 day creation. It reads as follows from the KJV:

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female"

Nothing about a timeline or the amount of time it took to create the world in that verse. In fact, none of Matthew 19 makes any reference to the timespan of God's creation, neither does my commentary say anything on it. It could be a misquote, but this is definitely troublesome.

Aside from that, I see no problems with these questions, and find them very helpful.

kritikul wrote:

Quote :

16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?

Jesus did (Matt.19:4).

I have a little issue with this one. I read Matthew 19:4, and it doesn't give justification for Jesus' belief in a literal 6 day creation. It reads as follows from the KJV:

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female"

Nothing about a timeline or the amount of time it took to create the world in that verse. In fact, none of Matthew 19 makes any reference to the timespan of God's creation, neither does my commentary say anything on it. It could be a misquote, but this is definitely troublesome.

Aside from that, I see no problems with these questions, and find them very helpful.

I feel you. I thought Todd could have come better on that one.

But, Jesus does believe in a literal 6 day creation. He was there, creating.

Expo wrote:

How to Find a Good Church



Almost 25 questions that will save you a lot of Sundays
by Todd Friel (todd@wayofthemasterradio.com)





Looking for a good church? Join the club. Church-shopping can be a long and painful process.

To shorten your search, call the pastor of the church before you visit and ask the following

questions. This might save you a lot of Sundays.





1. What is man's biggest problem?

Seeker sensitive and felt-needs churches focus on man’s hurts and problems. The Bible says

that man’s biggest problem is sin.



2. What must a man do to inherit eternal life?

Repent and trust is the Biblical answer. If the word “repent” is never used, say, “Thank you.”



3. How do you deliver the salvation message?

Ask the pastor to describe specifically what he says. Does he encourage people to simply say a prayer? Does he tell people to ask Jesus into their hearts? The salvation message should include: God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, God’s response (hell), God’s kindness (Jesus on the cross), man’s response (repentance and faith).



4. How hard is it to become a Christian?

The “formula” is simple, doing it is not. It is not easy to believe.



5. How often do you talk about sin, righteousness and judgment?

Balance is key. This should not be the only emphasis, but it should be a regular emphasis.



6. How seeker sensitive is your church?

It is o.k. for a church to be “seeker aware” but seeker sensitive means that they lean toward

seekers and not the saved.



7. Who do you do church for, seekers or members?

“Both” is not acceptable. Church should be done for members and the unsaved are welcome to attend.



8. Do you dumb down your sermons?

If he says yes, he is probably not trying to wean his members from milk to meat. Answers like,

“We try to make our sermons accessible to everyone” are sermons that are not meaty.



9. What is your mixture of topical vs. expository preaching?

Topical preaching is fine, but if a pastor never or rarely preaches expositionally (verse by verse),

then you are going to be learning from the pastor and not God’s Word.



10. Do your sermons emphasize theology or are they relevant?

Everyone should say their sermons are relevant, what you are looking for is if they teach

theology.



11. Describe your youth programs.

If fun and games is the major (and usually first) emphasis, you have a youth program that is trying

to compete with MTV.



12. Describe your evangelism programs.

Don’t just accept, “We have an evangelism committee.” Dig. Are they serious about saving

souls?



13. What church growth model do you follow?

Hopefully they don’t have one. Churches should be reaching out to the lost, but churches that

are plugged into new church growth models tend to follow man’s modern ideas rather than the

Bible.



14. How much do you give to missions and the hungry?

Again, this reveals the heart of the church. While most churches give to missions, many never

consider the poor.



15. Do you believe the Bible contains no errors or contradictions?

No equivocation allowed here.



16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?

Jesus did (Matt.19:4).



17. Do you believe in a literal hell and eternal punishment?

Jesus did (Matt.25).



19. When you distribute the Lord's Supper, do you emphasize the need to examine

yourself?

Paul did (I Cor.11:27-32).



20. Can a person who is living in a persistent lifestyle of sin inherit eternal life?

Sinners can certainly be forgiven, but practicing sinners cannot inherit eternal life (I John 3:8,9).



21. Does your church exercise church discipline?

Paul said we should (I Cor.5).



22. Do Sunday school teachers, nursery, and youth volunteers fill out an application to answer questions about their core beliefs, or are all volunteers accepted?



23.What are the essentials of the faith?

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Salvation through faith alone, the inerrancy of Scripture.



24. Do you have a cross in your sanctuary?

Many remove it because they fear it will turn off seekers. They should glory in the cross.

The cross should be the central focus of every church.

I Love you man !

Expo wrote:

kritikul wrote:

Quote :

16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?

Jesus did (Matt.19:4).

I have a little issue with this one. I read Matthew 19:4, and it doesn't give justification for Jesus' belief in a literal 6 day creation. It reads as follows from the KJV:

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female"

Nothing about a timeline or the amount of time it took to create the world in that verse. In fact, none of Matthew 19 makes any reference to the timespan of God's creation, neither does my commentary say anything on it. It could be a misquote, but this is definitely troublesome.

Aside from that, I see no problems with these questions, and find them very helpful.

I feel you. I thought Todd could have come better on that one.

But, Jesus does believe in a literal 6 day creation. He was there, creating.

Word. Do you have any scriptural backing for that? I would love to have some solidity on that issue. Thanks.

Sure do. It's right there in the creation account in Genesis. The Hebrew word for day "yom" always means a literal day when a numerical unit is written alongside it.

Have you ever heard Ken Ham preach on this subject? There's a wonderful message called "Six Days and the Eisegesis Problem." It's available at www.sermonaudio.com. Just search by speaker and go to Ken Ham's sermons. They have some other good stuff on there as well.