Start Here: Beginning a Relationship with Jesus

by David Dwight

At the top you want faithfulness to the Bible, leadership with integrity, and an environment of authenticity. Faithfulness to the Bible means that the teaching you hear comes from the Bible. It isn’t just feel-good analogies or stories; it’s actually truth being told from what the Bible says. Leadership with integrity is sometimes harder to discern immediately, but you are looking for men and women who lead the church with humility, honesty, and transparency. This kind of leadership usually cultivates a spirit of authenticity in the community. One of our favorite church “taglines” is this: “A place where everyone is welcome, no one is perfect, and anything is possible!”6 That kind of environment says, “Hey, come on in no matter where you are with God; no one here is perfect, and we trust God can do great things in us, even though we’re far from doing it just right.” That’s a great place to start with a church. After those factors, you’ll be looking for a place where worship is central to life together, where there is intentional focus on growing in Christ, and where there is always a sense of reaching others so they can come into God’s family.