How May I Know When I Have

Found the Right Church?

Wendell Winkler

Suppose you are sent on a mission to find a man (1) whose name is John Doe, (2) Who is six feet tall, (3) has black hair, (4) Has brown eyes, and (5) Wears glasses. How will you know when you have found the right man? Will it not be when you find the man who meets all the identification features? Surely it will. So it is with the right church. You may know you have found the right church when you find the one that meets all the identification features that characterized the early New Testament church during the days of the apostles as they are recorded in the New Testament.

Those identification features include:

1. No creed but Christ. (Acts 8:36-38).

2. No rule of practice except the Lord's word. (1Peter 4:11)

3. Was spoken of as the church of Christ, the church of the Lord, etc. (Romans 16:16, Acts 20:28).

4. Worshiped the first day of the week by partaking of the Lord's supper and other acts of worship. (Acts 2:43; 20:7)

5. Each local congregation was an independent body, organized with bishops, deacons, evangelists and members. (Philippians 1:1, 2; 2Timothy 4:5).