Should you join with us?

What are the criteria that you employ when looking to choose a church home? Many people in our society today would give far more thought to selecting a new home or car than they would in selecting a church home. Sadly, this underlines the decline of the importance of spiritual things over worldly things. Here are some things we think you should investigate and consider when selecting a church home.

To Serve?
Remember John F. Kennedy's famous challenge to the American public back in the 60's? "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." We need this type of attitude when looking to serve in the kingdom. Do we look for a church that offers an environment where others do all the work and we can just sit back and be served? We need to look for a church where we can serve our Lord with whatever talents we have. The rapid growth of many churches today is due to aggressive recruitment of members from other churches with enticements of more fun activities, social programs, services for children, etc. This may present an illusion of growth, but it is hardly the kind of growth that the Lord wants. Look for a congregation where you can be of most service. You and your family will experience more spiritual growth by serving rather than being served.

Or Be Served?
Sometimes we find ourselves at a point in life where our fires are burning low. In this case we need to look for a congregation where we can also be built up spiritually by joining a church family that has a nurturing environment. Every New Testament church should strive for this. There are so many commands in the New Testament directed at our relationship to one another ("serve one another";"encourage one another";"stimulate one another" ). Nurturing those that need help and spiritual growth should be a priority of any congregation of the Lord's people.

What is the Emphasis at Helena?
Having a solid foundation should be a criteria for any local church home you are considering. We attempt to emphasize the following key areas:

• We follow the Bible as our only rule for faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1-20-21)
• We place a strong emphasis on Bible teaching and preaching (Acts 20:27; 1 Tim. 4:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-5) both locally in Helena and anywhere in the world that we can have opportunity to help evangelize and spread the gospel.
• We are highly dedicated to worshipping God in spirit and truth ( xxxx). We try to achieve that Christ-directed balance by emphasizing the practical aspects of loving and serving one another (xxxxxx) while never compromising on the doctrinal truths taught by Jesus and His apostles (xxxx).
• We are dedicated to supporting and teaching God's design for the family (Eph. 5:22-6:4; Col. 3:18-21; Titus 2:1-8; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).

Do I Belong With This Church?
After carefully and prayerfully considering the things mentioned above we need to examine ourselves. We need to ask ourselves the following type of questions, "Can I be of service to the kingdom of God here?"; "Do I have talents that can be put to use here?"; "Does this church dedicate itself to worshipping God in spirit and truth?"; "Does this church practice the things that it says that it believes?"; "Will this church give me opportunity to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord?"; "Am I willing to give of my time, money, talent, energy, prayers, and resources to help this church and my family grow?"

Our High View of God
Our hearts are filled with joy at the very thought that we can be God's children. This has not resulted in the perfect local church but we do honestly desire to be that church of Jesus Christ that strives to show our love for Jesus in keeping His commandments in both spirit and truth.

 

Membership in the Church

Membership is automatic when one becomes a Christian. On the first day of the church's existence those who repented and were baptized were saved (Acts 2:38). Baptism saved them by faith in the atoning power of Christ's blood (Gal 3:26-27). And from that day forward all those who were saved were added to the church (Acts 2:47). It was God who did the adding. In seeking to follow this pattern, we neither vote people into the church nor force them through a required set of studies. We have no right to demand anything beyond their obedient submission to the Savior.

 

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