We’re giving our top tips for Christian students. Today we think about choosing a church.
Church will play a massive part in your spiritual growth while at university. Here’s our top four tips:
Get stuck into one church. London is full of churches, you could spend every week of your degree checking out a different one. That would be a disaster. Instead why not shortlist a few churches and try one or two a couple of times in your first term? That way you’ll get a better idea of the church and you’ll get stuck in quicker.
Go to a church that loves Jesus. Now we know most churches would never say that they don’t love Jesus, but what we mean is go to a church that talks about Jesus and his saving work on the cross lots. We live in a country when many churches don’t think Jesus was all that special and didn’t save us on the cross. It sounds barmy, but it’s true. Choose a church that loves Jesus and his work.
Go to a church that loves the bible. The bible is God’s primary way of talking to his people today. If we want to hear God speak at church then we need to look for a church that has the bible at the heart of everything it does. A church that puts the main emphasis on hearing the bible, is a fairly good sign that they love listening to God.
Go to a church that loves people. Again not many churches will say they don’t love people. But here’s what we mean. The bible says everyone is stuffed without Jesus, and so best way a church can show it’s love for people is to encouraging people to share Jesus with others who don’t know Him. Find a church that encourages and equips you to talk to friends about Jesus.