Help on finding a church?

Question

I am 16 years old and was baptised as a Catholic as a baby but was never taught anything about my religion. How can I tell if this is the right religion for me? And if its not how can I find a religion that fits my beliefs? where do I start?

Answer 1

Firstly, I have to commend you for taking an interest in the Bible and yearning to develop a personal relationship with God. There are many religions out there to choose from, but you need to ask yourself some questions first.

1) What do the world's religions tell me?
2) How does this religion operate?
3) Are the members not practicing what they preach?
4) How will this affect my life in the future?

If you are interested in a free home bible study, I would be more than happy to oblige in turning you in the right direction. I am very glad to know that you are hoping to learn accurate truths about God.

Answer 2

If you were baptized as a Catholic, why has your family stop attending the Catholic Church? I would ask your parents about that first. If there is not a problem then ask your parents to go back to the Catholic Church and worship with you as a family.

If there is a problem, I would recommend that you make a list of things that are important to you. What do you want to get from a church? Does it have a good youth program that you would want to be part of, etc? Then I would sit down with the priest and/or pastor and ask your questions. See where you feel most comfortable and then try that church.

You might also ask where some of your friends attend church and how they like it. Good luck in your search.

Pastor John

Answer 3

I also baptized as a baby in a Catholic church. I think that being baptized so early, clearly reveals the truth that you weren't given a choice in the beginning. Now that you are older-I would suggest researching the beliefs of churches online-if they are a legtimate church, they will have a website that clearly states their beliefs-with Biblical scripture to back up those beliefs. I would then visit the churches and which ever church fit your personal beliefs the most-and which ever church made you feel in your HEART that it was right...then you should pray about it and lastly commit. Finding a church is a process--don't rush it, after all-it will reflect your eternal life.

Answer 4

I recomand you to go to Ortodox church. It is perfect in many respects..no church is above it...except the wisdome of God.Catholics don't give the kids some of the things that Ortodox give ...they don't give the kids the body of christ until they are 8 years or so...being able to confess. But confessing means being a sinner and having a reason , and a child of 8 years cannot have a reason...and the notion of sin..you must spent at least 15 years on the earth to know life and know learn what sin is...i don't say that every little thing is perfect...but the ortodox original dogmas established by Jesus and saints are quite perfect...
On other hand regarding behaviour of the priests and attitude ..don't bother about it...you can get excomunicated even from Jehova's withness...and so what..The great writer Tolstoy got excomunicated from church for one of his novels because he criticised a little the priests..
we can criticise..a lot..the priests..e.g..during the war..the priests used to came before the man was hang for betrayal...and the priest was reading from the bible before the man was executed instead of asking the states to obey to God who says ''Don't kill''/you shall not kill..actually according to this comandement the punisment with death shouldn't exist... and they pretended that they rule the world according to the will of God...

Answer 5

You may email me if you like. If you have basic questions concerning The True Christian Faith. One honest question will receive one honest answer to the best of my ability.

But... your statement about finding a "religion"that fits your "beliefes" would indicate you do not under stand what it is that being a Christian is all about.

All who come to God in The Way He prescribes will receive His free gift of Salvation. Those become part of The Body of The Church of which Jesus The Christ is The Head. Those are the ones of The True Christian Faith. Only those of The Church will enter Heaven.

Answer 6

You begin by not basing your beliefs on religion, but rather on what the Word of God teaches. Jesus never said that religion was the way to heaven. Rather He said in John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Search the bible and you can't go wrong!

Answer 7

For information about Christianity without the religion, start here...http://www.ptm.org

Also, buy a Strong's Concordance of the Bible at any Christian bookstore so you can educate yourself about the definitions of Bible words. No church has a monopoly on God so don't get hung up on joining any particular church. Read and study for yourself, not what organized religion tells you to believe.

Answer 8

Religion used to be might and power but the same cannot be said of it today. Originally, religion was pure and unadulterated and the focus was on God alone- it was He alone who was worshipped and none other.
But what do we see today? How many denominations, and faiths for instance, do we have in the christian religion and why if christ established only a body of the christian religion?
Because of egoistic tendencies to demonstrate how powerful a particular religion is, those who helped in compilling and editing the various religious books and scriptures allowed politics and other subtle influences to bear on their 'writings' and the result is the impurities that we have today.
In the light of this, the worship of God has not only become impure but all the body religions you know of have become degraded, decayed and old. You and I know what happens when something is decayed, degraded, impure and old? Your guess is as good as mine! And because you are religious may I therefore crave your indulgence and ask you what in your opinion is religion? For me, my belief is that religion is nothing but what one believes in be it peace, hatred, violence or arrogance etc. It is therefore, not meant to worship God and God did not 'create' humanity solely because He wanted us to worship Him. Rather, He wanted us to know Him accurately as to who He is and what He is-the fact that He is not a human being but a Soul.This means that if indeed God 'created' us in His own image and likeness of purity and perfection then it means we are the same as He is and not embodied beings of flesh, water and blood.
Meanwhile, since you are religious and Godly I wish you could avail yourself of the knowledge of the soul/self- peace which transcends all religious backgrounds, faiths and beliefs.
Therefore, you being a soul are an embodiment of peace and incidentally it is the religion of God. So in effect, you will do yourself a lot of good if you could imbibe the qualities of the soul-peace, love, happiness, kindness, honesty, loyalty, intelligence, fearlessness, power, knowledge, courage, truthfulness, sweeetness et al and by demonstrating same in your activities would make you more worthy in the eyes of the Lord God than merely joining a religious sect which has no aim and objective.
Simply put, the riddle of "Man Know Thyself" will open the door for you not only to know God more accurately but it will help you to establish all relationships with Him and you will be at peace with yourself in this world of peacelessness.

Answer 9

Hi Jen,
If I were you I would say a prayer to find out.. Try one like this.... God , I dont know if you are real and Im searching to know you and I want to be directed in the right way to go. Please reveal yourself to be and show me how to know you better. Thanks for listening. ...
Now you must believe youre gonna get an answer. Perhaps you already know the answer. You might wanna try to go to a church near you and sit in and listen. Churches love to welcome new people no matter if you believe in God or not. My best friend went to all sorts of temples and churches to find God.... so did I.... we both ended up in a Christian church. But I dont want my choice to show you the way but let God show you the way.

Answer 10

There is a site that will tell you what denomination comes closest to your believes:

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.

For me personally it was a case of God finding me. I had prayed to find faith and it found me.