Finding a Church Home

Hello friends and family,

Jimmy and I are experiencing something we never have before: Finding a new church.

From the moment we started dating, I was involved at Denton Bible Church and he was volunteering at Christ Fellowship (McKinney Fellowship Bible Church then). We were extremely invested in those two churches. I was involved in small groups CollegeLife and the worship ministry there, and he was heavily volunteering with Merge and Fuel (which eventually became his full-time job down the road).

When Jimmy and I got more serious, I joined Christ Fellowship and began to serve and volunteer there. In a lot of ways, it was hard to leave Denton Bible Church, but I knew that was what the Lord was calling me to do. It was important for us to be at the same church because we craved being led together and going in the same spiritual direction. Our years at Christ Fellowship were filled with incredible blessings and memories, but moving has allowed us to better understand our desires for a church body as just the two of us.

Each Sunday morning, we have gotten to explore a new church. Some churches have been more gospel-centered, academic, or liturgical, while others have been more hip, polished and seeker-sensitive. All of these different bodies of believers have different ways to worship our Almighty God.

So, this begs the question...How do we know we've found the right church for us? If you're currently looking for a church, our beliefs and thought process may be helpful for you too.

1. Jesus Focused

We are seeking a church that glorifies and magnifies our Lord. Jimmy and I recognize that we cannot do anything 'good' or 'pure' from within ourselves and it's only through the blood of Jesus we are redeemed. We crave a body that points us to the magnitude of the cross rather than focus on what we do and act like in our day-to-day life. Our belief is that our role as believers is to exalt His name through thankful obedience for Him, love for Jesus and others.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."  (Romans 3:23-24)

2. Missional Minded

Jimmy and I feel strongly about the Church ministering and caring for the community it's called to. Jesus came to save the sick, wounded and lost, and similarly we feel the Church's role is to be a place filled with love, protection and provision to those lost and hurting. It's important for a body to be the hands and feet of Jesus and his ministry. This also applies to a passion for overseas and vocational missions.

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  (Matthew 25:40)

3. Small Group Centric

Small groups are where Christians experience most growth because you're surrounded by people who know you, your struggles, and see your sin more clearly. While the pastor may see you one hour a week, these are the people with whom you live life. A strong small group is is the community who will come alongside you in times of joy, hurt, trials and pain. We both have been immensely blessed by small groups in the past, and know how truly affective they can be in our walk with The Lord. 

"And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts..." (Acts 2:46)

4. Reverent Worship

Jimmy and I believe that we love and serve a God who is to be feared and worshiped. So often, churches can portray Jesus as simply a meek, loving and patient God, whereas he's also depicted as a powerful, mighty and just God to be feared in scriptures. We seek a church that never puts an experience ahead of the truth of who God is in relation to us. We look for musical worship to be scripturally-based and full of truth found in the gospel. Worship is not about us feeling something, but about expressing our feelings toward God. If we attend church each Sunday seeking an emotional rise or roller-coaster, we have put ourselves in the center of worship and have perverted its very purpose. 

"Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

Praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

Praise him according to his excellent deeds (Psalm 150:1-2)"

5. The Church as One Body

Oftentimes, churches can give off the impression of being in competition with other churches in the area rather than seeing the Church as one ordained body. We seek a community of believers that supports and joins together with other churches to exalt the Lord's name and minister to more people. It's more about expanding the Kingdom of God than it is to individually grow members, put on seamless productions and build the newest sanctuary. 

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)" 

Please pray that we would find the church we are called to while in South Hamilton. Jimmy and I are eager to plug into a body of believers, yet trust the Lord will provide a church in his timing. 

In Him,

The Millers