Don't worry, I'm not thinking I'm Jesus. I'm just thinking that after I wrote the previous post, you all are thinking "But what does this all mean?" and I'm reminded of the disciples wondering if there really is a message in all that story. (I changed the time stamp so the posts are in the "right" order)

Right now - I'm looking for a new church home. The church that my kids and I are attending no longer feels "right". It's too big (I didn't realize that before) and it's too drafty (things are being let in that shouldn't be in.)

The "kidlets" are not particularly happy about it (comfort and stability means a lot), and this time they don't see the need for a change, but they're willing to go along. The deal is - they still get to go to youth group and college group at the old church.

A while ago, before I even knew I would be looking, I think I was preparing to move.

We're preparing to walk away from one old, known home, into a new, unknown one.

We've visited a few churches (and for the sake of this post, I'm going way back.) I want to make the clear statement that all of these churches have their fans and their congregations that love them dearly. I'm only writing from the standpoint of "what it is that I am looking for" and "where is the church were I fit?"

Today, we visited a church that was like the first house I wrote about. There's lots of friendliness, even warmth. But the foundation is shaky. The message was sort of "devotiony", and although Jesus on the cross was talked about a lot, there was no mention of the WHY, which is the whole point. There was no mention of the "sin" word, no invitation to come to Him. They used "the Message". We had coffee and popcorn in the service and we called it "the Starbucks Church".
The second house reminds me of my previous church. There were a lot of little groups and some of them are very hard to get into. I was told early on that in order to be a part of the music ministry (other than being in the choir), a person has to (very unofficially) be a part of the "right" group. I wasn't a part of that group and I never was able to get into it. That's the balcony. The part you can see into but not get into.

I'm sure that a lot of folks can think of a church that reminds them of the little house with the little dog, protecting its territory. I won't go into that (and I really haven't had that experience in church hunting. But that is something I'm aware of.)

The fourth house brings to mind the church we visited last week. It was nice, I really liked the sermon. It would be ok to attend there. The only thing is...they don't have "their own space". Like the bedroom with no door, this is a church with no building. Again, many people feel very satisfied with this - it is just not what I'm looking for.

I'm still looking for the "right church". I know the things that I need in a church. Things like a choir or a singles group. Those are the "dishwasher" and "garage". They'd be nice, but if I sat through a service and felt "This is the one", I give those things up.

Doctrine
Point to the cross
Use the Bible (not the Message)

Those are the "musts"