Why A Church Family Is Like A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

It’s not unusual for many Christians to be struggling on the verge of spiritual bankruptcy, conflicted by anxiety and burdened by depression, and, through it all, bravely seeking the light of Truth.

If you find yourself bewildered by the train wrecks piling up in your life, by what it all means in the grand scheme of things, then the fastest way to renew your faith in the authentic truth revealed in the Bible is to seek the fellowship of others like you, gentle souls also on a quest for the good, the true, and the beautiful.

A church family, like the one found at James River Church, will do wonders for you, mending your broken spirit, setting your feet back on the path, and inspiring you to dare again. In short, a church family can lift you up in more ways than you can now imagine. It will help you to begin again; doing all the things you lost the courage to pursue.

Since many people only have a vague idea about the value of a church family and the guidance available in the Bible, let’s talk about two things: one, how a church family can give you back your faith, fill you with renewed hope in your partnership with God, and recover your lost hopes; two, how the Christian faith can help you meet many of your religious, spiritual, and personal needs.

How A Church Family Can Renew Your Love For Life

What should you look for in your quest to find the right church family?

Here are three questions you should ask to find a church that will help you on your spiritual journey back to wholeness:

How does the pastor encourage and support the flock, and does the church offer true biblical teachings or does it water down its message to appeal to a broader audience?
Will I find people who share my interests and make friends in this new community, and will my children be in an environment that fosters good morals and social responsibility?
What classes and social events are available to meet the right life partner or to fortify my marriage and enrich my family?

How The Christian Faith Can Help You Meet Your Needs

Despite 7.6 billion different versions of humanity, we all share some basic needs.

Human beings are curious, seek acceptance, and strive for independence. In their family lives, they are idealistic, striving to be honorable, tranquil, frugal, and orderly. And in their social contacts, they long for things like greater personal power, more love and romance, and a higher social status.

However, we behave in two different ways to meet these basic needs. Those who take the high road, try to agree, help and be honest while those who take the low road, attempt to bully, trick and deceive.

As a Christian, you, of course, choose the high road, but what makes you different from those on other religious and spiritual paths is that you strive to work through Christ and follow teachings on how to meet your needs.

Here are four examples of how a Christian works to meet religious, spiritual, and personal needs:

When you feel angry and resentful at a personal affront or injustice, you try to forgive others, because the master teacher taught you about how the transformative power of forgiveness works to heal any person or situation.
When you have no idea what to do about a problem, you pray, because you recognize that your need will be met in an unexpected way; perhaps by a stranger who suddenly shows up with all the right answers.
When you feel inadequate, unable to do something that you have been asked to do, let us say, give a company-wide presentation at work, you contemplate biblical lessons about courage, like the story of David and Goliath. Renewed in faith, you get up, dust yourself off, and do what it is that you were afraid to do.
When you feel that your life has lost its bearings and purpose, you remember the story about the basketful of leftovers. As a result, you look for ways to meet the needs of others…for as you give, you receive.

Joining a church family will help you overcome your sense of isolation and correct many common misinterpretations about the Christian faith. Many Christians, for example, feel that all their troubles are due to a simple fact—God does not love them. However, C.S. Lewis, the well-known Christian author, explains: “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”