What Truly is a Bible-based Church?

 If you are looking for a church that will help you grow your faith, then you want to consider a Bible-based church.  A Bible-based church will preach and teach from the Word of God (the Holy Bible).  To determine if a church is Bible-based before attending, check their website or Facebook page to see what they say they believe.  Then if you decide to checkout a service, listen for scripture references during the main sermon or Sunday School.  Write all references down so you can look them up in your own Bible.  This allows you to test what you heard against God's word to verify if the teaching is Biblical.

"when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, 

hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. 

Let all things be done unto edifying." - 1 Corinthians 14:26 (KJV)

If the purpose of the pulpit seems to enforce religious doctrine, promise blessings without personal effort, ignores Christ's teaching, or puts mankind above or equal to God - then it is not truly Bible-based.  Religion that does not encourage members to strive to follow Christ and the teachings of God's Word cannot claim to be Bible-based.  If no scriptures are given during the sermon or study sessions, then how can the teaching be considered Bible-based?  If the Bible is not used as the basis for all preaching and teaching, then false teaching or cult doctrine may become a future possibility.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; 

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." - Colossians 3:16 (KJV)

Helpful reference you may want to review include:

• Chuck Lawless offers a 10-point survey to test if a church is Bible-based on his blog.  On point 6, I was taught memorizing Bible books in order is a helpful tool in quickly finding scripture references while attending preaching and teaching.  Knowing the order is really more for personal study and growth.
• Steven Cole on Bible.org offers 10 qualities a good Bible-based church should have and supporting scriptures for each in choice of listening to 45-minute audio or reading text.   I like that this one includes fellowship and prayer as key qualities. It also supports communion and baptism as Biblical teachings.  If you want to check out the funny video mention, click here to go to YouTube.