I just got let go from my job due to a restructuring. I fully committed myself to God only a few months ago. I've been praying for financially freedom to free myself from this job, and it seems half of my prayer came true.
I was frustrated with work, sure. While I do have time thanks to their generous departure agreement, I've been praying to him on what to do next and the first thing I heard back was to attend church.
How do you know what's the right church to attend? Are there any red flags to look out for? Or do you have to just visit each one to find out yourself?
As someone said, ask God to show you where he wants you. I know many have been scandalized by the pedo priests, but recall even those directly following Jesus included Judas.
Last I checked, there were more than 30,000 different denominations, all claiming to be true yet with glaring inconsistencies on every topic imaginable — imo, this is the fruit of so called reformers, who rejected existing authority to become their own authority.
Consider Jesus prayed that all would be one/united in faith, and when he established his church, it was intended to safeguard and present in every age, those truths he desired to be handed on. I believe he also provided a way for us to receive him in communion and to confess our sins and receive forgiveness.
Study earliest Christian writers, like Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement, Irenaus, and others, to see what the earliest Christians believed.
An eye opener too is studying where we got the Bible, in terms of which books were included, or declared as canonical. For over 1500 years, Christendom used a Bible having 73 books. Following the Protestant reformers, this was reduced to 66 books.
When looking into Christian history, be sure to look at original sources and all sides — don’t just take catholic or protestant or orthodox views alone, but see what each claims, from their own documents.