How to know which church to attend?

Brandon Colbert said:

I've been wondering. How do you know which church/denomination to attend? They all seem to teach different things and do things differently. I wonder if its ok to just stick to the Word and have my private prayer/worship since there is so much confusion as to which denomination is correct. Any thoughts?

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I'd think it better to study the Bible and the views of the respective denominations and then begin attending the one that appears to you to most correct, according to your conscience.

That might change in time, but many, many people have changed churches at some point in their lives. This seems better to me than staying isolated, for this separates you from all the benefits to be received from almost any church body and it deprives you of the instruction on which you may grow spiritually.

God has only one Church (the Bride of Christ), and only one testimony for it as shown in Bible-only fellowship. Various sects of men down through history have perverted God's testimony in christendom. Read Acts 2 as to the beginning of the Church universal, and see the form and functions in the Epistles.

Brandon Colbert said:

I've been wondering. How do you know which church/denomination to attend?

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The way to know this is to firstly have a very solid and thorough understanding of what God has revealed in His Word, and then assess the various church groups. If you yourself do not know what to believe, and why you believe it, you will indeed be confused. You can rest assured that if you point out error to any church or pastor or denomination, they will prefer to persist in their errors, rather than repent and embrace the truth.

Brandon Colbert said:

I've been wondering. How do you know which church/denomination to attend? They all seem to teach different things and do things differently. I wonder if its ok to just stick to the Word and have my private prayer/worship since there is so much confusion as to which denomination is correct. Any thoughts?

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Brandon... There's a reason why Jesus started the first Church, for fellowship. I don't think you can grow spiritually alone. It's like food, if you are only getting a kind of nutrient, then it's not healthy. A healthy Christian life does have prayer life, devotional life, fellowship, evangelism, worship, and church involvement. You just need to know the basic principles of knowing the right church. But to be safe, just stick with the "evangelical" block like: Baptists, Assembly of God, Methodists, etc. I highly recommend Baptists though because they are more conservative and more biblicists.

Just to be sure you are not on a path of religiosity with a man-made gathering, and be sure the fellowship is truly Bible oriented, and not after popularity, entertaining, preaching a social message, and practicing ceremonies and rituals, etc. Prove all things by the Bible.

Yeah, I agree with all the previous posts. I actually experimented with your idea about private worship rather than going to church. I actually joined a church online for a few weeks. It started out strong, but after awhile I felt unfulfilled and eventually fell away completely. Theres something more about fellowship with other believers. Maybe its because they hold you accountable and you can learn more from them. And if you go to the right chuch, they will have several programs for you to get involved in. I dont think there is anything at all wrong with church-hopping until you find one thats for you. I wish I had invested in this activity before myself. Its a whole lot better than bar-hopping!