Church Home?

Hubby and I are in a process right now seeking what is best for our family in a church home. This is hard! I don't enjoy church shopping. We have attended two different churches over the course of the past month along with our own. One is a rather large church with a K-12 school and a weekly broadcast television show on a local network. It was nice. The kids seems to get something out of it, and the message both weeks was very good. Hubby loves how well they do things technically because that is what he does for a living (designs audio, video and lighting for churches) and gets excited by the thought of being able to serve in these areas. Part of me struggles with the fact that everything is kinda "slick" because the service is a show. Don't get me wrong, I believe God is present and those involved truly do have the right heart, but something doesn't feel in my gut 100% right for me. Perhaps that is just the nudge of the Holy Spirit because this is not ultimately where God wants us to be.

The other church we attended is a good-sized missionary church in a nearby little town. We know a handful of people from our current church who have started attending there including my brother-in-law's family. So, it made logical sense that we should try it. It, too, was very nice. I enjoyed the service and the message. There were several points made that I had just been brought to my attention during my own personal bible study the past week. I love when God does that - reinforcing spiritual thought He has already given you. The children seems to really enjoy themselves. Of course, for a couple of them, it helped that they got to attend with their cousins, but even my teenage girls really seems to enjoy their class as well as the service. They were really impressed with how friendly and welcoming the other kids were - something that doesn't always happen with that age group. My younger ones all seems to get a lot out of their classes and service (they have their own children's service). I was amazed at how well my son was able to tell me all that he learned about, retelling their bible story back to me in great detail. At home, I try to get him to narrate a story back to me and I barely get anything out of him. I am so curious as to how the told their story to make it stick so well.

Although overall we really were all pretty pleased, neither Barry nor myself felt a definite feeling that we were "home." So, I am wondering if that is how it works. To be honest, I am not 100% sure what I am even looking for. As much as I don't want it to be so, I can't deny that I feel that God is nudging us out of our comfort zone to seek another church home. Although there are many things at our current church that I struggle with and feel impotent to change, a big important part of what I feel a church home is, I do have. That is the people and the fellowship. I love the people and there are so many that I am very close to. I believe that the church in its foundation is the fellowship with other believers.

So, I am thinking and praying about what I should be seeking in a church home. I really want a bible-based teaching church. I do not need Sunday morning feel-good, fluffy sermons. I want to study what God says in His Word, even if it is hard to swallow. I want fellowship with other believers fervently committed to Christ. I want my children to be inspired to seek God in their own lives. Ideally, I want a place where there are at least some homeschoolers (at our current church there is one other family). It would be nice for my children not to feel like complete outsiders. It would be nice to have some homeschooling support within the church even if it is just a group of moms that can gather to uplift each other. It would be nice to not have to feel like I have to defend my homeschooling position all the time.

So, the question still is, where are we supposed to be, God? Please guide us.