Introduction
It is important to know what a church is about before visiting.
If one wishes to seek and please God it is important that each
activity of such a church be in accordance with His divine will.
There is no substitute for adherence to God’s inspired word.
His ways are not our ways, and our ways are not His ways (Isaiah
55:8-9).
Since He is the One who saves, we must take care to follow
His will always.
God said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well-pleased, Hear Him!
(Matthew 17:5). Jesus
said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He
sent” (John
6:29
).
It is then clear that it is through Christ and His word that
God grants salvation.
It is only by following Christ’s teaching and example that we obtain
the right to become God’s children.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John
1:12
).
We cannot afford to follow any one else as our authority.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
With this we introduce ourselves simply as
Christians. Jesus died
for our sins and gave instructions on how to become His disciples.
We have obeyed those instructions and claim to be nothing
more than disciples of Christ, or Christians (devoted to Christ) as
in Acts 11:26.
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Who Are Members?
Members of the local church are those who have been saved and added
to the body of Christ.
The scriptures state the conditions of salvation clearly.
Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark
16:16
).
He also said “that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem
” (Luke 24:47). Echoing
these words on the day of Pentecost, Peter instructed
those who believed his message about Jesus and asked what
they should do: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Those who have complied with these conditions and
who are resolved to live the life of a Christian are welcome to our
membership.
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By the way - We Are Not Denominational
We take this very seriously.
We are not only non-denominational; we are opposed to
denominationalism.
Our rejection of denominational involvement results from our effort
to do only what Jesus authorized. He did not establish denominations. Early Christians
were not members of denominations; if they could be Christians without denominational connections, so can we
and so should we.
Denominations wear names other than that of Christ.
They have structure and activities that have no authority in
scripture. And by
definition they are divisions, whereas Christ desired unity.
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God
and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all” (Ephesians 1:4-6).
We are known as a
church
of
Christ
because we desire to give all honor to Him and
because churches under His direction were known as “churches of
Christ” (Romans
16:16
). We
consider any other scriptural designation equally acceptable.
We recognize no other head but Christ and have ties with no
earthly organization or association of churches that would separate
us from others who are Christians.
All decisions are made locally in harmony with what we
believe to be the instructions that Christ has given through His
apostles.
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All based on scripture
The only way we can follow Jesus is by following His word.
Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are my
disciples indeed. And
you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John
8:31
-32).
In addition to the words Jesus spoke while He was on earth,
we have the words that He spoke through His apostles.
Jesus said to them shortly before He was crucified, “I still
have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them
now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide
you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to
come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and
declare it to you” (John
16:12
-14).
Consequently, Paul could write, “. . .the things which I
write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (I Corinthians
14:37
).
Our purpose is to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where
it is silent. We dare
not go beyond what is written (I Peter
4:11
; II John 9).
Since Christ is our only head, and since the New Testament
represents the teaching of Jesus, scripture is the final authority
in all matters.
Recognizing no earthly authority, it follows that we can accept no
man-made creed. Our only
manual, discipline or catechism is the New Testament. The first
written man-made creed was produced in 325 A.D. by uninspired men.
If Christians could please God without human creeds for 300
years, we can surely do so now.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II
Timothy 3:16-17). All we
need to know about how to be saved from sin, organize and manage a
church, preach to the lost, conduct our lives, fight Satan, and find
courage to endure the difficulties of our lives we can find in the
scriptures. What could
man’s wisdom add to what God has revealed in His word?
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What to expect in our Worship Service
Worship is not something we do to please ourselves, but to please
God.
As already noted, God’s ways are not our ways.
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship
in spirit and truth” (John
4:24
).
This means that we must worship as He directs.
God showed mankind very early that He is not pleased with
just anything men may do in worship to Him (See Genesis 4:3-5;
Leviticus 10:1-2.)
Following are the things you will observe us doing in our worship
and the reasons we do them.
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Prayer
We pray because of the many scriptures that authorize it, such as
Acts
2:42
; 12:5 and 16;
16:25
;
20:36
; I Thessalonians 5:17; I Timothy 2:1-5.
The last verse cited above says, “For there is
one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
Since Jesus is the only mediator between God and men, we pray only
through Jesus.
The practice of praying through Mary or any of the “saints”
is shown by this passage to be futile.
Doing so is without Biblical authority and is a tradition of
men.
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Preaching
Like prayer, the importance of preaching the gospel is so widely
accepted as to need no comment.
Some prominent scriptures are Acts 20:7; Romans 1:15-17; I
Corinthians 1:22-24; Galatians 1:8-9.
In our worship, sermons are presented in a simple practical manner
to encourage understanding and compliance with truth among those who
hear.
In our services, public leadership is by men only.
This is not because we do not value the role of Christian
women. It is simply
because of our determination to follow scripture.
Two scriptures are especially relevant:
“Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not
permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law
also says” (I Corinthians
14:34
).
“And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority
over a man, but to be in silence” (I Timothy
2:12
).
In classes women do teach other women and children as
authorized by Titus 2:3-4.
Christian women are a great blessing to the church in many ways, but
their role is not public leadership according to the scriptures.
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Giving
In the scriptures we learn of the work that is assigned to the
church, namely: conduct of worship, preaching the gospel, edifying
the saints and providing for them when they are in physical need.
When the church unites to do these things, funds are
necessary. Definite
instructions are given for raising funds to accomplish the last of
the activities above:
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given
orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first
day
of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as
he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (I
Corinthians 16:2). A
collection was to be made each “first day of the week” so that no
special collection would be necessary when Paul arrived.
No specific instructions are given in scripture for collecting
funds to accomplish the other works assigned to the church.
However, if this was God’s way of obtaining funds for “for
the saints” it is a strong recommendation for the same method of
raising funds for other works.
One thing is certain: There is a consistent pattern
throughout the New Testament for obtaining funds by free will
offerings according to the ability of the giver.
There is no command or example that would authorize assessing
each member or raising funds by raffles, bake sales, business
ventures or by any other means.
Consequently, all of the work of this church is funded from the one
collection taken each Sunday morning in which members voluntarily
give “each one as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of
necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7).
Visitors are not expected to contribute to this collection; it is
considered the responsibility of the members of the congregation.
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The Lord's Supper
Partaking of the Lord’s Supper should be to every Christian one of
the most meaningful experiences possible.
Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19-20; I
Corinthians 11:24-25).
Communion should never be looked upon as a mere duty, but as
a marvelous privilege.
Paul said, “as often as you eat of this bread, and drink of this
cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (I Corinthians
11:26).
In the New Testament church, the Lord’s Supper
was taken every Sunday.
Both secular and Biblical history show that as long as the apostles
lived, it continued to be a weekly observance and only centuries
later was it reduced to an inferior monthly or quarterly ceremony.
I Corinthians 16:2 establishes that the church met each
“first day of the week” and Acts 20:7 notes one of the primary
purposes for such a meeting: “Now on the first day of the
week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready
to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message
until midnight.”
Consequently, when we come together on the first day of each week,
it is to “break bread” in the Lord’s Supper.
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Singing
The inspired apostle Paul wrote, “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).
In harmony with these instructions, we sing in our worship.
We do not use an instrument since neither this passage nor
any other authorizes the church to sing with instruments.
Instruments were used in Old Testament worship
along with incense and animal sacrifices, but they were never a part
of the worship of the church.
Secular history shows that instrumental music was only added
to the worship of the church several hundred years after the
apostles died. To add
pianos, organs, guitars, etc. to the worship without divine
authority is to leave the teaching of the scriptures and follow the
doctrines and commandments of men (Matthew 15:8-9).
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In Summary
We are a group of God-fearing men and women, young and old, who have
joined together to constitute a congregation such as those described
in the New Testament.
We are simply Christians (Acts
11:26
; 26:28; I Peter
4:15
,16), followers of Christ.
As a church we are “of Christ” (Romans
16:16
).
We do not wear or accept designations that are not found in
the scriptures, and we do not subscribe to any creed drawn up by
fallible men. Christ is
our only creed, and the Bible our only guide.
We are striving to be a church after the pattern found in the New
Testament: in how we become Christians, in how we live as
Christians, in what we teach, in the work we do together, and in the
way we are organized.
Our purpose is to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where
the Bible is silent. It
is our great desire to honor God, in following Christ and in
learning, teaching and following His word.
We are your neighbors and your fellow-workers.
We are people saved from sin by the grace of God and we are
interested in the salvation of others.
We want heaven to be our eternal home as well as yours.
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All are welcome
When you visit us you will be greeted in a friendly, kind and
courteous manner. The
loving characteristics of the congregation (the attitude of those
who love God) will help you to avoid any uncomfortable feeling of
being a stranger. We
hope to see you among us.
Please, feel free to browse through our website
and contact us with any question you may have.
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