To Feel at Home

    The church of Christ in your community is a congregation of friendly people who share the “like precious faith,” who desire to worship “in spirit and in truth,” and who desire to practice “pure religion.”  You will feel at ease in our services.  You will be welcomed as our honored guest.

 

To  Hear the Bible Exalted as the Inspired Word of God

    The church of Christ holds to the same beliefs that the First Century Church espoused.  Peter wrote,

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

You can expect to hear a “Thus saith the Lord” from the Bible for every religious practice.  You will find “the rejoicing of the hope” (Hebrews 3:6), inasmuch as faith is the basis of hope (Hebrews 11:1) and faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

     The rulings of councils, synods, and conventions are not inspired by God; thus, members of the church of Christ are guided only by “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). John the Revelator stated,

If any man add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part our of the book of life, and out of the holy city (Revelation 22:18-19).

Paul warned,

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9).

Peter said, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

    The distinctive plea of the church of Christ is to speak where the Bible speaks and to remain silent where the Bible is silent, to call Bible things by Bible names and to do Bible things in Bible ways.  In this way, simple New Testament Christianity can be restored and religious unity of all believers in Christ can be accomplished.

 

To Find the Restoration of the New Testament Church

    The church of Christ has no denominational affiliation.  We go all the way back to the original pattern, the New Testament, for the blueprint of the church which Christ purchased with His blood and for which He died (Acts 20:28).  Those who desire to restore the New Testament Church go back beyond all the movements which began the denominations, realizing that since the seed, the Word of God (Luke 8:11), produced simple New Testament Christians and members of the Lord’s church in the First Century, the seed, the pure Word of God, will produce the same results today.  The confusion in the religious world today has resulted from movements of men which have modified the original church. We plead for men to build on the original foundation, Christ, according to the original pattern, the New Testament.  Each local congregation is God’s creation.

 

To Find a Church Which is Designated by Spiritual Designations

    The New Testament uses a number of terms with which to designate the early church: “the church,” “The church of the firstborn,” “The church of the Lord,” “The church of Christ.”  Any of these terms is a scriptural designation of the Lord’s church; however, in order to avoid confusion in today’s world and because it is certainly appropriate for the church to wear “church of Christ,” we have usually used this designation.  This designation is used because the church belongs to Christ, it was purchased by Christ, Christ is its head, and the church is His bride.  Individual members of the body of Christ are simply called “Christians” (Acts 11:26, 1 Peter 4:!6), honoring Christ Himself, to whom Christians are married (Romans 7:4).

 

To Find an Independent, Self-Governing Congregation Under Christ, the Head

    The church of Christ has Jesus Christ as its head (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22, 23); thus we have no earthly headquarters nor denominational affiliation. No organization exists which is larger than the local congregation. Each local congregation has its elders, or bishops, and deacons. Paul addressed the Philippian letter to the congregation at Philippi “with the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1). Individual congregations, or local churches, are bound together by their “like common faith” and by their obedience of the teachings of the Bible. Thus, no local congregation is governed by men from distant places; each is governed by elders in its own number. Though the congregations cooperate voluntarily in preaching the gospel and in helping the needy, the church of Christ has no convention, periodic meeting or publication which officially represents and governs the church (Matthew 16:18, 28:18), His law for the subjects of His kingdom is the New Testament (Romans 1:16), and the elders guide the church, inasmuch as they administer His rule in each congregation.

 

To Find Christians Engaged in New Testament Worship

    The Christians in the First Century engaged in five items of worship. They met every first day of the week to partake of the Lord’s Supper, they engaged in a cappella singing, they participated in the study of God’s Word, they prayed to God and they freely have of their financial means to support the work of the church (Acts 2:42; 20:7; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 16:2). The church of Christ refrains from engaging in unauthorized acts in worship.

 

To Find Being Added to the Lord’s Church Just as They Were in the First Century

    In becoming a Christian, a person is called upon to do exactly what people did to become Christians in the New Testament. They heard the gospel (Romans 10:17), believed in Christ (Acts 10:43, Hebrews 11:6), repented of every sin (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30, 31), confessed publically their faith in Christ as God’s Son (Romans 10:10, Acts 8:27) and were baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3, 4; Galatians 3:27; Acts 22:16). When the Pentecostians of Acts 2 were baptized for the remission of their sins, “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). They joined no church; the Lord added them to His church.

 

To Find Encouragement to Live for Christ Daily

    By worshipping together when the church meets, Christians are encouraged to “be strong in the Lord,” to pray daily, to confess Christ daily (Ephesians 6:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 5:16; 2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 5:42). The Word of God is sufficient to live by. In obeying Christ, one enjoys the abundant life here and prepares for eternal life in the hereafter (John 10:10; Revelation 2:10).

 

To Find Encouragement to Ask Questions

    The church of Christ encourages your questions, “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). In addition to our regular worship services, we have classes for all ages. We welcome you to attend these services, to learn to participate and to listen. We invite opportunities to study the Bible with you in your home. We are “your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).