You may have heard members of the church of Christ calling each other brother or sister. That is because there is a bond between members of the Lord’s church that holds us together apart from any physical bond there may be. We are members of the Lord’s body, His church (1 Cor. 12:27, Eph. 1:22-23). By believing and obeying God we have become His children (John 1:12) and because of that we are siblings of the best kind... spiritually. By becoming a child of God, through faith in Christ (John 8:34), repentance of our sins (Acts 2:38), confession of our belief (Acts 8:27) and immersion in water for the forgiveness of those sins (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16) we have been added to the best institution that has ever been placed on this earth, the church belonging to Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28, Acts 2:47, Mat. 16:13-19). In Christ’s church there is no condemnation from the sins of our past, but freedom knowing that we have salvation (Rom. 8:31, cf. Gal. 2:27). Therefore, we are Christians! That name is the best name anyone could possibly be named on this earth, because it means that we follow Jesus the Christ and Him alone (Acts 11:26). If you would like to learn more about who we are please ask one of the members here today!
What We Do Because we are members of the Lord’s church, we act in different ways than what the world may seem as normal. Our Lord has told us to be a “peculiar” people (1 Pet. 2:9), not in the sense that we act in strange, indescribable ways, but that we act differently than the world for specific reasons. We act different in our lifestyles, leaving the way of the world which is so marred by sinful practices (2 Cor. 6:14-17, cf. 1 Cor. 6:9-11), and we act different in our worship. You may notice that our worship service is very reverent to the Lord but may be different than what you may have experienced in the past. There is a reason for that. By being members of Christ’s blood bought institution, the church, we are commanded to worship Him in certain ways which He has prescribed (Col. 3:17). It is because of that fact that we do things like sing a cappella, without man made instruments, because He has told us to sing with the instrument He gave us, the heart (Eph. 5:19), or like taking of the Lord’s Supper on every Sunday because His apostles did so, showing us a way to worship (Acts 20:7, cf. 1 Cor. 11:1). If you would like to learn more about how Christians act in life or in worship please ask one of our members. | "In Christ's church there is no condemnation from the sins of our past, but freedom knowing that we have salvation" Where We Go One of the best things about being a member of the Lord’s church, otherwise known as the church of Christ, is that we have the hope of eternal life in Heaven one day! By following the steps ordained by God to have one’s sins washed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:5, cf. John 8:24, Acts 2:38, Acts 8:27, Mark 16:16) we have been promised to one day receive a rest like no other with Jesus Christ in Heaven (2 The. 1:8-9, John 14:1-4). It is this promise that drives our every action. Without it, there would be no reason for your, or our, being here today to worship. But, thanks be to God, He has made a way of escape through Jesus Christ and true, obedient, faith in Him (Rom. 3:23-24, Heb. 11:6, Rom. 8:1). One cannot truly describe the love, joy, and freedom felt in Jesus Christ and because of that we know that He will come again to receive us unto Himself to be given an eternal reward that can never be destroyed (Phi. 4:7, John 14:1-4). Would you like to have this wonderful gift of salvation? There is nothing you can do, in and of yourself, that will give you this reward (Eph. 2:8), but there is something that must be done, namely, following Jesus Christ and His commands (John 15:14). |