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What to Expect
when you visit ...
When you visit with us, expect to find nothing more or less than what you find in the New Testament regarding the
Lord's church. Our intention is that you will find nothing but
Biblical standards in evidence regarding the name, reputation, acts,
work, organization, worship and discipline in the church.
Expect to find that this church wears a scriptural name:
Some believe that the name of the church is not important. Jesus
had somewhat to say about this. He purchased the church with His
own blood (Acts 20:28). Jesus is the head (Eph. 5:23), body (Eph.
1:22-23) and foundation (Eph. 2:20). The church belonging to Jesus
is therefore called the church of Christ or of God (Acts 20:28; I
Cor. 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; II Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:13; I Tim. 3:5;
Rom. 16:16).
Expect to find this church in good standing:
The apostle Paul spoke of the reputation of the Roman brethren
saying, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your
faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world (Rom. 1:8). Again
Paul said, For your obedience is come abroad unto all men (Rom.
16:19). When a church is in good standing with God it is in good
standing with brethren. Additionally, the elders of this local
church will not accept into our fellowship anyone who is not in good
standing with the Lord (Eph. 5:26-27). When the brethren in Ephesus
sent Apollos to Achaia, they sent a letter with him so that the
brethren in Achaia would receive him into their fellowship (Acts
18:24-28). This is an example of the importance of brethren basing
their fellowship on truth.
Expect to find this church doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus
(Col. 3:17)
Since the Bible teaches that Jesus has all authority (Matt. 28:18), you
can expect to find the church here doing nothing more and nothing
less than the instructions of Jesus. Jesus took the words of the
Father (Jn. 7:16-17) and passed them on to the apostles (Jn.
16:14). The apostles and prophets took these teachings and revealed
them to us in the New Testament scriptures (Eph. 3:1-5). A close
examination of the scriptures will reveal that Jesus and the
apostles preached by direct commands, examples, inference and
silence. Jesus illustrated the importance of following direct
commands when being tempted of the Devil (Matt. 4:4-10). The
apostle Paul tells us the importance of following the example of the
apostles in Philippians 4:9. God depends upon man's reasoning
abilities to understand the scriptures (Isa. 1:18). God therefore
gets his commands across through inference as well (Matt. 3:16
regarding the baptism of Jesus; the passage necessarily implies a
submerging in water!). The silence of the scriptures is to be
respected as taught in Hebrews 7:11. The New Testament is law and
must be treated as such (Isa. 2:3; Jer. 31:31; Matt. 7:23;
Romans 3:27,
8:2;
Galatians 6:2;
I Corinthians 9:22;
Heb. 8:10;James 1:25;
2:12; I Jn. 3:4).
Expect to find this church to be performing only works authorized by the
scriptures:
You will find the church busy promoting the spiritual growth of its
own members (edification) (Eph. 4:12-16). We generally have two
gospel meetings per year and various classes to teach and strengthen
each member.
Secondly, you will find the church busy in the area of evangelizing the
community (Acts 13:1-5; I Cor. 9:1-14; Eph. 3:10; Phil. 4:15).
During 2006 we knocked on hundreds of doors and passed out a
multitude of flyers. We mailed invitations to new residents invited
thousands to attend our gospel meetings through radio spots and
verbal invitations.
Thirdly, this church stands ready and willing by the authority of God to help
any of its own needy saints and other saints abroad as we have the
opportunity. This need may come in the form of financial aid (Acts
11:27; I Tim. 5:1) or spiritual aid (Rev. 2:24).
Expect to find this church organized according to God's expressed will:
You will not find this church to be a part of any type of national
organization or denominational body. The New Testament church was
organized locally only, and so must we be (I Cor. 1:2; Phil.
1:1). This church has two elders, Dave Hewitt and Jeff Jones, who
meet the qualifications set forth in I Tim. 3:1-8; Titus 1:5-9.
Expect to find this church to be worshipping the Lord in spirit and truth (Jn.
4:23):
The New Testament church reveals five acts of worship. These acts
are: singing (Eph. 5:19); praying (I Tim. 2:8), preaching (Acts 7:20), taking the Lord's Supper (I Cor.
11:23) and giving as we have been prospered (I Cor. 16:1-2).
Expect to find this church patiently working with members who have turned
from God, but not indifferently forbearing with their sin.
Recognizing that sin separates man from God (Isa. 59:1-2; I Jn.
1:5), the elders here are patient and longsuffering with the
erring. There comes a time, however, when that patience and
longsuffering must end (I Thess. 5:14 and II Thess. 3:6). The
brethren in Corinth were guilty as such and were not pleasing to the
Lord (I Cor. 5:1). The apostle John reveals the mind of God against
those who would tolerate sin among the body of saints in Revelation
2:20.
Conclusion:
You may expect to find these things when visiting with us. If you
find something that we are doing that is not in accordance with
God's word you would be our friend to point this out to us. These
things are not an attempt to earn heaven, they are done in faith
as we appeal to God's grace. We desire and expect (hope) to be in
heaven one day with the Father (Rev. 21-22:5), and we hope for the
same for you. Please visit with us as you have the opportunity, and
feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.
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