ANSWERS TO QUESTONS YOU MAY HAVE

What is the Church of Christ?

 Although there isn't room here to explain everything about the church, we hope to answer some of the most frequently asked questions and give you a general understand­ing of the church of Christ.

 Which denomination are you?

 The church of Christ is neither Catholic nor Protestant, but simply "Christ's church" without any other descriptors - a non­denominational church. When the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he wrote: "all the churches of Christ send greetings." This is found in the Bible, in the book of Ro­mans chapter sixteen, verse sixteen, Today each of our congregations is trying to be simply a church of Christ like the original congregations,

Are you a new church?

The church of Christ is not a new church with new teachings. The church of Christ has over 2,500,000 members world wide, with congrega­tions existing all over the world and dating back hundreds of years. The church holds many commonly held beliefs. For example:

• We believe that the Bible is the in­spired word of God, and that God gave it for all people to read, under­stand and follow.
• We believe in the godhead: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• We believe in God's power, holi­ness, and judgment of evil, and also in His love, mercy, and desire to forgive.
• We believe that because Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, for­giveness and eternal life are available through Him,
• We believe in the importance of developing a personal relationship with God, learning about and loving Him, and putting His teach­ings into practice in our everyday lives,

How are you different?

 We believe in the importance of going back to the original teachings in the New Testa­ment and restoring the church and Chris­tian living as it first was when Jesus' apos­tles established it. God did not have the apostles start a primitive version of the church and then leave it up to future generations to update and develop the church into whatever they wanted. The pattern for the original church and Christian living that was designed by Je­sus and put in place by his inspired apostles was complete and pleasing to God, and was established for future generations to follow.

 Is the original pattern for the church still valid?

 It was always in Jesus' plans to build His church. In the gospel of Matthew 16:18 it is recorded that Jesus said "I will build my church," However, Jesus did not personally establish congregations while He was here on earth, Rather, Jesus intended for this work to be done by the apostles after He had returned to heaven. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit from heaven into the apostles to guide them in this important work. In the gospel of John we read that on the very night that he was going to be arrested Jesus told his apos­tles: "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you" John 14:26. The apostles established the first Christian congregation in Jerusalem approxi­mately ten days after Jesus ascended back to heaven. This is recorded in Acts chapter two. Later in the book of Acts you can read how the apostles and first Christians established more congregations in other cities and towns. The rest of the New Testament describes how these first congregations were organized, how they worshiped, what they taught and how the first Christians put their faith into practice in their daily lives. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in the city of Philippi, “join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you" Philippians 3:17. Paul also wrote "what you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you" 2 Timothy1:13-14. He also wrote that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Timothy 3:16-17. This means the Bible contains a complete message for us concerning what the church should be like and how we should live as Christians. If we follow these teachings in our personal lives, and organize our congregations in the same way that the first Christians did, we will be pleasing to God today just like the first church was.

 Who thought of restoring the original New Testament church?

 At different times in history and in different places in the world people have decided to leave behind traditions and creeds that have been created by man and return to the simple pattern for the church and Christian living that can be found in the Bible. History records people in Spain in the early 1600's working to restore original Christianity. There are many examples from India, Poland, Rus­sia, Ethiopia and other countries where people studied the Bible on their own, found the origi­nal design for the church and Christian life, and began following it.

 One example involved a man named Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian minister that immi­grated to the United States from Ireland in 1807. He was deeply troubled by the rival­ries he saw between the religious denomina­tions in America, so he left his denomination and pledged to be "just a Christian" and to help congregations to be established that were churches of Christ according to the model for the church found in the Bible.

 A more recent example occurred in the 1990's. A missionary visiting a remote vil­lage in Nicaragua was surprised to discover that the village already had a congregation. He learned that although decades earlier a missionary had brought Bibles to the village, when war broke out the earlier missionary left before doing any teaching. So where had the church come from? The people of the village had simply read the New Testa­ment and put into practice what they read. They, like others, had restored a church of Christ.

 What should we restore?

 Some of the elements that existed in the church in New Testament times were spe­cific to the first- century and are not im­portant to restore. For example, we do not need to dress in first-century clothing and use oil lamps. However, there are teachings and practices of the original church that were put in place by Jesus' inspired apostles that were meant to be permanent teachings and practices in Christ's church. For example:

• How did people become Christians in the original church? We need to teach people to become Christians in the same way today.
• What did the original church do in its Sunday worship services? We need to include the same things in our worship services today.
• What kind of organization existed in the original church? We need to have the same leadership and structure in the church today.
• What motivated the first Christians to live to please God? We need to develop the same motivation in our daily lives to please God.

 Conclusion

 Since the Bible writers were inspired by God, and since the Bible contains God's complete message for mankind, it is the only basis we need for our faith. If we will follow the pattern for the church and for our personal daily Christian life as described in the New Testament we can be pleasing to God today just as the first Christians were. This is what the church of Christ is. We are not a church that has developed its rituals and tradi­tions over the centuries into a complicated hierarchy. Nor are we a newly created church that is designing itself to be suitable to every­one's tastes and feelings.

 We are an independent congregation that looks to the example of the first Christians, as recorded in the Bible, to know what our per­sonal lives and our congregation should be like. We are committed to both the spirit and pattern of original, New Testament Christian­ity.

 Perhaps you now have more specific ques­tions about the church of Christ. If you do, we invite you to visit our congregation to get an­swers to your questions and to see what our efforts to restore simple New Testament Chris­tianity look like. May God bless your efforts to honor and please him with your life.