A church patterned
after the original:
A family of people growing in love and grace:
How the church will greet you:
What is the difference?
The Word "church"
in the Bible does not refer to a building, but to a group or body of
people who have been called to gather together. The sign in front of
our building says, "the church of Christ meets here."
The "church of Christ"
is the same thing as the "body of Christ" (Colossians
1:18). When a person comes to believe in Jesus enough to submit
themselves to the word of God, He adds them to the church of Christ.
"Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls..And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers...Praising
God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:41,42,47)
There are a lot of "churches" in
this world, but the New Testament speaks of only one. It is the one
body of people to which God adds the saved.
We appreciate your interest
in the Lord's will and hope you are here because you are searching for
what God has to say about His church. The following article will explain
how the church of Christ is different from denominational churches.
If you were to visit the church of Christ which meets in Tarentum, here
is what you would find.
A CHURCH PATTERNED AFTER THE ORIGINAL:
We are Christians, disciples
of Jesus Christ who we believe, according to the scriptures, to be the
Son of God. We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the church and
we are His body (Col. 1:18). The churches of Christ worldwide have no
councils, conferences, headquarters or any other man-made organizations
which govern in any way the individual congregations. Our creed book
is the Bible. Our beliefs and doctrines are found in the Bible. We teach
what the Bible teaches and reject all human traditions which stand in
opposition to Biblical truth. To put it simply the Head of this church
is Christ. Our loyalties are to Him and His teachings alone as He Himself
said, "If a man love me, he will keep my
words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him, He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings; and
the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me"
(Jn. 14:23,24). Some would say our position of careful obedience
is too legalistic. But, it was the Lord who said, "This
people draweth near unto me with their mouth and honoreth me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mt. 15:8,9).
By honoring traditions more than the truth revealed in the inspired
scriptures, over 400 denominations now exist in this country. This is
in complete contradiction to Jesus' prayer for oneness and Paul's command
that the disciples all speak the same thing (Jn.
17:20,21; 1 Cor. 1:10). Peter said, "If
any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God," (1 Pet. 4:11).
The Bible reveals that divisions
are a result of our carnal nature (1 Cor. 3:3).
The question that every member of the church has asked is this. To which
of the many divisions should I join myself so that I may be obedient
to my Lord? There is an answer to this question which is right and cannot
be wrong. The answer is to join ourselves to the disciples who have
chosen to forsake all tradition and return to the simple example of
the New Testament disciples. We are sure to give proper respect and
honor to the Lord if we work and worship in the same way the inspired
disciples did. That is why you will find the disciples here holding
up the Word of the Lord in opposition to the many traditions and falsehoods
which today are called "religion." You will find disciples
of Christ who reverence the Bible "...not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God," (1
Thes. 2:13). Ask yourself this question: What denomination was
Paul a member of? Which denomination was Peter or Barnabas a member
of? Which denomination did Jesus ordain and establish? The answer is
that there were no denominations then and none are authorized by the
Lord! What then can sincere Christians do? They can boldly return to
the pattern of the original church and worship God in a way that is
RIGHT and CANNOT be wrong!
A FAMILY OF
PEOPLE GROWING IN LOVE AND GRACE
Through worship and service
patterned after the original, members of the church of Christ strive
to show honor and respect to their Lord. By continual submission to
the message of God's Spirit the members of the church show honor and
respect to God Himself. Through the word of the Lord, our minds are
transformed and we become a living sacrifice dedicated to good works
so that our Lord will be glorified (Rom. 12:1,2).
Jesus said that His disciples should be a light to the world. "Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father, who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). But
please do not misunderstand. Members of the church make no claims to
be perfect in all things, so no one should ever be uncomfortable with
us. We all need Christ's grace indefinitely. But, though we constantly
strive for personal enlightenment, we can "know" our worship
is proper and pleasing because it is patterned after the original.
Members of the church are learning
to love as the Lord loves. In John 13:34,35,
Jesus says that His disciples will be recognized by the love they have
one for another. It is the commandment of Jesus that we love one another
as He has loved us. This is our constant goal. We understand that all
the obedience in the world will be inadequate in honoring God if there
is not love. Our loyalties are to Love God first with all our heart,
mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves or as Christ loves
us (Matt. 22:37-40). This Love compels
us to be obedient to our Lord ("If a man
love me he will keep my words" Jn. 14:23). This Love compels
us to seek the good of others before ourselves. Part of this is our
faithful attendance to the assembling of the saints for the purpose
of worship, instruction and encouragement. We realize God's emphasis
on fellowship and continued faithfulness.
"Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful
that promised), And let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as ye see the day approaching...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. And whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Heb.
10:23-25; Col. 3:16,17)
Another part of living our love
for others is making every effort to preach the true gospel of Jesus
Christ, free from the influence of human traditions and teachings. This
is the goal of this website. Have you ever wondered about all the contradictions
between your church's doctrines and the Bible?? Are you concerned that
the Bible is used far too little as the rule for all religious practices??
Come visit the Lord's church and see how refreshing and enlightening
it can be to trust completely in the word of the Lord.
HOW THE CHURCH
WILL GREET YOU
When you visit the church of
Christ you will be greeted with a warm smile and a friendly handshake.
There will be no pressure. There will be no emotional appeals and no
shouting. Our worship assemblies are easy to be comfortable in and all
things are done decently and in order (1 Cor.
14:40). You will hear the Word of God, which is the seed of the
Kingdom (Lk. 8), preached in an effort
to bring about faith. "So then, faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). You
will hear brothers and sisters in Christ singing and admonishing one
another in song, making a sacrifice to God, that is the fruit of our
lips giving thanks to his name (Heb. 13:15,16).
Every first day of the week (Sunday) the members of the church, as instructed
by Christ Himself, remember the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
by partaking of the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (1
Cor. 11:23-29). There is a collection taken only on the Lord's
Day (1 Cor. 16:2) for the support of the
work.
WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE?
I have only mentioned a few
aspects of the glorious church of the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed
in the scripture and practiced in Tarentum. It is likely that some are
now saying, "What difference does it make, God doesn't care where
or how you worship Him?" I will not attempt to answer this question
in depth here, but I will close by allowing God and His word to give
an answer:
"Look to
yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but
that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth (goes beyond,
rj), and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."
(2 Jn. 8,9)
"Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
(Jude 3)
"Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly that, in the latter times, some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons...Take
heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing
this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." (1
Tim. 4:1,16)
"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 perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
(2 Tim. 3:16,17)
"There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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" (Eph. 4:4-6)
R. Johnson
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