|
FRIENDLINESS
You can expect a warm, friendly welcome. Friendliness is a natural
response of a Christian. We believe that one of the basic foundation
principles of Christianity is love and friendship toward our fellowman
(Matthew 22:36-40). Neither does it permit respect of persons on the
basis of poverty or wealth (James 2:1-9). Jesus is our superb example
in friendliness, in that he was compassionate toward all humanity, regardless
of their status in life. We believe you will find that same spirit among
Christians today. Therefore, when you visit us, you will be considered
an honored guest. You will be greeted with kindness and courtesy. Why
not give us the opportunity to become your friend? (Cf Proverbs
18:24).
ORDER
You can expect our service to be with reverence and order. We
strive to engage in all worship and service with decency and order (1
Corinthians 14:40). The order of our worship is usually planned by our
elders. Each item of worship is usually announced and often briefly explained
by the men who lead us in our worship. This enables each of us to know
what is going on and helps us to better prepare our minds for worship.
We try to avoid all extremism in worship. Neither ritualism nor emotionalism
is characteristic of our worship. You can expect our worship to be spiritual,
reverent and orderly.
SIMPLICITY
You can expect our worship to be simple. It's simple because
it is based on the worship authorized in the New Testament. Jesus taught
that our worship was to be spiritual and according to truth (John
4:24). Our worship to God includes the Lord's supper, giving, singing,
prayer and teaching the gospel. Each of these blooms with the beauty
of simplicity. We do not try to improve on God's divine plan and beauty
with pageantry or innovations of men. We believe you will be impressed
with the simplicity of our worship.
SINGING
You
can expect congregational singing. Singing is a vital part of our
worship. All members of our congregation will blend their voices together
in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The purpose of our songs is to
praise God, to teach and admonish one another through our singing (Ephesians
5:19; Colossians 3:16). Since the command to sing is specific and addressed
to the individual, we do not add a mechanical instrument of music in
our worship in songs. For the same reason, we do not have a choir to
sing for us or any type of mood music to entertain us. Many who have
visited us have been highly impressed with the beauty and spirituality
involved in congregational singing. Why not come and see for yourself?
GIVING
You can expect us to give a free-will offering. As the Bible
teaches, we give liberally as God has prospered us, on the first day
of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Our liberality is an evidence of
our devotion to God (2 Corinthians 8:1-8). There are many factors that
determine the amount of our offerings, but above all they must be free-will
offerings (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). When the offering is taken, it is entirely
the choice of our guest whether they will give an offering or not. We
will not embarrass you by personally asking for an offering. Neither
do we want you to feel embarrassed if you choose not to or cannot afford
to give.
PRAYER
You can expect our public prayers
to be led by men (1 Timothy 2:8-13). Prayer is a vital source of
strength in a Christian's life. We pray often in private and with one
another. When we come together in an assembly, prayer is a very important
part of our worship. Prayers are offered frequently when we assemble
together for worship. In keeping with an orderly fashion of worship,
it is usually announced that we will be lead in prayer by a certain
brother. Everyone does not pray his own prayer out loud. We are led
in prayer by a brother who speaks his prayer publicly, and the rest
of us follow him silently as we pray together. This allows us to worship
reverently and orderly. It also avoids noise and confusion. You will
not be embarrassed by our calling on you to lead a public prayer.
THE LORD'S SUPPER
You can expect us to partake
of the Lord's supper on the first day of every week [Sunday]. Jesus
instituted this supper as a simple memorial of his death on the cross
(Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). As we partake of the unleavened
bread and fruit of the vine, our minds are to be centered on the events
of the cross. In this act we have communion or fellowship with Christ
(1 Corinthians 10:16). It was the practice of the early church to eat
the Lord's supper every first day of the week (Acts 20:7). We do not
practice closed communion. As the communion is passed to each individual
in the assembly, we each examine ourselves that we may partake of it
in a worthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). We do not examine, encourage
or forbid any guest concerning his participation in the Lord's supper.
It is the choice of our guest. However, we would hasten to point out
that there can be no communion or fellowship with Christ unless we
are faithful children of God (1 John 1:5-7; Galatians 3:26-27).
TEACHING
You can expect Christ-centered,
Bible teaching in our classrooms and pulpits. We believe the Bible
to be an inspired, authoritative book (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We believe
that if a man speaks is should be from the Word of God (1 Peter 4:11).
Our Bible class teachers usually teach directly from the Bible. The
sermons you will hear from our pulpits can be supported by the Bible.
In sermons, scripture references are given to enable the listener to
check the Bible for himself to see if we are speaking the truth. We
encourage you to check what we say by searching the scriptures (Acts
17:11; John 5:39).
At the close of each sermon you can expect an invitation
to become a Christian. You will be given an opportunity to express
your faith in Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins, confessing Christ
before
men and being buried with the Lord in baptism. (Cf. John 8:34;
Luke 13:3; Matthew 10:32; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:26-27)
We will not embarrass you by approaching you personally. We will make
our appeal to you to become a Christian from the pulpit. Then an invitation
song will be sung for your encouragement. If you choose to obey the
Lord, you may come to the front and let your choice be known. May we
point out that the church does not have to be assembled for you to
obey the gospel. You can obey at any hour of the day or night by simply
letting your request be known (Cf. Acts 16:30-33)
|