The Church of Christ is a church that has a name found in the Bible. Paul writing to the church that met in Rome said, “Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you” (Romans 16:16). We do not identify under any name of a man that started a division of another church; we are a part of the church of Christ because it was purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross (Acts 20:28); since it was purchased by Jesus Christ, it is Christ’s church or the church of Christ.

The Church of Christ is a church that is founded upon the teachings of the New Testament. We use the New Testament as our sole basis in everything we do. Jesus gave His apostles the “keys to the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19), and they set forth the Biblical commands for how we are to conduct ourselves in service to God. It is said of the first century church that “they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

The Church of Christ is a church that is overseen by an eldership. The New Testament uses a few terms interchangeably to describe the work of those that oversee the local congregation: elders (1 Peter 5:1), bishops (1 Timothy 3:2), pastors (Ephesians 4:11), presbyters (1 Timothy 4:14), overseers (Acts 20:28) and shepherd (1 Peter 5:2). The Bible always speaks of the eldership in plurality meaning there is no one single elder of any congregation; they are to oversee and “feed the church” (Acts 20:28).

The Church of Christ is a church that has men that serve as deacons. The deacons are special servants that oversee different components of the church. Paul tells Timothy that the work of a deacon is an office that greatly assists the local congregation (1 Timothy 3:8- 13).

The Church of Christ is a church that does not use any kind of mechanical instruments in the worship service. Nowhere in the New Testament is the use of instruments authorized. In Ephesians 5:19, we are told, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” (Ephesians 5:19) and elsewhere to those in the city of Colossae, “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” (Colossians 3:16). In both passages, we are told that we use our heart and admonish each other as we sing. You will not find a piano, guitar, or praise team – we all grab a provided hymnal and sing praises for the Lord.

The Church of Christ is a church that partakes of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. We learn that when Paul came into the city of Troas, “upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight” (Acts 20:7). Since every week has a first day, we partake of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. 1 Corinthians 11:26 reads “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.” Since the Lord Jesus Christ has not returned – as all will know and see, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and that will be the end of the earth – we continue weekly to observe the Lord’s Supper.

The Church of Christ is a church that prays to the Father through Jesus Christ. We do not pray to someone on this earth or anyone that has departed this earth, we pray to the God who created the world simply by speaking it into existence (Genesis 1). Jesus Christ states, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). We ask all things to be done in accordance with the Father’s Will, and we ask it through the name of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Christ is a church that preaches Bible things in Bible ways, and calls Bible things by Bible names. We do not shy away from preaching the truth, even if that message may be viewed as unpopular to some. Just like Paul instructed Timothy, we “preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). We do this because we know that truth sets us free (John 8:32) and the Word of God is truth (John 17:17).

The Church of Christ is a church where all members love one another and have the same goal of being faithful to God. Jesus said it best by stating, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). In keeping His commandments, we will love one another because God is love. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

The Church of Christ is a church that believes and teaches there is only one way of being saved according to the New Testament. Jesus stated that we must believe in Him, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). After believing, we must turn from our wicked and sinful ways; Biblically, this is known as repentance. Jesus again said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). After deciding to turn from sin to Christ, we must be willing to make a public confession just like the Ethiopian Eunuch stated in Acts 8:36 that we believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; in doing so, we know we will be confessed to the Father: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). The culmination of these steps is being baptized – meaning immersed in the original Greek language – into Christ as seen in Romans 6:3-4 and Galatians 3:27. Jesus, once again, said it best in Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Baptism is not the end of the journey but merely the start as we must remain faithful to the end (Matthew 10:22), that is to death (Revelation 2:10).

The Church of Christ is a church that is looking forward to visiting with you – and soon!

[Written February 2023 for a county-wide publication. Reproduced for readingtheword.net]

[This was originally written on March 16, 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.]

On my way home tonight, my thoughts kept going back to one of my favorite hymns:

“Many things about tomorrow/ 
I don’t seem to understand./
But I know Who holds tomorrow/
And I know Who holds my hand.”

I have always found great comfort from this refrain but it seems even more so currently - you hear the world is going into mass hysteria; is it a lot of hype?!; how long will these things last?!’ What should I do?

Again I am reminded of another favorite hymn (every time I write, every hymn I think of seems to be my favorite hymn):

“Hold to His Hand/
To God’s unchanging Hand/
Build your hopes on things eternal,/
Hold to God’s unchanging Hand!”

In a world where details are changing by the minute, there is (and has always been) one thing that is a true constant: GOD! Consider at the end of the Old Testament, God says through Malachi, “For I am the Lord, I change not!” (Malachi 3:6) In the New Testament, He promised “for he hath said: I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5) meaning that we are not here alone, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:6). The sweet Psalmist describes the Lord as the Shepherd that guides us through the highs and lows of this adventure we call life (Psalm 23). 

What is coming up tomorrow? I do not even claim to have the answer to that! I do know one thing for certain, I am holding the Hand of the Man that does!

My meditation thought for you, my dear friend, is are you truly holding to His Hand?

“But I know Who holds tomorrow/
And I know Who holds my hand!”
​
readingtheword.net

It has been raining for what seems like forever. You are cramped inside this space with only one window and all you see is rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. It is your first time seeing anything like this. You do not even know how long the rain will last, talk about a great first impression. Then the rain stops. Fast-forward some time and you can get off the ark. (You are Noah, by the way.) Once you are off the ark, God makes an “everlasting covenant” with you (Gen. 9:16).

God said, “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Gen. 9:13-17) The rainbow is the indicator that God will never flood the entire earth again. Period. That is what it stands for.

The dictionary defines the rainbow as “an arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the spectrum and that is formed opposite the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in raindrops, spray, or mist.1 ” Nowhere in either the Biblical or Secular Definition does the rainbow refer to something or someone who is homosexual. Unfortunately, too many people in this world think that the rainbow stands for all things homosexual. God is plain and clear when He says that homosexuality is a sin.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans (1:26-27), Paul says that the idea of homosexuality is “against nature.” We know that when we go against something that God has commanded is a sin (“transgression of the law”, I John 3:4). It was not sugar coated when it was written, and we should not sugar coat it today. When the Supreme Court decided to allow gay marriage, they had no right to do so. God has set His Word, and we are not at liberty to change it to make us feel better, happier, etc. (cf. Rev. 22:18-19). When the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is acceptable, they were becoming as God in making the rules. God gave specific warnings to Adam and Eve about trying to be as God in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2 & 3). Strong words to warn against changing God’s Word to fit some agenda.

What do we do about this? (1) regard the rainbow for what God intended, (2) not accept the practice of homosexuality, (3) pray for the Supreme Court, those who practice homosexuality, and anyone struggling with God’s Will. Remember that God’s Word is complete and final (II Tim. 3:16-17).

Jude 2.

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1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rainbow

In 1991, country musician Aaron Tippin released an album titled “You’ve Got to Stand for Something.” The title-track of that album quickly became a hit for Tippin and one of his signature songs. The often repeated chorus states:

"He'd say you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything./ You've got to be your own man not a puppet on a string./ Never compromise what's right and uphold your family name./ You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."

How true! It seems that in the world, there are too many people that get upset or offended over anything that come by because they truly don’t know what they believe or stand for. Since they have no true feelings, they can go along with anything until something even better passes by.

The Bible states otherwise, however.

The Psalmist starts out by stating that a man is blessed if he “walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” (Psalm 1:1). Here we see the progressive nature of sin. After this contrast, the righteous man “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (1:3, emphasis added). We are told that they righteous man has good roots and is firmly planted. Are you firmly planted?

When concluding His Sermon on the Mount, the Master Teacher makes a contrast between a wise builder and a foolish builder, Matthew 7:24-27. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Emphasis added). Christ teaches that a good foundation is the key to life! The two houses would be exactly identical except for the choice of foundations. What foundation are you building on?

There is only one foundation out there that will get you to Heaven. Jesus identified it Himself when asking His disciples “But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:15-18, emphasis added). Jesus states that the confession that Peter made – not Peter himself – is the solid foundation. Once this foundation is established, one must by necessity (see Acts 22:16) act upon it and remain faithful until death (see Revelation 2:10). The chorus of My Hope is Built on Nothing Less states:

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Jude 2.

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