apostasy – La Vista Church of Christ

Stages of Decline

September 19, 2022

by Steve Wolfgang The stages of development often seen in religious fellowships, related here by historian David Edwin Harrell, Jr., are well worth contemplating in these times. From truth-oriented to group-oriented. From open controversy to closed controversy. From self-conscious rejection of society to self-conscious acceptance of society. From builders to preservers. [Ed Harrell, “B.C. Goodpasture:…

Drifting Away

May 4, 2021

by Matthew W. Bassford Hebrews 2:1 contains one of the most sobering warnings in the entire Bible: “For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” A couple of verses later, the writer uses a rhetorical question to make the point that…

Would We Recognize Trends Which Point to an Apostasy?

March 13, 2021

by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, March 2001 Salmagundi I have been attending churches of Christ for more than fifty years. I have been preaching the gospel for more than forty of them. I do not think it presumptuous to suggest that I know what I am talking about. The things that point to apostasy are not…

The Chains of the Past

March 7, 2021

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Chains-of-the-Past.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Colossians 3:1-11 I. In Charles Dickens’ story “A Christmas Story,” Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his partner who is wear chains of cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses. When asked what the chains meant, “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the…

See If You Can Find a Man

June 21, 2020

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/See-If-You-Can-Find-a-Man.mp3 Text: Jeremiah 5:1-13 I. The last days of the southern kingdom of Judah A. The people had become very corrupt – Jeremiah 5:20-23 B. God purposed to severely punish His people – Jeremiah 5:26-31 II. But there is one hope – Jeremiah 5:1 A. Jeremiah is told to run through Jerusalem and find a man 1. A man who…

Is a Christian who teaches error still a brother in Christ?

July 8, 2018

Question: A big fire started after our morning services this morning! One of our members here adamantly disagreed with me when I mentioned that when a brother sins by teaching doctrinal error, he must repent, and if he refuses to repent he is “a brother in error.” Until he does repent, we are no longer…

The Church in Crisis

March 31, 2018

by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. I have a sermon titled “Crises in the Jerusalem Church” that I preach from time to time. It is based on notes that I took on a sermon I heard brother Clinton Hamilton preach many years ago. It points to several crises faced by the first congregation of Christians ever.…

The Pattern for Personal Apostasy

March 8, 2018

by Dee Bowman It seems to me that even evil follows a predictable pattern. I have seen one or two persons, on rare occasions, suddenly and unexpectedly bolt from the faith and forsake God – seemingly all in one motion. However, this has certainly been the exception and not the rule. Most people who leave…

Reactionary Apostasy

February 14, 2018

by Warren E. Berkley via Guardian of Truth, February 1, 1990 Here is a situation that isn’t hypothetical. It is common, and thus worthy of our attention. In a local church where there is a history of objection to the sponsoring church arrangement and other unauthorized innovations, war breaks out. Brethren “bite and devour one another,”…

Can a person who was once a Christian, but now is as worldly as anyone else, come back?

January 22, 2012

Question: Hello, I John 1:9 says that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” but would that apply to someone who’s a baptized Christian but has been away from God for several months, committed fornication and has been very close to atheism? Mostly the atheism…