Posts Tagged ‘church’
Those Who Are With Us Are More Than Those Who Are With Them
by Al Diestelkamp via Think on These Things, V. 55, N. 3, July-September 2024 Many stories in the Old Testament have become “favorites” because of the great faith shown by God’s people. Hebrews 11 is but a small sample of faith that produced heroes worthy of imitation. As a youth, one of my favorite stories…
Read MoreChurch and State: The Problem
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Church-and-State-The-Problem.mp3 Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 2:13-17 I. It is easy to forget that the relationship between church and state that we have today did not exist when Christ entered the world A. Most societies in the past were held together by a common religious loyalty B. The Babylonians expected everyone in their…
Read MoreChurch and State
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The Problem Enforcement of Religion
Read MoreRevealing the Wisdom of God
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in…
Read MoreSeeking a Church
by Jefferson David Tant So, you are moving to a new town, and you have various decisions to make. Where is a nice neighborhood? Are there any houses there that I can afford? Where is the nearest shopping center? How close to my job do I want to live? Is the traffic bad on the…
Read MoreThe Purpose of the Church
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Purpose-of-the-Church.mp3 Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 3:14-16 I. Have you paused to consider why the church exists? A. It appears to me that many of the problems faced by congregations stem from a lack of understanding the purpose of the church B. I looked at material from various denominations. 1. One, after getting a…
Read MoreHow should a church handle a significant event?
Question: Greetings Brother Hamilton, I trust your worship service went well today. Please, I need your guidance on these matters: What can the church do when someone in the church dies? How should the church go about it? I need a procedure. In other words, how can the church take responsibility? Child Birth: How can…
Read MoreNames for God’s People
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Names-for-Gods-People.mp3 Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 62:1-5 I. Names hold a particular significance in the Bible A. When a child is born in this country, parents agonize on picking out just the right name. 1. Often the name is selected because it has a nice “ring” to it 2. Because a favorite relative has the…
Read MoreWrong Concepts of the Church
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wrong-Concepts-of-the-Church.mp3 Download Audio by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreThank you for the insight your website brings
Question: Hi Jeff, I have been teaching a course on the prison epistles in a Bible college to student preachers and leaders. I am emphasizing the need for the church of Christ to focus on its core purpose, which is the proclamation of the manifold wisdom of God to the powers and authorities in the…
Read MoreThe Church: God’s Protection
The Church: God’s Protection (Part 1)The Church: God’s Protection (Part 2) by Garry Floyd
Read MoreHow Do I Choose a Church?
by Johnny O. Trail One radio station in Nashville does nothing but talk radio. As an avid talk radio listener, I am always interested in the questions and comments of those who call in. On one show, the host deals exclusively with emails that listeners have sent in. The other day, one that caught my…
Read MoreOne Reason Congregations Fail
by Perry Hall Why are congregations failing? If one answer can be given, groups rely on man’s wisdom rather than God’s. An example of this faulty thinking is found in the eldership. A common model for choosing elders and how these elders “rule” is the business model. The misaligned thinking is if they are successful…
Read MoreDenominationalism
by Doy Moyer Denominationalism today is not just about one particular doctrine but a mindset that relates to how we think about the Lord’s body. Denominational thinking perceives the church (universal) as comprised of an interconnected web of congregations instead of seeing the church as comprised of individual Christians without respect to time or location.…
Read MoreAre the churches of Christ the only correct church?
Question: Hi Jeffery, In the article “Wasn’t Babel the city of Eridu?” you mentioned, “You will not find any claim that the churches of Christ are the only correct church on this site.” Do you no longer believe in the one true church? I understand that not every church with the name “church of Christ”…
Read MoreSlinging Mud on the Bride of Christ
by Mike Richardson An Unthinkable Image Imagine attending a wedding. The bride is arrayed in a beautiful white wedding gown, ready to go down the aisle to be presented to the groom. As she walks down the aisle, people on both sides of her begin to throw mud at her. She ducks down, but the…
Read MoreTen Facts About Local Congregations
by Gardner Hall Ten facts about local congregations today: taken from the letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2,3). Christ knows their works! Most congregations have a mixture of good qualities and weaknesses. Christ considers some congregations in bad spiritual shape to be his still. Even though we might not be able to conscientiously recommend…
Read MoreWhy are there multiple churches near each other?
Question: I hope you are well. I’m writing to you to ask a question about unity. The Bible speaks about unity and that his people should be united, but why are there so many churches of Christ in one city? I live in a small town with a population of 4,000 people, and there are…
Read MoreWhat’s So Important About the Church?
by Jefferson David Tant The comment is often made, “I don’t have to go to church in order to go to heaven,” or, similarly, “I can be a Christian without going to church.” The question is, “Is that really true, or is that a misunderstanding of what “church” is all about?” What Is the Church?…
Read MoreDiscouraged. Disappointed. Disenchanted. Disconnected. Disillusioned. Disheartened. Disengaged.
by Jonathan Perz When one’s expectations for local churches full of imperfect people drive their faith, they often end up facing one, if not all, of these “D’s” in the title of this article. I talk to so many who have walked away because they are hurt by the church. Yet their greater challenge is…
Read MoreWhat Is Institutionalism?
by Gardner Hall When young disciples ask, “What is institutionalism?” … How should we answer them? A simple definition is that institutionalism is seeing God’s church as a network of congregations with its traditions and organizations. Biblically, God’s church is His saved people whose names are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:23). Only He knows who…
Read MoreRighteousness, Peace, and Joy in Jesus’ Kingdom
by Terry Wane Benton “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). The kingdom should feature an emphasis on righteousness. Living by righteous standards is what the kingdom is about. Dietary laws of the Old Testament had illustration value in foreshadowing…
Read MoreYou Can Be a Pillar in God’s Temple
by Terry Wane Benton “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from…
Read MoreI Don’t Go to Church
by Dan Chaney “I’m a Christian, I just don’t go to church.” Maybe you’ve been burned by religious people. Maybe you have social setting anxiety. Maybe you just prefer other recreational activities on Sunday. Individual motivations really aren’t the focus of this post. “I’m a Christian but I don’t go to church” sounds reasonable, possibly…
Read MoreOur Country Will One Day Relocate
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Our-Country-Will-One-Day-Relocate.mp3 by Garry Floyd
Read MoreGod’s Plan for Israel
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Gods-Plans-for-Israel.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MorePhysical Israel and the Spiritual Church
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Physical-Israel-and-the-Spiritual-Church.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreKeeping House for the Lord Until the Doors Close
by Perry Hall “Keeping house for the Lord” or, “The church is closing its doors”. These are two phrases that you might have heard. A congregation, once in the 500s, is now “closing their doors.” I just heard of another, once in the 500s, stopped meeting after COVID. Both were in the “Bible belt.” Besides…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Difference: Local and Universal Church
by Bill Robinson I have a lot of friends that I dearly love and count them as brothers who are going to disagree with this article. Nonetheless, there are others that I dearly love and also count as brothers, for whom I feel compelled to write this. We are fast approaching the idea that these…
Read MoreA Crisis of Faith?
by Orlando B. Gonzalez Perhaps you wonder whether we, as members of the “Churches of Christ”, are turning others away from Jesus by how we discuss people in other denominations, and how we talk about our practices as if they are the only right way to do things, thereby condemning those who do them differently.…
Read MoreChurch Discipline
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. Each congregation of the Lord’s people has the right and the responsibility to control its membership A. Ideally, each congregation is composed of faithful Christians. Because of their common beliefs and shared work, they are joined together in serving God. B. However, we understand that just because a person wears the name of…
Read MoreWhy I Didn’t Leave the Church
by Matthew W. Bassford The posts appear pretty regularly on my Facebook feed. Some poor soul, simmering with hurt and anger, explains why they left the churches of Christ. The explanations are generally long and filled with accusations of bad behavior by brethren. I get it. Like many preachers, I have suffered at the hands…
Read MoreFinding an Unbroken Line of Churches
by Doy Moyer We sometimes hear talk about finding the original church. In the search for the original church, we may then make the mistake of thinking that we can find a line of churches that go all the way back to the 1st century to prove which one is the right church. Besides conflating…
Read MoreWhat is “Fellowship”?
by David Smitherman The early disciples “continued steadfastly in ..fellowship” (Acts 2:42). And, this “constant attention” to fellowship is a practice of our first-century brethren that we would do well to imitate. But what is involved in “fellowship,” especially fellowship with a local church? Fellowship is not “placing membership” or having one’s name “on the…
Read MoreNever Again Will They Learn War
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Never-Again-Will-They-Learn-War.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 65:17-25 I. King Nebuchadnezzar had enough with the rebellion of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah A. He removed the nobles to retrain them in his ways; yet, the stubborn Jews continued to rebel. Jehoakim was removed and his son Jehoachin was put in his place. B. He removed the…
Read MoreThe Church in Prophecy
by Jerry C. Brewer Over the period of many centuries, the process of revealing God’s eternal purpose in the church was gradual. As parents impart knowledge to their children in portions and parts from infancy to adulthood, God dealt with the human race in the revelation of His eternal purpose. Fed on milk when they…
Read MoreOn This Rock (Matthew 16:18)
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/On-This-Rock.mp3 by Joe Greer Lessons to Build Your Faith
Read MoreCan We Just Be Christians
by Craig Thomas In a world filled with religious traditions and denominational churches, the concept of being simply Just a Christian is difficult to communicate. Yet a careful reader of the New Testament will realize Jesus did not die so His followers could be divided into sects and parties (John 17:20-23). Jesus died to reconcile…
Read MoreCan a Good Man Be Saved Outside the Church?
by N. B. Hardeman Excerpts from “The Church- Its Unity,” Hardeman’s Tabernacle Sermons, Volume 2 I regret that there is such a teaching abroad as this – for instance, that a man does not have to become a member of the church in order to be saved; that there are just as good people outside…
Read MoreHow to Find a Church
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/How-to-Find-a-Church.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
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