I am very much interested in your teachings and your church. I have therefore decided to open a branch of your church. \u00a0I have been making preparation to perform and I need your authority to enable me to do it. I should, therefore, be grateful if you would kindly assist me to enable me to establish a branch of your church.<\/p>\n
Counting very much on your cooperation and early attention.<\/p>\n
Thank you very much.<\/p>\n\t
I have no authority in such matters. That comes from Jesus, and that authority has already been given (Matthew 28:18-20). I have no church. Only Christ has a church (Matthew 16:18). Nor do you need anything other than your Bible to teach and establish a congregation of Christ’s people (Romans 10:12-17).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am very much interested in your teachings and your church. I have therefore decided to open a branch of your church. \u00a0I have been making preparation to perform and I need your authority to enable me to do it. I should, therefore, be grateful if you would kindly assist me to enable me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-23856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21194,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/have-you-heard-about-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":0},"title":"Have You Heard About the Church of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The churches of Christ are not a denomination. They are neither Protestant, Catholic, or Jew. They are comprised of individuals born again through obedience to the commands of Christ (John 3:1-5; I Peter 1:22-25). The church of Christ is the church Jesus said he would build\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55919,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-church-produce-the-bible-or-does-the-bible-produce-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":1},"title":"Does the Church Produce the Bible or Does the Bible Produce the Church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ryan Thomas Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions regarding the Bible is that it is a product of the church. Many reject the Bible as our sole source of religious authority and instruction and belittle us for believing in the \"Bible alone theory.\" Thus, there is a great need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-choose-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":2},"title":"How Do I Choose a Church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55800,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-baptism-valid-if-the-church-believes-only-jesus-is-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":3},"title":"Is a baptism valid if the church believes only Jesus is God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a member of the church of Christ and have a question for you. My mother-in-law recently started attending the church, and I am concerned about her baptism being scriptural. She was baptized in a non-denominational \"Jesus Only\" church for the forgiveness of sins. What I mean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92240,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/loose-cannons\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":4},"title":"Loose Cannons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kevin Cauley Reading the news today, I came across an article about one of the presidential candidates, in which one of his former military commanders said he was a \"loose cannon.\" Just the other day, one of our members was telling me about a man who claimed to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cannon-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45293,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-woman-be-the-educational-leader-in-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":23856,"position":5},"title":"Can a woman be the educational leader in a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am so thankful for this site and often visit it when I'm looking for a better understanding of things. I was born and raised in a church of Christ and know nothing else. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to visit many congregations throughout the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}