Who We Are and What We Believe

 

The Allensburg Church of Christ is an independent fellowship of believers which has no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible and no name but Christian. We are called Christian in the same sense that “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

We believe that Christ is the Head of His church, and therefore, every Christian is a part of His body and should live in obedience to Him. We do not believe we are the only Christians, but we earnestly strive to be Christians only. We attempt to speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where the Bible is silent. We take the Bible as our only rule of faith and practice.

We are committed to maintaining unity in the essentials, to allowing freedom in matters of opinion, and to demonstrating love in all things.

We are committed to the Bible as the inspired, accurately revealed, Word of God. We are committed to following Jesus, the Living Word of God. We are committed to the fulfillment of the great commission, which involves “making disciples of all the nations.” We are committed to serve Him with our heads, hearts and hands.

Our aim is to follow the pattern of the early Christians, in so far as possible. We try always “to do Bible things in Bible ways, and call Bible things by Bible names.” We do not follow any creed written by men; our sole guidebook is God’s Word, as revealed in the Bible. In matters of opinion, where there is no definite statement from the Bible, we try to allow for each individual to follow the dictates of his or her own heart and conscience (see Romans 14).

 

We believe in one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:16 & 17, John 14:9 & 10

We believe God is the creator of man and of all things.
Genesis 1:1, Acts 17:24-28

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son and Savior of the world.
John 3:16, Matthew 1:18, John 20:24-31

We believe the Holy Spirit dwells within every Christian.
John 16:5-15

We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and the final authority for all matters of faith.
Romans 15:4, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16

We believe that man, created by God, willfully sinned, and as a result, is lost and without hope apart from Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:12, Romans 3:23, I John 1:7

We believe that salvation (the forgiveness of sins) comes by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (his death on the cross).
Matthew 26:28, Romans 5:8-11, Ephesians 2:8-9

We believe the Bible teaches that the pattern to follow for salvation and becoming a Christian is to believe in Christ as God’s Son and Savior of the world, to repent of personal sin, to confess Christ as Lord, and to be immersed (baptized) into Christ.
Luke 24:45-47, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:1-7, 2 Peter 3:9

We believe that the church is the body and bride of Christ, founded on the day of Pentecost, consisting of all Christians everywhere.
Matthew 16:13-18, Acts 2:14-47

We believe that death seals the eternal destiny of each person. The saved will inherit eternal life; the unsaved, eternal separation from God.
Romans 8:10-11, Daniel 12:2, John 6:47

 

We believe that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that only through God’s grace can anyone be saved (Ephesians 2:8-10). We believe that we must repent of our sins; that is, we must be truly sorry for the sin in our lives, to turn our backs on those sins and live in a way that is pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 7:9, 10).

 

We practice baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sins, according to the New Testament (Acts 2:38). We believe that baptism is not a work, but an act of faith and obedience to God’s command (1 Peter 3:21). Romans 6:1-6 teaches that baptism is a burial, in which the old way of life is put to death, and that a person rises from the water to “live a new life.”

 

Acts 2:38 teaches us that at their baptism, believers receive “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” We understand this to mean that God’s Spirit comes to live in our hearts as our Comforter (John 14:16). He helps us in our prayers (Rom. 8:26) and assists us in understanding spiritual matters (1 Cor. 2:10-16).

 

We observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday; we believe that this was the early church’s practice as well (Acts 20:7). The Communion is a memorial service honoring Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26), and it was Jesus’ commandment that all His followers should share in it (Matthew 26:26-28). We ask only that a person follow the words of the Apostle Paul and “examine himself before he eats and drinks” (1 Corinthians 11:28).

 

We believe that our Christian faith must reveal itself in our individual lives and character. The qualities which Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit” must be seen in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

 

If you are not a Christian, we want to help you come to know God in a real and personal way. If you are already a believer and are looking for a place to worship and serve God, we invite you to join with us.