What to Expect
Friendliness
You can expect a warm, friendly welcome. Friendliness is a natural response of a Christian. We believe that one of the basic foundation principles of Christianity is love and friendship toward our fellow man (Matthew 22:36-40). True Christianity recognizes no sex, social or racial differences (Galatians 3:28). Neither does it permit respect of persons on the basis of poverty or wealth (James 2:1-9). Jesus is our superb example in friendliness, in that he was compassionate toward all humanity, regardless of their status in life. We believe you will find that same spirit among Christians today. Therefore, when you visit us, you will be considered an honored guest. You will be greeted with kindness and courtesy.
Singing
You can expect congregational singing. Singing is a vital part of our worship. All members of our congregation will blend their voices together in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The purpose of our songs is to praise God, and to teach and admonish one another through our singing (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16). Since the command to sing is specific and addressed to the individual, we do not add a mechanical instrument of music in our worship in songs. For the same reason we do not have choirs to sing for us or any type of mood music to entertain us. Many who have visited us have been highly impressed with the beauty and spirituality involved in congregational singing.
Simplicity
You can expect our worship to be simple. It’s simple because it is based entirely on the worship authorized in the New Testament. Jesus taught that our worship was to be spiritual and according to truth (John 4:24). Our worship to God includes the Lord’s supper, giving, singing, prayer and teaching the gospel. Each of these blooms with the beauty of simplicity. We believe you will be impressed with the simplicity of our worship.
The Lord's Supper
You can expect us to partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week. Jesus instituted this supper as a simple memorial of his death on the cross (Matthew 26:26-29, I Corinthians 11:23-26). As we partake of the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, our minds are to be centered on the events of the cross. In this act we have communion or fellowship with Christ (I Corinthians 10:16). It was the practice of the early church to eat the Lord’s supper every first day of the week (Acts 20:7). We do not practice closed communion. As the communion is passsed to each individual in the assembly, we each examine ourselves that we may partake of it in a worthy manner (I Corinthians 11:27-29). We do not examine, encourage or forbid any guest concerning his participation in the Lord’s Supper. It is the choice of our guest. However, we would hasten to point out that there can be no communion or fellowship with Christ unless we are faithful children of God (I John 1:5-7, Galatians 3:26-27).
Teaching
You can expect Christ-centered, Bible teaching in our classrooms and pulpits. We believe the Bible to be an inspired, authoritative book (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We believe that if a man speaks it should be from the Word of God (I Peter 4:11). Our Bible class teachers usually teach directly from the Bible. The sermons you will hear from our pulpits can be supported by the Bible. In most sermons scripture references are given to enable the listener to check the Bible for himself to see if we are speaking the truth. We encourage you to check what we say by searching the scripture (Acts 17:11; John 5:39).
An Invitation to Become a Christian
At the close of each sermon you can expect an invitation to become a Christian. You will be given an opportunity to express your faith in Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins, confessing Christ before men and being buried with the Lord in baptism (John 8:24, Luke 13:3, Matthew 10:32, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Galatians 3:26-27). We will not embarrass you by approaching you personally. We will make our appeal to you to become a Christian from the pulpit. Then an invitation song will be sung for your encouragement. If you choose to obey the Lord, you may come to the front and let your choice be known. May we point out that the church does not have to be assembled for you to obey the gospel. You can obey at any hour of the day or night by simply letting your request be known (Acts 16:30-33).