In a world with private space travel, all the knowledge of civilization at our fingertips, electric cars, non-electric trucks, and pizzas that have fried chicken for dough; why do we seem so stuck in the past as a church. Well, because the true church of Christ is stuck in that same past.
You may have heard someone say we are part of a movement to restore New Testament Christianity. That is true. Several churches in early America were dedicated to the idea of using the Bible alone as their guide to faith and truth. No more creeds, synods, popes, or councils. Men like Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone decided to let God speak to the church through his word and they pledged to neither add to nor subtract from it as they set about restoring Christ’s church.
The only recorded period of the church operating, spreading the gospel, and worshipping under the direct guidance of Jesus himself is the church of God that existed from A.D. 30-100. Jesus taught the true principles of the kingdom of heaven for three-years before his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Our Lord then empowered his apostles with divine knowledge and power from God, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”-John 14:26.
These men preached, taught, rebuked, and praised the first generation of Christians and churches as they were, “transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”-Romans 12:2. This made the first century church unique because they could discern the will of God directly from the men Jesus had appointed and enabled by the very Spirit of God (I Corinthians 2:10-16). If we want to become a church that pleases God, what other church should we emulate?
This brings us to a brief comment about the phrase, “restoration church.” The church of Christ has existed since the day of Pentecost. It will continue until the Son hands it over to the Father on the last day. Christ’s church was not restored to existence in the early 1800’s. We at North Second Street are not under the illusion that we, and we only, are “the” church of Christ in the area. What Campbell and Stone attempted to do was restore the ancient faith, worship, and practice to churches. Using the churches of the first century as a guide and following the divine instruction in the 27-books of the New Testament, we hope to be “a” church of Christ.
Do we strive to restore the biblical gospel and worship of the Bible to our congregations? Of course we do. If we want to be right before Jesus; who gave his life so we may be a part of his body, why attempt anything different? The Spirit tells us through Paul to, “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”-II Thessalonians 2:15. We strive to imitate the churches who heard those words, and obey what we read in the letters written as those men were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Then and only then can it be said we are a true church of Christ. -JS
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