Who is Jesus Christ? According to the Bible, God's revealed word to us (2 Timothy 3:16-17), He is God in the flesh and our Creator (John 1:1-3). He is also our Savior. Salvation can only be found in Him (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). He came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). This includes you and me because we have sinned and sin separates us from God. The primary mission of the church, the body of saved individuals, is to spread the good news about how salvation can be found in Jesus Christ. Some false teachers claim that we only need to "love" Jesus in order to be saved. However, He taught (John 14:23) that if we love Him we will keep His commands. Thus, saving faith includes obedience to God's will. It is impossible to preach and teach about Jesus without emphasizing the necessity of obeying His teachings. The Davis church of Christ loves the Lord and has as its mission to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord (Master) and Savior until He comes again.

Worship

"God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Since God is Spirit and man was created and has been "recreated" (born again) in His image, worship must be in spirit. The word of God is truth (John 17:17) and therefore all worship, to be in truth, must be measured by that standard (Col. 3:17). Worship at the Davis church of Christ includes observing the Lord's Supper on every first day of the week to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. We sing praises to the Lord and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We pray to thank the Lord for His many blessings, to request God's help for the sick and needy, and for forgiveness of sins and the strength to lead faithful Christian lives. We meet together to hear God's word proclaimed and to study the Bible so that we can draw closer to the Lord. We also contribute financially on the first day of the week so the work of the Lord can be accomplished.

The Church of Christ

What is the church of Christ? The Bible teaches that the church of Christ consists of the saved believers of Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:23,24). The church of Christ is also referred to in the Bible as the kingdom of heaven, the Way, the body of Christ, the saints, the household of God, a royal priesthood, and a people of God's own possession.

In the New Testament the Greek term "Ekklesia" is the actual term used by Jesus and His apostles. The term means "to call out". Therefore, the church refers to all those called out of the world into God's service (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 5:23). The church is made up of people who obey Jesus Christ. It consists of the redeemed of God under the present reign of Christ, as it is written, "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13). The church is made up of people who have been saved by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28).

John the Baptist and Jesus, early in His ministry, preached, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2; Matt. 4:17; Mark 15:1). The kingdom of heaven or church was to be established in the near future. The apostles were commissioned to preach (Matt. 28:18-20); however, they were instructed to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come and guide them before beginning (Luke 24:29). The Spirit came on the first Pentecost after the resurrection and the preaching of the gospel began (Acts 2:31-34; 36-38). On the day of Pentecost, Peter and Jesus' disciples baptized about 3,000 into the name of Jesus Christ and they were added to the church (Acts 2:41). After Pentcost the church or kingdom was always spoken of as being in existence (Acts 2:47; 5:11; 8:1; 11-22; 13:1; 14:27; Col. 1:3; Rev. 1:9).

Jesus said that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18-20). He is the head of the church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23). This means that members of His body, the church, must obey Him in everything.

The mission of the church is to evangelize or make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20). The church is to proclaim the good news of God and His Son, Jesus (Eph. 3:10). The church is also to stand up for the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). That is, the church is to teach and defend the doctrine of Jesus Christ. The church is to encourage one another and help the needy (Gal. 6:10; 2 Cor. 8:18-21).

The first step to salvation is to hear God's word proclaimed, what the world considers the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). A person must listen to the gospel in order to believe (Rom. 10:14-17). He or she must believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24), must confess Jesus as Lord or Master (Rom. 10:9,10), must repent (Acts 3:19), and must be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26,27). Thus, an individual becomes a member of the church of Christ when he or she loves God and obeys His commands. A person is added to the church by the Lord when he or she is baptized into Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26-27). There is only one church into which one can be baptized and saved, and that is Christ's church.

The worship of the church of Christ consists of five items according to the New Testament. They are as follows: praying, preaching and teaching, singing, observing the Lord's Supper every first day of the week, and giving. The early church prayed together (Acts 2:42). Christians sang psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to the Lord and to one another (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19). They sang making melodies in their hearts. They observed the Lord's Supper every first day of the week to remember what Jesus Christ had done for them (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). They gave of their financial resources as they had been prospered (1 Cor. 16:1,2). And the early Christians also preached the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:18-25; Gal. 1:8,9).