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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to worship with
us. We are a friendly Christ-centered church that worships
God in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:24).
Our worship times are 10:20 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday. We offer
Bible class at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Visit our website for more information about the church
of Christ at lgchurchofchrist.com.
Over the next several weeks, we will have several short
articles we hope you will study and compare to what you
have been taught. If you have any Bible questions or would
like to have a Bible study, please call us at (580) 657-4921.
All articles will be posted on our website. Cougan Collins
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. God loves us (Jn. 3:16), is patient
(2 Pet. 3:9), and wants us to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).
Jesus has all authority over heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18;
Jn. 17:2), and He is the head of the church (Eph. 1:20-23).
There is only one road to heaven (Mt. 7:13-14), and Jesus
is the only way to get there (Jn. 14:6).
The Word of God is our only authority. It thoroughly equips
us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and it gives us
all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).
Without God’s Word, we cannot have faith (Rom. 10:17),
and without faith, we cannot be pleasing to God (Heb. 11:6).
We must obey God’s Word to be born again (1 Pet. 1:21)
because it is how we learn about salvation (Jam. 1:21).
Jesus will use the Word of God to judge us on the last day
(Jn. 12:48).
We must never add or take away from God’s Word (Deut.
4:2; Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Jn. 9; Rev. 22:18). If we do, we will
be guilty of vain worship (Mt. 15:9), and we will not make
it to heaven (Mt. 7:21). Cougan Collins lgchurchofchrist.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, I stressed that God’s
Word is our only authority. This week, we will discuss how
the New Testament is our only authority.
Did you know that we are not under the Ten Commandments?
They belonged to the Law of Moses. However, nine of the
ten commandments are restated in the New Testament (Mt.
4:10; 1 Jn. 5:21; 1 Tim. 6:1; Eph. 6:1-3; Rom. 13:9; Gal.
5:19: Eph. 4:28; Rom 13:9; Col 3:5). The only command missing
is to keep the Sabbath.
When Jesus died on the cross, the requirements of the Law
of Moses were nailed to the cross (Col 2:14), and Jesus
created a new covenant that made the old one obsolete (Heb.
8: 6-7, 13; 9:15-17). The Law of Moses was our tutor to
bring us to Christ, but once Jesus brought us grace and
truth, which produces faith, the Law of Moses was no longer
binding (Jn. 1:17; Gal. 3:23-25; Rom. 7:4-6). Therefore,
we cannot use the Law of Moses for our authority. Instead,
we must use the New Testament Scriptures as our only authority
because we are under the new covenant/Christ’s Law
(Gal. 6:2). Cougan Collins lgchurchofchrist.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we learned that the New
Testament is our only authority. This week, we will talk
about the church.
The church (singular) was built and bought by Jesus’
blood (Mt. 16:18; Acts 20:18), and He is the head of the
church (Eph. 1:22-23). There is only one church/body (Eph.
4:4), which is why Paul condemned religious division also
know as denominationalism (1 Cor. 1:10). Jesus wants us
to be unified by following the pattern of the New Testament
(Jn. 17:20-21; Phil. 1:27; 2 Tim. 1:13), and He wants us
to organize the church by it.
God wants the church to have a plurality of elders (Acts
14:23; Acts 20:17, 28; Tit. 1:5-7), and they are to meet
certain qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9). Many
call themselves pastors or say they are the pastor of the
church, but did you know that a pastor, elder, overseer,
shepherd, and bishop are synonymous terms? You will never
find a singular pastor/elder over a church in Scripture.
God also wants His church to have deacons that meet certain
qualifications (1 Tim. 3:8-12). The deacons are not the
decision makers of the church, the elders are (Heb. 13:17;
1 Pet. 5:2). Finally, God wants the church to have saints/Christians
(Phil. 1:1). There are no other positions in the church.
Cougan Collins lgchurchofchirst.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we examined how the church
has elders, deacons, and saints. This week, we will examine
our worship to God.
Jesus said we must worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn.
4:24). “In spirit” means from the heart, and
“in truth” means by the authority of God’s
Word (Jn. 17:17). Anything else is vain worship (Mt. 15:9).
For example, Nadab and Abihu lost their lives for offering
God a fire He did not authorize (Lev. 10:1-2). Therefore,
we should be careful not to add or take away from what God
authorizes in our worship to Him.
For example, we should partake of the Lord’s Supper
in remembrance of Jesus’ death (Lk. 22:19-20; Acts
20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-29). Some partake of the Lord’s
Supper once a month or some other interval, but the first
century Christians partook of it on the first day of every
week (Acts 20:7), just like they gave their money on the
first day of every week (1 Cor. 16:1-2).
Some say that we should tithe, but the New Testament teaches
us to give what we purpose in our heart (2 Cor. 9:7), which
could be ten percent or whatever we decide.
We are also commanded to sing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), yet
many add musical instruments to their worship service. Musical
instruments were authorized in the Old Testament (2 Chr.
29:25), but they are not in the New Testament. Every example
in the New Testament is singing only. Historically, man
introduced the instrument into the church around the 6th
century, but it was not fully embraced until after 1851.
If you want to worship God in spirit and in truth, you must
not use musical instruments because God’s Word only
authorizes us to sing. Cougan Collins lgchurchofchrist.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we talked about worshipping
God in spirit and in truth. This week, we will examine the
name of the church.
Since Jesus built the church (Mt. 16:18) and purchased it
with His blood (Acts 20:28), His name should be honored.
If you bought a house, would you want another person’s
name on the deed? Of course not! Should it be any different
when it comes to naming the church? Paul wrote:
“For it has been declared to me concerning you, my
brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are
contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you
says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos,"
or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ."
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you
baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:11-13).
When we give a name to the church, it should glorify God
and be found in the Scriptures. Does the name of your church
glorify God, or does it glorify a man or a religious act?
The name “church of Christ” glorifies God and
can be found in the Scriptures (Rom. 16:16). Cougan Collins
lgchurchofchrist.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we learned that the name
of the church should honor God. This week, we will examine
sin.
Sin means to break the Law of God (1 Jn. 3:4), which separates
us from God (Isa. 59:1-2). James tells us how sin develops:
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by
his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings
forth death” (Jam. 1:14-15).
When we sin, it is by our own choice because God will provide
a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13), which means we cannot say,
“the devil made me do it.”
We also sin when we fail to do what is right (Jam. 4:17).
The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), which is spiritual
separation from God.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom.
3:23), so every accountable person is lost without God’s
grace. Those who choose to remain in their sin will not
enter heaven (1 Cor. 6:9-10) and will suffer the same fate
as the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41).
Since God is a just God (Rev. 15:3), He will render to every
man according to His works (Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev.
20: 12-15). However, God does not want us to be lost (2
Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4), which is why He sent Jesus to die
for us so we could be justified by His blood (Rom. 5:8-9).
In order to conquer our sin and make it to heaven, we must
obey the commands of God (Mt. 7:21-23; Heb. 5:9). Cougan
Collins lgchurchofchrist.com
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we learned about the consequence
of sin and how Jesus is the cure for our sin when we obey
His commands. This week, we will examine the commands we
must obey to be saved from our sins.
We must go to God’s Word to be saved (Jam. 1:21; Rom.
1:16; 1 Pet. 1:23). When we hear it and believe, it produces
faith (Rom. 10:17), which is necessary to please God (Heb.
11:6). If we do not believe in Jesus, we will die in our
sins (Jn. 8:24). Faith alone will not save us (Jam. 2:24).
Once we have faith, we are commanded to repent or perish
(Lk. 13:3; Acts 17:30). Repentance is a change of heart,
and it means you will turn away from sin and start living
your life for God (2 Cor. 7:9-10). Confessing Jesus as your
Lord is also necessary to be saved (Rom. 10:9-10; Mt. 10:32-33).
We are also commanded to be baptized for the forgiveness
of our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Mk. 16:16). Without baptism,
we cannot be saved (1 Pet. 3:21). Baptism is how we are
put into Christ (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), where all the spiritual
blessings (Eph. 1:3), forgiveness of sin (Eph. 1:7), and
salvation are found (2 Tim. 2:10). If we want to be added
to the church/kingdom by God, we must be baptized (Jn. 3:5;
1 Cor. 12:13; Acts 2:47). Jesus commanded His disciples
to baptize those they taught (Mt. 28:19), and they did it
throughout the book of Acts (Acts 2:38; 8:5, 35-39; 9; 10;
16:13, 31; 18:8; 19). After you obey the gospel, you must
remain faithful to Lord until the day you die (Rev. 2:10).
Cougan Collins lgchurchofchrist.com.
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The
Lone Grove Church of Christ invites you to compare what
we teach to the Bible. Last week, we learned what it takes
to overcome sin and become a Christian. This week, we will
examine some misunderstandings about baptism.
Many teach that baptism in not necessary for salvation even
though the Scriptures teach it is (1 Pet. 3:21; Mk. 16:16;
Acts 2:38).
Some say we can be saved by faith alone, but James says
we are not saved by faith alone (Jam. 2:24).
Some say baptism cannot save us because it is a work of
man, but the Scriptures teach it is a work of God (Col.
2:12). When we are baptized, we put our faith in the working
of God that He is uniting us with Jesus (Rom. 6), and is
washing us with His blood (Rev. 1:5).
Some say you can simply invite Jesus into your heart by
saying a sinner’s prayer, but no examples of this
can be found in Scripture.
Saul’s conversion proves the necessity of baptism
because after his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus,
he believed Jesus was the Son of God, confessed Him as being
Lord, and obeyed His instructions to wait for further instructions.
As he waited, his repentance can be seen by his praying
and fasting for three days and nights (Acts 9, 22, 26).
If anyone could be saved by saying a sinner’s prayer,
it would have been Saul, but he was still lost in his sins
because Ananias came and told him what he must do to be
saved: “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of
the Lord” (Acts 22:16). ¬If he was saved before
baptism, how could Ananias tell him to wash away his sins
in baptism?
If you were taught that you were saved before you were baptized
and that it was just an outward sign for an inward change,
then you were not baptized for the forgiveness of your sins,
which means you are still lost. If you love Jesus, then
why not obey the gospel (Jn. 14:15) by hearing the Word
of God, believing, repenting, confessing Jesus as Lord,
and by being baptized in the name Jesus for the forgiveness
of your sins? Cougan Collins lgchurchofchrist.com
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