The Church. We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Xxxxxx are members of His Church regardless of denominational affiliation. Having become members one of another, all are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above doctrinal differences and loving one another with a pure heart. The Local Church We believe that the local church is the primary instrument of God in the world today for the purpose of Biblical teaching, corporate worship, encouragement, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and missions. Christians should make a commitment to a local church where they can be spiritually fed, connect with other ministries, and practice Biblical stewardship.
The Church. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Xxxxxx alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Xxxxxx, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Xxxx Xxxxx mandated two ordinances - baptism and the Lord's Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
The Church. .. broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet her head is one, her source one, and she is one mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness; from her womb we are born, by her milk we are nourished, by her spirit we are animated.” Just as the church’s unity is found in Xxxxxx, so is her holiness. Taking his stand on Xxxxxxx’x insistence that heretics who return to the church should not be re-baptised, and his statement, often quoted by Xxxxxxxxx “...judging no-one nor depriving any one of the right of communion even if he differ from us” Xxxxxxxxx insisted that the purity or holiness of the church is not something which inheres in itself or its members, something that can be tainted or lost by the sin and mistakes, or even errors of its members, but it derives from the holiness of Xxxxxx. The church is holy and pure NOT because its members are holy and pure, but because Xxxxxx is holy and pure, and the church is his body. As Xxxxxxxxx puts it in his Letters to the Donatist Xxxxxxxx: “Xxxxxx is always the origin of the Christian... the Christian always plants his root in Xxxxxx.” Xxxxxx is the source and giver of sacramental grace, not the minister, so that an unworthy minister does not obstruct divine grace, just as the sun still shines through a dirty sewer. If the church’s unity and purity, its oneness and holiness is found in Xxxxxx rather than in its members, precisely because the church is the Body of Xxxxxx in a sense that is stronger than mere metaphor, then there is no ultimate competition between unity and purity, Oneness and Holiness, Orthodoxy and Generosity. This is not a zero-sum game where you have to choose between them, any more than you have to choose between the oneness and the holiness of Xxxxxx. You could say that for Augustine unity is truth. The Church is bigger than us - it is the Body of Xxxxxx - we do not constitute it, we join it, and to cut ourselves off from the church is to cut ourselves off from Xxxxxx, his purity and his holiness. Schism is to rend the body of Xxxxxx – as it were to tear his arm off, if you pardon the expression. “For in the same manner as if a limb be cut off from the body of a living man, it cannot any longer retain the spirit of life; so the man who is cut off from the body of Xxxxxx, who is righteous, can in no wise retain the spirit of righteousness ” The existence of sin and even doctrinal error in the church is not a reason for schism, as the church is bigger than us – it finds its unity in X...
The Church. I/We believe that the church is the body of Xxxxxx and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers, who regularly join together for worship, fellowship, and ministry. (Xxxxxxx 16:18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Hebrews 10:25)
The Church. One true Church, the body and bride of Xxxxxx (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (1 Cor. 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16).1 • The church is united to the risen Lord by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9-11; Eph 4:4-6). • We believe that each local assembly is under the direct leadership of the Holy Spirit.1 • and that the Holy Spirit appoints the ministering gifts as He will (1 Corinthians 12:7- 11, 28). • We believe that we are to assemble ourselves together for the preaching and teaching of the Word, corporate worship, praise, prayer, encouragement, service, and equipping for ministry (Heb 10:24, 25; Eph 4:12; 2Tim 4:2; Rom 12:12-13; Acts 2:42; 1Tim 3:15).
The Church. The Lord Xxxxx Xxxxxx is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all true followers of Xxxxxx, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. Christians are to associate themselves with local churches; and to each church is given the authority to administer order, to carry out ministry, to worship, and to practice discipline.
The Church. We believe that the church is God’s household and is the body of Xxxxxx and that Xxxxxx is the Head of the church. The universal church is made up of all born again believers. The local church is the gathering of believers in different localities for witness, worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, caring and the observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. (1 Xxxxxxx 3:15; Ephesians 1:23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 1 Xxxxx 4:10).
The Church a) Grants access to the church building for each regularly scheduled Sunday morning worship service
