Undenominational Christianity

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070513P
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http//church-of-christ.org/who.html

• Who are the churches of Christ and what do they
  believe in?
• By Batsell Barrett Baxter
• What is the distinctive plea of the church of
  Christ ?
• How many churches of Christ are there ?
• How are the churches of Christ governed ?
• What does the church of Christ believe about the
  Bible ?
• Do members of the churches of Christ believe in
  virgin birth ?
• Does the church of Christ believe in
  predestination ?
• Why does the church of Christ baptize only by
  immersion ?
• Does the church of Christ believe in heaven and
  hell ?
• Does the church of Christ believe in purgatory ?

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• How many churches of Christ are there ?
• The most recent dependable estimate lists more
  than fifteen thousand individual churches of
  Christ. The Christian Herald, a general
  religious publication which presents statistics
  concerning all the churches estimates that the
  total membership of the churches of Christ is now
  2,000,000. There are more than 7,000 men who
  preach publicly. Missionary expansion has been
  most extensive since the second World War in
  Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 450 full-time
  workers are supported in foreign countries. The
  churches of Christ now have five times as many
  members as were reported in the U. S. Religious
  Census of 1936.

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I Am The One Church
HQ In NY
Scripture?

• The Jehovahs Witnesses

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I Am The One Church
The Pope
Scripture?

• The Catholic Church

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I Am The One Church
Christ
HQ
HQ
Scripture?
Methodist
Lutheran
Church of God
Presbyterian
HQ
HQ

• Protestant Denominational Churches

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I Am The One Church
Christ
Scripture?

• The Churches of Christ

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I Am The One Church
Christ
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x
Scripture? 1 Cor. 1227 Eph. 525 Rev. 35 2
Tim. 219

• All the Saved Ones

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(No Transcript)
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The One Church
Local Churches
Christ
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x X Saved Believer
Autonomous 1 Pet. 53No Combined Oversight
X Member

• Relationship With God

Relationship w/ Other Saints
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Institutional Concept of the Church
Harry Pickup, Jr, Torch Magazine, Vol. 23, June
1988 The Constantine concept revamped the Lords
church into a religion greatly patterned after
the concept, nature and organization of the Roman
Empire. Most historians view the rise of the
Institutional Church as the result of the
Churchs need to fight heresies, prevent schisms
and effect and perpetuate universal solidarity.
Many Christians thought it necessary to bring all
Christians together into a visible body of
Christ.
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Institutional Concept of the Church
Harry Pickup, Jr (continued) A visible body
would by necessity be an organized body. The
unit of this visible body would be the local
church. Thus, the unit of the one church was no
longer viewed as individual Christians in a right
relationship with God. The church was now viewed
as a group of local congregations organized in
order to be a visible church.
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Institutional Concept of the Church

• The one body is composed of local churches.
• These local churches should be associated
  together by name and in practice to perform a
  collective universal church mission to meet
  spiritual and social needs.
• This mission requires dependent supplementary
  social organizations (colleges, hospitals,
  missions, etc) which are to be funded by the
  churches.

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The United Methodist Church

• A religious denomination composed of local
  Methodist churches.
• Organized much like the U.S. government.General
  Conference (legislative), nine-member Judicial
  Council, Council of Bishops (executive).
• A number of Methodist colleges, missionary
  societies, welfare agencies, hospitals, etc. are
  designed to aid the Methodist Church in
  fulfilling her universal church mission.

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Institutional Churches Of Christ

• Most preachers, elders and members of Churches
  of Christ view the one body as composed of local
  churches, with the name Church of Christ being
  the primary indicator of faithfulness.
• All Churches of Christ declare themselves to be
  non-denominational because, unlike other groups
  of churches, they have NO official association or
  organizational structure larger than the local
  church.

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Institutional Churches Of Christ

• However, most of these Churches of Christ are
  tied together by their mutual funding of Church
  of Christ colleges, preacher schools, welfare
  agencies, hospitals, orphan homes, sponsoring
  church missions, etc.
• These human institutions provide a visibility
  for this body of churches known as the Churches
  of Christ and assist them in fulfilling what they
  see as a collective universal church mission.

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Biblical Concept of the Church

• The one body is composed of individual members,
  NOT local churches (1 Cor. 1227).
• Unity is preserved as Christians remain faithful
  to the revealed TRUTH of God (Eph. 41-6). It is
  NOT preserved by associating churches together by
  name into a visible body of Christ.
• Work in the body is performed at the individual
  and local church level it is NOT performed by
  churches pooling funds into para-church
  organizations to do the work of the church.

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Have You Obeyed The Gospel?
Hear the Gospel (Rom. 1017) Believe that Jesus
is the Son of God (Mark 1616) Repent of Your
Sins (Acts 1730) Confess Jesus as Lord (Rom.
109-10) Be Baptized for Forgiveness of Sins
(Acts 238) Live Faithfully until You Die (Rev.
210)