Our Beliefs
First Christian Church is a nondenominational congregation committed to restoring the teachings, ordinances, and way of life of the New Testament Church. Our goal is to model a church that teaches and practices what the Holy Spirit commands in the New Testament while refraining from anything He forbids. We have no creed but Christ, and the only authoritative creed is the New Testament.
We believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and, therefore, affirm the truth of the virgin birth and the resurrection. Our guiding principle is: “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are silent, we are silent.”
The New Testament Church recognizes two ordinances:
Baptism: This is commanded by Christ in Matthew 28:18-20 and is carried out by immersion only, as indicated in Acts 8:36-39, Romans 6:4, and Colossians 2:12.
The Lord’s Supper: According to 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, the early church observed this ordinance every Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7). Since the first day of the week occurs every week, we likewise observe communion weekly.
The conditions for admission into the New Testament Church are identical to the steps of conversion:
- Faith in Christ as the Son of God (Mark 16:15-16; Hebrews 11:6).
- Repentance (Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30).
- Confession (Luke 12:8; Romans 10:10).
- Baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).
The New Testament Church has two types of offices:
- Elders: These leaders exercise spiritual oversight (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Timothy 5:17).
- Deacons: They manage benevolent affairs (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:8-11). Their authority and duties are limited to the local congregation.
The New Testament Church does not permit any form of external organization to exercise authority—administrative or otherwise—over a group of churches or across regions. Such centralized church governance endangers congregational liberty. Therefore, we remain independent of all ecclesiastical control, answerable only to the Lord. Likewise, our missionary contributions are sent directly to missionaries, without intermediary organizations.
Our objective is Christian unity, as expressed in John 17:20-21. The unity Christ prayed for can be achieved by individuals coming together to restore His church as it was at the beginning. When love for Christ surpasses loyalty to denominational “parties,” and believers commit to being “Christians only” in the one church Jesus established, denominationalism will cease.
Our motivation for this program is found in John 17:21: “That the world may believe that You sent Me.” We believe that restoring the New Testament Church will lead to greater belief in Christ as the Savior of the world.
If you find these beliefs consistent with Scripture and truth, we warmly invite you to join our congregation.