October 30th is 5th Sunday, as well as Heritage Sunday. We will be celebrating with an 1800’s style worship service and old fashioned preaching. Come dressed in old fashioned attire and join the fun! There will also be a potluck dinner following Sunday School with entertainment provided during the meal.
The Disciples of Christ was perhaps the first all American church that was started by Americans.
It was a church that had its beginnings in freedom; freedom to pray, freedom to worship, freedom to believe, & freedom to practice that belief. It was founded on the belief that many faithful Christians had been bound and tied down to legalistic traditions and practices from humanistic ideals that had crept into the church.
Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell (Co-founders of the DOC) had looked for ways to break that chain that was restricting the advancement of the Gospel.
They understood that the bible contain some absolutes such as the belief that Jesus is the Christ and was & is the Son of God.
They saw the bible as a book of facts that one should accept at face value. They believed the bible was clear enough that human inventions such as creeds and repetitious type prayers were not needed, if only one would just read the bible.
They also had the idea that Christian unity could be achieved by finding a set of essentials that all reasonable people could agree on. The concept of a rational faith (which comes from 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”) was formulated and defended on the basis of what the bible said.
As Disciples we are to be diligent in our study and reading of the scriptures. “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,” 2 Pet 1:5
We are to use that knowledge in fellowship and hospitality in telling and witnessing to others about the virtues and hope that Jesus Christ offers to each one of us.