WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST #7

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Leroy Brownlow

Copyright 1945
Fifty-fourth printing 2004

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; the appearance of the glory of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a PECULAIR people, zealous of good works.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a PECULIAR people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• Because it was founded by the scriptural builder ------- Christ
• Because it was founded on the scriptural foundation
• Because it was founded at the scriptural place --- Jerusalem
• Because it was founded at the scriptural time ---- the Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ
• Because Christ is the founder of only one church ---- His church

www.religioustolerance
/chr_den1.htm

Why I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 6 - Because it is scriptural in name

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 7 - Because it is scriptural in organization
• 8 - Because it has the Bible as its only creed, confession of faith or church manual
• 9 - Because it belives all the Bible to be the inspired word of God
• 10 - Because it believes the Bible is a book to be rightly divided

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 12 Because it is scriptural in doing missionary work
• 13 Because it teaches the kingdom has been established and Christ is now reigning
• 14 Because it gives scriptural answers to the question What must I do to be saved
• 15 Because it teaches that man is saved by faith but not faith only

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 16 Because it teaches a man is saved by the blood of Christ
• 17 Because it teaches a change of heart is indispensable to man's salvation
• 18 Because of its teaching and practice concerning prayer
• 19 Because it teaches and administers scriptural baptism

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 20 Because it teaches that a child of God can so sin as to be eternally lost

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 21 Because it teaches that infants are born pure and innocent rather than depraved
• 22 Because it teaches the miraculous manifestations of the Spirit have ceased
• 23 Because of the scriptural teaching and observance of the Lord's Supper

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 24 Because it has scriptural music in the worship
• 25 Because salvation is in Christ's church

The final 2 Because's

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• 5) Because Christ is the founder of only one church - His church
• 11) Because it is undenominational

DEFINE DENOMINATION
1. a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church.
synonyms: religious group, sect, cult, movement, body, branch, persuasion, order, school;
church "a Christian denomination"
a group or branch of any religion.

2. the face value of a banknote, coin, or postage stamp.
"a hundred dollars or so, in small denominations"
"they demanded bills in small denominations"

There has to be some criteria met in order to be a christian church. Consider if you will 3 men who led "religious groups".

Extreme dedication to a cause or purpose, so extreme that one would "Drink the Kool-Aid" and die for the cause.
The phrase derives from the November 1978 Jonestown deaths, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, who were followers of JIM JONES, died, many of whom committed suicide by drinking a mixture of a powdered soft-drink flavoring agent laced with cyanide and prescription drugs Valium, Phenergan, and chloral hydrate, while the rest of the members, including 89 infants and elderly, were killed by forced ingestion of the poison

David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was the American leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet.
Koresh came from a dysfunctional family background and claimed to be a Christian in the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist, a reform movement led by Victor Houteff that arose from within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religious millenarian group based in San Diego, California, founded in 1974 and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985). On March 26, 1997, police discovered the bodies of thirty-nine members of the group, who had participated in a mass suicide in order to reach what they believed was an extraterrestrial spacecraft following Comet Hale–Bopp.

What does Jesus say about the subject?

Mt 7:13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Mt 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Mt 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and DOES THEM, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and DOES NOT DO THEM, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Eph 4:1-6 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Col 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Joh 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Joh 17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 "that they all may be ONE, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be ONE in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be ONE just as We are ONE: 23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in ONE, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

• Because it was founded by the scriptural builder ------- Christ
• Because it was founded on the scriptural foundation
• Because it was founded at the scriptural place --- Jerusalem
• Because it was founded at the scriptural time ---- the Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ
• Because Christ is the founder of only one church ---- His church

Untitled Slide

BECOME A CHRISTIAN
Hear Him (Romans 10:17)
Believe Him (Mark 16:16)
Repent Of Sins Against Him
(Acts 2:38)
Confess Him (Acts 8:37)
Be Baptized Into Him (Romans 6:3)
Live For Him (Galatians 2:20)
-------------------------------
COME HOME AS AN ERRING CHILD OF GOD
Come Back To Him (Matthew 11:28-30)
Repent (Acts 8:22)
Pray (James 5:16)
Live For Him (Galatians 2:20)

BECOME A CHRISTIAN
Hear Him (Romans 10:17)
Believe Him (Mark 16:16)
Repent Of Sins Against Him
(Acts 2:38)
Confess Him (Acts 8:37)
Be Baptized Into Him (Romans 6:3)
Live For Him (Galatians 2:20)
-------------------------------
COME HOME AS AN ERRING CHILD OF GOD
Come Back To Him (Matthew 11:28-30)
Repent (Acts 8:22)
Pray (James 5:16)
Live For Him (Galatians 2:20)

Untitled Slide