The Richmond church of Christ strives to be a church that reflects the Church of the 1st century. This does not mean that we want to repeat their mistakes and failures. We want to learn from them and look to the standard--the Bible as the authority by which we live. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:10, that Christians should be busy "finding out what is acceptable to the Lord." Again, he wrote in I Thessalonians 5:21, "Test all things; hold fast what is good."
We operate from the position that we must have Bible authority for everything we do. We look for God’s approval or license before we act. We ask the questions, “Does God license that action? Is there authority for that?” Our answer, then, comes from a study of the word to determine what God approves, licenses, and authorizes for us today. We have come to the conclusion that there are many identifiable features of the 1st century Church that we can incorporate into our work while overlooking their missteps, weaknesses, and failures.
We are a church that holds to the Bible plan for salvation. Salvation is only by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8). However, it is not by grace only. Faith in Jesus is necessary (John 8:24). A confession of Jesus is necessary (Matthew 10:32-33). Repentance and baptism are necessary for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
We are a church whose worship is based on God’s authority from His word. We assemble together on the “first day of the week” (Acts 20:7). We do not want to neglect this assembly (Hebrews 10:25). In this assembly, we engage in acappella singing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). We partake of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 11:17-34). We accept freewill offerings of the members (I Corinthians 16:1-2). We pray together (Acts 1:14; 4:24, 31; 12:5, 12). We study the word through preaching (I Thessalonians 5:27; II Timothy 4:1-4; Titus 1:9)
We are a church that is organized according to God’s authority. We have men who serve as our elders, pastors, bishops, or shepherds (I Peter 5:1-4; Acts 20:28; I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Other men serve as deacons or special servants (Titus 3:8-15). We have men and women who teach our young people and children while men teach our adults in Bible classes. Our women have a valuable and necessary function and are supportive of our stance on the role of men to fill the leadership roles in public teaching and worship (I Timothy 2:1-15).
We are a church that strives to fulfill the mission that God has given us in this place. We believe in educating ourselves in the word so that we may evangelize others while edifying ourselves through fellowship. Our guide for this is Ephesians 4:12, “equipping of the saints (education), for the work of ministry (evangelism) for the edifying of the body of Christ (edification).”
We offer Bible classes on Sunday and Wednesday with various other classes and studies offered at other times.
We believe in spreading the word of God wherever we can. We believe it is important to minister to the physical needs of people by practicing benevolence so that we may minister to their spiritual needs. We encourage our members to share the word with others through various videos and written studies.
We believe in the “one another” passages of the Bible. We believe it is important to get together for fellowship with our brethren. We encourage congregational fellowship times as well as individual and family fellowship times.
If you are simply “passing through” our site, welcome. If you are trying to get to know us through this website in order that you might visit with us, we will welcome you among us and wish God’s blessings on you until we meet.
