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To our guests ...
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What can you expect at this church?
We truly are a church family.
As with any family, we have our faults;
yet you will meet real people of faith who genuinely want
to love God and love their neighbors as themselves.
You will likely see glad greetings, hugs, and handshakes.
And when it’s time to worship God,
you will see all sorts of people helping facilitate the service—men and women,
boys and girls, young and old and every age in-between.
Here’s what happens in our Sunday worship:
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Sharing the Lord's Supper
Jesus asks his followers to share bread and wine in memory
of him and his life-giving sacrifice for us all.
Also called “communion,” the Lord’s Supper has rich meaning
for Christians: We celebrate the presence of the resurrected Lord.
We acknowledge the unity of all who eat and drink.
And we anticipate the time when Jesus will return to restore all things to God’s intended purposes.
Small portions of bread and juice will be passed out
to everyone where they are seated.
Communion is open to all Christians.
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Hearing the Word of God
We believe that the Bible tells us the truth about God,
ourselves, and our world.
Through scripture God gives us direction for our
daily lives and the promise of eternal life as well.
So, during our time of worship we will hear portions
of the Bible read, we will read portions of the Bible together,
and we will hear a sermon that is based on scripture—a message from God.
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Singing
As Christians have always done,
we sing hymns that honor and praise our Creator and his son,
Jesus Christ.
Also, we sing to encourage one another to live in hope, faith and love.
In keeping with the tradition of our church family,
our singing is a cappella (vocal music, without instrumental accompaniment).
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Prayer
We love our Heavenly Father who first loved us and we depend on him,
so we offer to him prayers of praise, confession and petition.
In doing this we follow the example of Jesus who teaches us how to pray.
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Offering
Members of this church give free-will gifts of money.
These offerings are given to God and represent
the giving of ourselves in service to him.
The money is then used to spread the good news of
Jesus and to help those who have needs.
Our guests are not expected to give, but may do so if they choose.
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Baptism
On some Sundays we are blessed to witness a baptism.
Those who come to believe the good news about Jesus
begin to love and trust him.
They turn from sin and commit their lives to God by
being united with God’s son Jesus in baptism.
Because of his love for us,
God promises to give salvation to all who so express their faith.
Our salvation includes:
- rescue from harmful powers that keep us from loving and obeying God
- forgiveness of sin and a clean conscience
- adoption into God’s loving family, the church
- a new life and purpose in service to God
- the gift of the Holy spirit who lives in us to assure us that we belong
to God and who empowers us to live in Christ-like ways
- eternal life in the presence of God with all those who love him
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The Role of Women in the Church
After more than a year of congregational study, prayer, and discussion,
the elders and members of the Cole Mill Road Church of Christ agreed that
it is both biblically appropriate and evangelistically desirable for spiritually
mature women to teach classes and to participate in the public worship of our congregation.
In so doing, our sisters in Christ follow in the tradition of Miriam, Deborah,
Huldah, Priscilla, Phoebe, and a host of other women raised up by God to serve Him
and His people in particular ways.
By thus exercising their God-given gifts – and without disparaging
the many gifts
used by other women in the service of
our congregation – our sisters who pray,
sing, read Scripture, serve at the Lord’s table, and teach adult classes are
blessing our entire church family while serving as witnesses to our community.
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