"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
- Jesus
God is the Creator of the universe. God is one. God exists in three persons: the Father, the Son – Jesus, and the Spirit.
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Two descriptive terms are used to describe this relationship: Triune God, and the Trinity. We see evidence for God in both His Word, the Bible, and in His creation, this world.
In God we find the origin of all that is good and righteous and true. Truth, justice, the creation, mankind, marriage, family, and love. God by His own nature has defined what each of these is. God is holy and just, and God is love. God is all powerful, is all knowing, exists in all places at all times, is infinite.
God is eternal. God created time, space, and matter from nothing. God created all things in our world, our universe.
God foreknew mankind before creation. God relates to mankind within the context of time and space. God made us for relationship with Him and He loves each one of us with a love beyond any love we have ever experienced. God desires for all mankind to come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved.
Genesis 1:1,26, Romans 1:20, Isaiah 30:18, Psalm 147:4-5, Hebrews 1:1-3, Romans 16:25, Romans 8:29-30, 1 John 4:16
God’s Word is the truth. It is contained in the revelation of scriptures called the Bible. As a whole, it is inspired, inerrant, infallible, unchanging, all sufficient, and eternal. It is the absolute and ultimate standard of authority and truth about origins, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny. We respect no other writings, or creeds or statements of faith as inspired or authoritative.
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In the Bible we find the story of reality. It is a story of love, loss, redemption, and salvation. It is a story above all stories. This story is true and it is about you and me.
In nature, the creation, we can clearly see and understand God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature. The Bible is God’s special revelation to all mankind. In it are written the words that were directed by the Holy Spirit to be written down by chosen men, revealing to us God’s love, God’s justice, and God’s special plan.
The Bible is living and active in the hearts and minds and lives of those who believe it. It tells all of us what is right and wrong, and why. It tells us how truly special and valuable we are because God made us this way. It tells us how to live and thrive with life abundant which is the way God designed for us to live. When we live our life in accordance with the truth in the Bible, we experience a love, joy, and peace that is infectious and wonderful. The Bible is God’s special love letter to each one of us because He desires to give us the one thing we need more than anything else: an intimate relationship with Him.
John 17:17, Romans 1:20, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12-13
In the beginning, God created all things from nothing over a period of six days with evenings and mornings and then rested on the seventh day. On the first day He created time, space, and matter – the cosmos. Then He proceeded to create life. And on day six, God created a special being called man. God created man in His own image.
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“And God saw all that He had made and behold, it was very good.” (Gen 1:31) In Genesis 1 we find the answers to our questions about where everything came from and where we as mankind came from. Here we see God giving man a soul and his identity by making him in such a way to bear God's image in this world. It is this identity and relationship with our Creator that gives us our source of origin, purpose, and ultimate meaning for our lives.
Genesis 1:1-31, Genesis 2:1-3
Mankind are unique above all other creatures. Every one of us is made in the image of God to be in an intimate relationship with Him. Because of this, all mankind hold a special place within creation and within God’s own heart above all other creatures.
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God has defined who we are and has given us our identity. Each one of us is a human being, and as such is a person. Every one of us has special value because of who we are and Who made us.
We were created male and female.
Genesis 1:26-28, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
Life is precious. God is the Author and Sustainer of all life. He holds dear the life of every human being.
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God is the Author of life in this world and the Giver of abundant life and eternal life. As such, God holds dear the life of every human being as they were made in His image.
Psalm 139:13-14, Genesis 9:5-6
Marriage is a man joined with a woman by God Himself. It is His divine design for marriage.
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The marriage relationship is sacred. The man was created first, then the woman. The woman was given to the man as a helper suitable for him. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh.
Marriage is a reflection of the sacred relationship of Christ and the Church.
Matthew 19:4-6, Genesis 2:18, Genesis 2:23-24, Ephesians 5:22-27, Malachi 2:16
God is love. Love is expressed and experienced in relationship. In God we see the basis for the definition of family. We see a relationship of love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. In God’s Word we see God’s true definition of family for mankind.
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1 John 4:7-10, Ephesians 3:14-15, Ephesians 6:1-4, Ephesians 5:33
We live in a fallen world that was once innocent and pure. Mankind were sinless at first and in relationship with God. But they were deceived by Satan and sinned by rejecting God’s word and trusting in themselves and their own thoughts and ideas instead. As a result, sin and death entered the world bringing death to all mankind as a consequence, and the whole of creation was subjected to futility. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all face death because of our sin.
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Death became all mankind’s enemy. God in His justice must punish sin, and the wages of sin is death. Yet, God is His foreknowledge and love has made it possible for us to be saved from the consequences of our own sinful actions by taking the punishment we deserve upon Himself.
Genesis 3, Romans 5:12, Romans 8:19-21, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23
God in His great love and infinite plan, at just the right time in history, sent forth His one and only Son, Jesus, to be born of a virgin woman, to live among mankind on this earth, and to die on a cross in our place. His Son, Jesus, who was without sin, sacrificed Himself and took our sin upon himself, and provided the only way for us to be saved from eternal judgment and death, and to receive the gift of eternal life.
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The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. This gift is offered out of God’s grace – a gift we do not deserve – a gift we cannot merit or earn.
We are saved by God’s grace through our faith. Our faith comes from hearing the Word of God and believing it. Our salvation is conditional on our actions of obedience that come from our faith. These include repenting from our sinful way of life and turning to God, confessing our belief that Jesus is God’s one and only Son, and surrendering our will to God’s will by being baptized by immersion in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As a result, the Holy Spirit is given to us to live in us and bring changes in our heart, in our thoughts, and in our behaviors. These are called the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 4:4-7, Romans 6:23, John 3:16-17, Hebrews 2:9, Ephesians 2:1-10, James 2:14-26, Acts 2:36-39, Acts 22:16, Galatians 5:22-24
Through baptism, we who hear the gospel and believe are immersed into Jesus Christ and thereby into His body, the Church. While outwardly we are baptized in water, inwardly we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Through baptism we are set free from the bondage of sin and receive forgiveness of our sins. We are given a new life. We are adopted as sons and daughters of God. And the Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal guaranteeing our inheritance with all the children of God.
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As a result of our baptism into Christ, we have become partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. We have become partakers of grace and partakers of a heavenly calling. We have become partakers of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. We have become partakers of discipline and partakers of the divine nature. We have received priceless blessings which are only found in Christ into whom we were baptized. In baptism we are joined with the Spirit and with the blood of Christ by which we are cleansed from our sins and are clothed with His righteousness.
Galatians 3:26-27, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 6:3-11, Acts 22:16, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:14-17, Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Peter 3:18-22, 1 Corinthians 1:30, Romans 5:19
Jesus took our sins upon Himself when He died on a cross. He was buried in a tomb for all to see. And He was raised from the dead on the third day. It is through His resurrection that He gave us new life now and the promise and hope of life eternal in heaven. This is the gospel – the good news!
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Jesus was resurrected in bodily form as we see in the Bible. He ascended into the clouds and took His place at the right hand of God. As we are told in the Bible, for since by a man – Adam – came death, by a man also – Jesus – came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
After Jesus died and was buried, He was resurrected on the third day which was the first day of the week. He had chosen his apostles. He presented himself alive to them over a period of forty days, and He offered many convincing proofs. Then He was lifted up into a cloud with a promise that He will come again. When the end comes, Jesus will hand over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. When all things are subjected to the Father, the Son Himself will also be subject to the Father so that God may be all in all.
1 Peter 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 20:19-20, Acts 1:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
The Church is the body of Christ of which Christ Jesus is the head. It is His Church, not ours. It is universal in nature and there is no other. It cannot be joined. God adds us automatically when we are baptized into Christ’s one body.
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In Christ’s Church, each member has a purpose. Christ gave some as evangelists, and some as shepherds (i.e. elders, overseers, bishops) and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. In His Church in the Bible we also see deacons. Overseers and deacons are spiritual men above reproach. The group of overseers/elders within a congregation of the Church has responsibility for the spiritual needs and well-being of that congregation. Deacons have responsibility for handling the day to day needs of that congregation. Elders and deacons are appointed based on their desire to serve in these capacities, and on whether or not they meet the qualifications set forth in the Bible.
We at Hernando are a congregation of His Church, His body – a community of saved believers, of disciples of Jesus, of the family of God. Like Jesus, we endeavor to seek and save the lost by pointing them to Jesus. We are in relationship with God, the Creator of all things and are His ambassadors in this world. We are in relationship with one another. We seek to follow Jesus, to be like Him, to love like Him, and to live like Him in all aspects of our lives. We love one another. We serve one another. We fellowship together. We work and play together. We care for each other. We worship together.
Colossians 1:8, Acts 2:47, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Acts 20:17 and v28, Philippians 1:1, Ephesians 4:11, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9, 2 Corinthians 5:20
God has told us in the Bible how we are to worship Him. We worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship is both together in the assembly and individually in our daily lives. It is part of who we are. It is our sincere and humble response of adoration and love for the One who loved us the most by giving us the greatest gift that could be given: life eternal in a relationship of perfect love with the One who loves us perfectly.
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In our worship together, the Bible tells us to sing and make melody in our hearts and to pray. There were no instruments used in the worship assembly in His Church in the Bible. In like manner, you will find no musical instruments in our assembly, but you will find faithful disciples of Jesus singing with our hearts as we sing to Him and to each other. We also see in the Bible, the sharing in the meal of remembrance of Christ’s death: the communion or Lord’s Supper. This was done regularly and on the first day of the week. We too share in this meal every first day of the week. Teaching was also done in His Church. Fellowship, encouragement, and edification for the building up of the body took place. We too endeavor to teach, to fellowship, to encourage, and to edify within our congregation of Jesus’ Church at Hernando.
Giving is an integral part of our lives as Christians. We see the Church doing this in the Bible. We give to meet the needs of Jesus’ Church. We give to meet the needs of our fellow man. During our worship assembly, we provide an opportunity to give monetarily. Giving is to be from a willing and cheerful heart, not by compulsion or guilt. We give out of love in response to God’s love.
John 4:23-24, Romans 12:1, Acts 16:25, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 3:16, Acts 2:41-42, Acts 12:5 and v12, Romans 8:26-27, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2-3, Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Ephesians 4:15-16, 1 Corinthians 16:1-3, 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
There is no official name for Christ’s Church in the Bible. The terms there including church of Christ, church of God, body of Christ, etc. are simply descriptive terms that all refer to Christ’s one body – His universal Church. Local congregations or assemblies of Christ’s body are referred to as churches.
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We have a name on our signage and letterhead: “Church of Christ”. As an autonomous congregation of His Church, this is used not for denoting a denomination which is commanded against in the Bible, but as a matter of expedience as an indication to others for recognition of our common beliefs and practices which are based in the Bible alone.
Acts 20:28, Romans 16:4 and vs16, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 16:19, 2 Corinthians 8:1, Galatians 1:2, Galatians 1:22, Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, Hebrews 12:23
There are many misconceptions of heaven and hell. The Bible tells us they are both very real places. Heaven is a place where God exists and where all of God’s children will live for all of eternity in love. Hell is a place of torment that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Their eternal existence there is to begin on the day of the Lord – the day on which the Father has set for His righteous judgment of the devil, his angels, and all mankind – the day and the hour that only the Father knows. These things have been foretold to us in the Bible.
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On that day, this world as we know it will be destroyed by fire and new heavens and a new earth will be prepared for God’s chosen ones – those who have been saved: His children. And God and His children will dwell in that new city of Jerusalem for eternity. There will be no more sickness, no more sadness, no more death, no more pain and struggle. In that place will be perfect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our eternal life there will be meaningful, fulfilling, and full of life abundant in relationship with our Creator and with each other. Nothing in this world here can begin to compare to the glory and beauty of the promised life there. In these promises of God we place our faith and our hope – and what a great hope it is!
Acts 7:54-56, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20, Mark 9:43, 2 Peter 2:4-22, Matthew 25:31-34 and v41, Matthew 24: 36-39, 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1-8, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Colossians 3:1-4
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