God – God is the Creator of this universe and the giver of all life (Acts 17:24-28). He has always existed and always will. He is holy and perfect and all powerful . According to the bible, God is composed of three distinct Persons – our heavenly Father (Matt.6:32), His Son Jesus Christ (Jn 1:1,18), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). They are different in function and authority, but united in purpose (Lk.3:22, Jn.16:14-15) .
Human beings – Human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation, the only beings in this universe possessing a soul that is made in the image of God (Gen.1:26-27). Like God, human beings possess a soul that will live on after the physical body has died (Matt.16:26). Because of this, all human life is sacred, every person has great value and dignity, and should be treated with love (Gen.9:6, Gal.5:14).
Sin – Human beings come into this world without having committed any offense against God (Matt.19:14). To sin means to “miss the mark” that God has set for us to achieve. All human beings, once they know good from evil, will eventually choose to sin, and sever themselves from God (Rom.3:10). This is why Jesus’ willing sacrifice on the cross was the most important day in human history, because now we all have a chance to be forgiven of our sins (Please see “How to be Saved”).
Heaven and Hell – There is a day coming when this world will be destroyed and Jesus will return to take His redeemed to their eternal home (Acts 17:31). There are two choices given to human beings on where they will spend eternity. Heaven is where God and His angels dwell, and where He desires all men to one day be (1 Tim.2:4). But sin cannot dwell in the presence of God (Is.59:1-2), so only those who have never sinned (such as young children who have died) or those whose sins are forgiven, whose names are written in the Book of Life, will be in heaven after the day of judgment. All others will be cast into the fires of hell to be eternally punished for their sins, where the devil and his angels will also be (Matt.25:31-46, Rev.20:12-15)
The Bible – The bible is the incorruptible word of God (1 Pet.1:23), to teach us how to love God and love our fellow man (Matt.22:37-40). It was written by various persons inspired (“God-breathed”) by the Holy Spirit, and eyewitnesses of the events described, over the course of almost 2000 years (2 Peter 1:16-21, 2 Tim.3:16-17). It contains “all things pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet.1:3). Because of this we should not use any “creed books” written by uninspired men and women, no matter how wise they may appear to be (1 Cor.2:1). The Old Testament contains those books that were written before Jesus Christ came to earth in human form, and it also contains a specific set of laws for God’s people of old, the nation of Israel. It foretells the coming of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for the sins of mankind. There is much that we can and should learn from the Old Testament today, but it is not our pattern for worship today nor our instruction regarding how to be saved (Gal.3:24). The New Testament contains the gospel (“good news”) of Jesus Christ, a new “covenant” that God made with man (Heb.9:15). It tells us of Jesus’ miraculous birth, His teachings, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His appointing of men called apostles to continue to teach His words when His church is established, which occurs early in the book of Acts. The rest of the New Testament is inspired letters written to Christians (1 Cor.14:37), instructing them to resist temptation, obey the Lord’s commands, and demonstrate Jesus’ love to all mankind. The bible should be viewed as our authority for everything we do and practice, both individually and in our local congregations. In the New Testament we see Christians being taught by direct commands (i.e 1 Cor.7:10), examples approved by Jesus’ apostles (Phil.3:17), necessary inference (a conclusion that is inescapable and obvious, for example, since babies cannot believe, they should not be baptized), and even silence, such that Christians were never to even think “beyond what is written” (1 Cor.4:6).
The Church – The church (the “called out”), universally, is the “body” of Jesus Christ (Eph.1:22-23), a spiritual kingdom composed of all the faithful who have lived and died before us, and those still on the earth today. Jesus is its head, King and lawgiver (Col.1:13, 1 Tim.6:14-16). Here on earth, Christ’s church is made up of individual Christians. Within the Lord’s worldwide church, however, individual Christians in one local area will assemble and work together with their brethren in churches (Gal.1:2). These churches are always autonomous in authority, meaning that there should be no earthly headquarters nor man-made organization among churches of Christ – each individual congregation follows the pattern and examples found only in the gospel of Christ (Phil.3:17). Autonomous congregations are a strong defense against the spread of false doctrine (3 Jn.9-10). We at Chatham Heights are not “affiliated” with any other congregation, either in this area or elsewhere in the world. Christians have fellowship with their faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, not with churches. When blessed with men qualified to serve, a local group may be led by elders (1 Tim.5:17) (also called shepherds/pastors Eph.4:11, Acts 20:28, bishops 1 Tim.3:1, overseers/presbyters 1 Pet.5:2), and served by deacons (1 Tim.3:8). Most local congregations also have one or more evangelists/preachers working in their area – men who are financially supported to preach the word of God to Christians and to the lost (Eph.4:11, 2 Tim.4:5). Local groups maintain their own treasuries and are not answerable to nor subservient to other congregations (1 Cor.16:3-4), only to the Lord Jesus. In scripture we see local congregations being referred to as “churches of Christ” (Rom.16:16), “churches of God” (2 Thess.1:4), or simply “the church” in a designated geographic area (i.e. “the church in Cenchrea” Rom.16:1).
Denominations – You will sometimes hear it said “Attend the church of your choice”. At Chatham Heights we urge everyone to attend the church of JESUS’ choice! (1 Pet.2:4-5) Christ established only one church (Matt.16:18), not denominations, and He and His chosen apostles preached only one gospel (the body of teachings about Jesus Christ), not many (Gal.1:6-10). Denominations are not “planted” by God and therefore not a part of the Lord’s church (Matt.15:13). They cause division (1 Cor.1:10-13) by teaching a different doctrine (2 John 7-11). They clearly do not possess the unity of the Godhead that Jesus prayed for His believers to have (John 17:20-23). And, sadly, Jesus says that many devoted, religious people who do many works in His name will be lost (Matt.7:21-27). The devil is very effective at disguising himself as an angel of light and deceiving even people with the very best of intentions (2 Cor.11:12-15). Early Christians were clearly warned that this would happen (2 Tim.4:1-5). If you are in a denomination, please understand that it is not our desire to offend or hurt someone’s feelings without good reason to do so. But because we love you and want you to be in heaven one day, we urge you to please carefully research if your denomination is from heaven or from men (Matt.21:23-27). The Lord’s one church on earth was established on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Any church that teaches and practices anything different than what the inspired apostles and prophets taught in the New Testament is from men, and because it is different it is displeasing to the Lord (2 Cor.11:14). Please seriously consider leaving your denomination and worshiping with an autonomous and faithful church of Christ such as at Chatham Heights.