Northwest Christian Church

Some Facts about the NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH

We are NON-DENOMINATIONAL. . .Our goal is to restore the New Testament church in its teachings, ordinances and life. T he ideal New Testament church is one teaching and practicing what the Holy Spirit commands in the New Testament, and refraining from doing what He forbids.

We have NO CREED. . .We have no creed but Christ, the only creed required in the New Testament (see Matthew 16:13-18). We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:19-21), and therefore accept as true the miracle of the virgin birth of Jesus (see Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20) and the bodily resurrection of Jesus (see Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25; Acts 1:1-11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-57). Our motto is: ‘Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are silent, we are silent.‘

We observe TWO ORDINANCES as the New Testament church had just two ordinances:

• Water Baptism. This is a command of Christ (see Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-41). This baptism is by immersion (i.e., submersion) in water for the remission (i.e., forgiveness) of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38; 8:36-39; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12).

• The Lord’s Supper (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20). The early church observed this ordinance every Lord’s Day (see Acts 20:7; 2:36-47). Since the ‘first day of the week’ comes every week, we observe the communion weekly.

We teach the Biblical plan of salvation.  It is:

• Faith in Christ as the Son of God (see Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:36-37; 16:29-31; Romans 10:6-17; Hebrews 11:6).

• Repentance of (i.e., turning away from) sin (see Acts 2:36-40; 3:17-21; 17:29-31).

• Confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God and as Lord (see Matthew 16:13-18; Luke 12:8-9; Acts 2:36-41; 8:36-37; Romans 10:6-17).

• Water Baptism for the remission (i.e., forgiveness) of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41; 8:35-39; 16:29-34).

We utilize a simple plan of ORGANIZATION.:  There were two types of officers in the New Testament church. The elders exercised spiritual oversight (see Acts 20:17-28; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4). The deacons were entrusted with financial and benevolent affairs (see Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:8-13). The duty and authority of both elders and deacons was limited to the local congregation of which they were members. The New Testament church had no super-organization that exercised authority, either administrative or otherwise, over a group of churches or over a certain territory. Such forms of church government are fatal to congregational liberty. Therefore, we shall remain free of all external ecclesiastical control. We are absolutely independent of all other congregations and are responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ alone (although, we are affiliated with a ‘brotherhood’ of like-minded Christians who serve the Lord Jesus in congregations similar to this one, with over 5,000 such congregations scattered across the U.S.A.). Also, we are not in any way identified with the National or World Council of Churches.

We have as OUR OBJECT:  We have as our object Christian unity (see John 17:20-21). The unity for which Christ prayed can be brought about by individuals uniting in the restoration of His church as it was in the beginning (see the book of Acts). When love for Christ transcends love for one’s ‘party’, and when individuals become ‘Christians only’ in the one great church, as Jesus planned it, denominationalism (and the divisions it causes) will end.

We have only ONE MOTIVE:  Our motive for this program is found in John 17:21 – “that the world may believe” that God sent His only begotten Son Jesus to be the Savior of the world.