The church of God - an introduction

Christ – Our Savior
Matt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (KJV)	The first four books of the New Testament reveal to us the coming of a Savior who had been promised by God, and prophesized by the Prophets. At his birth, an angel of God instructed his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, to call his name JESUS, and told them that he would save his people from their sins.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (KJV)	God gave his Son to be a sacrifice for our sins and Christ gave his own life as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, when he was crucified on the cross at Calvary. This message would be hollow and without power if it were not also true that God raised Him from the dead the third day and He has ascended up to the Father in Heaven. This is the center of our belief.
The Church Beginning
Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (KJV) Matt 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (KJV)	Jesus once asked his disciples who they say he is. Simon Peter answered, "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God." A little later, Jesus said that he would build his church on this confession of faith. He revealed that Jerusalem was to be the place where the church was to have it’s beginning
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (KJV) Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (KJV)	The foregoing passages were fulfilled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (AD 33/34) when Peter used the keys given to him by Christ by preaching for the first time that man should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. He further promised them that they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Spirit), and God added those who were baptized to the church. . We note, then, that Christ is building the church, with the help of his disciples. He did not name the church, the Bible names it the church of God, so that is the Scriptural name for the church. He will continue to build the church until Judgment Day when He will hand it over to God.
Luke 24:46-47 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (KJV)	If we sow the same seed that Jesus' Apostles sowed, the same church will spring forth, and similar results should be seen in people’s hearts. The church’s primary mission is to spread the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ among all nations.
The Plan of Salvation
1 Cor 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved,...(KJV)	Man's prevailing question down through the ages has been: "What must I do to be saved?" A person can be saved through God's Plan for Salvation. God's answer to the question “What must I do to be saved?” is contained in the gospel.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (KJV)	God instructs us to: Hear:═ Without God, we are lost.═ The way to get to God is through Christ.═ Acts 4:12: ⌠Neither is there salvation in any other:═ for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We get to Christ by first hearing the word of God, the source of our faith.═ Romans 10:17, ⌠So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(KJV) 2 Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight (KJV)	Believe:═ We must believe, have faith in what we have heard:═ Hebrews 11:6, ⌠But without faith it is impossible to please him:═ for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (KJV) Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent. (KJV) Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (KJV)	Repent:═ We must make a new life for ourselves, turning away from those things that are not pleasing to God. Repentance is a change of mind (regret) resulting in reformation of life. Godly sorrow is not repentance, but precedes it. The church at Corinth "sorrowed to repentance (2 Cor 7:9). And they changed their ways. To show that we have repented we must change our ways.
Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (KJV) Phil 2:10-11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (KJV)	Confess:═ We must then be willing to confess the Savior before men.═ Matthew 10:32, ⌠Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Confession is to be made with the tongue and by everyone (Phil 2:10-11).
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (KJV) Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (KJV)	Be Baptized:═ We must then be buried with Jesus in baptism, immersion in water.═ In baptism we contact his cleansing blood and our sins are washed away to be remembered no more. On Pentecost, (Acts 2:38) Peter connected baptism with the remission of sins. Jesus told his disciples to go and teach all the nations, and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (KJV) 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (KJV)	Then Live the Christian Life: A faithful disciple doesn’t cease to do works of righteousness once he has taken the initial steps to gain God's acceptance through baptism. Rather, he is highly motivated to grow and progress. His attitude and behavior-toward God, the church, himself, mankind, his home, and his job-have all changed. He is a newborn babe in Christ---he is a “new creature”.
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (KJV)	Everyone that names the name of Christ should depart from evil, thereby helping to ensure that he will live a righteous and pure life.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (KJV) James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (KJV)	Finally, each disciple of Christ should bear fruit. By doing so the Father is glorified, and we are truly Christ’s disciples. One cannot be justified by faith alone. Faith is important but works are necessary also in order to be justified.
2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (KJV)	All of us must appear on judgment day before the judgment seat of Christ and give an accounting for all the things we have done while living on the earth, and, my friends, there’s just no way that we can miss that appointment. We’ll all be there, count on it. We need to be prepared.
The Worship Service
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (KJV)	True worshippers worship “…in spirit and in truth.” This is necessary for worship to be acceptable to God the Father. The way we should worship has been spelled out for us in the Bible.
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (KJV) Phil 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (KJV) Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. (KJV) 2 Cor 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (KJV)	We worship when we assemble ourselves together, as a congregation. Usually, this assembling takes place at the church building, but not necessarily so; it could be any location where we decide to assemble. A Sunday morning worship service consists of the following: Singing of psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.   Prayer made earnestly and sincerely to God in the name of Christ.   Teaching the entire assembly, by one man at a time. The purpose is to edify, exhort, encourage, and comfort the hearers, the congregation.   Observing the Lord's Supper each first day of the week to remember the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, until he comes again.   By giving of our means, with forethought and cheerfully, according to how God has prospered each one of us, and as each has purposed in his heart.
1 Pet 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (KJV).	We view the church, then, as a "…spiritual house, an holy priesthood…" to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God; and to do His work. We should develop the proper mindset to worship the Father in spirit and in truth!

Some congregations of the church of God mentioned in the New Testament (with their scriptures and locations given)

Acts 13: 1: ..in the church that was at Antioch . . . (KJV).

1 Cor 16: 19: The churches of Asia . . . (KJV).

Rev 1: 4: John, To the seven churches which are in Asia: . . . (KJV).

Rom 16: 1: I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea. . . (KJV).

1 Cor 1: 2: Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, . . . (KJV).

Rev 2: 1: Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: . . . (KJV).

Gal 1: 2: And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galacia: . . . (KJV)

Acts 9: 31: Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria . . . (KJV).

Rev 3: 14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: . . . (KJV).

Rev 2: 12: And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write: . . . (KJV).

Rev 3: 1: And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: . . . (KJV).

Rev 3: 7: And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: . . . (KJV).

Rev 2: 8: And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: . . . (KJV).

Rev 2: 18: And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write: . . . (KJV).

This is the order of congregations and their locations most often seen.

The name church of God is used often, or simply "the church at or in (plus the location). The name Church of Christ or church of Christ is not used in the Bible.

Christ is the head of the Church, and he sits at the right hand of God. It is a Spiritual Kingdom, and as such does not have an earthly “headquarters” or central location.

Eph 1:20-23: 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (KJV)