VISIT US ON
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU VISIT
BIBLE CLASS
Have you ever wanted to have time devoted to digging deep into the Bible? Before the 11 am worship service, we spend an hour in Bible study. The adults will be digging through the Bible text in the auditorium. Meanwhile, the kids are being introduced to the Bible downstairs in the classrooms. Our goal during this time is to be able to have a more in-depth knowledge of what God wants for us in this life. The material presented will also consist of useful and relevant applications that should help us when different situations come into our lives.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16, 17
PREACHING
Do you want to get to know God better? Since the beginning of time, God has desired for his people to know Him. In the Garden of Eden, God walked with and talked to Adam and Eve. We can also read of God giving His people the Law, which they were supposed to learn to know Him. Later, God talked to men through prophets so men could know Him. In the New Testament, we read how God came to earth in the form of a man, Jesus, so that men could know Him. Before Jesus ascended back to heaven, he told his apostles to go through the world, telling people about Him so that they could know Him.
The prophets and the apostles previously mentioned wrote down what they saw, heard, and told other people about God, and those writings are compiled in the Bible. God still desires that men know him, and the Bible is how men get to know God. The goal of the preaching here at the Wisconsin Avenue Church of Christ is to simply present the Bible to others so they can get to know God.
LORD'S SUPPER
So, what’s with the cracker and grape juice? It may seem silly at first, but consuming a cracker and some grape juice has a profound explanation. The practice which we call “the Lord’s Supper” originates from the Israelite feast known as “Passover.” For hundreds of years, the Jews annually partook of the Passover feast to remember how God’s wrath “passed over” the Israelites in Egypt who painted their doorpost with the blood of a slain lamb. In Luke 22, we read of Jesus and His closest disciples partaking of this Passover feast one last time on the night before He was crucified. From this point on, the Passover feast would have a whole new meaning. During this last feast, Jesus told His disciples that the bread being consumed represented his body, and the wine being consumed represented His blood, which is for the forgiveness of sins. He told his disciples to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
As we observe what the church did through the Bible, we see them taking the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, just as Jesus said (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 20:7). So, on Sundays, when we eat a piece of a cracker, and we take a drink of grape juice, we remember the death of the Lamb whose blood covers us, so God’s Wrath “passes over” us.
How awesome is it to hear voices united in praise and worship to our God? Not only is it an uplifting experience for us, but it is also a time where we can teach each other through the hymns that we are singing (Colossians 3:16,17). Singing praise and making melody in our hearts to God is also a way we can be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, 19).
During our worship services, we are lead in hymns by one of our song leaders without an accompaniment of instruments. This is done not only to fulfill a command of God but also to encourage one another as we hear each other's hearts opening up to God and worshipping Him!
ACAPELLA SINGING
GIVING
Have you ever wondered how a church can do all the good works that it does? Without the generous giving hearts of the Christians, the Lord's Church would never be able to advance the gospel of Christ. God has certainly blessed us in this life, and it is only right to give back a portion of those blessings so that the work of His church can continue. Whenever we put money in the offering plate with a cheerful heart, we are showing our appreciation to God.
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7
PRAYING
The way we can communicate with the all-powerful, all-loving, all-everything God is through prayer. Recorded in the pages of the Bible are men and women pouring out their hearts to God in prayer, asking for strength, asking for guidance, or simply saying thank you.
As we read through the New Testament and observe the practices of the early church, we see over and over that Christians prayed together (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 20:17-35, James 5:13-16). If we aim to follow the model of the early church and follow what the Bible says, then we must be focused on being men and women who pray.
