Thank you for taking the time to learn about us!  We are a local church of Christ assembling in one another’s homes in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, which is where both Lafayette and West Lafayette are located.  We are Christians who love studying the Bible because it teaches us about our God and Savior.  The following information in Q&A format provides only a brief outline of who we are.  Please contact one of us if you have any questions.  We’d love to speak with you.

What is the church of Christ?

We say that we are the “church of Christ,” but what does that mean?  First, the English word “church” needs to be properly understood as people.  The original Greek word (ekklésia) in the Bible means a group of people, assembly, or a congregation.  It is not a physical building as it is so commonly used in everyday speech.  Christ is really a title that means “Anointed One” or “Messiah” in Hebrew.  Used in the New Testament of the Bible, it refers to Jesus as the one who was “appointed” by God to fulfill all the prophecies in the Old Testament about a coming King and Savior of the world.  Therefore, a church of Christ simply describes a group of people who belong to Jesus and follow Him.

What is a Christian?

We would also call ourselves Christians, a name that quickly came about in the first century (Acts 11:26).  Just like the word church, the descriptive title of Christian can take on a range of meanings to different people.  It is very common to claim to be a Christian but not understand what this means.  Those who would become a Christian in the first century were initially taught the things of first importance, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared” to a long list of witnesses after his resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3f).  This short summary of good news is full of meaning and rightly summarizes the whole New Testament.  Just a few points these early Christians understood this to mean is:

• A recognition that the consequences of their sins that each committed was deserving not only of death but eternal punishment before a holy and just God. (Rom 3:23, 6:23)
• That Jesus was given the title of “Christ” as the rightful heir on the throne of David that would endure forever, a fact proven by the resurrection. (Rom 1:2-4, Acts 17:31).
• That Christ, the only begotten Son of God who was perfect and sinless, came to save all by his sacrificial death (1 Peter 2:22-24, Rom 5:8).  This paid the price of their sins so that any who believed and called on His name would be saved and have eternal life. (Jn 3:16, Acts 2:21)
• Jesus would come again in judgement on all mankind.  “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29)

This knowledge changed everything, and when someone understood enough of what that meant, their hearts were pricked, they repented, and they were baptized for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:37-38).  These are the “elementary principles” (Heb 5:12, 6:1) that a Christian built upon.  A Christian was considered immature if he only understood “repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of teaching about baptisms and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment” (Heb 6:1-2).  Rather, he was expected to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).  They learned from the apostles that this grace “instruct[s] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12), and “because of practice have their senses trained to discern both good and evil” (Heb 5:14).  These Christians then devoted the rest of their lives to learning how to “keep all that [Jesus] commanded” (Matthew 28:20) them.  They were equally concerned about the teaching of who Christ is as they were about the things He had taught and would continue to teach through his apostles and prophets (John 16:12-13, Ephesians 2:20).  Their motivation to do this was out of love.  Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Those of us who are Christians today are the same, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).  We take seriously the charge “to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2).  

This is just part of what it means to be a Christian.  We hope you would like to join us on our path of continuously working toward being “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

What do we do together?

The last question discussed what a Christian is, but what does it mean when multiple Christians band together in a group, a local church?  What divinely given instructions and traditions are given in scripture for them to pattern themselves after? (1 Tim 3:14-15; Rom 6:17; 2 Tim 1:13).  Two very broad categories of what the church does are edification and evangelism. 

Christians edify or build up one another.  We make it a habit of assembling to encourage and stir one another in love and good works (Heb 10:23-25).  One such special time is on the first day of every week, Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:1-1), when we come together to sing (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19, Heb 13:15), share the Lord’s supper (1 Cor 11:17-34, Acts 20:7), hear men preach and teach for the building up of the body (Eph 4:11-12, 1 Tim 4:13), and pray together (1 Tim 2:8).  The family of believers have also consistently found other opportunities to assemble in smaller settings from house to house (Acts 2:46) to share meals together or to allow opportunities such as older women teaching the younger women (Titus 2:3-5).  We continuously seek one another out because we are a new spiritual family.  Because of Jesus, “whoever does the will of [the] Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50).  As such we take care of one another (Gal 6:2), we “rejoice with those who rejoice; [and we] mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15).

Another major aspect of the church is evangelism in the hopes of bringing others to Christ.  The Lord’s instructions after his resurrection and before ascending to His Father were: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).  We consistently look for others who are looking for Him so that they can join our family and also be “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).

Where do we meet?

Christians have found many locations in which to assemble.  They originally met in the temple area of Jerusalem (Acts 2:46, 5:12), but also in more private venues such as homes (Acts 12:12, Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:19, Col 4:15, Philemon 1:2).  They sometimes assembled in public spaces where large crowds could hear the gospel such as Solomon’s Portico (Acts 3:11, 5:12) or the School of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9-10).  They met in upper rooms (Lk 22:12-13, Acts 1:13-14, Acts 20:7-9) when they had the freedom to do so or in prison cells when they didn’t (Acts 16:25).  Christians have made use of a multitude of locations to meet beyond the “church buildings” of modern times.

The Tippecanoe church has chosen to assemble in one another’s homes for the time being to facilitate closer relationships with each other.  While recent technology has allowed virtual meetings, there is no substitute for being in one another’s presence and seeing each other face-to-face (2 Jn 1:12; 3 Jn 1:13-14; Rom 1:11-12; 1 Thes 2:17, 3:10).  Experientially, many have recognized the loneliness that can result on a reliance of phones and computers as a sole avenue for connection with one another.  Thus, physically meeting together is an important emphasis.

A potential obstacle for visitors is entering a stranger’s home.  Please know that you are welcome to join us for one of our assemblies.  Please contact us first to know in which home we are meeting.  Alternatively, if you would like to study the bible on a one-on-one basis, we would love to do this as well.