WELCOME!

When you visit with us at the Lake Gibson congregation, you will observe the following worship activities:  

(1)  Bible Study:  The night before His death, Jesus prayed to the Father, "Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth" (John 17:17).  God's Word, the Bible, is Truth - the only Truth - and our only guide.  You will find that the Bible will be the only textbook to which references are made in our classes and in our sermons.  You will never be asked to accept what some man says about the Bible because we want you to read the Bible for yourself to see "whether those things are so" (Acts 17:11). You can quietly observe and study that which you see and hear, or you can ask questions and make comments in our Bible class discussions if you desire.  But you will never be embarrassed or singled out in any way for some sort of testimony or comment. 

(2)  Prayer:  You will observe one of the brethren leading the congregation reverently in prayer (I Tim. 2:1-5). Prayer is vitally important in the life of the Christian.  Through Bible study we listen to God, and through prayer, He has promised to listen to us (Philippians 4:4-7). 

(3) Singing:  You will observe our congregation singing praises to God without the accompaniment of instruments.  We know this may be quite different than what you have experienced in the past.  We realize that most groups today use a piano, organ, or other musical instruments to accompany their singing. But our music is completely vocal and congregational in nature.  This practice is not just a traditional holdover from earlier times, but is a studied conviction by our congregation.  Again, we seek to return to the pattern of the early church. First century Christians engaged in the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19), and we do the same today. 

(4) The  Lord's Supper (Communion):  If you visit on Sunday, you will observe the congregation eating unleavened bread and drinking the fruit of the vine in memory of the death of Christ (Matt. 26:26-29). We do this every first day of every week, because that is what early Christians did under the guidance of the Apostles (Acts 20:7).  The Lord's Supper is tremendously significant to the Christian.  Jesus said, "Take eat, this is my body," and "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:26, 28).  In the Lord's Supper, we weekly remember the most significant event in the history of mankind - the sacrificial death of God's Son.     

(5)  Giving:  Also on the first day of the week, you will observe that we take up a collection for the financial support of the work of our local congregation.  Again, we do this on the first day of the week because that is what Christians were instructed to do in the first century by the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).  Our work is completely supported by this free-will offering of our members.   As our guest, you will not be asked to make a contribution to our congregation. 

You Too Can Be Just A Christian

As you can see from the brief explanations above, it is our desire to simply be a congregation of Christians like we can read about in the New Testament.  We are an autonomous, independent, self-governing group of Christians.  We like to say that we are "SIMPLY CHRISTIANS," worshipping and serving God without adding the doctrines or traditions of men.  We strive to worship and to serve God in exactly the same way the early disciples did, because we believe that that is what God still demands of us today.  Christ is our only head (Eph. 1:22-23) and the Scriptures are our only guide (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Colossians 3:17).  We invite you to ...

"Come now, and let us reason together"

Many centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah wrote, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isa. 1:8).  We invite you, our friends and neighbors in the Lakeland area, to come and study God's Word with us.  "Let us reason together."  Let us examine the book of God.  If we could not understand the Bible, God would be  (1) defective in power (not being able to give us a clear revelation) and  (2) lacking in goodness (not willing to give it to us).  Clearly, none of us believe this about our God.  Since the Bible is understandable (Eph. 3:1-5), let us study diligently to understand it better.  We can be simply Christians, serving God without belonging to any denomination, its man-made laws or obligations. If this simplicity and freedom in spiritual matters appeals to you, please contact us -- or better still come and visit!!