WORKBOOK: WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE
CHURCH OF CHRIST
Lesson I
Assignment: Read the first four sections of your book. Answer the
following questions.
THE IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH
- Do you think most people are what they are in religion because of human
rather than scriptural reasons? YES NO
- What are some of the reasons people belong to certain churches?
- Do you think these reasons are sufficient? YES NO
- Do you think this is true in the churches of Christ? YES NO
THE BUILDER
- Did Christ have the exclusive authority to build a church? YES NO
Give scripture for your answer.
- What was John's purpose in relation to the kingdom of heaven?
- Was John the Baptizer in Christ's chruch? YES NO
Give reason with scriptures for your answer.
- Read Matthew 15:13 and explain in your own words why it is so important
to identify and become part of the true New Testament church.
FOUNDATION
- Who, or what, is the foundation of the church?
- How do you know it was not Peter? Explain in your own words.
- Read the prophecy of the church's foundation in Isaiah 28:16. Is this
applied to Christ? YES NO Give scripture
for your answer.
- Thought question: Just how sure is this foundation? Read the
last part of Isaiah 28:16. Name some who have attacked it? Do you
know some who are attacking it now?
PLACE
- Where did the prophets say the church was to be built? Isaiah 2:2,3;
Micah 4:1,2; Zechariah 1:16.
- What was the starting place of Jesus' world-wide commission? Luke 24:46-49.
- Where were the apostles when they were clothed with the Holy Spirit? Read
Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1-5.
- From what place was the law to go forth? Isaiah 2:2,3.
- Where was the first sermon preached after the ascension of Christ? Acts 2:14-42.
- Where was repentance and remission of sins first preached in the name of Christ?
Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38.
- Read carefully pages 16-19 and be able to discuss the question of church
succession.
- Do you think it is important to be able to trace the church in an unbroken chain back
to the apostles? Give reasons for your answers.
- How can we be sure the church Christ built is on earth today if we cannot trace
it in an unbroken chain back to the apostles?
- How can the church be planted in any community with the assurance that it is
the church Christ built?
TIME
NOTE: Study carefully pages 20-21. Read the scriptures given on the chart.
- In what sense (or tense) was the church spoken of before the first Pentecost
after the ascension of Christ? PRESENT FUTURE
- In what sense (or tense) was it spoken of after Pentecost?
PRESENT FUTURE
- When you come to class, be able to use the scriptures given in the chart and
prove when the church began.
- When (what day) was "the beginning" of Acts 11:15?
CONCLUSION
- Any church in order to be scriptural must bear these beginning marks.
- Any church that was not built by Christ, with Christ the foundation,
in the city of Jerusalem, on the first Pentecost after his ascension,
cannot be the church of the New Testament.
- What dies it take to produce the church that Christ built?
- Memorize: Isaiah 2:2,3 and Acts 2:1-4.