We believe in growing disciples of Jesus. A big part of growing in Christ comes from learning more about God’s word, the Bible. Madison is a place where you can ask questions and reason together with other Christians to learn more about the life Christ calls us to live.
Visiting a new church can be intimidating. When you visit Baxter Church of Christ, you will never be asked to introduce yourself or do any other activity that makes you feel uncomfortable. We’d just love to have you visit and study with us.
We want you to feel comfortable when you visit us for worship services, so here is a brief summary of what you can expect from a typical service at the Baxter Church of Christ:
Praying: We are led by different men in our congregation (1 Timothy 2:1-8). Our time of prayer is when we talk to God, thanking Him for things in our lives and asking for His guidance and help in other areas of life
Singing: The whole congregation joins together in praising God in song without the use of musical instruments (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16).
The Lord’s Supper: Every Sunday, our members remember Christ’s death by eating unleavened bread and drinking fruit of the vine (Acts 20:7), also known as grape juice. We sit quietly for a few minutes and reflect on how wonderful it is that God loved us enough to give his own Son for us!
Preaching: We will enjoy a time of dedicated study of God’s word (Acts 2:42; Romans 10:14). On Sunday mornings we engage with a specific passage of God’s word, growing in our relationship with God our father. Each lesson will take a Bible passage and explain what it means and how it applies to our lives.
Giving: Each member of this congregation contributes weekly to the work of the church (1 Corinthians 16:2). We do not ask or expect our visitors to give anything in the offering.
What We believe
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:30– 31), that the Bible is inspired of God (2 Timothy 3:16– 17), and that Jesus will return to take His kingdom (the church) home to God (1 Corinthians 15:24). We emphasize sincere worship (John 4:24), every-member evangelism (Acts 8:4), godly living (Titus 2:11–12), love for each other (John 13:33–34), and helping those in need (James 1:27). We believe that it is possible to have religious unity in a day of division by simply following the New Testament pattern and putting aside human traditions.
We believe in the one true God revealed in the Bible. He spoke the world into existence and sustains all things today. God remains active and involved in this world and in our individual lives (Gen. 1:1; Heb. 1:10-12, 11:3).
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We believe He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, shed His blood dying on a cross, was buried and raised from the dead three days later. He ascended to the Father and now reigns over his Kingdom. (Rom. 8:34; Phil. 2:5-11).
We believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven (Acts 4:12, John 14:6) and is the only one qualified and able to redeem us and save us from our sins (Heb. 9:11-15). We believe that one day Jesus will return to take his own to live with him forever (Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:16-17).
We believe that God’s love and justice intersect at the cross. Since God is just, He cannot simply ignore or disregard our sin; but because He is loving, He wants to be in fellowship with us. God’s solution to our sin problem was to send Jesus to serve the penalty we deserved and to reconcile us to Himself so that He might reign in our hearts and lives (2 Cor. 5:18-19; I Thess. 5:9-10; I Pet. 3:18; Rom. 6:23). This is why the Gospel is the Good News!
God has acted on our behalf but we must choose to accept or decline his gift of salvation. We accept the gift of salvation through faith and obedience to God’s word. Faith is more than just intellectual acknowledgment (James 2:19); it is made complete by our actions (James 2:22). Obedience to Jesus includes repentance (Acts 2:38), confession (Rom. 10:9) and baptism. Just as Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead, we also we must be buried (immersed) with Christ in baptism and then be raised to live a new life (Rom. 6:4). At the time of our baptism, our sins are taken away and the Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence in us (Acts 2:38); additionally, we are added to the Church (Acts 2:47). Throughout our lives, we are continually being transformed into the image of Christ by His Spirit who lives in us.