Who Are These People?

The Helena church of Christ is a relatively new (since 1996) non-denominational congregation located in Helena, Alabama. We are simply Christians, without denominational names and practices.

 

Emphasis at Helena is placed on these key areas:

• We follow the Bible as our only rule for faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1-20-21)
• We place a strong emphasis on Bible teaching and preaching
  (Acts 20:27; 1 Tim. 4:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-5) both locally in Helena and anywhere in the world that we can have opportunity to help spread the gospel.
• We practice worshipping God in spirit and truth ( John 4:24). We try to achieve that Christ-directed balance by emphasizing the practical aspects of loving and serving one another (Gal. 6:2, Eph 4:32, James 1:27) while never compromising on the doctrinal truths taught by Jesus and His apostles (II Tim 2:2, II John 1:9-10).
• We are dedicated to supporting and teaching God's design for the family (Eph. 5:22-6:4; Col. 3:18-21; Titus 2:1-8; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).

Is this the "perfect" church?

 

Not hardly. We are not a perfect people. Our members come from all walks of life and have varying degrees of spiritual knowledge and strength. On a recent episode of the "reality" show Survivor two groups of very diverse people (old, young, weak, strong, women, men, etc.) were pitted against one another in racing an obstacle course that required climbing gulleys, swimming across canals, and sprints across open beaches. As they faced the course, one could easily see that the young and strong would quickly leave their weaker fellow team members in the dust. Then the organizers of the contest threw them a curve. They brought out a rope to which was attached several belts, one for each team member. The contest changed drastically! This forced each team to help their weakest members, for it soon became obvious that the only way a team could win would be by helping and assisting their weakest members to complete the course.

 

We in the church must view ourselves as belted together to help one another complete a far more important race. We must not overlook anyone or leave anyone behind. This is much harder in practice than it sounds, but this is what Jesus did for us in word and example. To the extent that we can follow Jesus as our leader and serve one another as His family, we will be the church that He wants us to be and no one will be left behind or overlooked.

The perfection that we do enjoy is in learning to love one another, supporting and strengthening one another, and encouraging one another through the trials and temptations of this life (Heb. 10:23-25, Gal 6:1-2), all the while seeking to worship God in spirit and truth. This is not something that is attained in a one-time act of service, or by even by attending every service faithfully. It is, however, a recognition that we will experience many of the same relationship problems that were encountered in the early apostolic church. We at the Helena church will work to strengthen and love one another in humility while striving to show our love to Jesus by keeping His commandments (John 17:7).