- What is the church in Naperville?
According to the Bible, the church in any city is everyone in that city who has received Jesus Christ as their Savior. Therefore, the church in Naperville includes every believer who lives in Naperville. This is practical and real, like a family. Instead of talking about the church theoretically or just one day a week, we have decided to practice a church life as described in the Bible.
| Definition: the church: a) universal — all the believers in all places throughout all time; b) local — all the believers here and now, in a given city. |
Q. Is this really possible?
A. We believe the Lord is working now to bring His believers into oneness. The first believers met in this way, but this original practice of meeting simply as the church in a city was lost and covered over by the many other ‘identities’ with which Christians have come to associate themselves. We believe that a return to the original ground of meeting together as the church in each city is doable. We believe it is possible to meet together without any distinguishing titles or doctrines. We believe it is not normal for believers to be divided from one another.
Our Membership
We receive all whom God receives, all who through faith have received Jesus, God’s unique Son, as their Savior and thus as their life, regardless of their social status, culture, nationality, etc.. We have no creed other than faith in Christ. Such faith, as revealed in the Bible, assumes many things which we hold dear. For example, Christ’s deity and humanity, His work of salvation on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension. Our primary concern is a relationship with our living Lord and His Body, the church.
Our Practice
When someone meets with us, they will find us singing, praying and having fellowship in homes or halls. It is our firm belief that each believer has a unique function for the sake of the building up of the church, the Body of Christ. Just as our physical body has many members with essential functions, so also does Christ’s Body. We, the members of His Body, work with the Lord Himself to build up one another. What a purpose! What a practice! What a privilege!
For
just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not
have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another.
— Romans 12:4-5
A RECOVERY
In the 1920's, a few believers got together to break bread simply as the church in their city. Since that time, believers in city after city have come to experience the church life in this way — believing that God has placed them together with one another in their city for a testimony of oneness—just as the Lord Himself prayed in John 17:21-23. The choice of where to meet is no longer an issue, for we recognize that this choice has been taken out of our hands and placed firmly in His.
Come and See!