About Our Congregation...
The Manhattan Avenue church of Christ serves a
congregation of approximately 30
members, who have been drawn together
as a group by their common faith in
Jesus Christ for the purpose of worship
and service. We are a congregation
growing not only in number, but also
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
(2 Peter 3:18).
Our congregation was established in 1964 in response
to the growing need for the church to prayerfully
and financially support institutions housing
and caring for orphaned children, which is a work
that we continue to support today through the Mount Dora Christian
Home and Bible School, in Mount Dora, Florida.
The Manhattan Avenue church of Christ is non-denominational,
meaning we are a free, independent,
self-governing congregation with Jesus Christ
alone as head (Ephesians 1:22-23); we do not hold
any denominational affiliation, and have no
centralized "earthly" headquarters. The members
of the Manhattan Avenue church of Christ wear no denominational
name, other than "Christian" (Acts 11:26).
Since the first century, faithful Christians have rejected the doctrines of men (found in denominational creeds and statements of faith), but have continually devoted themselves to the apostle's doctrine, which was taught everywhere in every church (Acts 2:42,1 Corinthians 4:17). We at the Manhattan Avenue church of Christ seek to do likewise, that we may be considered a faithful part of that same church that Jesus Christ promised to build in the first century (Matthew 16:18-19), which was established on the first Pentecost following His death, burial, and resurrection (Acts 2). We hold that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), so we always seek to rightly divide His word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Therefore, the New
Testament Bible is our sole rule of faith and
practice in deciding all matters of doctrine,
ecclesiastical structure, and moral beliefs. While
we believe the Old Testament Bible is also divinely
inspired and historically accurate, and that the
principles taught therein remain true and beneficial
for us today, we teach that its laws and decrees
are no longer binding under the new covenant in
Christ (Colossians 2:13-14, Galatians 3:13-14),
unless otherwise taught in the New Testament.
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The Manhattan Avenue church of Christ congregation lives
by only one rule of law, and that is the law
of Jesus Christ, which is a law of faith and
love for God and for each other. It is our sincerest hope and desire that our members and visitors feel comfortable and completely at ease in the worship service, which contains only those acts of worship authorized in the New Testament Bible, including the singing of Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16), an offering of public prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-3), the observance of the Lord's supper (Luke 22:15-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26), the taking up of a collection from only those with a cheerful heart to give (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 9:7), and the preaching of God's word (2 Timothy 4:1-2), followed by an opportunity
for all in attendance to obey the Gospel and
thereby continue adding to the church all who
should be saved in our Lord Jesus Christ
(Acts 2:37-41).
At Manhattan Avenue church of Christ, our visitors are honored
guests, and it is from a sincere and joyful heart
that we invite you to join us this Sunday to come
worship our Lord in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23).
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