Q. I notice that you frequently have pot-luck meals. Does your group follow any special dietary guidelines?
A. Yes, we do. We follow the guidelines that God gave to Israel in Leviticus 11 and in Deuteronomy 14. We believe our Creator gave guidelines to His creation (His children) out of love. Those guidelines reflect what is best for us. The most common foods that we avoid eating are pork, shrimp, crab, lobster and catfish.
Q. Your website mentions keeping the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Why would a Christ centered church observe these traditional Jewish Holy Days?
A. While these days are traditionally observed by the Jewish faith, they are not "Jewish Holy Days". The Jews were one of 12 tribes of Israel. All twelve tribes were led out of Egypt and offered the opportunity to be God's chosen people (Leviticus 26:12), but they rejected God's offer (Jeremiah 7:23-24). Jesus made it clear to the scribes and Pharisees that they no longer "held the corner of the market" on the blessings that were promised to Abraham (Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8). Our Christ also made it clear that, while He was here to establish a new, Spiritual Covenant, with mankind, he did not come to change or eliminate God's Law (Matthew 5:17-18).
The weekly Sabbath, the Passover, and the Holy Days are a part of God's Law that Jesus Christ came to fulfill. When they were explained to the children of Israel after they had been led out of Egypt (Leviticus 23:1-44), God began by saying "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts'…". These are clearly God's days and not the days of any man or group of men. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is in perfect harmony with Him (John 8:18; John 10:30; John 17:11; John 17:21)
Today, we do our best to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. He clearly observed the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and He set us a new time and format for observing the Passover (John 13:15). These things we do as faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Q. Why do you meet on Saturday rather than Sunday?
A. God's Holy Scriptures clearly show that God set the seventh day apart and made it holy (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:8-11; Luke 4:16). The observance was changed from the seventh day to the first day by the Catholic church:
The designation of Sunday as the "Lord’s Day" is well-established by the second century. St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107), whose writings provide great insights into the beliefs and practices of the early Catholic Church, remarked, "…Those who walked in ancient customs came to a new hope, no longer sabbathing but living by the Lord’s Day on which we came to life through Him and through His death…" (Letter to the Magnesians). St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) in his First Apology which was addressed to the Emperor Antonius Pius to show that Christianity was not subversive to the empire wrote, "The Day of the Sun is the day on which we all gather in a common meeting, because it is the first day, the day on which God, changing darkness and matter, created the world; and it is the day on which Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead."
While Sunday was clearly the day of worship for the Church, the old Jewish sabbath prescriptions of refraining from work and business transactions were not transferred to Sunday until the fourth century after the legalization of Christianity. In Christian cultures, Sunday became not only the day of worship of God but also the day of rest. Only in the past 30 years have we seen Sunday returned to paganism where not only it has become a day of business but the shopping mall has become the temple of worship.
We choose to recognize the authority of the Holy Scriptures rather than human interpretations; therefore, we continue to observe the seventh day Sabbath as indicated in God's Word.
Q. Are your services open to the public?
A. Absolutely. Our services are open to all who would like to worship with us in peace.
Q. Do your worship services include speaking in tongues?
A. No, they do not. While the scriptures provide guidelines for speaking in tongues (I Corinthians 12, 13 & 14), that has never been our practice. Rather, we have chosen to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul to speak clearly that all may understand (I Corinthians 14:19).
Please visit our contact page to ask us more about any of these questions, or any other questions that you would like answers to.