What's in a name?

The church of Christ that meets on Oglethorpe Avenue is a congregation of the Lord's people in Athens, Georgia. 

"Church" isn't a technical term– it just means a "gathering" or "assembly." The size, place, demographic, etc. of a gathering doesn't really matter. It's the "why" that's important. 

And we gather together for the sake of and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ!

God is triune, having three uncreated persons equal in essence: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is completely holy (Isaiah 6:3), eternal (Psalm 90:2), and sovereign (1 Tim 6:15–16). When the Bible says God is those things, or that He is loving (1 John 4:8), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and faithful (2 Thessalonians 3:3), we can read these as almost being synonyms for God– though no human language could fully describe who He is!

In love, God created everything, including making humanity in His image (Genesis 1:1–31). However, the first people, Adam and Eve, when faced with the choice of trusting God or trusting the lie of sin, trusted the lie (Genesis 3:1–7). In doing so, they brought a knowledge of sin into the world, and through sin came death (Ezekiel 18:1–4; Romans 5:12–14; James 1:14–16). From there, we have all chosen sin at some point in our life and fallen short of God’s perfect glory (Romans 3:23).

In love, however, God revealed His plan that He had from eternity to have a people of His own (Ephesians 1:3–4). God took on flesh and dwelt among humanity, being fully God and fully man in Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:1–14). Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, fulfilling the Law of God with its commandments and prophecies which no one else fulfilled (Matthew 5:17–18; John 20:19–22; Colossians 2:13–14). Though he died by way of Roman crucifixion, “by the power of an indestructible life” He rose from the dead three days later (Hebrews 7:16).

Through Jesus' resurrection He has all power over sin and death and offers salvation for anyone who would come to Him (Isaiah 25:6–9; Philippians 2:6–12; Revelation 3:20). Salvation is not contingent on our power– it's not something we can “work” for or “earn" (Ephesians 2:8–9) God has done the work and offers it to us in grace and mercy. And that’s a good thing–Christ took on our iniquities for us (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)!

Salvation comes by recognizing God’s power and submitting ourselves to His will and authority. We hear and believe His word (Rom 10:14–17), repent of, or turn away from, our sins to the truth that only comes from Him (Romans 6:12–13; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Peter 2:9), confess His Lordship (Matthew 10:32–33; Romans 10:9–10), and give our lives completely to Him in baptism, wherein we take part in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:1­–4; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21). There, we give God our sinfulness and He gives us justification by Jesus’ sacrifice, our sinful past giving way to a “new creation” bound in His grace, mercy, and faithfulness (2 Corinthians 5:17–19). We then live as His child (Galatians 3:26)!

Or, rather, His children. Across the world, in cities, towns, and homes, groups of people from all walks of life come together in the name of Christ to serve Him as congregations of the one Church. These congregations are one in regard to unity in Christ (Matthew 16:18) and separate in regard to overseeing (Acts 14:23; Philippians 1:1; 1 Peter 5:1–2). As part of the body of Christ, we follow Christ and His commands together in unity (Ephesians 4:1–16). While you will find information for our service times, our dedication to Christ and to each other runs from Sunday to Saturday. We worship together, study Scripture together, pray together, and seek to help each other in our walk with God. The Church on Oglethorpe Avenue is proud to be part of the Lord’s body!