DISCOVER VERO CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Hello. My name is Steve Jones and I’m the preaching minister
at Vero Christian Church. If you are watching this video it is
likely because you have some interest in making Vero Christian
your church family. Thank you for that
consideration. We would love to have you join the family.
What follows is a presentation of some of our core beliefs
that you need to be aware of in order to make an informed
decision. I’m going to cover four basic points: 1) Our unity.
2) Our understanding of salvation. 3) Expectations of
members. 4) Our structure.
LET’S START WITH OUR UNITY
Vero Christian Church is part of the “Restoration
Movement.” We seek unity through restoration of the
New Testament Church. Our unifying principle is to take
the Bible and the Bible alone as our only rule of faith and
practice. So we determine to follow the Bible as opposed
to human traditions that may have evolved in the church
over the centuries. This unites us by providing an
objective and authoritative standard we can all agree on -
The Bible. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:20 “(You are)
members of God's household, built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone.” When Paul writes that the
foundation of the Church is the “apostles and prophets”
we take that to mean the writings of the apostles and
prophets which we have in the form of the New
Testament. There is nothing wrong with man-made
traditions per se. Eating turkey on Thanksgiving is a man-
made tradition - nothing wrong with that! But when a
man-made tradition that has evolved in the church,
contradicts the Biblical teaching, or causes people to
follow the tradition in place of the Bible’s teaching, then
we discard that tradition and restore the Biblical practice.
That’s called restoration.
As an example of restoration, take the communion,
or “Lord’s Supper.” That’s when Christians eat bread and
drink grape juice to remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
How often should a church observe the Lord’s supper?
Some churches observe the Lord’s Supper once a month,
some quarterly and some annually. We observe the Lord’s
Supper every week on Sunday. Why? Because Luke
records in Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week we
gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s
Supper.” The first day of the week was Sunday. Weekly
observance appears to have been the practice of the
church under the direction of the apostles. Therefore, we
have restored weekly communion in our church. That’s
what restoration is all about: following the Bible and doing
Bible things in Bible ways. That’s pretty straightforward. As
a church, we’re simply determined to follow the Bible, as
faithfully as possible, in our beliefs and practices. We’re
intentional about that.
Next let’s talk about our understanding of salvation.
Here’s what we believe the Bible teaches regarding how a
person is “saved”, that is, how a person becomes a
Christian. I’ll give you a basic statement and then unpack
it for you. We believe that you are saved by grace,
through faith, at baptism and for good works. Now let
me break that down and unpack it.
To say that we are saved “by grace” means that our
salvation is a gift to us from God. The word “grace” means
gift. All of us have broken God’s law and that makes us
guilty of sin. Sin is defined as breaking God’s law. We
cannot “undo” that guilt. We cannot perform enough
good deeds to negate even one of our sins, much less all of
them. We are guilty and we have to pay the penalty. The
penalty is eternal punishment. So, our salvation can never
be accomplished by our own good works or good deeds. It
is not something we deserve or have earned. God makes it
possible for us to be saved by his grace - his loving, giving
nature that wants to forgive us and make it possible for us
to enjoy eternal life with Him in Heaven.
We are saved by grace, through faith. Saving faith is
two things. First, faith is assent that certain facts are true.
Those facts are that Jesus is God’s son, he died on the
cross as a substitute to take upon himself the guilt and
penalty for our sin, he was buried and rose again on the 3 rd
day. The second part of saving faith is trust. Not only do
you believe those facts to be true, but you entrust yourself
to God to save you through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is
possible to believe the facts but still not put your trust in
God for salvation. It takes both belief and trust to have
saving faith.
We are saved by grace, through faith, at baptism.
The word “baptism” literally means immersion. Baptism is
an immersion in water of a person who 1) has saving faith
and 2) has made the decision to turn away from a life of
selfishness and sin in order to live their lives in obedience
to God from now on. That decision is called “repentance.”
When we say we are saved “at baptism” we mean your
immersion in water, your baptism, is the point in time
when God saves you. Baptism is when you go from being
lost, to being saved. Your baptism is when you become a
Christian. Here are some of the Bible verses that teach the
meaning and purpose of baptism:
Colossians 2:12-13
“For you were buried with Christ when you were
baptized. And with him you were raised to new life
because you trusted the mighty power of God, who
raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of
your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut
away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he
forgave all our sins.” Having your sins forgiven is the very
definition of “being saved.” That happens at your baptism.
I know that baptism is a sticking point for some
people because so many man-made traditions have
evolved over the centuries surrounding this important
step. Human, man-made traditions, like the sprinkling of
infants or praying Jesus into your heart. Many of those
traditions simply have no basis in the Bible and actually
cause people to neglect the Bible’s actual teachings. So,
remember the first principle that we covered. We discard
man-made traditions that are not in the Bible, and we
restore the Biblical teaching. Here are a few more
scriptures that make the meaning and purpose of baptism
clear.
At the conclusion of the first recorded gospel sermon
in the Bible, the Apostle Peter offered this invitation to his
audience who had just asked him, “What shall we do?”
Acts 2:38, 39 - Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children
and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our
God will call."
Notice that baptism is “for the forgiveness of sins” and it is
also when you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 22:16 – Ananias to Saul “And now what are you
waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins
away, calling on his name.” “Washing your sins away” is
another way of saying “have your sins forgiven.” I would
ask the same question of you if you have not yet been
baptized: “What are you waiting for?”
In I Peter 3:21 the Apostle Peter writes “And this water
symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the
removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good
conscience toward God. Baptism saves you by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ”
I know it is hard to unlearn something we may have been
taught for most of our lives by people we love and trust.
For those who would like to explore this issue more deeply
I will provide you with a more thorough study of baptism
either as a handout, if you’re in our physical class, or as a
link in the description of this video.
We are saved by grace, through faith, at baptism and
for good works. We are not saved by our good works, as
we have already stated, but once we are saved, God has
good work that he wants us to do. These good works
include things like prayer, reading the Bible, serving in a
church, being generous with our money and, in general,
living in obedience to God’s will as revealed in the Bible.
We are saved by grace, through faith, at baptism and for
good works.
Before we leave this discussion of salvation, I want to
introduce you to the Biblical concept of positional
salvation. It’s helpful to understand the difference
between our position and our condition when it comes to
salvation. Paul writes in Philippians 3:9 – And be found in
Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ –
the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
In that verse, Paul says he wants to be found “In Him”
meaning “In Christ.” What does that mean? I like to
illustrate what that means using three examples from the
Old Testament.
1) Example one - Noah’s ark. (Picture of Noah’s ark for
about five seconds). The first world-wide judgement was
the flood. Only eight people were “saved” from that
judgement: Noah, his three sons and their wives. In one
sense, they were saved by virtue of where they were when
the judgment came. They were in the ark. That was their
position. In their condition, they were not perfect. In fact,
Noah got drunk after the flood. He had his “issues.” All of
them did - just like all of us do. But they had enough faith
to get into the ark which was the position of salvation. So,
in that example, you can see the difference between their
position and their condition.
2) Example two - The Passover Houses. (Picture of
Passover houses for about five seconds) In the Old
Testament, God sent ten plagues against Egypt to free the
Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. The tenth plague was to
be the death of the first-born son in every home in Egypt.
The Hebrews were also in Egypt. In order to be spared this
plague, God told them to smear lamb’s blood over their
door-frames and to get inside those houses covered with
blood. The death angel passed over all of the houses
covered with blood. Thus, the name, “Passover.” The
Hebrews who were “saved” from that judgment were not
saved because of their condition. They were actually a
very stubborn and rebellious people who caused God all
kinds of grief once they were delivered out of Egypt.
Rather they were saved by their position. They had enough
faith to get into those houses covered by blood. They were
saved because of where they were when the judgment
came.
3) Example three - Rahab’s house. (Pic of Rahab’s house
for about five seconds). When the Israelites began their 7-
year military campaign to conquer the promised land, the
first battle they fought was the battle of Jericho. Before
they attacked the city, they sent in two spies to
reconnoiter. The local authorities in Jericho got wind of it
and began to search for the spies. The spies were hidden
by a sympathetic citizen of Jericho named Rahab. After
the authorities had left, the spies asked Rahab, “What can
we do to reward you?” She said, “You can spare my life
when your army attacks our city.” They said, “Fair enough,
you mark your house with a scarlet rope hanging out your
window. On the day of our attack, make sure you and
everyone you care about is in this house. We will spare
everyone who is in this house.” And that is what
happened. There were no survivors from the battle of
Jericho except Rahab and her family. Why were they
saved? Not because of her condition. Rahab was a
prostitute. She was not particularly righteous. They were
saved because of their position. She had enough faith to
get into the right place at the right time.
Fast forward to the New Testament. We’re not Old
Testament Jews we are New Testament Christians.
Nevertheless, the Bible teaches there is a position of
salvation today. It’s not a place, it’s a person. The position
of salvation now is “in Christ.” That’s why Paul wrote
Philippians 3:9 – “And be found in Him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but
that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness
that comes from God and is by faith.” Paul wants to be
found “In him”. In whom? In Christ. Found by whom? By
God. On the judgment day Paul wants God to find him “in
Christ.”
The way Christian salvation works is we give God
something and in exchange he gives us something. We
give God our faith, and in exchange, God gives us
righteousness. Question, “How righteous do you have to
be to go to Heaven?” Answer, perfectly righteous. That is
good news and bad news. It’s bad news because we all
know that we are not perfectly righteous. Not even close.
But it’s good news because in salvation, God gives us
perfect righteousness in exchange for faith. In fact, he
gives us the righteousness of Christ. Philippians 3:9 –
“And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my
own that comes from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God
and is by faith.”
When you enter into Christ, the position of salvation,
God imputes to you the righteousness of Christ. Perfect,
saving righteousness. You’re not saved because of how
many Bible verses you’ve memorized, or prayers you’ve
prayed or dollars you’ve given to the church. Those things
are important but not for the purpose of salvation. You’re
saved because you get credit for the perfect righteousness
of Christ. It is imputed to you when you are “In Christ.”
All of that begs the question, how do you enter into
Christ. What is the “door” so to speak? Noah’s ark had a
door entered into by faith. The Passover houses had doors
entered into by faith. Rahab’s house had a door entered
into by faith. What is the door into Christ, the position of
salvation? The door is baptism.
Galatians 3:27
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Romans 6:3
“All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death?”
Do you see the positional language in those verses?
“Baptized into Christ”. Is baptism a work? Yes, baptism is a
work of God. Everything that happens to you in baptism is
something that only God can do. In a baptism, we see a
repentant believer being immersed in water. But what is
happening, at that moment in time, in the mind of God is
this. In baptism,
1) God forgives your sin.
2) God places you into Christ, the position of salvation.
3) God imputes to you the righteousness of Christ.
4) God gives you the Holy Spirit to live inside of you and
help you live a life of holiness.
5) And God places you into his church.
Now, all you have to do is decide which local
congregation is the one you want to partner with in
service and ministry as your spiritual family. We call that
“placing membership.”
Anyone can place membership with Vero Christian Church
who has:
1) A belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
2) Repented from sin and decided to live in obedience to
God to the best of your ability, God helping you.
3) Been baptized by immersion in water for the
forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now let me talk very briefly about what is expected of
church members. In general, there are four basic
expectations of new members:
1) LOVE GOD - The Sunday worship service is one of the
primary ways we grow in our love for God and show our
love for God. This is the expectation of regular Sunday
church attendance. Unfortunately, the average church
attendance of most Church members in the United States
is one or two times per month. God is the one who has
called us to assemble with other Christians every week on
Sunday to worship him in love. If you’re not sick, at work
or out of town, on Sunday, God expects you to be
expressing your love for him in church with your spiritual
family.
2) LOVE PEOPLE - The Bible says we are to love our fellow
man and especially our fellow church Christians. A great
way to do that is to get involved with a small group study,
or life group. A life group is also a great way to make
friends and grow spiritually. We have opportunities to
participate in life groups at various times and various days.
Some of our life groups meet at the church building and
others meet in homes.
3) SERVE OTHERS - We serve others by getting involved in
a ministry of some sort. There are many ways to do this
including several “entry-level” ministries where new
people can get started right away, such as greeter or
usher.
4) FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The Bible teaches that Christians are to be “givers.” Paul
writes: “You must each decide in your heart how much
to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to
pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.’”
(II Cor.9:7)
At Vero Christian, our church giving is confidential. It is
between you and God. Offering envelopes are available
upon request if you would like a receipt for “charitable
giving” at the end of the year. Online giving is also
available at our website: www.verochristian.info.
Finally, I will finish by talking about our structure. We are
a non-denominational church. Our congregation is
independent and autonomous. We also have a voluntary
association with other local, autonomous, independent
congregations of the same belief.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church
We have Pastors (aka “Elders”) who oversee the Church
with the help of the deacons. Our elders are local church
members who have met the Biblical qualifications for an
elder and have been approved by the congregation to
serve in that way. Those of us who are paid staff serve
under the oversight of the elders.
In conclusion: If you are looking for a church home then
we would love for you to join us at Vero Christian Church.
Please contact us if you’re interested in placing your
membership with us. If you would like to be baptized into
Christ, please contact us and we’ll arrange for your
baptism at the earliest possible opportunity. You can
email us at info@verochristian.com. And you can call us at
772-567- 1368. If no one happens to answer when you
call, please leave a message and we’ll get right back to
you.
I would encourage you to also check out our Discover 201
presentation and Discover 301 presentation. In Discover
201 we’ll go into more detail about how and why to get
involved with a life group. In Discover 301 we’ll go into
more detail about how and why to get involved in a
ministry. Thank you and God bless.
