Are you new at LBC?
If you are thinking of visiting us at LBC, but not sure what to expect, we’d like to help. We realize that visiting a new place can be a little intimidating, so we’d like to answer some common questions:
Who are we at LBC?
The Lawrence Bible Chapel is a non-denominational, Christ-centered, Bible- believing local church that seeks to meet according to principles set down in the New Testament.
As a group of people, according to the Bible, we make every attempt to love and follow a perfect God. There are many metaphors we could use – a body (I Corinthians 10.17, Ephesians 1.22-23), a spiritual building (1 Peter 2.4), a bride (Ephesians 5.25), a family (Galatians 6.10). Each of these emphasize that we are a group of people connected in community because of God’s work in our lives and we gather to honor Jesus Christ.
For specific doctrinal questions, see our doctrinal statement.
Why does LBC exist?
Our primary purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ as we gather to worship and serve our Savior. To accomplish we have three primary goals:
- To encourage each other to grow more like Him, and to help cultivate our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. We want Him to have the first place in our church meeting, our service, and our lives (Colossians 1.18)
- To build up those who love and follow Jesus by proclaiming Him, admonishing, and teaching every person so that every person may be presented mature in Christ (Colossians 1.28)
- Our desire is to reach out to all people who have not heard the Good News: that even though we deserve separation from God because of our sin, Jesus died for each of us on the cross and rose from the dead, and now freely offers forgiveness of sin and everlasting life to whoever will believe in Him.
How do we meet at LBC?
We meet in-person using the early church pattern seen in Acts 2.42 by teaching the apostles’ doctrine, having fellowship (intimacy and brotherly love), remembering the Lord’s sacrifice (often called “communion”), and corporate prayer on a weekly basis.
When do we meet at LBC?
See our meeting times.
Who leads LBC?
The head and great Shepherd of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus is the best single leader of any group of believers. We have multiple elders who lead our local group of believers as under-shepherds of the Lord Jesus and multiple deacons who serve our body of believers.
What’s the preaching like?
At LBC, we deeply value God’s Word, so all the teaching and preaching messages come from the Bible. Sermons may be topical or be part of a series. We believe in sharing all of God’s word and that it is all profitable. Teaching and preaching of God’s word is done by various men within our meeting. If you want to hear a sampling of our messages, you can find them here on the webpage.
What’s distinctive about us at LBC?
- We value the leadership of Jesus Christ. We are an independent group of believers and gather to Christ and in Christ with no denominational participation or allegiances.
- We value unity and fellowship among every believer in the Lord Jesus. We welcome any believer in the Lord Jesus as a brother or sister. As such, we have no formal membership.
- We value the role that every believer plays in the local church; some people call this “the priesthood of all believers”. Because of this, we see in Scripture that every believer in the Lord Jesus has some gift, talent, ability to contribute to the meeting which should be used for the good of the body and the glory of Jesus.
- We meet in-person using the early church pattern seen in Acts 2.42 by teaching the apostles’ doctrine, having fellowship (intimacy), remembering the Lord’s sacrifice (often called “communion”), and corporate prayer on a weekly basis
- We have an expectation of the soon return of Christ. This motivates us to look for Jesus’ return, to share the gospel, and to live for Jesus now.
- Since Christ is our head and leader, He knows our needs and we look to Him to provide for our needs. While giving is regularly practiced by the believers, we do not solicit money, have pledge cards, or have fund raising events.
- We have no paid staff.
- Church discipline, if necessary is exercised.
Have a question we didn’t answer?
Feel free to contact of us, particularly those in leadership. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can find our contact info on the homepage.