Membership Classs

History

Welcome to Video one of our membership series. The Point Church of God is Part of the Church of God with its headquarters located in Cleveland, TN. Since its beginning, the Church of God has been a movement " a moving church with a mission of ministry to the world.

In this new millennium, God is leading the Church of God as a global movement prepared to meet the demands and challenges of ministry in the 21st century. The Church of God consists of people just like you.

 Every person who attends a Church of God function, event or local congregation is recognized as a valuable member of the church body. While we do not require people to become members of the Church of God to be involved in activities at Lighthouse’s activities we strongly encourage those who know this is where God has called them to fellowship into making this commitment.

 It is a commitment to honor one another as believers in the common fellowship that God has called us to. To honor the heritage we belong to and to make ourselves accountable to the fellowship of Christians at The Lighthouse as well as the global body of believers we are associated with.

1 We will spend Three sessions looking at The Church of God’s: History Doctrine Polity (structure, government, and operations) It is our desire that as you attend watch these sessions that you would prayerfully consider becoming a member of the Church of God, solidifying your commitment to the local church as well as the the global body of believers we belong to.

That you will be encouraged learning about the global impact for the cause of Christ you are a part of by your involvement with the Church of God.

1 In our first session we will take a look at the history of the Church of God.

From it’s early years in the foot hills of the Appalachian mountains to the global body of believers that it has become today. It’s history is vast and is truly linked to the move of the Holy Spirt in America and abroad as the earliest members sought in earnest to be a New Testament church .

We will be giving a general overview of Church of God history however I would encourage those who desires a more in depth study of the early history of the church to check out the book, Like a Mighty Army, by Charles Conn. It is recognized as the definitive work on Church of God history.

2 The Church of God began on August 19, 1886, in Monroe County, Tennessee, near the North Carolina border.A former Baptist minister, Richard Green Spurling, preached in a millhouse along Barney Creek and eight persons formed a Christian Union for the purpose of following the New Testament as their rule for faith and practice, giving each other equal rights and privilege to interpret Scripture, and sitting together as the Christian Union.

It would not be until several years later that the group would adopt the name “Church of God” It was their hope that churches would return to basic doctrine and that unity could exist between denominations. They believed this unity could exist if believers would adopt the New Testament as the only “infallible rule of faith and practice” and that it contained everything “necessary for salvation and church government”.

The goal was never to become a denomination but rather a movement of believers determine to follow where the Holy Spirit would lead. That Christianity was the law of love rather than a Creed or Doctrine that could be used to divide Christians.

 3 Though there was much hopefulness in the early members it would be another decade before much movement would be gained .

 In 1896 four men began a ten day revival at the Shearer School house near camp creek in North Carolina. This revival led by one methodist and three baptist preachers attracted a great deal of attention. Their message urged people to seek sanctification subsequent to their salvation. They prayed, fasted, and wept before the Lord until a great revival came, bringing results that include speaking in tongues and miraculous healings.

William F. Bryant a Baptist deacon began at this time teaching Sunday School and holding prayer meetings with those who attended the revival, many of whom were excommunicated from their churches for involvement with the holiness movement.

Their message of holiness was not popular and would eventually result in them being barred from meeting in the schoolhouse. They built a quaint log church across from the school house that would eventually be dismantled and burned by their antagonist.

It would take until 1902 however for them to organize into a church, The Holiness Church at Camp Creek. 4 First General Assembly: In 1906 on a snowy January morning in Camp Creek, North Carolina 21 delegates representing four churches gathered in the home of J.C. Murphy.

It was decided at this assembly that all future assemblies should be judicial in nature, governing by common interpretation of scripture. The groups desire was so sincere that A.J. Tomlison as moderator and clerk prefaced the minutes with: We hope and trust that no person or body of people will ever use these minutes, or any part of them, as articles of faith upon which to establish a sect or denomination.

The subject were discussed merely to obtain light and understanding.

 Our articles of faith are inspired and given us by the Holy Apostles and written in New Testament which is our only rule of faith and practice.

Amongst the topics discussed were:

Communion and Foot Washing.

Asserted the importance of midweek prayer services.

The importance of Family worship was discussed, recommending and urging families 5 to join in worship at home once a day.

The annual meetings continued for forty year until it was decide that they should move to a biennial format. The is the format which remains in practice.

5 On the heels of the first General Assembly the Church really began to expand as a movement.

By 1909 the Church of God had expanded as far south as Florida. It was here in Florida that Edmund and Rebecca Barr, natives of the Bahamas would receive the Baptism of The Holy Spirit. This encounter would leave the burdened to evangelize the Bahama’s and thus Church of God missions work was born.

For the next several years others joined them in their work.

As of January 9, 2018 Some 580 spirit filled missionaries have been sent into more 184 countries representing 7.4 million people in those nations. The most recent being Bhutan a Himalayan country.

6 As the Church of God continued to grow and the need for able minister a means for development was realized. This became the catalyst for the starting of the Bible Training School in 1918. The building pictured here is the churches publishing house. What started with 12 students and 1 teacher, would grow to be what is now Lee University. An accredit school with a student body size near 5,000.

In addition the movement now operates 116 bible schools and colleges serving a student population of approximately 40,000. There are thousands more who attend credentialing course CAMS/MIP accounting for nearly 17,000 ministers.

7 As the movement grew so did it’s heart for people. Especially those who could not care for themselves.

Pressing into fulfill the words of James 1:27 in December of 1920 the first Church of God orphanage began when 4 children where placed in a home in Cleveland, Tennessee under the care of Lillian Kinsey.

From here it expanded into other locations and until in 1949 it was relocated to Sevierville, Tennessee. What began as an orphanage has become, a residential program to children, a school for at risk students, therapy center for families, and an adoption/foster care agency.

Beyond the facility in Tennessee the church of God operates 88 orphanages around the globe to meet the needs of families through out the world. The legacy of caring doesn’t stop there either. There are several benevolence programs launched through the church God including God’s Pit Crew and the community service chaplains program which provide frontline response to national emergencies and those in need.

8 Why does the history matter? When Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, God instructed him to have 12 men carry stones from where the priest stood on the river and place them where they would camp.

Now the passage goes on to say Joshua 4:5-7 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

 I believe it is important for us to be able to see the faithfulness of God at work. To look back and see that what we are a part of is bigger than ourselves. That we can

 honor what God has done through the church of God as His spirit moved and they pressed into His word. And that we can continue to press into God, His Spirit, and the Word and be a part of what God is doing in this fellowship of believers in the current time. 9