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How does a person become a member of the Little Church family?
There are three important things that we ask each person considering to become a part of this church family to do to become a member: 1) be or become a baptized believer in Christ and commit to a lifetime of personal spiritual growth. 2) Share in our church family through participation in a house church. We recommend trying one near your home. And 3) Have a discussion with one of our shepherds to let them know of your commitment to this church family. This meeting will be set up by your house church leader so that our house church leaders and elders can better know you and your family. It is our desire to support, encourage, and shepherd each person at LRC. This informal conversation will help our leaders know your history as a believer, current needs, and goals for serving in the body. After this visit, each person desiring to be member of the LRC family can be acknowledged and prayed over in our assembly. We will gladly accept any seeker to our assemblies, but everyone desiring to become a member of our body, and to be shepherded by our elders, is asked to commit to active participation in one of the house churches of LRC.
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Is Little Rock Church part of a denomination? Who does Little Rock Church fellowship?
Our intent is to be Christians only, nothing more, nothing less. We therefore consider ourselves non-denominational, since we do not give ourselves any particular label other than that given to us by God, nor do we align ourselves exclusively with any particular denomination. We are a body of believers who have placed our hope in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. He called us into existence at this place in our community and at this point in time to serve him. We are part of the church that began almost 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost, and continues to this day throughout the world. We pursue fellowship with all who have been justified by faith in Christ. It is our preference to live in this world as followers of Christ - simply Christians.
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How is Little Rock Church led?
We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of His body, the Church. Everyone in the church is in submission to him. We also believe that as described in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit appoints men to serve as elders, overseers and pastors of each local church. These men are charged with following Jesus Christ and overseeing the affairs of the church, and shepherding the church family. The New Testament describes another office in the church, that of evangelist or minister. In our context, these evangelists and ministers have specialized training and education and are charged by the elders to lead and equip our church in fulfilling our purposes. Our church is overseen and shepherded by our elders. They appointed Lynn Cook as Senior Minister to coordinate and direct the day-to-day mission and ministry of the church.
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What does Little Rock Church believe about salvation and baptism?
We believe that we are saved by God's grace, through our faith, not by our works-salvation is a free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins so that we can have a reconciled relationship with God (1 John 2:2). We enter into this relationship through faith in Christ (Romans 3:22).
Faith in Christ is demonstrated by obedience to Christ in the New Testament. Christ commands that we repent of our sins (Luke 13:3), confess before others that He is Lord (Matthew 10:32), and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Baptism represents giving our lives over to Christ. We believe baptism is connected to salvation because of the following Scriptures:
- The Apostle Peter refers to baptism as an act that "now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. . ." (1 Peter 3:21).
- "And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16).
- On the day that the Christian church began, Peter said to the crowd, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
- "We were therefore buried with him [Jesus] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:4).
- "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27).
We believe immersion is the biblical method of baptism, as it "re-enacts" the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for each Christian. We also believe that baptism is only for believers who are old enough to choose it for themselves. Every member of LRC is a baptized believer, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). Jesus himself was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15), and we invite others to follow in His steps.
Click here to download the transcript of a sermon on baptism given by elder Glenn Graham or here to download a baptism study based on a lesson by Max Lucado which is available from Oak Hills Church. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these documents. Click here for a free download.
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What does Little Rock Church believe about the role of men and women?
Scripture teaches that men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Paul writes in Galatians 3:28-29 "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, there is male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ." Men and women are joint heirs in Christ. All men and women in Christ have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit.
We not only affirm the biblical teaching on the worth of all persons, but we also believe the Bible teaches that God created man and woman to fulfill different, but complementary, roles which are rooted in their unique, sexual identity (Gen. 2:17-25, 3:6-7). God created the man with the primary role of "servant leader." He created woman with the primary role of "helper." When the authors of the New Testament provided practical instructions on the roles of men and women in the church and in the home, their teaching was based on God's design in creation.
We believe that both men and women are called to use their gifts of the Holy Spirit in ways that serve in the body of Christ. Women have been blessed by our elders to participate in the life of our church and worship assembly in many ways including leading of ministries, teaching children, reading scripture, participating in the praise team, wording a prayer, serving as greeters, sharing a testimony, and passing communion.
In 1 Timothy 2:12 the apostle Paul writes about roles, "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise spiritual authority over a man, but to remain quiet." We believe that women should not serve in roles in which they would be preaching or teaching in our worship assembly and house churches.
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Why does Little Rock Church take communion each Sunday?
The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ as a symbolic act of faith and obedience. We find in scripture four primary purposes for the Lord's supper or communion:
- To remember Christ until he comes (I Corinthians 11:23-26)
- To symbolize unity in the body of Christ, the church. (I Corinthians 10:16-18)
- To proclaim Christ's death and love for the World (I Corinthians 11:26)
- Self examination (I Corinthians 11:27-28)
LRC serves communion each Sunday during the morning worship assembly and at other special times of worship. Acts 20:7 refers to the early church breaking bread together on the first day of the week (Sunday). It is also likely that communion was shared regularly, even daily, by the early church (Acts 2:42-47). Focusing on our Lord, unity in the body, Christ’s love for the world, and self-examination are vital to a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ.
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Is Little Rock Church a charismatic Church?
Strictly speaking, LRC is not a “Charismatic” church. We do believe that the Holy Spirit has a powerful impact on our lives, primarily to form us into the image of Jesus Christ. We do not, however, practice “speaking in tongues” during our assemblies. It is important to note that we do not consider personal belief or practice in this area to be a formal test of Christian fellowship. We have always had members in our body with diverse views and practices in this area. While those who desire a consistent practice of the Charismatic gifts may not find fulfillment in our assemblies, we in no way want to make those who consider themselves to be "Charismatic" to feel unwelcome in our midst.
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