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The Bright Angel Church: Who Are These People?

Have you ever wondered, "Who are those people meeting on Bright Angel Way in Northwest Las Vegas?" You may have no knowledge about us, or you may have some opinions based on something you have heard from someone else. as a result, you may not have a very clear picture of who we are. It is for this reason that this material has been provided for you. If you have additional questions, feel free to call the church office for further information (702) 656-4122.

We are not a building.

We have a nice facility located at 8570 Bright Angel Way in Las Vegas. To get to our building, exit on Ann Road off of US 95 and go West. The second street past Durango is Riley. Go north on Riley and you will see our building ( Map). We gather together on a regular basis at this location every first day of the week (Sunday) in the morning at 8:15 AM and at 10:30 AM to worship God.  We have a 9:30 AM bible study between the morning worship services.  We also meet at 5:00 PM on Sunday for worship and at 7:00 PM on Wednesday for another period of Bible study and worship. Although we like our building, it is not sacred or holy and it is not the church. The church is the people. We call ourselves the Bright Angel Church of Christ because of our location. We are a "Church of Christ" because we are a church that belongs to Christ.

We are not a denomination.

The Bright Angel church does not claim to be just another denomination. We would like to be part of a unity movement calling all people back to the Bible. Our mission is not to condemn others, for God is the ultimate judge of all of us. Instead, we humbly attempt to live under the control of Scripture. We strongly feel that this is a way that is right and cannot be wrong. To be a Christian in the same way people in the first century were Christians is a way we know is right. In the period of the New Testament, there was only one church and it was the church that belonged to Christ. Jesus was the head of this church and it was his spiritual body (Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:12). He gave himself for the church and he is its savior (Ephesians 5:23-27). This is the church we want to be. We are not saying we are perfect at being what Jesus wants us to be, but we humbly make this our goal.

We are not shaped by culture.

God has revealed himself to humankind through the Bible. The Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is designed to prepare us for and lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24; John 1:17; Hebrews 8:13; 10:1). Christ and his church are revealed to us in the New Testament. The word of God is truth (John 8:32; 17:17) and it provides us with all the information we need for living our lives (2 Peter 1:3). Because God and his word do not change (Hebrews 13:8), We cannot change our beliefs to reflect a change a change in our culture. For example; what God once said about the sins of homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27), sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18), and the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) cannot be changed because culture has changed. In every generation, we must reflect Christ in our lives. The apostle Paul said, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

We wear the name of Christ.

The church in the New Testament is described in many ways and it does not have a particular name. We call ourselves "Bright Angel Church of Christ" because we are a community of believers that belongs to Christ and we regularly meet in a building on Bright Angel Way. In Paul's letter to the church at Rome, he said, "All the Churches of Christ greet you" (Romans 16:16).

We are sinners saved by grace.

Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Righteousness before God is not earned by human merit and could not be. Salvation is the free gift of God. However, God tells us in his word that this free gift comes with conditions. For a sinner to have his sins washed away, he or she must (1) believe the gospel (good news) about Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15-16); (2) repent of sins (Acts 2:38); (3) confess the name of Christ (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 10:10); and (4) be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38,2:41; 8:12, 8:38; 22:16). The grace of God that brings salvation also teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Titus 2:11-12). This means we should apply the teachings of Christ and the apostles to our lives.

We are Christians only.

Being Christians means we must not only pattern our lives after the teachings of Christ, but we also must pattern the church and its worship according to what we find in the New Testament. This means that we should meet upon the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:2) and come together into one place for worship and fellowship (1 Corinthians 11:20). The church's worship should include the celebration of the Lord's supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26), singing (Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Romans 15:9), prayer (Acts 13:3), giving (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), and the preaching of God's word (1 Tim 4:14). The men of the congregation should take the lead in directing the worship (1 Tim 2:8, 11-12; 1 Corinthians 14:34).

This is your invitation.

This is your invitation to become a part of our fellowship. We do not ask any more of you than what was asked of believers in the first century. The people in the New Testament who wanted to follow Jesus were asked to believe the gospel (Mark 16:15-16), repent of their sins (Acts 2:38), confess that they believe in Jesus (Romans 10:10), and be immersed in water so that their sins might be washed away (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:1-4; Colossians 2:12). Following the plan of salvation in the New Testament makes Christians only and the only Christians. There is no other plan or name by which we can find salvation (Acts 4:12). We encourage you to join with us as we seek to restore New Testament Christianity. Feel free to visit our services as often as you wish. We look forward to seeing you Sunday!

- J.B. Myers, Preacher, Bright Angel Church of Christ

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