FAQ

We believe that the Bible is God’s message to us and we seek to follow God by trying to learn and do what the Bible says. The Bible is a big book and there is a lot in there but essentially it tells us that God made the world, including humans, but that we as humans chose to disobey Him and that is called sin. While there are serious consequences for sin, there is also good news in the Bible! The good news is as follows:

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

When you arrive you’ll see a table in the middle of the room with bread and wine and chairs around the outside of the room. The purpose of the meeting is to remember the Lord Jesus together by taking the bread and the wine. For the rest of the meeting we will sing together, be led in prayer or hear short Bible talks. There will be short times of silence in between each of these. All of this is focused on the topic of remembering the Lord Jesus. Please also see the answers to the questions: “What is the remembrance time all about?” and “Who does what?”

After catching up over afternoon tea and coffee or tea we have a time of Bible teaching. This session usually starts around 3pm and we launch into a time of Bible teaching. This is usually led by one of the brothers from the assembly but we do also sometimes have a guest speaker or a video. Please also see the answer to the question: “Who does what?”

Each Sunday we have the bread and wine to remember the Lord Jesus. This is sometimes called communion or the Lord’s supper. Comparing all of the places in the Bible that teach us about this indicates the following:

  • The bread and cup of wine are symbols of Jesus’ body being broken and His blood being shed when He died on the cross.

  • There are two purposes. The first is to remember the Lord Jesus. The second is to proclaim the Lord Jesus’ death.

If you are a Christian and attend another church then you are welcome to have the bread and wine. If you are visiting and not a Christian or don’t want to take them, please just shake your head or similar when we are handing out the bread and wine.

We believe in practicing baptism after a person becomes a Christian. Baptism is an identification with the Lord Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection.

We believe that all people in the local church are important, equal in worth and play vital roles. We also believe that the Bible teaches that men are to take some public roles in the local church, for example praying, teaching and announcing hymns in church meetings. That includes the meetings on Sunday and the prayer meeting on Tuesday nights. Both men and women can and do get involved in and take responsibility for other activities of Geelong Christian Assembly.

No, Geelong Christian Assembly doesn’t have a Pastor or Minister who takes the main responsibility for the teaching and running of the local church. We follow a different model for church meetings and other aspects of the local church. Please also see the answers to the questions: “What should you expect when you first arrive on a Sunday for 1:30pm?” and “What should you expect when you first arrive on a Sunday for 3:00pm?”