HISTORY:
The Church of Christ of Middleton had its beginning as a congregation in 1886, with services being held in the old Methodist church building. The church then began to meet in the upstairs room of the old Reaves building which stood where Shelly’s store is now located. In 1895 a two-story building was built on the property where the drug store stands at present. Preaching was held once or twice a month. A storm demolished this building about 1915 or 1916. Services were held in the school building until 1918 when a white frame building was erected on the site presently occupied by the Liberty Baptist Church. A brick building was erected adjacent to the old frame one and the first service was held in it August 6, 1950. In 1970 an eight-acre lot was purchased from Nolen estate on North Main Street.
Construction was begun in 1975, and on January 18, 1976, the first service was held in the new building.
When Christians Sin, by Ron Boatwright
When we are baptized for the forgiveness of our sins(Acts 2:38), in order to be saved (Mark 16:16), God takes away every sin we have ever committed (Acts 22:16). He wipes our slate clean (1 Corinthians 6:11). Ge gives us a new beginning and we are born again(John 3:3,5) and we are raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).
But after we are baptized and God has taken away all of our sins, what do we do when we commit other sins? How do we get forgiveness of these sins? For the answer to this let us look at the Epistle of First John. First John was written to Christions who had been baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, just as you and I have been.
1John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jueus Christ His Son clenses us from all sin.” Here this verse says we must be doing two things so that the blood of Jesus Christ will continue to clense us of all our sins. 1) We must “walk in the light”, that is we must be following God’s word in the Bible. 2) Also must “have fellowship one with another”, that is we must be regurarly worshipping God in His church and working with other Christians. The original Greek word that is translated “clenses” in this verse means that there is a continual clensing going on. Herein lies the problem with those who become unfaithful in their worship. Because they are not having fellowship one with another, they are no longer receiving forgiveness of their sins.
Then we continue to read the next verse 1John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to clense us from all unrightousness.” We must repent and ask God to forgive us, and He will. When we stand before the Lord on Judgment Day we will have no sins and we will go to Heaven. This is very comforting to know that we are being continually cleansed.