This slideshow is a brief overview of Mt. Pleasant Christian Church and what we believe, as well as an introduction to membership. Please email for more info!

1. Discovering the MPCC Family
Welcome!

2. We are really glad you’ve decided to learn
more about us. Mt. Pleasant Christian
Church is committed to following Jesus
together! We want to know Christ, love
others, and serve the world around us!

3. So – where did MPCC come from?
- Mt Pleasant Christian Church was established
as an independent church in the tradition of the
restoration movement (most all independent
Christian churches and Churches of Christ came
out of this movement)
- The original building was built here in 1867,
and has been a vibrant church community since!

4. “I’ve heard you are ‘independent’…
What does ‘independent’ church
mean?”
• An independent church means simply that we
have no outside “governing” body.
• We think we follow the Bible best when we are
led by a group of elders, and served in various
ministries by deacons, all from our local
collective of members.
• We believe that God gives us gifted people to
lead the ministries we have to complete the
mission He has for us.

5. So how do you guys “do” church?
• You may have seen a few things at MPCC that,
depending on your past church background,
may seem different. One example of that would
be that we don’t get hung up on how you dress;
if you are more comfortable coming to church in
a suit or dress, then that’s how we want you to
be. If you are more of a blue jeans kind of
person, then that’s how we want you to be…
and…

6. “doing” church (cont)
• You might come from a church background that
sang all hymns, or had only a piano, or no
instruments at all. We mix it up on our worship
“style”… We think God likes the praises of all
His people across all age and cultural spans. Its
not that we try to cater to any one group within
the church on this point, we are just trying to
worship God Almighty best we can!

7. Still more “doing”… (cont)
• You will notice that we take communion, or the Lord’s
Supper, every week. We believe that this is the pattern
of the New Testament Church, and that it reminds us of
what Jesus did for us, giving us the opportunity to really
press in to thinking about that. We have someone give
us some introductory thoughts as to what communion
means, and usually have some music playing… The
point is to focus on what Jesus did for us, reflect on
where we are in our relationship with Him, and just
spend some time together in this reflection…

8. “doing” … again…
• Finally, you will notice that after the sermon, the
speaker will give some kind of invitation. This is
the time that we set aside for making any kind of
public decisions – memberships, baptisms, or
rededications to the Lord. It is also a time for us
to reflect on how we might apply ourselves to the
message given. If one of us needs prayer or just
wants to come to the front and talk with
someone, this is a good time to do that, too!

9. So what does MPCC believe about
salvation?
• First – we believe that Jesus was truly
God in the flesh, that He lived bodily on
this earth as a man, and even was
tempted like we are, but remained sinless.
We also believe that He was crucified
(hung on a cross) as a final payment for
our sins, and that He rose from the dead
and conquered eternal death once and for
all!

10. MPCC on Salvation (cont)
• We believe Ephesians 2:8-10 to be true,
that we are saved by grace through faith,
that God’s grace and our salvation is not
something we earn through works, so that
gets rid of boasting about what all we can
do, and God has a plan for each of us that
if we walk in His ways, we will fulfill the
stuff He has been actively planning for us!

11. So what does that look like in
practice?
One of the things that sometimes distinguishes
churches from one another is how or what this
faith and grace stuff looks like from a human
standpoint. We believe Acts 2:38 (Repent and
be baptized for the remission of sins) is what it
looks like operationally to begin to exercise the
faith spoken of in Ephesians 2:8-10. We know
there are a lot of differing views on this point, but
for us, this is how we see the scriptures.

12. And…
• We believe that salvation looks like more
than just fire insurance. We do believe
that there is eternal punishment in a place
the bible calls Hell that awaits those who
do not grab hold of this grace that God
extends to us through Jesus’ sacrifice.
But we see the bible over and over talk
about what it looks like to live as a follower
of Jesus…

13. So…
• We believe that following Jesus means that
you’ve made that initial step of repenting
(beginning to see sin the way God does, and
turning from it towards Him), declaring Him as
Lord of your life (confessing with your mouth and
believing in your heart that He is Lord as
described in Romans 10:9), and following Him in
baptism (by immersion, following the example of
Jesus, and as described in the book of Acts, and
various other places in the New Testament…)

14. Ok, I see what you mean about
how you believe about Salvation…
What next?
• At MPCC, we believe that being a follower
of Jesus happens within a community of
believers. Jesus saves us into God’s
family, and we are to serve as well as
learn lots of things within the context of a
local body. So when we talk about
“membership”, we mean something a little
different than the way Sam’s Club looks at
“membership”…

15. Membership at MPCC…
• If you decide that MPCC is the place for you,
then we want you to make a commitment to this
family. We want to know that you have a
relationship with Jesus as described above. And
we want you to commit to being a part of things.
This isn’t about paying weekly “dues”; it’s about
being in community with other believers to help
serve one another and receive the blessings that
come from being in community with each
other…

16. Membership (cont)
• So making this commitment looks like talking
with an elder or staff member or group leader
about your desire to be a member of MPCC,
making that declaration that Jesus is your Lord
and Savior, and jumping in! You can also just
come to the front on a Sunday morning during
the invitation song. We will announce your
decision and welcome you into the family!

17. What next?
• Hopefully, this has at least given you a quick introduction
to Mt. Pleasant Christian Church. We don’t expect that it
has answered everything, and we would love to know
your story, to get to know you, to help you in your
journey.
• If this is the place for you, then awesome!!! We will be
happy to help you assimilate into our family and continue
in your journey as a disciple of Jesus. Please email or
Jim Valentine, our Discipleship Minister, at
imyielded@gmail.com, to set up a time to get together!