New Member Class

Welcome

Around room

State name and a little about yourself

What we will do this morning

25 - 30 minutes to explain who FBC Gray is

30 minutes in small groups for you to meet one of our Elders

Get to know you

You can have your questions answered

So, let’s begin at the beginning

Where are we and where are we going?

Founded in 1905 - next year we’ll be 120 years old

Grown over the years from a small country style church to what you see.

Our attendance ranges from 250 to just over 400 - it runs in cycles

A few years back, we realized if the church was ever to break that cycle, it’s organization had to change.

We looked to the scriptures and found that the New Testament model for a church includes Elders and Deacons.

The Elders are shepherds who keep the flock safe

They guard the doctrine

They make sure the church is true to it’s mission of Making Jesus Known

They oversee the business of the church

They don’t do the nuts and bolts of the business

They guide the business to keep it focused on the mission

The Deacons are the hands and feet that keep the church running

We’ve just got started, but shortly they will be involved in every working team we have

Breaking down road blocks for them

Making sure everything that needs to get done gets done

We’ve traditionally said they “served the tables” like Acts 6 says

But what has traditionally not been looked at was

They handled the budget for the food

They bought the food

They make sure the food was prepared

They made sure those coming for the food were qualified

They organized the distribution

Some were fed for a day

Some were fed for a week at a time

The Deacons did the nuts and bolts work so the Elders could focus on “the ministry of the word and prayer.”

We voted last October and we began the implementation 18 days ago.

That’s the foundation for what we do.

I trust you are aware of the teaching and fellowship opportunities in the church

But our goal is to be a church that gathers so we can scatter.

Some of the things we are doing are:

Jesus’ Hands - we feed kids who go hungry from Friday until Monday during the school year

We provide meals for the football team, for the basketball team, for the band during their camp week

We have a foster care banquet every Christmas season

We are the driving force behind the Not So Scary Grayberry Spectacular

We recently had our Save Our Student’s conference that impacted a number of school teachers

Some of our men made shelves for a sister church so they could do Jesus’ Hands for a school in their community

We’ve taken ministry minded students on tours of seminary and on a mission trip.

And there is more.

And we want to do more things that help us build relationships so we can share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The ultimate destination I see is to have a very strong and vibrant fellowship who grows to a certain size

And then takes a portion of it’s members and either plant or revitalize a church near where that group lives

We do that over and over and over again until we reach all of middle Georgia with the gospel.

So that’s where we are and where we would like to go.

Now what will get us there?

That will be our 6 core principles.

Number one is gospel proclamation.

In John 12:32, Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.””

That is reason for being.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple.

Jesus was born of a virgin.

He lived a perfect, sinless life perfectly following the Law of the Lord.

He was crucified, and was buried.

On the third day He was raised to new life

Not as a ghost or a spirit, but as the man Jesus

He was seen alive by over 500 people.

He ascended into heaven

Where He sits at the right hand of God

And one day He will return

To call His people to the new heaven and the new earth

And to render judgment on all who denied and rejected Him..

And He did all of that - to create for Himself a people

Forgiven - washed in His blood

Redeemed - released from the bondage of sin

Loyal - committed to following Jesus no matter what

We believe as Peter said in Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,”

We believe in gospel proclamation.

Principle two is Biblical Authority

2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

Without scripture we believe we have nothing to offer anyone.

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to us in terms we can understand.

It is truth without any mixture of error.

It does not require other books or traditions to enhance or explain it.

We believe the Bible is, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, the story of God’s redemptive work for humanity through the person and work of Jesus.

As the Baptist Faith and Message says, “[The Scriptures are] the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and religious opinions should be tried.

We changed the way we operated the church because the model we adopted is the model of scripture.

We believe the Bible.

Principle three is Exposition.

We believe in expository preaching.

That is where you take a portion of scripture and you preach what the text says.

I’ve heard folks marvel that a pastor could take one word out of a text and preach a dynamite sermon.

That may be true - each word is inspired

But the question we would ask would be, did the message explain the meaning of the text as God provided it?

The text speaks.

It says things we like

It says things we don’t like.

It makes us feel on top of the world.

And it makes us feel lower than a snakes belly in a deep ditch.

God’s word was given by the Lord to draw us to Him - He needs to speak to us through it.

You should have noticed that we preach through books of the Bible.

That keeps us honest by forcing us to confront the full counsel of God.

We have to face scripture that cuts against the grain of popular culture.

We have to face scripture that places a mirror before us to make us confront our own sinfulness.

And we have to face some of the most tender words of a God who is so very much in love with His people.

We preach the full counsel of God.

Principle number four - We are Elder led.

Not Elder ruled.

Elder ruled means the elders get together and what they say goes, period.

Elder led means the Elder’s lead the congregation towards the truth

But being Southern Baptist, we believe the congregation is the ultimate authority in the church.

We believe in a plurality of Elders meaning we believe a church should have more than just one Elder.

Some argue that the Senior Pastor is THE Elder but the scriptures are plural in every context where leaders were established in churches.

As I said earlier, our Elders are in place to make sure the church stays on track with the gospel.

We live in a world hostile to Jesus.

There are those within and without the church who think our doctrine is too harsh, too unkind, too exclusive.

But the scripture is the scripture and God is God.

Our Elders are there to protect the gospel in the church so the congregation will be safe from the wolves.

Principle number five - we are Southern Baptist

In your packet is a copy of the Baptist Faith and Message - 2000

It is our statement of what we believe.

I encourage you to read it, to look up the scripture references and see if you agree.

We will not compromise.

If something in here gives you real heartburn, FBC Gray may not be your place to worship and serve.

Part of being Southern Baptist is we are congregational.

That means the congregation is the final authority over everything.

The church meets quarterly in conference to handle the business that comes before the body.

We celebrate the two ordinances of the faith.

We celebrate the Lord’s supper monthly.

We use a method called intinction where we dip the bread in the juice

We started that during Covid and it stuck - it’s much more intimate and meaningful than passing a plate of stale wafers that everyone shuffles around with their fingers.

We also baptize by immersion.

If you come from a tradition that baptizes any other way, to be a member, you’d need to be baptized by immersion.

And we believe you should be baptized on the right side of your salvation.

If you joined a church and got baptized as a kid but you did it because that’s what you were supposed to do.

But later you met Jesus and truly gave your life to him, baptism is in order for you.

Finally, principle number six - we are kingdom minded.

This is not OUR church - it is Jesus’ church.

We know the great commission.

We know Jesus told us to go

But more than simple obedience to Jesus - we want our family and friends, our co-workers and even our enemies to know the love of God through Jesus Christ.

We want the crazies to know Jesus.

We want the hurting and depressed to know Jesus.

Because we know, if you have Jesus, you have hope.

As we have learned, the Lord wants us to go to Him for our every need.

We know what that has meant in our lives - how it has fixed our lives.

We want that for everyone.

We give a portion of your tithes and offerings to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention

That also supports the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s work.

We send money to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home to support their work

We send money for International Missions and North American Missions.

We send money to our local association to help the churches in our area.

We do local, state, national and international mission trips.

All because we want to entire world to know, Jesus is Lord.

We cooperate with other local churches.

I’m a member of a group of eight pastors that meet every other week for fellowship and planning.

Together we plan events and ministries to reach the community for Jesus.

We are not a club.

We are a people who belong to the Father of all creation.

We will not rest trying to make heaven crowded until Jesus comes and ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.

Those are our basic principles - so there is one last and most important part - you.

The members.

We read in the scriptures that God’s desire is create for Himself a people, holy until Him.

1 Samuel 12:22 “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”

Membership means something.

It means that you see this house as the house the Lord has drawn you to.

It is this people that the Lord has called you to be a part of.

We are a community established by the Lord Himself to first love God, then second, to love each other.

In your packet you’ll find the Covenant, Constitution and By-laws.

The covenant is just that - it is a covenant - a binding promise of how we will act with God and each other.

It has seven tenets.

One is we will gather to worship weekly unless providentially hindered.

Two is we will get involved with groups.

Three is we will serve physically on mission together.

Four, we will give generously to the church.

And this is always a bone of contention - so here it is.

I believe in tithing a tenth of your pre-tax income - that’s what I do.

I also give extra when asked or I see it is needed.

And my wife and I also keep a separate fund so we can help folks and no one else know it.

You might not be there yet - but being there should be your goal knowing that the Lord will provide for our every need.

Five, we will seek to get along with all members of the church in order to honor God and protect the reputation of the church.

Six, we will pray for the leadership, members and all aspects of the church.

Seven, we will sacrifice by serving and making the gospel our priority.

We believe that having your name on the church role doesn’t make you a member.

We can recognize our members because they are here and participating and serving Jesus through this church.

As we say at the end of each service, “You didn’t come to church, because you are the church.”

We are the people that “It has pleased the Lord to make… for Himself” at the place called the First Baptist Church of Gray.

So there you are.

Do you have any questions for me before we break up into groups?

Assign groups to Elders