Welcome New Members

I. Membership

A. It is a privilege to welcome new members into the church!

B. Each time we welcome new members, the Lord gives us some new thoughts to mix in with the traditional thoughts about membership.

1. Thus every time we welcome new members…

I pray that you long-time members receive encouragement in YOUR membership.

And that those who have not formally joined the church will be encouraged to do so.

C. We keep coming back to the question: Why is church membership important?

Mark Dever says:

The church should be regarded as important to Christians because of its importance to Christ.

The scriptures tell us that…

Jesus founded the church (Matt 16:18),

He purchased it with his blood (Acts 20:28),

He intimately identifies Himself with it (Acts 9:4).

Because the church is His Body, the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12, 27; Eph 1:22–23; 4:12; 5:20–30; Col 1:18, 24; 3:15),

The dwelling place of His Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16–17; Eph 2:18, 22; 4:4),

And the chief instrument Jesus uses for glorifying God in the world (Ezek 36:22–38; Eph 3:10).

Finally, the church is God’s instrument for bringing both the gospel to the nations and a great host of redeemed humanity to Himself (Luke 24:46–48; Rev 5:9).

Are YOU a part of what Jesus loves?

Will you pubically proclaim you are are part of the Body of Christ?

That’s what these new members are doing:

They are saying they are a part of what Jesus loves.

Ephesians 5:25–27 (LSB) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

These newest members are also committing themselves to the church’s good.

Jonathan Leeman says that:

[In Philippians 2:3-5 the Apostle] Paul looked right into the eyes of the Philippian church and told them to submit to one another’s good, just as Christ had submitted himself for their good. The same is true for us and our local churches. Just as Christ submitted his whole life for our good, so we should submit our whole lives for one another’s good.

Bring Members Forward

A. So, this morning New Life Family Church has the privilege of welcoming, loving and COVENENTING WITH 2 new ADULT members. (Jada Maxwell will also be welcomed into membership as soon as she and Kirklynn are up to it.)

1. But this morning 2 people want the world to know (now easier to do through livestreaming!) …

That they have put down their roots in Christ,

AND, they have planted their roots in this local church.

2. Sister Cindy Locher, would you and your son Ricky come forward ?

3. Please face the congregation.

B. Would the Board: Madeline, Jay, Cecelia and Gene come and join these new members?

C. As New Life Family Church welcomes these new members, I want to remind us that we are not an orphanage but rather a Family.

1. Jesus said in John 14:18 (NIV) I will not leave you as orphans; …

D. In an orphanage:

1. Orphans are not related.

2. Their common bond is merely that they all reside at one location — the orphanage.

E. But, in A Family:

1. It’s NOT that way!

2. The family is BLOOD-related. The BLOOD of Jesus.

THAT is what ties us together.

Not meeting in this building each Sunday.

Not some hobby or social class, or race

Folks the only way to describe this church is the supernatural calling of God.

HE has joined us together.

3. And here is another family joining the body — united by the blood of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:18 (LSB) But now God has appointed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (LSB) Now [we] are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

F. So it is our privilege to receive into the membership of this church family, __2__Adult members and ( ___Junior members) who have…

1. … made proper application and have been approved by the Official Board of the church

2. … and are now ready to receive the right hand of fellowship by this congregation.

G. Our new members, and we as a church are going to publicly and vocally remind each other of our responsibilities and privileges.

1. This is Our FAMILY COVENANT together.

H. I will begin with our newest members:

1. I am going to read a statement and ask that if you agree with it that you say, “I do.”

I. Here goes:

J. Having been led by the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and desiring fellowship with people of like precious faith, and now in the presence of God and this assembly you are entering into a covenant relationship with these members of the Body of Christ.

K. So, do you promise that with the help of the Holy Spirit you will:

1. walk together with the other members of this church in Christian love?

2. work for the advancement of this church?

3. help it pursue holiness and a deeper knowledge of Jesus?

4. promote its prosperity and spirituality?

5. sustain its worship, doctrines and disciplines?

6. contribute regularly and cheerfully to the support of its ministries and activities?

7. If so answer: I do.

L. Do you promise to:

1. maintain your personal devotions?

2. seek the salvation of the lost?

3. avoid sin by avoiding the very appearance of evil?

4. seek that love which thinks no evil?

5. If so answer: I do.

M. Do you further promise to:

1. watch over the other members of this church in Christian love?

2. to remember each other in prayer?

3. to aid each other in distress and sickness

4. to be courteous and forgiving to one another even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you?

5. If so answer: I do.

N. Church, please stand. Do you promise to:

1. watch over Sister Cindy and Brother Ricky in Christian love?

2. to remember them in prayer?

3. to aid them in distress and sickness?

4. to be courteous and forgiving to them even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you?

5. If so answer: I do.

O. We therefore, as the Church of Jesus Christ and members of His Body, now receive you, into our fellowship and communion, recognizing that God has already added you to His Church. And we pray that the blessing of the Lord be upon you always.

Prayer with the Board.

ALL come and welcome!

Sent. Sons and Daughters

Last night, after engaging all day in doing church administration and preparing for the many ministries in which I engage as the pastor of this church:

Ministries like: Pastoral care, Prayer, Leadership, Music, prayer, Bible teaching, preaching … and the list goes on...

I sat down in my office at home to finish preparing for this morning’s service and message.

Part of what we do as a church is distribute and I encourage you to read the Worldview Magazine.

As I read though this issue of Worldview, the Holy Spirit rocked my world.

I want to share with you some of the ways in which He did that.

On page 6 of the magazine we have a scripture that is used to give a foundation to the rest of what I will say this morning.

Let’s look at it...

Speaking after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and addressing the confusion of the crowd that had gathered in response to the very public display God had made…

Acts 2:14–21 (NLT) Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. 19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives. 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’

As you consider this passage I want to emphasize a few things:

Salvation

First, the last verse I read, vs.21 says: everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’

We hear the Apostle Paul echoing what the Apostle Peter said in:

Romans 10:9–13 (LSB) … that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES UPON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him, 13 for “WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Those who have truly experienced the salvation of Christ are overwhelmed by the grave and mercy of Jesus.

Most of the time the experience is so profound it brings us to our knees with weeping.

This experience touches more than our intellect — it reaches to the depth of our soul and spirit.

We go from being dead to experiencing the LIFE of God.

That salvation bubbles up within us and causes us to want to tell others.

Kind of like what happened over and over again in the life of Jesus, but is especially seen in the experience of the woman of Samaria in...

John 4:25–30 (NLT) The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!” 27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

John 4:39–42 (NLT) Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The Samaritan woman had such a profound experience of salvation that she RAN to tell the others of her village.

No doubt people who had looked down their noses on her.

Who had shunned her.

Who said mean and hateful things about her.

But the life and joy in her soul compelled her to share the BREAD of Life — Jesus.

The Holy Spirit poured out

The second thing I want to emphasize is that Peter preached in verse 17 that their experience on the Day of Pentecost, their Baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, was a fulfillment of the prophet Joel’s prophecy.

That event 2000 years ago was NOT a one-off.

God has never stopped pouring out His Spirit on those who desire Him.

He gives the Spirit at salvation, but then, as we see in numerous NT passages, He will baptize believers in the Holy Spirit.

If salvation profoundly changes us, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit charges us.

The Holy Spirit anoints us and enables us to live for Jesus and to serve Him.

The Holy Spirit anoints us to sacrificially give our lives for the Kingdom of God.

Our finances

Our times, our efforts, our convenience

Our all.

Even to give “our” children, “our” Sons and daughters to see a lost world brought to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Our Sons and Daughters

And that is the final thing I want to emphasize —the main thing I want to emphasize.

It is the emphasis of this Worldview magazine.

It is another emphasis of verse 17…

… that God doesn’t just pour out His Spirit on adults — He will pour Him (the Holy Spirit is a “Him” not an “it”) God pours Him out on our children, our youth — all who have repented of their sins and surrendered their lives to Jesus.

The burden is on us — the mothers and father.

Fathers and mothers physically yes

But all of us are mothers and fathers — even if we do not have physical children.

ALL of us are to be SPIRITUAL Fathers and mothers

The burden is on us to maintain an environment where God can do the work of pouring out His Spirit on all flesh — maybe especially on our daughters and sons.

This magazine speaks of those things.

Let me work through the magazine.

If you didn’t get a copy I can see one online at: https://agwm.org/en/worldview/

We parents, both physical and spiritual have a responsibility before God to teach our children

the things of God

The Word of God

The salvation of God

The ways of God

The commands of God

In our homes and in the church we strive through prayer and surrender to create an environment for our daughters and sons to hear the voice of God.

So that they can respond in obedience to what the Spirit is calling them to do.

Page 7 says…

I encourage you to especially read the accounts of Sam, Moriah, Kevin, Ben and Mark and Darlene that follow what I just read.

I was especially touched by the special camps that are talked about beginning on page 21.

Even regular summer camps like we attend here in GA can have these impacts.

Where…

Burdens are lifted

Depression is healed

Joy is ignited

God’s call to ministry is heard.

For those who feel called to the mission field I was really excited to read about ENGAGE starting on page 29.

Page 30-31 says…

Our Response

I am excited to see the AG make a more intentional effort to alert us adults to our responsibities towards our children and youth.

I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it…

All it takes is one generation failing to pass along the things of God to the next generation to lose that entire generation to the devil.

As I read through the Bible this year (I hope you are still reading!) I am at Judges.

The book Judges says in:

Judges 2:7–12 (LSB) And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who saw all the great work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel. 8 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of 110. 9 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know Yahweh or even the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and served the Baals, 12 and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked Yahweh to anger.

How could such a thing happen?

Somehow the generation that followed Joshua failed to obey:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (LSB) “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Can we ask the Lord to help us?

To be faithful to God?

To be faithful to teach this next generation?

Yes, I know it’s exhausting!

I know the next generation is frustrating!

But they NEED us…

To pray for them

To invest in them financially, our time and efforts, spiritually mentoring them — ALL of us!

As the worship team comes…

Can we ask for God’s help together?

Can we be a united army that cares about this generation?

Will we allow ourselves to be inspired by what I have pointed out in the Worldview magazine?

Can we make new efforts to create an environment to help our sons and daughters to hear and respond to God?