Church Membership

1 Cor. 12:13-27

I. Several years ago in LA Times

a. Story of an elderly man and wife found dead in their apartment

i. Autopsies revealed that both had died of malnutrition, although investigators found over $40,000 stored in paper bags in their closet

b. For many years Hetty Green was called America’s greatest miser. When she died in 1916, she left an estate valued more than $100 million

i. But she was so miserly that she ate cold oatmeal in order to save the expense of heating the water

ii. When her son had a severe leg injury, she had spent so much time looking for a free clinic that by that time, they had to amputate the leg

iii. It was said that she had hastened her own death by bringing on a fit of apoplexy while arguing the merits of skim milk because it was cheaper than whole milk

c. It is unfortunate that many in the church are prone to treat their spiritual resources much like the misery couple and Hetty Green. Many are and may suffer from spiritual malnutrition, because they do not take full advantage of the storehouse of spiritual nourishment that is at their disposal

d. The toughest thing to deal with in ministry is indifference

i. It is heartbreaking to know that those who are not in the fight take everything for granted

ii. It is people like these that will never know the sweet because they never will commit themselves to the fight

iii. Those who are not part of fighting for, discovering, and establishing the truth are often unable to appreciate what God is doing and has done

1. it usually are those who not involved that become sensitive, picky and develop a complaining heart

2. a child of apathy is criticism. It is easy for the person to come to a point where he takes everything for granted and begins to criticize any imperfections he may find

3. Author Thomas Hardy once said, he had a friend who could go into any beautiful meadow and find a manure pile

4. a church of God, a place of grace should not foster such behavior or perspective

e. people are fearful of commitment- an age of “commitment phobia”

i. this is the fear that I promising to do something good we will miss out on getting something even better

1. this could be questioning your existing partner, it could be your own private time, it could be skipping out on missions because you don’t want to surrender your vacation time, you skip service because of your desire to watch a movie or sports event

2. so although we could be committing ourselves to doing something good, we skip out just to keep our options open

ii. public opinion research points to a greater paradox in society:

1. the combination of commitment to religion with a deep moral relativism

a. for example 91% of Americans consider religion very important in their lives, 63% reject the concepts of absolutes

2. George Barna called this bizarre poll result as one of the top five- only 43% of adults who call themselves Christian are “absolutely committed to the Christian faith.”

f. The question is can you be a commitment phobe and still be a Christian?

II. Why Be a Member?

a. What is the big deal of being identified as a member of a church?

i. Isn’t good enough that I just come and listen, worshipping God in my own little way?

ii. Why get involved, why burden others and there’s the possibility of getting burdened

iii. Is it really biblical, who’s in, who’s out, does it really matter?

b. I believe church membership is the key to revitalizing any church, evangelizing our community, furthering the cause of Christ in the world and bringing glory to God

i. I just finished syncing my MS Outlook to my phone

1. we have over 95 individuals that attend our service

2. but our regular attendance is about mid 60’s

a. the question is where are they?

i. Many are in college, some are abroad

ii. What does this say about Christianity to the world? What does this say to you and me, your pastor?

iii. How does this reflect the importance of the Christian faith in our lives?

Reading the Passage: 1 Cor. 12:13-27

Opening Prayer

III. What is a Church?

a. Word church does not refer to a religious organizational unit of any kind

i. You do not hear of a Buddhist church or a Jewish church

ii. It is thoroughly a Christian word

b. It is not in reference to the building, that is secondary in nature

c. According to the NT, church is primarily a body of people who profess and give evidence that they have been saved by God’s grace alone, for His glory lone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

i. It is a collection of people committed to Christ in a local area that constitute a church

ii. When you look in the NT to the abstract passages describing the church, such as Acts 2, these are people living, eating, selling their possessions in order to meet the needs of one another, deeply loving and being devoted to one another.

d. NT teaches us that the church is for believers, for those who have been given a new birth through God’s Holy Spirit and who have joined a covenanted community

"Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.’” Jer. 33:20-21

i. The church then is a body of Christ, a collection of Christians committed to Christ and to one another

IV. Why Join a Church?

a. If you ask any church growth specialist, they would tell you to avoid the topic of church membership, you might cause them to be disaffected

i. But church membership is crucial in one’s understanding what Christ is calling for you to be His disciple

ii. For those of us that are professing believers- let me ask you what does that mean? What does it mean to live the Christian life?

iii. Do we live it alone, is it merely individual, isolated workouts which we hone our spiritual disciplines

1. mere facts that we are honest people, don’t cheat on our taxes, don’t cheat on our wives, work hard at our workplaces- is that the Christian life?

b. But then maybe you know the Christian life is to include others but who are they?

i. Are they the people who are the core members who serve consistently, those who attend biblestudies, those who attend your women’s discipleship group, the people in your work prayer group or your college small group

1. nope in stead it is all of these, the church is for every Christian

2. let me give you 5 reasons why we should join

V. To Assure Ourselves

a. You do not join the church to be saved, but you may join to help you be certain you are saved

i. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him” John 14:21

ii. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10

iii. "You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14

iv. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” John 13:17

b. You can go on and on but the point is that we must be careful not to delude ourselves

i. In joining the church we pace ourselves in a position where we ask brothers and sisters to hold us accountable- we are in a position of being held accountable- because it is not about only you or only me, but an entire family, dependent upon one another

ii. We have that marvelous relationship of seeing family members grow and when those who are struggling, to pray for them

1. just as I see witness my children grow up-how rewarding, how much more as your spiritual father to watch you grow in the Lord

a. I still remember the very first conversation I had with Phil, to see how he invites so many to church, to hear how he prays with his mother

b. I have the privilege to go through marital counseling with Steve

iii. That’s the Christian life- we have covenanted ourselves together to follow Christ

VI. To Evangelize the World

a. For the sake of evangelism

i. We can only effectively do this when we do it together, in our community and throughout the world

ii. The local church is a missionary organization

iii. We promote the gospel by co-operating to take it to those who have yet heard it and by making the gospel visible to the world by the way in which we live our lives

1. nothing can be done w/o the church being together

a. all those who went out for KCCC and KCM and our own efforts, last year I was so touched by the efforts of our deacons and other members financial support and coming out to the airport to send us off, coming together in prayer, you have no idea what it means to come home to friendly faces

b. that is the spirit which we take to the world- I wish you knew what church I come from, that has sent me to you

VII. To Expose False Gospels

a. When we interact with other Christians, we show the world what Christianity really is, we expose the false notion that Christians are these self righteous people who are constantly worried that someone somewhere is having fun that they can’t enjoy, those that believe that they can be saved by their own works

i. We combat these false images by having a church that is not marked by such an attitude

as I grew up in Kentucky, I faced some prejudice but it was interesting that when you travel north of the Ohio river, people’s attitude was different, less prejudice but also less friendly- I preferred being in the south- you knew the true colors of the people
I was witnessing to a person on the bus one day- I learned not to tell people I am a pastor- they shut up, I am in the business of telling people how they can be saved, are you interested?
She told me that she wasn’t interested in churches- they are a brood of vipers- at least we know we are, that’s why we come to church, because we need help

· See when you join the church you believe in that gospel, the true gospel where we need the Lord Jesus

I. To Edify the Church

o The fourth reason why we join is to edify one another, to build each other up

§ For some of us we may have gone many years of attending church, part of its youth group, programs, activities but never really knowing Christ

· Do you have a vital relationship with Jesus Christ that impacts your own life and also the lives of those around you? How can you tell?

· Do you understand your following Christ fundamentally involve how you treat other people, especially those of the church? How are you impacting their lives?

o “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Gal. 6:10

o Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22

o Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

o just as we do not select which biological family we are a member of, we have no say in regard to the eternal family of God for we were all sovereignly elected by God

§ “Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.” 1 Cor. 12:27

§ You have to really examine yourself in the mirror

· If you confess this love you have for Christ, it cannot be separated from His body- to love Christ is to love His bride, the church

· If you profess to love Christ, to have this love that knows no bounds yet you have set boundries to your love, “I will love this much but no further”

o To make such a profession but not have a life to back it up is not a good position to find yourself

o Let me share something with you

§ To love someone, it is based not upon the object of your love but upon the heart of the giver

§ We base it upon merit, does that person desire my love, is he worthy of my time, do I want to commit myself to the person?

§ We all know mothers to be the exemplary models of love- offering themselves sacrificially when we as children don’t deserve that love

· Could you imagine a mother refusing a bottle to her child unless they first stop crying?

§ But rather when we come to Christ He gives us not only the capacity to love all but also the model to love all

§ Where would we be if merit was what was required for us to receive God’s love?

· So we know that love is not based upon emotions but upon commitment

§ What about passion then? Do we do things for the sake of doing them?

· In our discussion on marriage, this particular issue came up, if you are in a marriage, love of commitment, it seems like duty, so where is the passion?

· Passion flows out of commitment

o I have been married for 13 yrs, we have never been more passionate than we are now- it is not about time, time usually kills passion

o It is commitment- understanding there is no backing out

o You are in a relationship- you are always thinking am I in the right marriage? Am I married to the right person?

o But when you know the other person is always going to be there, that ‘s what drives the passion

· Same with God, why is He so passionate about His Son? Why is He so passionate about you and me?

· We ought to be the same way about Him, are you constantly looking over your shoulder like Lot’s wife? Wondering what you are missing out on?

· The same way with being a member of His body, there is cope out, no escape clause, if you give yourself such a thing- you cannot find passion

o I remember asking a person who came in only after praise or the offering and then leaving right after the sermon- “I just don’t want to get involved”

§ I just have a lot of issues, “So do I, join the club”

· To join the church is to grasp hold one another in responsibility and love

II. To Glorify God

o That is the purpose of the church, that is the purpose as to why we continue to live on earth as believers

§ We evangelize, proclaiming His Word so that souls may be saved to bring glory to the Father

§ We do good deeds, so that people may glorify our Heavenly Father

§ We live in love for one another to glorify our Father, Jesus said “By this that all men shall know that you are My disciples, that you love one another.” John 13:35

· Some of you only have a relationship with me, your pastor and preacher and not with God nor His body

o Story of Barak, Deborah commissions him to go deliver Israel from Jabin the King of Canaan

o “I will go only if you go with me”

· One member of our church who calls “CL”

o Difference, cult leader cultivates dependence

o Pastor cultivates dependence upon the Lord

§ For you to glorify God is to actively serve and become a member of the church of Jesus Christ

III. What Does Church Membership Entail?

o Church membership entails a life of repentance and belief, those who have been born again- this is signaled by two things:

§ In Action Initially by Baptism

· This is what the Bible describes as the assumption that all believers are baptized.

o It is commanded by Our Lord and Savior (Matt. 28:19)

· The church has not been given the right to make commandments nor is it in place to modify, minimize or obscure any commandment of Jesus Christ

· Rejecting baptism or communion is to reject being a disciple of Jesus Christ

§ In writing by Signing a Statement of Faith and Church Covenant

· As long as I have been a member of DFC we never had an official membership for our church

· It is be based upon these criterias

o Attend Services Regularly (Heb. 10:25, do not forsake the assembly together as some are in the habit f doing)

o Attend Communion Particularly

o Participate in Activities Consistently

o Pray Regularly (pray w/o ceasing 1 Thess. 5:17)

o Given Regularly

§ “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of your crops.” Prov. 3:9

· We will have a members class

· We will all sign a church covenant

We will work and pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We will walk together in brotherly love, as becomes the members of a Christian church; exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require.

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others.

We will endeavor to bring up such as may at any time be under our care, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and by a pure and loving example to seek salvation of our family and friends.

We will rejoice at each other’s happiness, and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy to bear each other’s burdens and sorrows.

We will seek, by Divine aid, to live carefully in the world, deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and remembering that, as we have been voluntarily buried by baptism and raised again from the symbolic grave, so there is on us a special obligation now to lead a new and holy life.

We will work together for he continuance of a faithful evangelical ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines. We will contribute cheerfully ad regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.