Baptism & Membership

When have you been interested in joining a group or a cause?

What motivated you to go to the trouble of identifying yourself with a particular group or cause?

When you think about church membership, what comes to mind?

Are there requirements? Privileges? Responsibilities?

In this chapter, we going to take a look at what it means to belong to a church both locally and globally.

Hebrews 10:24 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

How does our church encourage you to obey God and help you love others?

Think of hot chocolate and the way some of the drink will settle to the bottom. How many of us find ourselves swirling the remaining contents around so that you can get all of the chocolate out of the drink?

How does this group keep you from straying into sin?

When we meet together, we should be sharing stories of how God has helped us with our struggles. this is also a time when we can take a look at sin in our lives and seek encouragement from others. There also may be a time when we need to confront each other about sin another believer has in their life. When this happens, the initial reaction is more than likely going to be

How dare they!!!!

As we mature in our Christian walk, we will look at these situations as opportunity for growth on both sides. This is probably one of the toughest areas of our walk to get to, but it shows incredible maturity when we do.

Is there anything we can change in our group to help us more effectively stir one another up to love and good works?

What would our church and this group be like if none of us considered how we might encourage each other to live out Christ’s commands?

Hebrews 10:25 ESV

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

What’s the big deal about coming to church?

What can happen to a Christian when he or she does not gather regularly with the church?

How is the church affected when individual believers don’t commit to Christian community?

When fellow believers don’t stay connected to their church family, it effects both sides. For the individual/family, they miss the encouragement they receive from other believers. It is important for those who are involved in ministries within the church to have a time for growth as well.

Speaking from personal experience, I miss the time I had a small group I was involved in. Most of the time when I get to church, I am very busy doing different things and attending to what needs to be done for service. I’m also getting things ready for other services while small groups/d-groups are going on. I miss that. We know there are others in the church who experience this as well because they are so wrapped up in their ministries and responsibilities they have within the church. We need to keep these people in mind.

I’m not talking about taking a break from church either. The fellowship time is great to just sit and chat, but the time spent studying God’s Word and hearing from others’ viewpoints are missed out on by those who are busy in other ministries which take that opportunity away from learning from others.

This sort of seques into what the church loses when we all aren’t committed to the Body of Christ. We miss what they can bring to the table. Each one of us has been through different situations in our lives. We can use those to help and encourage others. When we don’t make it a priority to be in a small group, we will miss the opportunity for God to use us to help others.

What are some specific ways you have experienced blessing by being in close proximity with our church family?

The Greek word which was translated into encouraging has so many more meanings. It includes actions of

urging, correcting, and comforting

We need to:

urge each other to do the right thing

confront sin when we see it in someone’s life

If we are at the end of this, once again, how we handle ourselves will show the maturity we have in Christ. We need to realize, just as a parent disciplines their child because they love them, so we as fellow Christians have love for each other when we are dealing with these situations.

We also need to

comfort each other when we are hurting

We need to stick together like the family God created us to be through thick and thin.

When we were kids and travelling, we would always ask dad

How much longer?

His favorite answer was.

We are closer than the last time you asked.

The Bible tells us that no one knows the day of Christ’s return. Not even He knows. However, it has been over two thousand years since He ascended into heaven. His return is getting closer each day.

Question that I want you to spend a little time thinking about, when you look at your life and the things you have done,

What do you see?

Now, the harder question. When you look back at your life and the things you have done,

What will God see?

I know there are areas in my life when I take a look at how God sees things that I am going to have regrets and feel remorse. However, I do know that the blood of Christ is going to take care of those things for me. I know I have been forgiven of them. While we should keep our eyes forward on Christ and what He has for us to do, we should also remember where we came from. When we do that, we are able to disciple/mentor those who are still struggling.

Another way we can identify with the body of Christ/Church is baptism.

Acts 2:38 ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Peter had just finished preaching where thousands of people responded to his message, and they wanted to know what to do.

Since baptism in and of itself has no saving power and is only a symbol of a person’s commitment to Christ, then why do you think it was one of the two things Peter told these new believers to do?

Read Romans 6:3-5 for help identifying the purpose of baptism.

Romans 6:3–5 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Does the order and method of baptism matter? Why?

See Acts 2:41 and Matthew 3:16 for help.

Acts 2:41 ESV

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Matthew 3:16 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

We realize, like was stated early, that baptism has now saving power. It is through the blood that was shed on the cross for us. It was through the death of Christ making this sacrifice and Him rising again to complete what was needed.

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change.

When Jesus was baptised, it was at this point where you can see His ministry begin. After He was baptised, he was tempted by Satan three times. This was Satan’s last ditch effort to try and derail what was coming. After this, Jesus began His ministry.

If you would like to look at His baptism as a turning point, you could see it that way.

For us, our baptism is a turning point as well. If Christ saw it as important to signify this change, shouldn’t we as well.

Our lives change significantly when we accept Christ. Following His leadership in baptism is an important step in our surrender to Him.

Questions to think about:

Have you taken the first steps of baptism and membership to affirm your commitment to follow Christ? Why or why not?

What encouragement or support should people expect from the church when they declare their faith through baptism and membership?

How can we give that support to each other this week?