Church Membership Week 1

Beliefs and Agreement: Part 1

Ask everyone to briefly introduce themselves: first name, religious upbringing in one word (e.g. Baptist, Buddhist, Non-Religious, etc.).

Breakdown the overall class:

Week 1: Beliefs and Agreement: Part 1

Week 2: Beliefs and Agreement: Part 2

Week 3: Leadership and Ruling

Week 4: Cooperation of Churches

Week 5: Rights and Responsibilities

Week 6: Why and How

Today and next week will not be an exhaustive view of our beliefs. We do plan to have that coming soon, but not today. So as we consider and review our beliefs, feel free to ask questions and dive deeper as needed, but you may feel like I am skimming through them because I kind of am. If you have a question: ask! If we do not have time, I can communicate with you directly another time.

You all have a copy of the Baptist Faith and Message. The BFM is the Southern Baptists common beliefs. This means, every SBC church should agree and uphold these shared beliefs. There are a few words here and there that might create questions or minor disagreements, but it should be more about word usage rather than theology.

This document is one of the four items we hand potential members. By the end of this class, you will have all 4 and more. Agreement with this document is necessary for membership (barring disagreements over word usage that doesn’t affect its theology).

Who has read the entire BFM before?

Scriptures

What are some other forms of text that people often hold to the same regard as the Bible?

God

3 persons of 1 God (Trinity: triune God)

Existing together

What are some other forms of gods people have?

Man

Gender is a gift from God and specified in Scripture

Many reasons: learning about differences, allows for marriage (end result Gospel)

We choose sin

Aborted babies and infants are in Heaven

Praise God!!

Still better to have children born — even into darkness

All men and women are made in the likeness of God and deserve every ounce of respect

Salvation

Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Did anyone here grow up or come from a religion that pushed works as a means to earn salvation?

God’s purpose of Grace

Perseverance of the Saints

Does anyone else feel relieved by this doctrine? I AM!

The Church

Autonomous (not necessarily required)

Baptized believers (necessary for membership)

MUST BE SAVED

MUST BE BAPTIZED

Two ordinances

When I was ordained...

Next section

We will spend much more time on this topic in a few weeks in other topics

Baptism and Lord’s Supper

Baptism (celebration)

Lord’s Supper (remembrance)

Matthew 5:23 “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,”

Do not think doing one of those will fix you… it is an act after we deal with our sins with God through faith.

The Lord’s Day

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Church on Saturday/Wednesday?

Romans 14:5–10 “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;”

The Kingdom

“Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth.”

Last Things

...

Evangelism and Missions

Living it out is not enough. SPEAK!!!!!!

Speaking is not enough… live it out!

All Christians are commanded to seek the lost!

“…and by other methods”

NEXT WEEK:

Education, Stewardship, Cooperation, The Christians and Social Order, Peace and War, Religious Liberty, and The Family.

Feel free to read over these throughout the week but please bring this document back next week!