| Introduction The receiving of new members is always a joyous occasion. It also provides the opportunity for us to remind ourselves of what being a member of the local representation of the Church of Christ means. This morning we will consider what it means to be a member of any church, and then what it means to be a member of this Church. It is because of passages such as Romans 12 that we firmly believe that the Bible teachers the concept of membership. We believe that is necessary for the well-being of the church as a whole and of its members. Membership helps us recognize concretely who those people are with whom we are called to mutual love and confidence. I. The Connection with the Rest of the Book. "The link between Paul's general appeal (1-2) and his particular instruction which now follows (3-8) seems to be the place of the mind in Christian discipleship. Our renewed mind, which is capable of discerning and approving God's will, must also be active in evaluating ourselves, our identity and our gifts. For we need to know who we are, and have an accurate, balanced and above all sober self-image. A renewed mind is a humble mind like Christ's." John R. W. Stott in The Message of Romans II. Being a Member of Any Church. A. Being an obedient member of any local church means that you think rightly about yourself, 3. "Much of what follows is indeed about the church, but it is important to see that in starting this discussion Paul focuses first on the Christian's estimate of himself alone, since he knows that none of us will ever properly evaluate and esteem other Christians within the fellowship of the church if our pride is in the way." James Montgomery Boice in An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Volume 4 – The New Humanity 1. Paul is not coming up with these ideas on his own – God revealed it to him as a commissioned apostle (through the grace given to me). 2. What he is saying here, he is saying to every local church through the representative local church in Rome. 3. To think rightly about yourself is to have an accurate view of yourself. a. Don't think too highly, and don't think to lowly – think of yourself in light of the Gospel (the Goldie Locks approach to self-evaluation). b. Paul likely places this exhortation here because he is aware that a common temptation for us is to think too highly of ourselves. c. Thus, part of renewing our minds (v. 2) is to think of whom we are in light of the Gospel (measure of THE faith in v. 3). 1) Our common sinfulness that led Jesus to the cross. 2) The undeserving love of God displayed in the incarnation. 3) The love of Christ for each one of his people. 4) Our elevation to sons and daughters of God through the resurrection. 4. This exhortation to accurately think of ourselves is echoed with different words in Phil. 2:3-4 and it was Christ's mindset. Phil. 2:3-5a – Let nothing be donethrough selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…. "The Lord, the sovereign Giver of faith, the almighty bringer of souls into acceptance and union with Christ by faith has given your faith to you and your brother's faith to him; and why? That the individual gifts, the bounty of the one Giver might join the individuals not only to the Giver but to one another, as recipients of riches that are many yet one, and which are to be spent in service which is one yet many." H.C.G Moule in The Epistle to the Romans B. Being an obedient member of any local church means that you celebrate the diversity of gifts in the unity of the Body of Christ, 4-5. 1. The righteous differences in the Church of Jesus Christ find their origin in the grace of God. 2. The local church is like the human body, 4. a. Our bodies have many different parts (members). b. Each part has its function. c. As each part of our bodies exercises the function for which it was created, it benefits from it and the whole body benefits from it (individually = distributive quality to it). "… we are dependent on one another, and the one-anotherness of the Christian fellowship is enhanced by the diversity of our gifts." John R. W. Stott in The Message of Romans 3. Part of the uniqueness of the church is that though we are many, we have been united as one, 5. a. When God changes our hearts and we believe in Jesus Christ, we become one with Christ. b. He is our Head and we are united to him. Eph. 1:22-23 – And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. c. Because of our union with Christ, we are also members of one another. d. There is no place where this is more clearly displayed than through membership in a local church. C. Being an obedient member of the any local church means that you humbly exercise the gifts God has given you for the good of the people in the church and for the glory of Christ, 6-8. 1. Each believer has received from the Lord gifts that needed by the body. a. The gifts are from God. c. These two truths will help us kill pride. 2. The word gift itself includes the word grace in it, but Paul does not want us to miss the point at all, so he says that these gracious gifts were given to us by the grace of God, 6. 3. Theses verses also tell us that God is the one that makes each Christian different from each other. a. Sure, we can look at providential moments in our lives, some of them even prior to our coming to faith, as what equipped us to be able to do what we do now. b. But those providential moments were in the hand of God to make you who you are so that you could serve God and others. 4. Paul lists seven representative gifts that God gives his people in order for them to use them in the church, 6b-8. a. This is not an exhaustive list. 1) There is not an exhaustive list of gifts in the Bible. 2) Even if we combined all the lists of gifts in the whole Bible, the resulting list would still not be exhaustive. 3) Paul is giving us examples so that we can learn to apply it. 4) In essence, any lawful skill/ability can and must be used to serve Christ and the brethren. b. Notice that these gifts are skills that may be acquired or natural. c. Notice also that they are precise and should be used for the purpose they were intended. 1) Sometimes we become discontented with what God has equipped us to do, so we just don't do whatever that is. 2) The problem when we do that is that what we were supposed to be doing just goes undone. d. The seven gifts listed here are fairly self-explanatory with perhaps the exception of prophecy. 1) We tend to think of prophecy as the foretelling of future events and biblical prophecy includes that. 2) But prophecy in the Bible is primarily the forthtelling of God's Word and calling God's people to obedience to it. 3) Remember the standard formula used by the prophets of old, "Thus says the Lord." 4) William Perkins is considered the father of English Puritanism and his best-known book is a book on preaching called The Art of Prophesying which acknowledges that prophesying is primarily about forthtelling the Word of God for the edification of the Body of Christ. e. A final word about these gifts is that they are the type of things that everyone in the church should be doing a measure of it, but there are some that have a greater propensity at being good at these things. III. Being a Member of This Church. A. According our bylaws, there seven that describe a faithful member of our church. "Any person who has accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior; who gives assurance of his desire to live a consistent, separated Christian life; who is willing whole-heartedly to support the services and activities of this church; who has been baptized or who has agreed to be; who receives the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; who pledges submission to elders and brethren; and who accepts the doctrinal statement of this church as being agreeable with the Word of God, or at least will pledge to study the peace of the church in areas of disagreement, is eligible for membership." Bylaws IV:A B. Credible profession of Faith 1. We don't need to spend a lot of time here because this is an obvious one. 2. This is a CHRISTian church. 3. It is Christ who gives you entrance into his church. Jn. 10:7 – Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." Eph. 2:11-13 – Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh -- who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands -- that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. C. An active desire to live a holy life, Rom. 12:1-2 1. This goes with a credible profession of faith. 2. A believer will desire and will pursue a holy life Heb. 12:14 – Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. D. Whole-hearted support of services and activities of this church. 1. This includes attendance, giving of money, and serving in the church – Pastor Leaman = time, tithes, talent. 2. The expectation is that a member of the church will commit him/herself to attend all service of the church. a. This is a commitment, not based on convenience. b. It used to be that the church building was located in the center of the town. c. This represented in physical way the place the church had in the life of the inhabitants of the town. d. This is no longer the place location wise or otherwise. e. It seems that church life is the last thing in a lot believers' lives. 3. The member is committed to support the church with his/her money. Mal. 3:8-10 – "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be roomenough to receive it. 4. The member is committed to support the church with his/her time a. Serving in different ministries E. Baptism (or willingness to be baptized) 1. Baptism is the rite of entrance and identification with visible church. 2. To refuse to be baptized is to refuse to be identified with the visible church. 3. Also a sign of obedience. Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." F. Willingness to participate in the Lord's Supper 3. All Christians must desire it 4. Requirement for communicants – young or old. a. Must come before the Session and respond satisfactorily a set of questions. b. This is because the sacraments were given to the church and the elders exercise the power of the keys. G. Pledged submission to elders and brethren. Heb. 13:17 – Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. 1 Thes. 5:12-13 – And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. H. Acceptance of the doctrinal standards as agreeable to the Bible (or willingness to submit to them for the sake of the peace of the church). As a reflection of what our bylaws say, each person who wants to join the church is asked four questions that represent promises they are making to the church. 1. Do you trust in Christ alone for your salvation? 2. Do you promise to whole-heartedly support this congregation with your time, talents, and tithes? 3. Do you pledge submission to the government of this church as long as it follows the dictates of the Scriptures? 4. Do you pledge to study the peace of the church in areas where you disagree with the doctrinal standards of this church? While we affirm that there is only one true interpretation of Scripture and Christian doctrine, we also acknowledge that there can be differences of understanding between those who are genuine Christians and filled with the Spirit of God. For those who seek to join the membership of our church but find themselves in disagreement with any point of our doctrinal standards as defined in the Bible Presbyterian Constitution and this church's bylaws, we request the following: · acknowledge that our standards reflect an earnest, labored, and prayerful effort to articulate faithfully the teachings of the Bible as the ultimate source of authority and that these standards have been tested and found truthful by many generations of faithful elders who profess the inerrancy of Scripture and the authority of Christ; · continue to study these standards with a spirit of humility and sincerity and to be receptive of teaching and practices that are in alignment with the standards; · refrain from spreading any teaching that is contrary to the standards of our church or encourage division or controversy within the church.
5. "People of God, do you pledge to receive___________as Christ has received you, to love, to minister, and to pray for______?
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