Monday, April 8, 2013

Acts 2 The Matter of (Church) Membership

“What Really Matters?”(Church Membership Matters)
One year during my annual Shepherd’s Conference at Grace Church in California under the leadership of Dr. John MacArthur I sat in a seminar dealing with the issue of church membership and I’d like to share many of those notes and some of my personal thoughts in the hope of it making a difference in how you view your own church membership.
With that—let me begin with a definition for membership; it is the formalizing of a person’s faith…and the biblical example of belonging…Just from that brief description, it obvious that there’s a distinct difference in being a committed member of a church, and just joining a church.
There’s a distinct difference in being identified or associated with a church, and being a committed member of a church. What a lot of church-going people consider to be membership doesn’t even amount to adequate fellowship. –And so today from the first New Testament church in the Book of Acts we are going to put a magnifying glass on this issue of membership and see just how much it matters to God.   
I tell our members that committed membership is not a Conquerors requirement; it is not a Pastor Boston’s requirement, committed membership has been a requirement of God since the very beginning of the New Testament Church.
When a believer understands how meaningful membership is, then they embrace the biblical purpose for belonging, they come to understand the practical necessity of needing one another… When a believer understands how meaningful membership is—it’s because they’ve come to understand that the Bible has binding instructions for all members to restore one-another in kindness, to bear one-another’s burden, to be accountable to one -another, and to provoke one-another to love and good deeds. Also, in [Hebrews 10:25] as members of a local church we are commanded to never stop being with one-another. In other words, it is inexcusable for any member to fail to participate in the life of the church. In fact, for a Christian to choose to isolate themselves from the church and it members, makes them disobedient to the direct command of Scripture. –The Bible does not envision the Christian life as one lived apart from other believers. All members of the universal church, and the local church, are to be actively and intimately involved in their local church, we are encouraged to make membership meaningful and our commitment to the church count. [Why?] Because it matters to God!
Out of all the doctrines that the Bible teaches, Church membership is one of the most important ones, although it is also one of the most neglected ones in the church today. So many so-called Christians today are comfortable with being unaffiliated and unattached and not committed to a local body… And yet they consider themselves as fully devoted followers of Christ. [If you were to question them in regards to their attendance—their response would be the all-time defensive statement—that goes something like this; “I know I am not at church every Sunday, but I read my Bible and have my devotion with Jesus all the time.]
Well, here’s what I say to that… A person cannot serve Christ or even worship Christ as Christ intended apart from having a formal committed association with the body of Christ. What is commonly known as church membership.
If we as believers are going to truly be clear on the meaning of membership, then we have to get our definition and understanding from the Bible, not culture, or church history…

Think about it:…. When we look at the church in Scripture the people were so closely associated and identified with each other in a formal gathering sense, that when Jesus Christ confronted Saul on his way to Damascus to kill Christians, Jesus said to Saul; “Saul why do you persecute Me?”
Well, we know that Saul wasn’t persecuting Christ, he was persecuting Christians, but Jesus so identified Himself with us/the members of His Body—the church, that when Saul persecuted Christians—Jesus said, “Saul why do you persecute Me.”
It’s important that we see church/membership like this; [not individually—but as a community], because “progressive sanctificationhappens in that context, not on our own

Listen, if Jesus was only interested in your “positional salvation” then He would do to you what He did to the dying thief on the cross. He would immediately take you to Paradise to be with Him. But when you don’t immediately die after you’ve been saved, you have a responsibility as a member of the body of Christ on earth to work out your “progressive sanctification.” And “progressive sanctificationthe kind that changes your walk, your talk, your will, and your purposes—that doesn’t happen individually; it only happens in the context of community—amongst other believers who keep you accountable.
See, no one changes their bad habits because they join a church, believer’s bad habits change as they remain committed to the church they joined. 
As believers today what we need most is God’s understanding and His priority of the church.
Because, the church is the only institution that God has promised to build and bless and when we understand church membership, we understand that relationship… And we won’t let nothing or no one come in between that. I’m often taken back—when I hear people justify their detachment, from the church… Why? Because as a pastor that tells me I need to do a better job at communicating God’s priority of the church, and what He expects from the church’s members…

Listen, it goes without saying that; “Yes, worship, fellowship, and evangelism are absolute necessities in following Christ, but none of those can move God without first a commitment to membership. [Whenever a detached, uncommitted person who has simply joined a church—come to church and involve themselves in worship, fellowship, and even evangelism—their acts as noble as they are—don’t move God…]
And although discipleship is the cornerstone to membership, God’s goal is not just salvation; that’s just the introduction to God’s goal. God desires that all who are saved [members of the Body of Christ], become disciples. But neither can that be done without first a commitment to membership.
It’ not enough to simply say, “I’m on my way to heaven.” The issue is, are you becoming like the “One” who is taking you to heaven? And that doesn’t happen without being a committed member.
Unless, of course as I said earlier you accept Christ in your last dying moments—like the dying thief did…
If Acts 2 demonstrates anything—it demonstrates….that a person must formalize the faithfulness…
If Acts 2 demonstrates anything—it demonstrates that there is more to being member than just joining church…
Acts 2 demonstrates that one of the best indicators of a healthy church is how swiftly its committed members rise to an opportunity.
It’s easy to tell if people are committed members are just regular-attenders—all you have to do is watch who gets involved when the church is faced with opportunity.
When an opportunity [good or bad] is presented to a strong church, the faithful [members] act quickly, their hearts start to pound and their feet start to move, because to them pleasing the Lord is paramount. You see, every believer who truly comprehends the full weight of God’s commands always desires to run the race of faith without delay. It’s just a matter of recognizing the mandate. Or should I say knowing the responsibilities of being a member.

Membership in the Body of Christ is a whole new world for the believer. It’s a whole new orientation to life/living. And unless believers understand what that means and what that involves, they will never arrive at God’s intended will for their lives…
One of the very first things that we must acknowledge in regards to this text is: --all of the believers [not just the 19 leaders, the 12 apostles, and seven deacons] were doing the work of the ministry [3,139—the 19 plus the 120 plus the 3,000].
Members understand that “fellowship” means “common participation in God,”  and their sharing in with God results in sharing out with other believers. That’s the vertical and horizontal love of the Cross…
Members understand that fellowship with God and true fellowship with others go together…
Members understand that “If they are out of fellowship with God, they will soon find themselves out of fellowship with other Christians. But if they come and remain close to God, they will inevitably find themselves being drawn close to other Christians.
“Watch out” for folk who think that their fellowship is so special that they don’t want anyone else to be a part of it…

Members are generous in sharing their goods, because they learn generosity from God. They recognize that God has been generous to them, so they are determined to be generous to one another. They also know that; “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” [Acts 20:35].

One of the reasons membership matters… is beside it being restricted to believers only, but also because God’s people and Satan’s people cannot work together to achieve God’s goal.

Members are expected to keep the church pure, by regularly confronting the sins in their life through their devotion to the remembrance of the cross. –The Lord’s Supper call for self-examination and the purging of our personal sins…

Members are expected to be faithful to the corporate prayer meetings…
When we put all these things together members who are devoted to studying the Word, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer—and members know that these unique expressions are the means of grace by which the church becomes what God wants it to become.
And when these things are being faithfully done by faithful members [in other words-when members spiritual gifts are properly operative] people inside the church and outside of the church [everyone] will experience God’s power.
 
Membership does not only have responsibilities , but there are privileges that are afford people with membership…

Earlier I stated that God only works through members—not non-members… That’s important to remember…
So if God is going to work through us, that means we must be committed to His work. If we don’t as members witness nothing will happen. If as members we don’t get together and pray—very little will happen. That’s just the way that God works.

But here’s the good news, when we do God’s work , God’s way—God will not only save people, but he will add those saved people to the church, because membership matters to Him.
Ain’t that good news? If we stay committed to be faithful members, --not only will God do the work of saving people, but He will add them to the church “daily.”
Would it be wonderful if every day we had reports or got the experience of folk coming to the Lord and accepting Him as their Savior? God will do those things if we are committed to His thing [The Church].
The fact that a number is always given in Acts in regards to who joined church that alone tells us that membership matter because they were giving attention to how many joined…

Please join me in my efforts to guard the “Truth” until He comes…
“So go and do your home work. ” J


GAURDING THE TRUTH UNTIL HE COMES
                                                     1 Timothy 6:20-21                          

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