Twelve Reasons Why Church Membership Matters

The Church is on my mind EVERY DAY.

Everett Springs Baptist Church; her members, her mission and her ministry fills my thoughts throughout the day.

My prayer, purpose and passion is to see us be all that we can be for the Glory of God and the good of others.

We live in a day and age when more and more "Church Members" seem to think that Church involvement just isn't that important. This is something that is true across our land and for a growing number of Churches. This is a burden to pastors and faithful church members. It is a reason to pray and examine our own lives in light of the clear teaching of God's Word.

The following came from the 9 Marks website. It is a rich resource for pastors and church members alike. It is written by Jonathan Leeman and well worth your time to thoughtfully read and consider the wisdom of his words and the clear teaching of The Word.

Twelve Reasons Why Church Membership Matters

1) It’s biblical. Jesus established the local church and all the apostles did their ministry through it. The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.

2) The church is its members. To be “a church” in the New Testament is to be one of its members (read through Acts). And you want to be part of the church because that’s who Jesus came to rescue and reconcile to himself.

3) It’s a pre-requisite for the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a meal for the gathered church, that is, for members (see 1 Cor. 11:20, 33). And you want to take the Lord’s Supper. It’s the team “jersey” which makes the church team visible to the nations.

4) It’s how to officially represent Jesus. Membership is the church’s affirmation that you are a citizen of Christ’s kingdom and therefore a card-carrying Jesus Representative before the nations. And you want to be an official Jesus Representative. Closely related to this . . .

5) It’s how to declare one’s highest allegiance. Your membership on the team, which becomes visible when you wear the “jersey,” is a public testimony that your highest allegiance belongs to Jesus. Trials and persecution may come, but your only words are, “I am with Jesus.”

6) It’s how to embody and experience biblical images. It’s within the accountability structures of the local church that Christians live out or embody what it means to be the “body of Christ,” the “temple of the Spirit,” the “family of God,” and so on for all the biblical metaphors (see 1 Cor. 12). And you want to experience the interconnectivity of his body, the spiritual fullness of his temple, and the safety and intimacy and shared identity of his family.

7) It’s how to serve other Christians. Membership helps you to know which Christians on planet Earth you are specifically responsible to love, serve, warn, and encourage. It enables you to fulfill your biblical responsibilities to Christ’s body (for example, see Eph. 4:11-16; 25-32).

8) It’s how to follow Christian leaders. Membership helps you to know which Christian leaders on planet Earth you are called to obey and follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your biblical responsibility to them (see Heb. 13:7; 17).

9) It helps Christian leaders lead. Membership lets Christian leaders know which Christians on Planet Earth they will “give an account” for (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).

10) It enables church discipline. It gives you the biblically prescribed place to participate in the work of church discipline responsibly, wisely, and lovingly (1 Cor. 5).

11) It gives structure to the Christian life. It places an individual Christian’s claim to “obey” and “follow” Jesus into a real-life setting where authority is actually exercised over us (see John 14:15; 1 John 2:19; 4:20-21).

12) It builds a witness and invites the nations. Membership puts the alternative rule of Christ on display for the watching universe (see Matt. 5:13; John 13:34-35; Eph. 3:10; 1 Peter 2:9-12). The very boundaries which are drawn around the membership of a church yields a society of people which invites the nations to something better.

Since Church membership matters I think I will be present when the Church gathers on Sunday.

I hope to see you on Sunday,
Pastor Mike

Why Youth Ministry?

In my prayer time this morning, I was reminded again of why I believe it is VITAL that we focus on building and growing our ministry to students here at Everett Springs.

We must reach our young people with the Gospel and disciple them in the truth of God's Word or our churches will be in trouble in the coming years. All we have to do is to look to Europe to validate this belief.

Here is what Operation World has on their website:

The younger generation represents a new challenge; many have grown up in a context devoid of Christian witness or explicitly Christian values. Such beliefs are not seen as relevant or important for most people under age 25. Spirituality is in vogue, but this tends to incorporate New Age, esoterism, eastern religions or the occult and rarely translates into participation in church life. Yet the door remains open to a culturally and generationally relevant expression of the gospel; Christian movements that resonate with young people have emerged in the last decade and resulted in thousands of groups of believers meeting together, but much remains to be done.

If we do not evangelize our students and ground them in the eternal truths of God's Word we will be where Europe is now and we will be there much sooner than we would imagine.

How many hours are our students in school? How many hours are they involved in sports or extra curricular activities? How many hours are they involved in church? How can we influence and impact students with only an hour or two of spiritual input a week? We can't!

That is why HOME and CHURCH must work together. Ideally the truths taught and modeled at home are also reinforced in Church. And what they hear and see in Church is reinforced in the home.

Ministry to our young people is vital!

This is why we encourage students to be at Bible Study, on Sunday at 10:00. This is why it is important for them to sit under the preaching ministry of the Word, on Sunday at 11:00. Yes, this is also why we have placed our focus on ministering to students, on Sunday night at 6:00.

We cannot afford to miss this prime opportunity to evangelize and disciple young people. Their eternal souls are at stake. The future of the church is in the balance. The endangered generation is not yet to be born, they sit in our schools right now.

So, what will you do?

Can you pray for our youth?
Can you invite young people to attend Bible Study and Worship with you?
Can you pray for, support, and do your part to see that students attend our Sunday night gathering at 6?
Can you pray for God's provision for leaders and workers for our student ministry?

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes you can do all the above and together we can work to make a difference for the students we serve.

Yours for our Youth,
Pastor Mike