Sermon Tone Analysis

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We’re continuing our series today call Holy Things with the topic of Church Membership.

We’re continuing our series called Holy Things and specifically going through some of the sacraments of the church.

Over the past two weeks I spoke about Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

These are two sacraments that the Lord Jesus, himself, initiated in the Gospels and for that reason most protestant churches only celebrate two sacraments.

But, the word sacrament simply means ‘holy thing,’ and thus the title of this series.

So, different traditions have different practices that they consider sacraments, because, they recognize that there are more holy things than Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, that we participate in as Christ’s Church.

For example, the Catholic church, historic and today, celebrates seven sacraments, including marriage which we will talk about next week.

But, the Quakers don’t celebrate any, believing that everything the Christian does—or ought to do—should be set apart as holy to the Lord.

look at more or less sacraments than most Christian churches today, because, there are certainly more holy things than Baptism and the Lord’s Supper that we participate in as Christ’s Church.

For example, the Catholic church, historic and today, celebrates seven sacraments, including marriage which we will talk about next week.

But, the Quakers don’t celebrate any, believing that everything the Christian does—or ought to do—should be set apart as holy to the Lord.

Today, we are talking about Church Membership, which can be a controversial subject in some Christian circles.

Many Christians would say that church membership isn’t in the Bible so we shouldn’t do it.

But, I believe it is in the Bible.

And historically, the church always had processes for determining who it was that was a part of a local congregation, whether that was through an official process or otherwise.

So, what I would like to do today is demonstrate both the biblical warrant for church membership as well as the wisdom of it.

So, let’s begin with church membership in the Bible.

The Precedent

…for church membership.

We’re continuing our series today call Holy Things with the topic of Church Membership.

I remember vividly the first church I placed membership at as an adult.

I was probably like 22 and they were having a class during Sunday School hour to talk about membership.

There were about 10 or so people there and the pastor walked through the churches reasoning for membership.

I remember this vividly—I told him afterward, “I figured church membership was about money, so I was ready to sign up.”

I didn’t really have a clue what it was really about.

Jami and I placed membership with that church but others in that same class did not.

In fact, I have known several people over the years who refused to place membership in a church because they believed it was unbiblical and others who have left churches because they were hindered from serving because of their refusal to place membership.

I don’t want to take that lightly, because church membership can be a conscience issue for many people.

You may have heard someone say that church membership is not biblical.

I have known several people over the years who refused to place membership in a church because they believed it was unbiblical and others who have left churches because they were hindered from serving because of their refusal to place membership.

So, I don’t want to take that lightly.

This can be a conscience issue for many people.

It is true that in the scriptures there is no clear command or process laid out for church membership.

There is no, ‘Thus saith the Lord’ for membership.

But, it’s actually difficult to escape the reality that the early church was practicing church membership.

Again, they may not have had a formal process, but it is clear in the New Testament that the early church had a criteria for knowing who was in and who was out.

That is, they knew who was a member of the church and who was not.

I think the clearest demonstration of Church Membership shows up in the earliest stages of the church in .

In our scripture reading you heard the Apostle Peter’s message to the Jews at the feast of Pentecost.

He exhorted the people to believe that Jesus was their Messiah, the savior of Israel.

And the Jews were responsible for Jesus’s death.

Demonstration of Church Membership

Convinced by Peter that they had killed their own Messiah...

(CSB) — …they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…

The disciple of Jesus named Luke, who wrote the book of Acts went on to record,

(CSB) — So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

And then,

(CSB) — …Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

This is very specific language.

People were becoming members of the church.

And Peter gave them a process for becoming members which was baptism and repentance, when he said, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”.

When they were baptised and repented, then they were added to the number of believers, which sounds an awful lot like they became members of the church.

In some fashion, whether there was a list of names or whatever, they knew who was in and who was out.

PAUSE

Notice also, the analogy that the Apostle Paul used for the church.

(CSB) — Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

, body analogy

Paul says that we are all members of one greater unit, that we call the church or figuratively, the body of Christ.

Not one of us can be the body of Christ on our own, but like a body needs many members—arms, legs, a head with a brain, a heart, and so on—we are only the church if we are the church together.

For Paul, member means a lot more than identification, like a rewards card at a grocery store or something.

A member is an intricate participant in a group.

Paul goes on to explain that we all have different functions in the church.

If you are gifted in declaring God’s Word, then do so in proportion to your faith, that is to say, preach the Word in proportion to your conviction.

If you are a gifted servant, then serve people.

If you are a teacher, then teach people.

If you are gifted in exhortation—which is the same greek word as encouragement—then exhort and encourage people.

If you are a giver, then give generously.

If you are a leader, then lead diligently without getting discouraged, but remain focussed on the goal.

And if you are gifted in mercy, the enact mercy with a cheerful heart.

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Paul’s point is that each of us who are members of the church have a function and we all need to carry out that function in order for the church to do what God is calling us to do.

So, it follows that, we need to know who our members are so that we know what it is that God is calling us to.

PAUSE

There are anecdotal reasons that we need to have membership as well.

Necessity of church membership

Necessity of church membership

In many passages of scripture, we are called to both moral and doctrinal purity as Christ’s church.

It’s necessary for us to discern the active members of the church from those who still need to come to learn and grow.

Who’s in and who’s out?

Maybe a passage about the purity of the church and doctrine

Who’s in and who’s out?

Maybe a passage about the purity of the church and doctrine

?

Maybe a passage about the purity of the church and doctrine

Church membership allows us to know who’s in and who’s not so that we can protect the moral purity of the church and the doctrinal purity of the church without pushing away people who are still figuring out what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

So, it’s not just biblical, but it’s wise.

It helps us carry out the responsibilities of the church.

PAUSE

So, what I would like to do today is not just convince you that membership is biblical.

What I want to do is synthesize some of the teachings of the New Testament regarding church membership and present to you a standard for membership in the church.

So, with that said, here are the biblical…

Prerequisites

…for church membership.

In other words, What do I need to do before becoming a member?

I have three prerequisites for membership: Lordship, baptism, and doctrine.

— connect to GC

Lordship means that you choose to serve and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen, You can believe in Jesus without being obedient to Him as Lord.