Sermon Tone Analysis

The concept of church membership runs throughout the Bible.

God talks about his Church being a family, a building, a nation, a kingdom and a body.

One of the most important Greek words in the New Testament is koinonia, which means fellowship, community or oneness.

Why become a Member?

As a young man, Joshua Harris’s attitude toward the church reflected that of many people today.

Harris writes:

When I graduated from my church’s high school youth group, I started visiting around.

I loved God and had big dreams for how I wanted to serve Him, but I didn’t see any reason to get too involved in one church.

By then, I thought I knew all there was to know about church, and I wasn’t impressed.

Most churches struck me as out-of-date and out-of-touch.

There had to be better, more efficient ways to accomplish great things for God.1

He considered the church secondary, outmoded, inefficient, and a hindrance.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love God or God’s people.

He just didn’t think that belonging to a particular church was important, and might even be a hindrance.

Joshua is not alone.

Many people think that church—especially church membership, that is, actually signing up and joining—is a spiritual relic destined to hinder spiritual freedom and fruitfulness.

The reasons for this view of church membership are many.

Some Christians are just plain indifferent to church membership.

They can take it or leave it; they’re neither excited nor negative toward the church.

It just doesn’t matter to them.

Others are ignorant.

They are uninformed.

They’ve never considered the Bible’s view of the local church.

Still others are indecisive.

They can’t make up their minds about joining.

Perhaps they’re the kind of people who never really make decisions; decisions tend to happen to them.

And there are the independent types.

They are “Lone Ranger Christians” who don’t want to be saddled with the burdens of church membership.

They don’t want people “in their business.”

They want to come into a church, consume what they need, and leave unattached.

Finally, there are those who are slow to commit to a local church because their affections are inverted.

They have strong attachments to a “home church” in the town they grew up in, and yet their bodies are hundreds of miles away.

They can’t bring themselves to join a church where they live because they’ve never emotionally left a church from their past.

At root, all of these perspectives on the local church stem from the same problem: a failure to understand or take seriously God’s intent that the local church be central to the life of his people.

People don’t become committed church members—and therefore healthy Christians—because they don’t understand that such a commitment is precisely how God intends his people to live out the faith and experience Christian love.

Scripture outlines the roles of leaders in a particular fellowship and the writer to the Hebrews says:

Biblically, then, we can start to see that there is a need for membership.

Let us go on:

God wants his people to be at the centre of His Church.

The early church committed themselves to one another and this is the model we seek to follow at MCB.

Our goal is to bring Jesus glory in following His plans for His Church.

As a member of MCB you will be encouraged to join us in discerning His voice.

Collectively we do this at Church Meetings which occur on quarterly.

Because we cannot live the Christian life on our own.

We need the fellowship of other believers to help us grow as Christians.

Included in this is the idea of discipline which the bible speaks to:

This is only possible through membership.

We do note that in 2nd Corinthians the man is brought back into fellowship.

The aim is always restoration.

There is slight evidence that the early church kept some lists associated with its membership.

For example, lists of widows were kept (1 Tim.

5:9).

Also, Christians in the local church voted for some actions.

It was the “majority” who voted to remove the man from membership in the church at Corinth (2 Cor.

2:6).

Electing leaders, submitting to them, regulating membership, keeping lists, and voting only make sense if a known, identifiable, and distinct body is recognized.

So while the Bible doesn’t provide us with a biblical treatise on membership per se, there is enough evidence in the inspired record to suggest that some form of membership was practiced and was necessary to the church’s operation.

Church membership is no less important in our day.

Because the church needs you.

We have a huge God given task to serve our community, region, nation and the wider world.

As Members we make ourselves available to be used by God in bringing in His harvest.

And then there is a commitment to Love

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that unless we love one another we might as well close the church’s doors.

It is that simple.

Our love for one another however can only flow from our love for God.

If we were to try and paraphrase this command it would be: Love God completely; Love others unreservedly.

A commitment to the Bible and Prayer

Bible

A member of MCB accepts the authority of the Bible.

‘All scripture is God breathed’ 2 Tim 3:16.

The Bible is God’s word to us and is to be trusted and obeyed.

As we submit to its authority we place ourselves under the authority of God who is made known to us supremely in Jesus Christ.

Members may have different views on secondary points of doctrine, this is quite common.

When this happens it is important we respect those whose views differ from ours.

Prayer

We are very conscious that MCB is God’s Church.

If it is to flourish we need to seek His plans and purposes for us individually and collectively.

But prayer is much more than a list of requests.

Someone said, ‘A person without prayer is like a tree without roots.’

In prayer we develop a deep and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father as we speak to him and listen to his voice.

Prayer is a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father and it is our desire as a fellowship to see prayer increasingly become a central feature of church life.

A commitment to Grow

Healthy plants grow and so do healthy Christians.

Spiritual growth happens best when we marry a deeper understanding of the Bible with personal service.

We encourage Members to grow in their knowledge of the Bible through:

Personal Study

We encourage Members to develop a regular habit of reading God’s Word and Prayer, often referred to as a Quiet Time.

Sundays

Members are encouraged to regularly attend Sunday services.

Whilst it is important for the minister to prepare thoroughly for the message it is equally important for Members to prepare themselves too.

Many find it beneficial to take notes throughout the service as they seek to discern what God may be saying to them

Prayer Meeting/Bible Study

These are vital to your spiritual development.

We learn from asking questions.

We learn from one another’s experiences.

We learn at our pace.

Remember reading the Bible isn’t an academic exercise.

God wants to speak to us as we study His Word.

A commitment to the Ordinances of Jesus

We have already looked at Baptism and we will look at Communion more specifically another time.

It is necessary for members to take part each month.

A Commitment to Serve