Why We Need A Church Covenant?
Church Covenant • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
We are starting a new series that will go throughout the summer and examine something that is very important to the life of our church. Over the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at our church covenant.
I would wonder how many people here who are members of FBC have read or even seen our church covenant. I’m afraid that there are too many in our fellowship who do not know about our church covenant… what it says or why it is in place.
Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ. We determine by the aid of the Holy Spirit to:
We
Walk together in Christian love, to watch over one another in brotherly love, to remember one another in prayer, to aid one another in sickness and distress and to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech.
To strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort.
To promote the prosperity and spirituality of the church, to sustain its worship ordinances, discipline and doctrines.
To
To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
To maintain family and private devotions, to train our children in the way of the Lord, and to seek the salvation of our family and acquaintances.
To live righteously in the world, to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our conduct.
To strive in all things to honor our Lord and Savior by a life and conduct becoming the Gospel of Christ.
To be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
To be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and strive to preserve the unity of the Spirit.
To purpose that when we remove ourselves from this church, we will as soon as possible, unite with another New Testament church, where we can carry out the spirit of this commitment and the principles of God’s Word.
As Southern Baptists, we have had a history of not being a “creedal people” — going by a document that is seen just as authoritative as the Bible. While we do hold to the Bible as the sole authority for what we believe and how we are to operate, we also have had a practice of expressing our beliefs in document form.
I’m afraid that there are too many in our fellowship who do not know about our church covenant… what it says or why it is in place.
John Piper (author and former pastor) - “The Bible does not say explicitly, “Thou shalt have a written church covenant,” any more than it says, “Thou shalt have marriage licenses,” or, “Thou shalt have wedding rings.” . . . One way to look at it is that a church without a covenant is like a marriage without vows. Marriage vows are not spelled out in the Bible just like church covenants aren’t. Both follow necessarily from the nature of the relationships.”
Mark Dever (author and Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC) - “Church covenants make church membership meaningful because they clarify the spiritual and relational commitments that membership signifies. Clarfiying the commitments of membership promotes the health of the local church because it keeps nominalism at bay, and it keeps us accountable to growing in real Christian piety.”
Thom Rainer (former President of Lifeway) - “Where a church covenant in churches was adhered to, retention was extremely effective. Perhaps the most significant church trends in the 21st century will be the clear expectations of church members to live for Christ in the context of their local churches.”
What is a Church Covenant?
What is a Church Covenant?
What is a Church Covenant?
What is a Church Covenant?
A church covenant is a promise.
A promise made to God, to a local church, and to one’s self.
A promise to live together distinctly as Christians, by God’s grace.
A church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live.
A church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live.
while a statement of faith shows what we believe, a church covenant shows how we agree to live
While a statement of faith shows what we believe, a church covenant shows how we agree to live.
A church covenant is a sign of commitment.
To God, to His church, and to personal holiness
A church covenant is an ethical statement.
It goes
A church covenant is a biblical standard.
Proves helpful for when a church has to practice discipline.
Why is a Church Covenant Important?
Why is a Church Covenant Important?
God is a God of covenants
God is a God of covenants
You may have heard somewhere along the way about people having a “personal relationship with God.” That could mean different things to different people — friend of God, Father, teacher. But one way that you see over and over in the Bible is that this relationship is like a partnership — working alongside God to accomplish a particular goal.
We see this partnership or covenant being made over and over again throughout the Bible.
Adam
Noah
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
We see God making a covenant with Noah here that He will not strike down every living thing again. This particular covenant was really all on God. There was nothing for man to do. God did this so that His purpose of redeeming what was lost to sin would be carried out.
Abraham
The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
God makes a covenant with Abraham in calling him out and says that He will make Abraham a great nation and all the world will be blessed through him. All Abraham has to do is follow God in faith.
Moses/Israel
Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,
and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”
Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,
God makes a covenant with Israel that if they will obey His commands, then they will be His people and will be used to bless the whole world.
Exodus 19:5
David
Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”
God would rise up a king from David’s lineage to rule over God’s people forever.
We know this king to be Jesus Christ who came from the lineage of David and is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We can see over and over again through the Bible that God has been calling out a people and identifying them as His own. God is one who keeps His end of the deal and expects His people to keep their end so that they will be separate from the world and identified as the people of God.
The problem with this is that with each of these covenants, while God kept His part of the deal, man broke his end each time. Noah got drunk and blew it. Abraham had periods of doubt and disobedience. Israel continuously messed up and walked away from their commitment to God.
Mankind’s failures to keep the covenant that we made with God is one reason why Jesus came to earth as He did. The Son of God became a man so that He could keep our end of the deal and God’s plan of reaching the entire world could happen.
In , Jesus instituted a new covenant at the first Lord’s Supper.
In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
This new covenant was God calling a group of people to come out from the world and be known as His own and who would take the message of hope and salvation to the rest of the world. This is what we know as the church today.
The church is composed of new-covenant people
The church is composed of new-covenant people
When we come to faith in Christ and enter this new covenant, Jesus not only removes our sins but places His righteousness in our account.
In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
As you look at all of the covenants that God has made with man, God kept His end of the deal but man blew it each time with his end. This is why Jesus came to earth in the first place. He came as a man to keep our end of the deal. When we come to faith in Christ and enter this new covenant, Jesus not only removes our sins but places His righteousness in our account.
This new covenant actually was told by God way back in .
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration.
“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
We are not right with God by what we have done but solely by what Jesus has done for us! If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ, you are part of this new covenant that God has made with mankind. The church that is following God’s plan is one that is made up of people who are part of the new covenant.
A church covenant serves to remind us of the relationship and commitment that we have entered in to with Christ as His church. We believe that He has called us out of the darkness of our sin to His marvelous light, and He wants us to be part of the work of calling others who are in darkness to the light.
We do not gather just to have something to do or to feel better about ourselves. We are called together and we commit to God and one another to carry out the work that God has called us to Himself to do.
I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us this summer as we examine each part of our church covenant. I hope that you will join us each Sunday and be encouraged to live out the calling that each member of FBC has been given.
You may be here today and you realize that God is calling you to come to Jesus and receive the wonderful gift of grace that He has for you. Maybe you have been considering becoming part of our church and you’d like to do that. Maybe there is some other decision that you would like to talk with someone about. I would encourage you to fill out one of the cards in the pew in front of you or come talk with one of us during this time of response.
Prayer
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