What Is A Church Member?

Well, good morning. God to be here with you guys today. As Jonathan said, my name is Josh Mata. I'm one of the pastors over at First Baptist Church Mount Pleasant.

And my family and I have been here in the area for about a year. So we're still kind of getting adjusted and finding our way.

But it's been really great. We've enjoyed being here and very thankful to get to be here with you all today.

It's been a privilege to get to know Jonathan over the past several months.

And it's encouraging to see the work that the Lord is doing here at Seaweed Bay.

So, again, thank you for allowing me to be here with you all.

Would you please stand as we read God's word together?

This is 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 through 14.

1 Corinthians 12:12–14

The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth, and he says,

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member, but of many.

And this is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Join your hearts with me for a moment as we ask God for his help.

God, we thank you for your word.

Thank you for this time together that we get to open it and look at what you say to us.

We pray that by your spirit you would draw near and cause us to be strengthened and encouraged,

cause us to be convicted,

and I pray that each one here would see Christ clearly.

We pray these in his name and by your spirit.

Amen.

Well, most Americans are hyper-individualistic.

I'm sure you would all agree.

I know I am.

I am an individualistic person.

It's the culture we live in.

It's the waters that we all swim in.

It's the air we breathe.

It's the air we breathe in America.

And individualism is not always a bad thing.

It often promotes hard work.

It promotes building something from the ground up.

As individuals, God's given us all specific gifts that we can use for his glory

to create art and create music and systems and structures in order to shape our culture

and to use our specific gifts for God's glory and for the good of one another as individuals.

So individualism can be a good thing.

But at the same time, there's great danger in a hyper-individualistic culture.

We often can become too independent.

We can become too self-made, too self-reliant, too self-focused.

And so because this is the culture we live in, there's great danger for the church as well.

For decades now, throughout churches in America, we often say things that promote this idea of individualism.

We say things like, oh, you just have to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior.

And that's true.

But we say that at the expense of the communal gathering of the body of Christ.

We prioritize our own personal spiritual growth over corporate church growth and holiness.

We treat church membership often as if it's just an optional add-on for kind of the more mature Christians

or it's really the next step you take if you're going to grow in your Christian life.

Or often, if we do become members of local churches, we treat the church as if it's just something else we do, right?

We have our families and we have our kids and their sports and their school and we have our jobs.

And then we kind of have church on the side as well, you know, if we're not doing anything else on the weekend.

So, unfortunately, in addition, many professing Christians in America today view their relationship with church kind of in a consumeristic mindset.

Like we come to church on Sunday as a consumer.

It's where we go to get our spiritual gas tanks filled up.

And when they're filled up, then we go off for the rest of our week and we don't give much thought to the Lord and to his word and to his people.

People.

Often, Americans choose churches because there's a certain thing they like about it.

We like the music at this church, so we're going to go there.

Or we like the preaching at this church, so we're going to go there.

Or, oh, we like the children's program or the youth program over here, so we're going to go here or here so that our children can have the best youth experience in town.

We often treat the church like consumers.

What can I get out of this?

And what's the problem with viewing the church this way?

The problem is it's nowhere to be found in Scripture.

God has a lot to say in his word about the church.

And so we want to look to his word to hear what he has to say about his church and how we are to live our lives together in local churches.

And so this is what I want to communicate this morning with you all as we look to God's word.

I want us to compare the way we think about church with the way God's word tells us to think about church and see where we need to rely in our thinking and our actions.

And so the title of today's sermon is, what is a church member?

Jonathan asked me if I would preach on church membership this morning.

And so if you don't like this, you know, this idea, you can yell at Jonathan, not me.

It was his idea.

So, but if Jonathan's been doing a good job, which I think he has in his membership classes and in leading you all well, I think a lot of this might be review for many of you.

And so let's think biblically together about what is a church member.

Number one, for you note takers, number one, a church member is someone who is born again and baptized.

A church member is someone who is born again and baptized.

It's pretty self-explanatory, right?

The church, Christ's church is made up of Christians.

It's made up of Christians.

And what is a Christian?

A Christian is someone who's responded to the gospel.

A Christian is someone who's repented of their sin, turned away from it, and trusted in Christ for salvation.

That's what, that's who a Christian is.

Christ came to call sinners to repentance.

Christ came and died on the cross, was buried.

Three days later, rose again, came back to life, conquering sin and death.

And his call is for all of us to repent of our sin and trust in him for salvation in order to reconcile us to God.

So if you've never done that, if you've never turned from your sin, repented of it, and trusted in Christ for salvation, I urge you this morning, do so.

If you don't know how to do that or what that means to be saved, to give your life to Christ, talk to Jonathan, talk to Treg, talk to me, talk to a Christian friend who knows you.

We'd love to help you understand what it means to follow Christ.

And so that's the first step in being a church member.

It's being a Christian, following Christ, giving him your allegiance.

Next, a church member is someone who is baptized.

So born again, becomes a Christian, and then is baptized.

When the early church was forming in Acts 2, shortly after Christ had ascended into heaven, the apostle Peter is preaching to people in Jerusalem, and he tells his hearers, repent and be baptized.

Be baptized.

So baptism, we could say, is like the front door into the church.

If the church is a building or if the church is like a house, to get into the house, you've got to go through the front door, right?

And so baptism is like the front door into the church family.

And baptism is how a new Christian identifies with Christ and his church.

And so when we're saved, when God saves us, he reconciles us to him, right?

But he also reconciles us to one another.

And so when we're baptized, we're reconciled, we're identifying with Christ, and we're identifying with Christ's family, the church.

And so baptism is sort of like how a person says, I'm on that team.

I'm on Christ's team.

I'm with him and with the church.

It's like you're putting on the team jersey.

You're saying Christ is my Lord and his people are my people.

And when baptism happens, there's actually two parties speaking.

It's the individual saying, I'm trusting Christ.

And it's the church saying, we see it.

We agree.

Yes, you are trusting Christ.

Therefore, we are giving you the ordinance of baptism.

And so it's essential that we, to the best of our ability, make sure that those who are joining the church, those who we are welcoming into membership, are actually converted by God.

It might sound crazy.

It might sound simple.

But unfortunately, again, churches all over the West have not done a great job of this.

And therefore, we've seen a lot of bad fruit in churches.

And so that's why here at Seaweed Bay and at the church I'm serving at, at First Baptist, we do what we call membership interviews, where we want to hear from those who are wanting to join the church.

We want to hear a clear understanding of the gospel.

It doesn't have to be, you know, like a, you know, a presentation that maybe a seminary professor would give.

Just a simple understanding of the gospel.

Who is Jesus?

What did he do?

How are we saved?

And then a credible profession of faith.

We want to hear that you actually are trusting in Christ, that he has actually saved you.

Because unfortunately, I'm sure you all know, and I know I do, and we know many people, friends and family members who are confessing to be Christians, yet their lives don't look anything like the life of a Christian should look.

I have family members that live that way.

They say they're Christians, yet they don't seem to care about God.

They don't seem to want to grow in his word.

They don't want to obey him.

They don't gather regularly with the church.

And this is really a trend all over our country.

Their lives don't match their professions.

Yet they think they're Christians.

And many of them think they're Christians because churches along the way have unfortunately taught them that to be a Christian, all you have to do is pray a prayer.

All you have to do is walk down the aisle and sign a card and say, yep, I'm a Christian, and then you're good.

Get baptized maybe, and then go on and live your life however you want to live.

It doesn't really matter if you're fighting sin.

It doesn't really matter if you join yourself to a local church.

You just got to pray this prayer, and presto, you're a Christian.

This dangerous idea has been identified by pastors and theologians as easy-believe-ism.

I don't know if you've heard that term before, easy-believe-ism.

It's easy.

Just pray this prayer, and you're a Christian.

And like I said, this has produced a lot of bad fruit in churches around America.

So this is, in part, one reason why it's so important that we take church membership seriously.

It's because people's souls are at stake.

We don't have time to play around with the souls of men and women.

And so, a church member is someone first who's truly born again, baptized,

but then remember, a believer, a Christian, is not someone who's just baptized

and then left alone to kind of be over here on the side

and figure out this Christian life by themselves.

No, a new Christian is baptized into a family.

There's no orphans in the family of God.

You're baptized into a family.

You're added to a body, and that body is called the church.

And so, number two, number two, a church member is part of a local body.

A church member is part of a local body.

Look with me at Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

If you have your Bibles, turn there.

We're going to go.

We were in 1 Corinthians, and we're going to come back to 1 Corinthians,

but go to Acts 2, and we're going to read this together.

This is as the early church was forming.

The apostle Peter is preaching in Jerusalem.

Acts 2, verse 37 is where we're going to be,

Acts 2:37

and I'll read 37 and 38, and then we'll jump ahead a little bit.

So, Acts 2, 37.

Peter, again, he's preaching to these people.

Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,

Brothers, what shall we do?

And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you,

in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And then down to verse 41.

So those who received his word were baptized,

and there were added that day about 3,000 souls,

and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship

and to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And so these new Christians, they hear the gospel,

they repent and believe, and then they're baptized,

and then notice what they don't do.

They don't all just go home and have a quiet time in their own bedrooms

and close the door and just,

Okay, I'm a Christian now.

It's just me and Jesus.

That's not what they do.

What do these early Christians do?

It says they were baptized,

and then they were added to the number that day.

So they were added to a group that must have been established,

a group where these people knew,

here's the group of Christians.

Everyone else is not in this group.

Here's this group.

These new Christians are added to this group,

and then they do something.

They devote themselves to the preaching, the teaching, and the fellowship.

Sounds like church membership to me.

And so we see this idea of church membership here in the early church in Acts 2.

They were added to a group of people in this local church.

Imagine you're driving down Highway 17 after you leave here,

and you're driving along,

and you look kind of further down the road,

and you see something that looks kind of gross.

You're like, Oh, man, what is that?

Is that roadkill?

I can't tell.

You get closer and closer,

and you come upon it,

and you notice it's actually a severed human leg on the ground.

What do you do?

Do you just keep driving?

Oh, whatever.

It's nothing.

We're in Allendah.

Anything goes out here.

Human leg on the ground.

No.

Nobody would do that.

You'd be crazy to do that.

What do you do if you see a severed leg on the ground?

You pull over.

You stop.

You look around.

Where's the body?

This leg has to be attached to a body.

This is not okay.

You're calling the police.

You're calling your husband or your wife.

There's a human leg on the side of the road.

This is not okay.

Brothers and sisters,

when we see someone claiming to be a Christian,

yet not joining themselves to a local church,

we should have the same reaction.

The Bible has no category for a lone ranger Christian.

On the contrary, all over the New Testament,

there's biblical illustrations for what the church is,

and every illustration is a singularity making up a group.

Scripture talks about church as stones in a temple.

Scripture talks about the church as members of a family,

sheep in a flock,

members of a body,

single entities making up one larger structure.

And so to be a Christian is to be a member of the body of Christ.

And to be a member of the body of Christ,

the way Scripture talks about it,

is to be a meaningful member of a healthy local church.

And so back to where we were in 1 Corinthians 12.

I'm going back there.

1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 through 14.

1 Corinthians 12:12–14

This is what we read at the beginning.

I'm going to read it again.

This is the Apostle Paul writing to a church in Corinth,

and he's talking about unity in the body of Christ.

And he says,

Just as the body is one and has many members,

and all the members of the body,

though many are one body,

so it is with Christ.

For in one spirit we are all baptized into one body,

Jews or Greeks, slaves or free,

and all were made to drink of one spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member,

but of many.

And so Paul here is arguing that the local church

is the body of Christ here on earth.

Now, some people read passages like this,

and they say,

Oh, well, he's just referring to the universal church,

to the church throughout all time in history,

so I don't really have to join a local church.

But if you keep reading,

it actually becomes quite clear.

He, the Apostle Paul here,

is talking about the local church,

because in verse 28 he says,

God has appointed in the church,

that word church just means gathering,

so in the church gathering,

he's appointed apostles, prophets, teachers,

and he goes on and on about all these different roles

within local churches.

And so he's pointing out to a particular body of believers.

And so if you,

if you are a Christian who has been baptized,

then you are part of the body of Christ.

How do you live out your membership in the body of Christ?

You live it out by joining,

committing yourself to a local church body.

It's not enough to just say,

I'm a Christian,

I'm part of the universal church.

Because you can't,

you can't see the universal church.

The universal church is made visible in local churches.

And so the local church right now on this earth

embodies what we will experience in all eternity

with the universal church.

So your membership now in a local church

represents your membership in the universal church in eternity.

You know, people often say,

I'm sure you've heard it again,

this goes back to our individualism.

People often say,

man, I don't,

I don't need the church.

I just,

it's all about Jesus.

I don't need the church.

I just want to live a Christ-centered life.

Friends,

the Christ-centered life

is the church-centered life.

Because the church

is the body of Christ on this earth.

And so God,

in his infinite wisdom,

has chosen for the body of Christ

on this earth right now

to be for you and for me,

to grow in godliness,

to worship him.

Not just in individual Christians

having their own personal quiet time

in their prayer closet,

though you should do that.

I'm not saying don't do that.

Do that.

But in the local church gathered

is where Christ is honored and glorified

and we are raised up

as followers of Christ

and grow in our love for him

and for one another.

And so,

the reality is,

is that all 43,

all 43 covenant members

of Seaweed Bay Baptist Church

make up this particular local body of Christ.

Right here,

gathered at 6194 Highway 17,

Allendal, South Carolina.

All 43 members of this particular body

need one another.

You all need one another.

If you're a member of this church,

God has ordained in his infinite wisdom

that the other 42 members of this church

would be here right now

to help you on your way to heaven.

Our relationship with God is personal,

but it's never private.

It is personal,

but it's never meant to be private.

You are,

as the Apostle Paul states,

members of the body of Christ.

So,

since we've established

that a Christian

should be a member of a local church,

let's then now think together,

well,

what do you do?

What are you to do

as a member of a local church?

What's your responsibility?

And so,

I want us in our remaining time

to think biblically about

what do we do?

What are the roles

and responsibilities

of a church member?

Number three,

number three,

and there's four points total,

so we're on number three.

Church membership

is an office

and a job.

Church membership

is an office

and a job.

What do I mean by that?

First,

church membership

is an office

in that

it's an elected position.

it's an elected position.

Just like the president

of the United States

cannot make himself

be the president

of the United States,

so you and I

cannot just make ourselves

members of the church.

Church membership

is saying,

I'm a Christian!

Christian!

And then it's the rest

of the church

saying,

we agree!

We've heard

your profession

of faith,

we've heard

your understanding

of the gospel,

and so your life

seems to match

your profession

and so then

we affirm you

and welcome you

into the membership

of this church.

And why do we need that?

Why do we need this

affirmation from one another?

Well,

if you're like me,

we're often

self-deceived,

aren't we?

I'm often self-deceived

in lots of ways.

I think I look good,

you know,

my wife is like,

hey,

fix this,

fix your collar,

fix your hair,

you got some

little dandruff

back here,

wipe that off,

it looks bad,

you know,

I think I look good

and I need someone else

to point out

and say,

Josh,

you don't look good,

fix yourself,

right?

I'm often self-deceived

and so if I'm self-deceived

in these little ways,

man,

I can be self-deceived

in my spiritual life

as well.

I can think

I'm doing good,

I can think

I'm thinking rightly,

I can think

I'm obeying God's word,

but then when I

maybe tell somebody

my plans

or when I speak

this way or that way,

I have brothers and sisters

come to me and say,

hey,

Josh,

that's not right,

that's not the way

a Christian lives,

that's not,

that's sinful,

right?

I need other people

to speak into my life

and judge whether or not

I'm actually

confessing the true gospel.

Am I believing

the true gospel?

I need other Christians

to look at my confession

of faith and say,

yes,

that's the true gospel,

biblically.

Or if I'm living

the way

a gospel professor

should live.

Josh,

hey,

you're not living

like a Christian,

you need to stop

doing that,

you need to stop

thinking that.

And the reality is,

and this is where

I think a lot of churches

miss it,

Jesus gave

the local church

the authority

to affirm

and to disaffirm

people's professions

of faith.

We don't have time

to go into it right now,

but when Jesus

gives Peter

the keys of the kingdom

in Matthew 16

and then in Matthew 18

he gives the whole church

these same keys

to the kingdom,

he is saying

to the church,

to local churches

that you church

have the authority

to affirm

someone's true

or false

profession

of faith.

And so church membership

is an office.

you also

have a job to do.

Church membership

is also a job.

It's more than just

voting on a budget,

it's more than just

voting on a building,

it's voting on

welcoming

and sending out

members of the church.

That's the most

important job you have

as a church member.

And so,

how do we talk about this?

So,

church members are,

your job as a church member

is to guard the what

and the who

of the gospel.

your job as a church member

is to guard the what

and the who

of the gospel.

So,

what do I mean by that?

Well,

first,

you are to guard

the what of the gospel.

God cares about

the purity of his church,

therefore,

it's the job of you,

church members,

to make sure

the true gospel

is being preached

from this pulpit.

So,

if Jonathan gets up here

and he starts preaching

a false gospel,

he starts denying

the Trinity,

fire him.

And he just amened,

so,

don't forget it.

If the gospel

is not preached,

the true biblical gospel

is not preached,

it is the job of the church

to point that out,

to make sure

good,

true doctrine

is being taught

in classrooms.

Where am I getting this?

Galatians 1,

6,

the Apostle Paul,

he's writing to the church

in Galatia,

and he says,

I am astonished

that you,

and that you there

is plural,

I am astonished

that you all,

church in Galatia,

I'm astonished

that you all

are deserting him

who called you

in the grace of Christ

and are turning

to a different gospel.

Not that there

is another one,

but there are some

who would trouble you

and who want to

distort the gospel

of Christ.

And so,

there was a false gospel

being preached

in this church

in Galatia

and the Apostle Paul

goes to them

and he says,

he doesn't,

notice what he doesn't do,

he doesn't go to the pastors

of that church

or the leaders

in that church,

he goes to the whole church

and he says,

whole church,

stop believing

a false gospel,

it's your job

to make sure

the true gospel

is preached here.

And so,

he calls out

the entire church

for abandoning

the true gospel.

He holds the entire church

accountable

because it's the job

of the whole church

to protect

the what

of the gospel,

to make sure

the true gospel

is being preached

and proclaimed

and taught

and believed.

And so,

it's the job

of church members

to guard

the what

of the gospel,

it's one of the most

important things

you'll do.

Second,

other most important

thing you will do

if you're a member

of this church

is to guard

the who

of the gospel.

Guard the who

of the gospel.

By that,

I mean,

you're guarding

who are true

gospel professors.

You see,

in the church

in Corinth,

there was a church

member

who was living

in serious,

outward,

and unrepentant sin.

We see this

from 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 5:1

chapter 5,

verses 1 and 2.

The apostle Paul

says to this church,

it's actually reported

that there is

sexual immorality

among you

and of a kind

that is not tolerated

even among the pagans

for a man

has his father's wife

and you're arrogant.

Wants you not

rather to mourn?

Let him

who has done this

be removed

from among you.

So again,

there's this member

of this church,

he's living in

great sin,

serious sin,

outward sin,

unrepentant sin,

he's not repenting

of it.

And Paul does not

just call out

the pastors

and the elders.

He calls the entire church

and all the members

of the church.

Calls them out

for allowing this man

to remain

a member of their church.

And what does he

tell them to do about it?

He tells them

to remove this man

from among them.

We keep reading

in that same passage,

1 Corinthians 5,

he says to the church,

when you are assembled

in the name

of the Lord Jesus

and my spirit is present

with the power

of the Lord Jesus,

you are church,

you are to deliver

this man to Satan

for the destruction

of the flesh

so that his spirit

may be saved

in the day

of the Lord.

And so,

what he's saying is

the whole church,

when the whole church

is gathered,

they have a job

to do

and that is

to remove

this man

from their membership.

This is what we know

as excommunication

or church discipline.

Remove him

from your membership.

don't consider him

a brother in Christ.

It doesn't mean

he can't come

into the building,

it means he can't

be a member

of the church.

Why?

What's the point?

Is this to embarrass

this man?

Is this to,

for us to be

holier than thou?

Is this exclusivity

just for the sake

of being exclusive

and pushing him out

because he's not

godly enough?

No.

Verse 5,

they are to remove

this man

so that his spirit

might be saved

in the day of the Lord.

So the apostle Paul

is commanding

this church at Corinth

to remove this man

from membership,

to excommunicate him

so that he doesn't

go to hell.

So that he realizes,

oh wow,

I used to be a part

of this group of people

called the church.

They used to be affirming

my profession of faith

to be true,

but because of the way

I'm living,

it doesn't look like

I'm really a Christian

and so they've put me

out of their group.

I'm not part

of the church anymore.

And what's the point?

The point is that man

is supposed to realize

this is a weighty thing.

This is a big deal.

Being a part of the church

was better than being

part of the world.

It's so that this man

would feel the weight

of his sin.

He would recognize

the weight of his sin

and that it's infinitely better

to be in Christ

and in the church

than cast out

into the world.

And the goal

is repentance.

The goal is restoration

so that his soul

would be saved,

the scripture says.

And so,

biblical,

restorative,

church discipline

protects the reputation

of Christ

because you don't have

people in the church

who are claiming

to be Christians

yet living like

the rest of the world.

so it protects

the reputation

of Christ

and it protects

the souls of people

because you're no longer

allowing them

to be a member

of your church

if they're living

in serious,

outward,

unrepentant sin.

Notice I say

unrepentant.

The church

is not a place

for non-sinners,

right?

Because none of us

would be here.

The church is a place

for repenting sinners.

sinners.

And so,

this keeps,

this excommunication

keeps from,

a church

from giving false assurance

of salvation

to someone

who's not truly born again.

On the positive side

of this coin,

right,

it's hard,

we don't like to think

about excommunication,

church discipline,

but on the positive side

of this same coin,

brothers and sisters,

biblical church membership

should be of great

encouragement to you

if you're a Christian.

Because if you think about it,

to be a member of a church

is to say

that the other,

all the other members

of that church

are welcoming you

into their membership.

They're agreeing that,

yes,

Josh really does seem

like a Christian.

He really is repenting

and believing.

He really is following

the true gospel.

So we're welcoming him

into our membership.

Brothers and sisters,

this should give you

great assurance

of salvation.

When you have a group

of people who are

allowing you at the table

in communion,

allowing you to take

the bread and the cup,

it should be of great

encouragement to you.

And so every member

of a local church

has a God-given

biblical responsibility

to guard the what

and the who

of the gospel

by sending and receiving

church members.

And so all this,

then,

do you know

what this means for us?

It means,

in order to guard

the what and the who

of the gospel,

it means we must

know the gospel

and know it well.

And it also means

we must know

one another well,

know one another deeply.

So first,

we must know

the gospel well.

We can't guard

this gospel

if we don't know

this gospel.

We can't hold

one another

accountable to

sound doctrine

if we don't know

sound doctrine ourselves.

So my encouragement

to each one of you,

brothers and sisters,

is to keep growing

in biblical literacy.

Keep growing

in your understanding

of the Bible

and of God

and his word.

Keep studying

scripture together.

Keep reading

good books together.

Keep coming here

on Sunday morning.

Y'all are all

doing a great job

of that today.

Keep listening

to the Bible

being preached

and taught

and discussed

so that you can

sharpen one another.

So know the gospel well.

Second,

you must know

one another well.

Remember,

you are one body.

You need each other.

That passage

in 1 Corinthians 12,

Paul goes on.

He says,

the eye can't say

to the hand,

I have no need of you,

nor the head

to the feet,

I have no need of you.

No,

God has so composed

the body,

giving greater honor

to the part

that lacked it,

that there may be

no division

in the body,

but that the members

may have the same care

for one another.

If one member suffers,

all suffer together.

If one member

is honored,

all rejoice together.

And so God's word

here calls us

to be unified

as a body,

to know one another well,

to love one another deeply.

A great way

you can do this

is simply by practicing

the one another commandments

in scripture.

There's over 30

one another commandments

in the New Testament.

Over 30 of them.

And most of those examples,

the author is writing

to a local church

and he's telling them

how to live

their lives together.

Be at peace

with one another.

Honor one another.

Submit to one another.

Pray for one another.

Build up one another.

Confess your sins

to one another.

And the list goes on

and on and on and on

of these

one another commandments.

And so

this one anothering

should be happening

all the time

in our local churches

and that's a great

measuring stick

for us in our own lives

to look at and say,

man, how am I doing

at that?

How am I doing

at being at peace

with one another?

Am I pursuing peace

or am I sort of a divisive

and gossipy type person?

Am I praying

for the other members

of my church

or do I really not

think about them

much throughout the week?

Am I confessing

my sins to each other

or do I want to just hide

and act like I have

it all together?

Guess what?

None of us have it

all together.

We all need to be

confessing our sins

to one another.

I need people to

look at my life

and call me out

when I'm in sin.

So,

if we're saying

that church membership

is a job,

if we have a job

to do as a church membership,

it would be nice

to have a job description,

wouldn't it?

Right?

Who would take a job

without having

a clear job description?

I don't think any of us would.

That'd be crazy.

So it'd be nice

to have a clear job description

if I'm going to sign up

for a job.

And this leads us

to our fourth

and final point.

The church member's

job description

is

your church covenant.

Your church covenant

is your job description.

So in your church covenant,

you'll find just about

everything that we've

talked about in this sermon

listed out.

And I actually have

your church covenant here,

Seaweed Bay Baptist Church.

I have it here in my hand.

And so I'm going to read

a few of these points

of your church covenant,

the things that you

have promised

before God

and before one another,

the way you're going

to live out

this thing called

church membership together.

From your church covenant,

it says,

we have,

by God's grace,

been led to repent

of our sins

and believe in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

We've been baptized

as believers

in the name of the Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit

and have joined ourselves

to this body.

We now,

in dependence on his spirit,

gladly and reverently

make this covenant together.

So there was that first point

I made earlier.

A church member

is someone who's been

born again and baptized.

So there that is

in your church covenant.

Next,

you say in your covenant,

we will,

and I'm not reading

every word,

but you say,

we will pursue unity.

We will walk together

in Christian love

as we care for

and watch over one another.

Seeking one another's

spiritual good

at all times,

we'll pray for,

encourage,

and warn,

and rebuke,

and admonish one another

as the occasion

may acquire.

And so there it is again

in your church covenant.

You're covenanting

to pursue unity,

to watch over

each other's souls,

to encourage,

and rebuke,

and admonish

where it needs to happen.

And again,

in order for this to happen,

you must know

one another well.

You must be vulnerable

with one another.

You must be willing

to let people

into your lives.

I heard a quote

last week

from a pastor

and I loved it.

I thought it was great.

He said,

church membership

is where

the phrase,

it's none of your business

goes to die.

Church membership

is where

it's none of your business

goes to die.

I love that.

It's none of your business.

No,

it is your business

if you're living together

in covenant unity

in a church.

And so,

back to your church covenant,

you say,

we will gather regularly.

We will share Christ.

We will put each other's needs

before our own.

We will commit

to holiness.

We will follow

God's design

for his church,

supporting and upholding

the preaching of the Bible.

So there it is.

You're guarding

the what of the gospel.

You've covenanted,

church,

Siwi Bay,

you've covenanted

to guard the what

of the gospel

because you say,

we will uphold

the preaching of the Bible.

And then you say,

we will uphold

the right administration

of believers' baptism

in the Lord's Supper

and when necessary,

the exercise

of church discipline.

So there it is.

Right there in your covenant,

you're guarding

the who of the gospel.

You're going to uphold

baptism,

the Lord's Supper,

and exercise

church discipline

where it needs

to happen.

And so with all

of this in mind,

with all of these things

in mind that we've talked

about,

about church membership,

we come to a

biblically informed

definition of the church

and of church membership.

And that's,

it's simple.

It's that church membership

is all about

a church taking

spiritually,

spiritual responsibility

for you as the individual

and you,

individual Christian,

taking spiritual responsibility

for the rest of the church

that you are a member of.

That's what we mean

by church membership.

We mean taking responsibility

for one another.

And so brothers and sisters

in Christ,

this,

this,

this is biblical

church membership,

what we've talked about

this morning.

It's,

it's a living organism.

It's,

it's a particular family

of believers.

It's,

it's the body of Christ.

It's a group of people

who've been saved

by grace alone

through faith alone

and Christ alone

and,

and whom God has plucked

out of the world,

the kingdom of darkness

and placed into the kingdom

of light.

Church membership

is redeemed saints

from all different walks

of life,

rich,

poor,

young,

old,

black,

white,

and every color in between

submitting our lives

to Christ as our Lord

and to one another.

Not because we're naturally

drawn to one another,

but because we're members

of one body,

the body of Christ.

It's a group of people

who've covenanted together

to protect the gospel

and to give gospel affirmation

to one another.

It's a group of people

who've promised to help

one another

as we sojourn together

on this earth,

rejoicing when things are good,

weeping when things are bad,

sharing one another's burdens,

and cheering for one another

until we all cross

the finish line

when Christ returns.

And so Christian,

the journey through this life

is dangerous.

Sin seduces us

from the right and the left.

Satan tempts us

day and night,

our own minds and hearts

try to lead us astray.

The world convinces us

that true happiness

and flourishing

is found out there,

and you can't resist

these temptations.

I cannot resist

these temptations

on my own,

and God knows that.

God knows that,

and so in his infinite wisdom,

he's given us local churches

while we sojourn

through this life

to help one another

on our way to heaven.

So you need one another

as you look to Jesus,

the chief shepherd

who laid down his life

for us, the sheep.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you for Christ.

We thank you for the gospel.

Thank you that Christ

saves sinners like us.

And God, we thank you

that in your wisdom

you have seen fit

to gather your people

into local churches.

Thank you

for this local church.

Thank you for Seawee Bay

Baptist Church.

Thank you for Jonathan

and Treg,

pastors of this church.

Thank you

for others who lead

and serve

in this church family.

Thank you for every member here.

We pray that

each one would

would see their

their job

of a church member,

the job they have

to encourage one another,

to love one another,

to point one another

to Christ.

God, we pray

that you would

continue to bless

this local church family.

may they grow

in godliness.

May you continue

to shape them

into the image

of your son

until we all

see you

face to face.

We thank you

for these things.

We pray them

in the name of Christ

and by the power

of your spirit.

Amen.