What it means to be a church member

Let me pray and we'll carry on in that way. Let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father, we pray now as we come to look at your word together and to think about what it means to be a member of a church.

We pray, please, Lord, that you might help us. Help us to think carefully and truly and rightly.

I pray that our time together might be just really good for us as we think about our church here and as we think about what it means to belong together.

So bless us and watch over us and help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

So over the next three Sunday evenings, we're going to do what I'm hoping is going to be an important little mini series in different offices in church.

So we're going to think about what it means to be a member, what it means to be an elder and what it means to be a deacon.

Now, no, I don't need one as well.

The point of doing this now is that obviously we are a church which has merged two churches together and lots of new people have also joined along the way.

And we're going through lots of important transitions, aren't we?

We submitted our paperwork to the FIEC, the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, and our membership is pretty much double what it was last year.

And so that means thinking about what these things mean is really important for us so that we're all on the same page.

But also, even though we've come from lots of different church cultures and lots of different church backgrounds, actually, we also need to acknowledge we're not inventing church.

We come to something that has been going on for 2,000 years or so, and we are not inventing it for ourselves.

And as you turn to the New Testament to think about church, you realize that the building blocks of church life are members, those who belong, elders, those who lead and shepherd and guide, and deacons, those who serve in the life of the church.

And so it's really important for us that we get these right as we start, especially as our plan is over this next academic year.

So before the summer at some point, we are going to appoint elders and deacons in the place of the joint leadership team as we move forwards.

So we're going to start with church members.

Now, lots of what I'm going to say to you this evening comes from a book by Jonathan Lehman called Church Membership.

And I've got a copy on my desk, which I intended to wave at you, but you can imagine it's a blue book.

It says church members on the front.

There you go. It's upstairs in my office.

I really recommend the book.

It's very thorough.

It's really well written.

It's easy to read.

And the way that book starts, which is how we're going to start this evening and I think is important, is not so much with the definition of membership, but as a definition of the church.

So to know what it means to be a member of the church, we need to know what is the church itself.

What is the church?

Now, maybe just to try and keep your interest.

What is the church not?

Let me tell you, the church is not a voluntary association.

We are not a knitting club.

Not simply because I hate knitting and can't really do it, but also because actually what's involved in joining a knitting club is very different to what's involved in joining a church.

This is not a voluntary association of people who've just decided to get together.

It's not a basketball club, as we're hearing about this morning, or a residence association.

Rather, in the church, the New Testament, in the New Testament, sorry, the church is something that Jesus is creating through the preaching of the gospel.

So Jesus builds the church as the gospel is proclaimed.

And if you like, the church is a present expression, like an expression in this time and in this place of what is still to come, his future eternal kingdom.

So just back up with me for a moment.

The gospel of the Lord Jesus brings sinners like us into his eternal kingdom.

Right.

We are included in Christ's eternal heavenly kingdom, not by our works, but by his, not by our righteousness, but by his righteousness, his death in place of our death, his resurrection as our resurrection.

And at the moment of conversion is not just that our sins are forgiven and we personally receive salvation.

But also at that moment of conversion, we get included in, we become citizens of Christ's eternal heavenly kingdom.

But we are not immediately transferred to glory.

Instead, we live in the in-between.

We live in the in-between of the now of forgiveness and the not yet of perfection.

None of us are yet perfect.

We live in the in-between.

We are members of the local time bound, geography bound expression of God's eternal kingdom, but not the final glorious kingdom itself.

The illustration that Jonathan Newman uses in his book over and over again is that of an embassy.

So an embassy is a little bit of another country in an in a in a host country, isn't it?

So the job of that embassy is not so much to make citizens of the other country, but it's to help citizens of that other country while they're living in the country in which that embassy exists.

So they are there, if you like, to recognize the citizens, to provide them with representation, to act as an outpost of that other country in a different place.

And that's just leaving, which is a really helpful little illustration of what church is.

Church is an embassy of glory in time and geography today.

It is an outpost of what is yet to come.

It is there not so much to make citizens of heaven, but to recognize who they are as they join citizenship of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ is to provide for them representation, support, encouragement as they live outside of their and away from their eternal home.

So that is the church.

The church is an embassy of glory in a particular time and place.

Another way to think about it is to think about how authority works in the world.

You know, don't you, that there is only one person who has ultimate authority, one person who is able to decide what happens and to insist on it, insist on his own will and punish all disobedience to his will.

And that authority belongs only to Jesus Christ.

He alone is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

He rules from heaven while all enemies are brought under his feet.

And in his world, that King institutes other authorities, authorities which themselves are not ultimate.

He alone has ultimate authority, but which have a delegated authority under him.

Now, let's think about a couple of those.

Let's think about the state or the government, national powers.

Now you're going to need your handout.

Romans chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

Here we see that God gives authority to states or to governments.

He says,

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.

The authorities that exist have been established by God.

That doesn't mean that they are all godly, right?

We've been thinking already about corruption.

So they are not godly, but they are established by God.

They are there by his sovereign purpose.

Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.

And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.

Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?

Then do what is right, and you will be commended.

For the one in authority is God's servant for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid.

For rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.

They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of the possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

This is why you pay taxes.

The authorities are God's servants who give their full time to governing.

Give to everyone what you owe them.

If you owe taxes, pay taxes.

If revenue, then revenue.

If respect, then respect.

If honor, then honor.

Now, we don't have time to go into all the detail of that.

We'll get to that in our series in Romans eventually.

But this is the power that the nation states have over citizens.

They are given by God delegated authority to rule and reign, and they are given a sword by which to administer justice.

Now, that authority has boundaries, doesn't it?

They are not given ultimate authority over all things.

And sometimes nation states cross over and abuse the boundaries that they're given.

But still, God raises up kings and those in authority and calls us to pray for them and submit to them in the way that they are instituted by God with a sword to rule.

But then also, alongside that, you also have not just the nation state, but you have the church.

Now, the church is not the state.

It's not given the power of the sword.

Instead, it's given the power of the keys.

So, Matthew 16, verses 16 to 19.

Matthew 16:16–19

Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

This is Peter's declaration of who Jesus is.

You're the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, the rock of your confession, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Now, Peter is told that the church is going to be built on this confession that Jesus is the Christ.

And Peter has been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which gives him the power of binding and loosing.

Now, that sounds a bit mysterious, doesn't it?

So, what exactly is that?

Well, if you turn on a few pages in Matthew, you get to Matthew 18, and you see those keys in use.

We see in verse 15, if your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault just between the two of you.

If they listen to you, you have won them over.

But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church.

And if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Truly, I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

It seems, doesn't it, that the church is given the authority to recognize who is and who isn't a part of God's eternal kingdom.

Now, obviously, they don't always get that right.

They sometimes make mistakes and get it wrong.

But Jesus is determined that his future kingdom will be visible in the present day in the church.

Now, again, the church doesn't have ultimate authority over all things.

They don't have the power of the sword.

They don't have the power of the state.

The church can't draft you into an army.

They can't take away your liberty and send you to prison.

But the church does have the authority to decide whether or not to recognize you as a citizen of heaven.

The authority and therefore the responsibility to care for you spiritually and disciple you and discipline you and call you back to faith in Christ.

They hold the keys.

Now, how does it exercise the authority of the keys?

I mean, we know how the sword is exercised, don't we?

We know about the authority of the state taking you to prison or pursuing you for not paying your taxes.

But how about the church?

How does it exercise this responsibility to recognize those who belong to Jesus?

How does it do that?

Well, as you read the New Testament, you see two ways, don't you?

One, baptism, right?

The church is instructed to baptize people who have faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, it's interesting, isn't it?

We talk about baptism as being the public declaration of the candidate.

So we say this is them publicly declaring faith in Jesus.

Now, it is that, right?

But it's a lot more than that.

In the New Testament, it is also the declaration of the church on behalf of God that this individual getting baptized on the basis of their profession of faith is a part of God's eternal kingdom.

So we're saying, as we baptize someone, they're saying, I believe in Jesus.

And we say, because you've declared your faith in Jesus, we baptize you because we recognize that you are part of God's eternal kingdom.

So you might think of the end of Acts 10 when Peter sees that the Gentiles become Christians, that they've received the spirit.

And he says, well, who can stand in the way of these people being baptized?

These people are obviously part of God's kingdom.

We must recognize them as such.

How are we going to recognize them as such?

We're going to baptize them.

That's what we're going to do.

That's the first way.

The other way is the Lord's Supper.

So the church are given a meal to share, and they're to share it with believers, where access is given to members to feed on and delight in the Lord Jesus.

And at the supper, there's to be a distinction between those who belong to Christ and those who don't.

1 Corinthians 11 is the next cross-reference on your handout.

1 Corinthians 11.

This is the bit just before the bit that we normally read.

In the following directives, I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.

In the first place, I hear that when you come together as church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent, I believe it.

No doubt, there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.

So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat.

For when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers.

As a result, one person remains hungry, another gets drunk.

Now, briefly, the background seems to be that in the Corinthian church, when they're meeting on a Sunday, those who are rich, who don't have to go to work, get there early, eat all the food, drink all the wine, and they get drunk.

The poor people who turn up later because they've been working all day, they get there and there's none left.

So there's a distinction in the church between the rich, who are there early and they're drunk, and the poor, who get there late and don't have anything.

That division in the church is a wrong division.

That is not the division that should be visible in the supper.

There should be a division that's visible in the supper.

What does it say?

Verse 19, there should be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.

It should be that the supper is for those who have faith in Christ, and it is them sharing together in the Lord's Supper, which shows that distinction.

And it's interesting because the distinction in their church is between the rich and the poor, because they're not running the supper properly, it's actually not the Lord's Supper that they're sharing.

You notice that?

So actually, you're just going, it's a private supper.

Really interesting, isn't it?

If you don't do the Lord's Supper properly, it's not really the Lord's Supper.

The benefit of the Lord's Supper comes in doing it in the manner in which it's instituted and given to us by God.

You can't just eat and drink it in any way we fancy or any way we please.

And actually, the thing that makes the supper the supper is that we give it to people who belong to Jesus Christ, because that's who it's for, to show the distinction.

Now, what does all that mean?

It means, doesn't it, that the supper and baptism and membership of the church is visible in those actions.

Baptism and Lord's Supper make visible who belongs to church.

Now, let me skip down in my notes a little bit.

Here's the church then.

We are the embassy of glory.

We're given a job.

We're given the authority of recognizing the genuine believer and then discipling and caring for them.

Baptizing new believers and feeding believers on the word of the cross in the supper.

Any questions or comments at that stage?

And then we'll come and think about what is a member.

Maybe I'll give you a second to talk to the person next to you to say, how is that different or the same as you might have defined church before we talked about it?

What is surprising them?

Maybe what's missing?

Have a talk with the person next to you and then we'll get back together.

Go for it for a couple of seconds.

Okay.

Any comments or questions, feedback that's come from your group?

What was surprising about that?

What's missing perhaps?

Seth?

I have a question.

You said it's important that we do, if we don't do the word of supper the right way, then it's not a single word of supper, right?

Yeah.

All I was talking about, what is the right way?

Yeah.

Okay.

So what is the right way?

So I think, what is the right way to celebrate the supper?

So I think in the context of just the things I was saying, so I'd want to say more than this, but in the context of what I was saying, the right way to do the supper is in a way that publicly recognizes those who belong to Jesus and those who don't.

So I think if you stand up publicly and say, listen, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what you believe, you can just join in with this, that it ceases to become the Lord's Supper.

I think when you stand up and say, listen, this is for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, not because we're trying to withhold something that will be beneficial for somebody who's not a Christian, but because the benefits of the supper become through faith in Christ.

And I think when we do that and we show that distinction, that is when the supper becomes the supper.

So it's possible to eat bread and wine and think about Jesus, right?

And that might also be good for you in a way, but it's not the supper as it's defined by the New Testament.

Okay.

Nick was giving the same information to me.

Okay.

And was admonishing at the fact on verse 27 of the one who is in the death.

If what you said is true and we believe it to be true, then I think we have a responsibility to those who are visiting and who will understand that we clarify what on verse 27.

Yeah.

In the context of what I was saying.

Yes.

They drink it unwillingly.

Yes.

So, I mean, we might think it's quite a light thing to celebrate the supper in an inappropriate way, but it seems like it's a really serious thing, right?

So he says, this is why some of you are sick and this is why some of you are dying because of the way that they are sharing the Lord's Supper in such a bad way.

It seems to be as well that the importance of discerning the body.

I think that means discerning the people who belong to Christ.

Yeah.

And so whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of Christ.

And so if any of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of

if it's saying what can we buy them?

Yeah, so I think it's giving weight to their words, isn't it?

I think it would be to understand that verse

outside of the rest of New Testament theology

to say that it meant that the church was flawlessly right

on those who were...

But I think it means that it's really serious.

So that actually...

We'll come on to this a little bit in a minute.

And...

But it is...

We're so keen to talk about,

and rightly keen to talk about,

it's about personal, individual faith in Jesus Christ,

which saves them,

that we're really cautious about talking about church membership

in that regard.

Because we live in a place and a time

where we've seen that abused, haven't we?

Where you have to belong to this church in order to be saved.

But the idea that you can be an individual Christian

who doesn't belong and isn't recognized by a local church

is totally alien in the New Testament, isn't it?

And so the idea that there are lots of individuals

who just kind of do church themselves

or don't really belong to a church

is just really alien.

And also, it's really alien,

the idea that you would be able to continue to live

as somebody who wasn't a Christian

and still be involved in the life and membership of a church.

So we're quite used to that as well

in an unhelpful way, aren't we?

Sort of nominalism, right?

So people who belong to church,

but we all sort of think

they're probably not really Christians,

but we just kind of carry on with it.

That's really unknown in the New Testament as well.

So actually, this idea of putting out

and receiving in

is really important in the New Testament.

I don't think that fully answers your question, Hannah.

And the truth is that

if you fully understand what that verse 18 means,

you should be explaining it to the rest of us.

So yeah, there is mystery in that, yeah.

Great.

Should we move on?

Let's talk about what is a church member then.

I mean, just let me say,

I haven't, in that, what is a church,

I haven't said everything that a church is, right?

So there is lots of things that church does

and should do that I haven't included.

But in the context of what is a church member,

being an embassy of glory

and having the authority to recognize believers

are really important in our definition of church.

So what then is a church member?

One of the things, again, that Lehman says in his book,

which is really helpful,

is that given what a church is,

a Christian doesn't so much join a church

as they do submit to a church.

It's not because they surrender their conscience

and in all things to a local church.

It's really unhelpful and wrong, isn't it?

If that's what we're doing.

We don't all have to vote for the same political party.

We don't all have to wear the same clothes.

We don't all have to support Liverpool football team,

you know, or Arsenal or something like that.

We don't have to do that.

Praise the Lord.

Rather, the point is that becoming a member of a local church

is its heart submitting to an authority

that God has instituted in this world.

That's what belonging to a church involves.

And in that sense, like I was saying before,

it's impossible to be a Christian

without being a member of a church.

Not because being a member of a church saves you.

Jesus alone can save you.

But rather, submitting to a church

is really submitting to the authority

that Jesus has instituted in this world

for our good, this side of glory.

Now, of course, that's exactly what you find

going on in the New Testament, isn't it?

Believers in Acts devote themselves

to the apostles' teaching,

to the breaking of bread and to one another.

It's not so much that, you know,

they kind of are bound to do that

by being whipped into doing it,

but rather that's what they want to do.

It's how it works.

It's how it works.

They're described as being together,

of having everything in common.

Belonging to Jesus is membership

in his new community.

And we find the Lord adds to their number.

He grows the community.

So that faith in Jesus brings people

into the community.

And a community then work together, don't they?

In Acts 6, to provide for those who are in need

to prioritize the preaching of the word and prayer.

In Acts 8, when the church is scattered

through persecution,

they regather in different locations,

sharing the gospel,

and becoming churches in different places.

So here's the first thing.

A church member is an individual

who has submitted to the fellowship

of other Christians in a local church.

Secondly, though,

a church member is an individual

who is part of that local church,

exercises authority themselves.

Right.

This is a little bit complicated, maybe.

So let me give you an illustration

that I've robbed from Jonathan Neiman in his book.

He describes a time when, as a US citizen,

he was living in Brussels,

presumably for something to do with politics, right?

Why else would you live in Brussels?

Anyway, his American passport expired.

So he goes into the US embassy in Brussels

and the US embassy recognizes him

as a citizen of the United States

and they renew his passport.

That's what they're there to do.

That's their responsibility.

He says that the difference between that

and a local church

is that when you become a member of the local church,

you also, in one sense,

join this staff of the embassy

that is also involved in recognizing other citizens, right?

You necessarily,

so that as a church member,

you become a sharer in the keys, right?

You also exercise this power of recognition of others.

It seems, doesn't it,

that it will be guided by the elders.

We'll think about that more next week.

But the keys are given to the whole church in Matthew 18

and not just to the leaders.

So the leaders of the church

can't recognize the members on their own.

We can't appoint the leaders on our own.

We can't decide the budget on our own.

We are sharing all those things together.

So membership is submission, yes,

but that submission also brings with it

a share in the authority of the local church.

As an individual Christian,

God calls you to exercise the gift

that he has given you of membership in his kingdom

in the church, in the embassy.

Perhaps it's worth saying here

that this I think is a really important answer

to how the church is intended to protect itself

against the overreach of leaders

in their exercise of authority.

There are such things as bullying pastors or elders.

But really the authority of elders in the church,

and again we'll think about this some more next week,

is the authority of advice or counsel.

They don't hold the right to enforce membership

or excommunication.

The church collectively are given that power.

So if you're in a church where a small group of men

behind closed doors decide who's in and who's out,

that doesn't seem to be a New Testament model

of local church.

Likewise, if you belong to a church

where the individual themselves decides

whether they are in or out

by just writing their name on a list,

or I'm volunteering to join in this or that,

then that too seems to be different

to the model outlined in Matthew 18,

where the individual submits

to the decision of the church

and then themselves belong

to that decision-making body.

Now, of course, that means that joining the church

and submitting and joining

as the staff of the church effectively,

you must first be a believer in Jesus Christ

and a member of his heavenly kingdom.

Church isn't making Christians,

it's recognizing Christians

and church members are those

who have faith in Jesus,

a faith which necessarily comes with a desire

to belong to his people and meet with them.

Repentance and faith becomes an ongoing mark

of the life of a believer, doesn't it?

So as church members,

we are to recognize other believers

and we recognize other believers

by recognizing ongoing repentance,

not perfection.

Yeah.

I've put one quote from Jonathan Newman's book

on your thing and it's here.

It says this,

if I were to write a standards guide

for those conducting membership interviews,

I would go straight to Matthew's Beatitudes.

It might read something like this,

look for the ones who are poor in spirit,

who mourn for their sin,

who aren't entitled,

always insisting on their own way,

but are meek,

who are sick to death of sin

and all its nonsense

and so hunger and thirst for righteousness

like it is water.

When you find people like that,

make sure they know who Jesus is,

make sure Jesus is the one

who fills their impoverished spirit,

who has forgiven their sins,

who receives their life and worship

and whose righteousness

they depend on and pursue.

When you find such people,

tell them to join.

Notice it's not a person's moral perfection

that qualifies him or her

for church membership.

It's just the opposite.

It's his or her recognition

of a lack of moral perfection

coupled with a hunger for it.

It's not the people who never sin,

it's the people who fight sin.

A church's judicial work

is to affirm not the righteousness,

but the unrighteous

who thirst for righteousness,

the righteousness only God

in Christ can give.

Here's one more way to say it.

What makes people acceptable

to a church

is not their own moral purity,

but Christ's.

Not what they have done

to save themselves,

but what God has done

to save them.

That's what it means

to be a member of a local church.

It is somebody

who is repenting

and turning from their sin.

It's not someone

who's morally perfect

and churches are to recognize

those people as members.

Right, let's just put this together.

This is where we're up to.

A church is someone

who submits to a local church

and who then,

as a member of that church,

goes on to exercise authority

with others in the local church.

That means a member

is someone who has faith in Jesus

and is displaying

ongoing repentance

for their sin.

Now, as we finish,

I just want us to think

about what the life

of a church member

will look like.

And I'm going to pull these

directly from Neiman's book

because, one,

I think they're excellent,

and two,

it means if you disagree with them,

you disagree with him

and not me,

and you can pick it up

with him when you see him.

So here are, he says,

eight ways that a church member

submits to the membership

of a local church.

Let me talk about them briefly

and then you can discuss them

with the person sat next to you

and then we'll pray together

as we close.

Firstly, he says that

church members submit publicly.

That is,

membership of the local church

should be formal and official,

not informal and unofficial.

Now, he talks about

what that might look like

in a persecuted church context

where it would be

particularly dangerous

to admit that you are

a member of a local church.

But under normal circumstances

and certainly in our circumstances,

there should be a means

of being publicly recognized

as belonging to church

and therefore being a part

of what's going on.

There should be a way

of you saying,

this is my church.

And that is our membership system.

Our membership system

is not perfect, right?

And we don't administer it perfectly.

We make lots of, you know,

administrative gaffes

all the time

and that kind of thing,

don't we?

And we don't always run

members meetings brilliantly.

That's not what we're saying.

We're not saying our system

is perfect.

But what we're saying is

there needs to be a system,

a system of publicly recognizing

who belongs to the church

and who doesn't.

And that's not to be unfriendly

to outsiders.

In a way,

it's actually to be friendly

to outsiders.

It's to say to people who come,

listen,

we want you to,

you're our guests.

Come and be our guest.

Listen,

you know,

appreciate what's going on.

We're not going to put on you

the burden of pretending

that you believe

something you don't believe.

We're not going to put on you

the burden of running something

or contributing to something

that you don't yet agree with.

We want you to be our guests

because those who belong

to the church

are publicly recognized.

Secondly,

submitting physically,

geographically.

That is that members

of a local church

basically agree

to live in a place

that makes it possible

for them to attend.

So,

membership of a particular

local church

is a commitment

to attend

that particular local church.

And so,

there's not a command

that you should live

within a certain distance

of the place

in which your church gathers.

But still,

the point of a local church

is that it meets

in a place

and a time.

And that

that is one of the things

that we submit to

as a member of the church.

We submit to being there

at the gatherings of the church

which means that

we recognize

that one of the most helpful ways

that we can submit

to a local church

is by submitting

to the place

that that church meets

and by,

as far as we are able,

living in a place

which enables us

to be there regularly

and be part of that community.

Now,

I think that varies

depending on where exactly

you are in the world,

doesn't it?

And how easy it is

to get around.

But,

I do think

there's something

really important

about recognizing

that we belong

to this church

which meets in this place.

We are West Kilburn Baptist Church.

We're not London Baptist Church.

We're not,

you know,

I don't know,

whatever else,

Birmingham Baptist Church

or something.

Actually,

we belong to this particular place.

Socially,

it doesn't mean

that your entire social life

is swallowed up by church

but rather

that in submitting

to a local church

you say,

these are the people

who I commit

to praying for

and getting to know,

sharing my life with.

You know,

one of the things

that is helpfully

drawn out in the book

which I think

is useful for us to know

is that there is a difference

between being a fellow member

and just a Christian friend.

Right?

So,

I have Christian friends

who are not in this church

who I deeply value

and I really appreciate

their friendship

but if you're a member

of this church,

I am responsible for you

and with you

in a way that I am not

with my Christian friends

who are outside

of this church

because we've covenanted

together to belong

to one another

and to recognise

one another

as believers

in the Lord Jesus Christ

and that should affect

how we live.

Right?

So,

we can't be

effective church members

unless we're invested

in getting to know

people in the church.

So,

that's what we submit to.

Affectionately.

Number four.

I guess this really

is just sort of

unpacking that

but it is picking up

on Paul's language

or his body language

about the church.

You know,

where one person hurts

we all hurt.

Yeah?

We rejoice

with those who rejoice.

We mourn

with those who mourn.

Romans 12 verse 10 says

Romans 12:10

we're to be devoted

to one another in love.

Meaning that

there is a sense

in which church

you submit to the church

capturing your affection

part.

Right?

So,

actually we are

to love deeply

here

and to care

for one another

in that way.

there is a sense

in which

it is right

that our emotions

ride with the church

that when church

is struggling

and difficult

that should grieve us.

When church is going

well we should rejoice

in that.

When people in church

are suffering

we should suffer

with them.

When they're rejoicing

we should rejoice

with them.

Fifthly,

financially

here's the recognition

that it is the members

of the church

who are primarily

responsible

for the funding

of the ministry

of the church

through their own

personal generosity.

Sharing with those

in need.

Allowing those

to preach the gospel

to get a living

from the gospel

and seeing the need

to fund missions

and other churches

in need.

You know,

we hope

we give

to the ministry

and life

of the local church.

We might choose

to give beyond that

as well.

We might choose

to give other money

elsewhere

but we are

primarily responsible

for funding

the ministry

of the church

here,

aren't we?

And the needs

here.

And if we are

not able to do

that we need

to either trim

what we're doing

or we need

to ask one another

whether we're

really being

as sacrificial

as we should be.

That applies

not only

to church members

it applies

to church leaders

it applies to me

it applies to

everybody.

And we're

responsible

for the finances

here.

It's the family

finances.

Vocationally

now for some

this will mean

perhaps stepping

away from a career

to some kind

of paid ministry.

For others

it might mean

holding back

in a career

to give time

to the ministry

of the church.

For all of us

it will mean

that recognizing

that what God

is building

in the local church

is the most

significant thing

that is being

put together

in this world.

It's more important

than whatever it is

that we're building

in our jobs.

Now that doesn't

mean that God

is not honored

by the way

that you go

about your work

and that you

can't glorify

him in your work.

That's really

important.

You do do that.

We're going

to be thinking

about that

later this term.

But actually

it recognizes

that what God

is doing

in the local

church is really

the significant

thing.

This is the

outpost

of future glory.

Ethically

again not that

the local church

has authority

over your conscience

but rather

that your brothers

and sisters

in the church

have the right

to call you

out on your

behavior

and to encourage

you to walk

closely with the

Lord.

When you join

in church

membership

you are

submitting

to say

listen

I commit

myself

to living

for Jesus

and if you

see that I

am not doing

that I

invite you

to say to me

Steve you're

not living for

the Lord Jesus

in that area

of your life.

What you did

there was

not right.

And I mean

that's good

for us.

I know it feels

difficult but it

is good for us

isn't it?

At the heart

of church

sin is not

dealt with

by pretending

that it

doesn't exist

but by

repentance and

faith isn't

it?

So when we

submit like

that to church

and someone

points out

and we say

oh yeah

you're right

I'm sorry

I'm sorry

that I did

that please

forgive me

and then that

person doesn't

say oh

of course

I'm not

going to

forgive you

they go

no of course

I will

forgive you

we have

the means

of forgiveness

in the

center of

our church

life in

the person

and work

of the

Lord Jesus

spiritually

that is that

the local

church is to

be the

place where

your spiritual

gifts are to

be exercised

for the good

of others

doesn't mean

that every

spiritual gift

in the life

of church

is on

display in

a public

gathering of

the local

church

it's really

important

isn't it?

We don't

have an

administration

slot in

our service

so that those

with gifts

of administration

can come and

display them

in front of

everybody on

a Sunday

morning

no because

the gifts

that we use

on a Sunday

morning are

those that

are good

for building

us up

but actually

we all have

different gifts

don't we

which we are

to exercise

in the life

of our church

for the good

of the mission

of the church

for the building

of one another

up in all

sorts of

different ways

the church

is also the

place where

you will be

taught the

Bible by

someone who

knows you

and who God

has gifted

to preach

it

again

it seems

to be

the Lord

in his

wisdom

suggests that

the most

spiritually

helpful thing

for you

is not to

be taught

by the best

preacher in

the world

which is

definitely

not me

but you can

find them on

the internet

whoever they

are

but to be

taught by

someone who

knows you

and who

loves you

and who

will be

held

accountable

by you

and also

by the Lord

for what they

say

that's the

most spiritually

helpful thing

for you

even if they

stumble over

their words

and even if

they don't

you know

they don't

have a

stick

illustrations

of other

people

because actually

that's the

way that the

Lord has

designed the

Christian life

church is to

be the place

where your

spiritual

well-being

will be

taken

seriously

and cared

for by

others

so you

go

what were

they

those eight

things

publicly

physically

geographically

socially

affectionately

financially

vocationally

ethically

spiritually

I intended

to put a

question on

your handout

at the end

of that

but I did

not

did I

I wonder

whether you

could talk

with the

person next

to you

about what

you think

about those

any of those

that are

surprising

or maybe

something that

you think

is missing

and then

we'll take

your questions

and then

we'll close

go for it

okay

sorry to

interrupt your

conversations

anyone got

any comments

or questions

Nick has a

question

yes

but the

difficulty

there is

how do

you draw

the line

or how

do you

what

guidelines

can we

follow

to ensure

that we

it's the

right thing

that we're

not necessarily

invading

privacy as

well

yeah

so I guess

what sort

of guidelines

can we

use

yes

how can

we not

be intrusive

in our

encouragement

to people

not to

sin

or to

calling

people out

and sin

so there's

lots of

things you

could say

on there

Galatians 6

Galatians 6:1

verses 1

and 2

are really

helpful aren't

they

brothers and

sisters if

someone is

caught in

sin

you who

live by

the spirit

should

restore that

person

gently

but watch

yourselves

or you

also may

be tempted

carry each

other's

burdens

and in

this way

you will

fulfill the

law of

Christ

it seems

isn't it

it's not

it's not

the leaders

who do it

necessarily

it's

believers

don't believe

so I think

lots of

church

discipline

just happens

in conversation

between

church

members

doesn't

it

as we

encourage

each

other

we're

to do

it

with

gentleness

and with

a

recognition

that

actually

the

temptations

that we

see other

people

kind of

giving

into

are not

temptations

that we

ourselves

wouldn't

suffer

with

yeah

there's

lots more

that could

be said

I think

that's a

really

really

important

verse

in that

yeah

anybody

else

yeah

simming

go on

just trying

to think

through

evangelism

because

in a

sense

even

if you

plant

the

church

in a

really

in order

to reach

a

community

you're

gatherings

together

the

main

part of

them

is

the

encouragement

of

brothers and

sisters

together

but

there's a

sense in

which as a

church family

you're there

to go out

yes

yeah

maybe it's

just it

doesn't

fit into

church

as a

gathering

or

how does

it

yeah

so how

does evangelism

fit with

those eight

points

because evangelism

wasn't one of

them that I

gave

well you

probably ought

to pick that

up with

Jonathan

but one of the

things I think

is that we

underestimate

the evangelistic

effectiveness of a

healthy local

church

it seems

that 1

corinthians 14

talks about

unbelievers being

present at the

gatherings of the

church and

recognizing from the

manner in which

those gatherings

are run

that God is

amongst them

and at work in

them

and ironically

that is the

recognition that

they're on the

outside of it

even though they're

present in it

and so

that's I think

the mistake of

the seeker service

isn't it

which basically

says

this is

our gatherings

are really for

people who don't

know Christ

actually that is

not as that's not

good for the

believers

actually not all

that good for

people who don't

know Christ

either

our gatherings

are for the

building up of

believers

and are to be

friendly and

welcoming to

those outside

that they might

watch and

recognize that

they're not a

part of what's

going on outside

of faith in

Christ

and in that

way

they're supporting

the evangelistic

ministry of every

individual in the

church

so you know

come to church

come and have

a look

come and have

a look

what we do

you know

does that

help is that

what you were

saying

yeah

yeah

yes

yeah

yeah

thanks

sorry

go on

simile

you were

going to

say as

well

pretty sure

you took

a breath

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

and in a

way

it's not

just

the church

events that

are designed

with the

unbeliever in

mind

it is actually

church itself

which is

evangelistic

so you know

you're trying to

reach out to a

place that has

no gospel

witness

you want to

plant a local

church there

as a kind of

beacon of light

and you want to

encourage them to

be healthy

to care for one

other spiritually

to grow as

Christians

because that

will be

evangelistic

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

yeah

vocationally

it's really

interesting that

isn't it

so if you

so you might

have a job

that involves

shift work

like Natasha

was there

you know

so that you

can't attend

church as

regularly as

you'd like to

but there

might be

some careers

that for some

Christians

just might

not be

appropriate

not because

they're

unethical

but just

because they

take them

away from

the life of

the local

church in

such a way

that they

could grow

as Christians

you know

even if that

job put you

amongst non-Christians

all day that

you had technically

an opportunity

to witness to

if you were

so taken away

from a healthy

local church

that you weren't

able to live

as a Christian

what's the

evangelistic benefit

in that

yeah

yeah so I think

you could tease

out evangelism in

all of them

couldn't you

probably

yeah

any other

final comments

or questions

great

well I'll take

it that you're

all super excited

to belong

to a local

church

it's a great

thing isn't

it it's a

really good

thing to

belong to

church

so let me

pray

and we'll

close

and let me

pray for us

heavenly father

thank you

that we get

to belong

to a local

church

like West

Kilburn Baptist

Church

we thank

you

that for

the sake

of our

growth

in Christ

and for

the sake

of our

assurance

and for

the sake

of our

health

as Christians

you've put

us around

other people

who have

committed

themselves

to caring

for us

and to

watching over

us

we want

to pray

please

that

belonging

to our

church

would be

good for

us

and that

we'd

exercise

these

responsibilities

that you've

given to

us

with due

care and

attention

and that

we wouldn't

be sloppy

about it

not because

we reckon

that we can

always get

it right

but because

these things

are important

because they're

important to

you

so Lord

we thank you

that you love

us

thank you for

all you've

done for

us

bless us

as we go

our separate

ways

in Jesus name

amen

amen