Acts 2:42 "Membership Matters: What Does Membership Mean?" - Rick Graumlich

So last Sunday I began the sermon by clarifying two things.

And I want to start this sermon today with the same two things to clarify.

One is just a reminder that the main primary diet of our church on Sunday is to work through a by a passage of the scripture from a Bible, a book of the Bible, excuse me.

So we preach exegetically expository preaching.

What expository preaching is, so we're committed to, is just exposing the text.

Well, what's the text say?

What's God's word say?

Let's just expose that.

Let's make it clear.

And again, we do that through usually systematically going through books of the Bible.

Right?

Lord willing, uh Jimmy's gonna keep working through Colossians, and I will be in 1 Timothy soon, and we'll be kind of exposing, working through, exegetically expositing those passages.

So that's the one thing I just want to make clear.

That's the main way that we go through books of the Bible or how we do preaching.

Today's different.

We're doing a topical sermon this morning, which we did last week on church membership.

We don't always do uh topical sermons.

Again, those are more rare, but today we are doing that.

The second thing I want to clarify or just say, as we talk about membership, church membership, is I know that people have different experiences with church and church membership and what that means.

It's kind of one of those things you have to really be clear and define what you mean because church membership can mean anything from I just I've gone there for enough Sundays that they let me kind of in and make decisions to we vote once a year on certain things, um, to man, it's very involved and very kind of um intentional.

So it's a big spectrum on church, church membership and experience.

And I know we all bring a lot of that with us this morning.

And so as you hear me talking about what it means to belong to a church, and when I say church membership, what I'm saying is you formally belong.

There's been a formal process where the church has said, yes, we hear that you you're a Christian, we hear your right confession, and we want you to be part of our members, a part of our church.

Now, this makes us a part of the local church, not the universal church, right?

All believers throughout all time are part of the universal church.

Paul, Timothy, you, me, your great aunt Sally, all of us.

We're all part of this universal church.

But the local church needs to be clear who's a part of the local church.

See, the question that I asked last week that I then answered in my sermon, which was pretty clever, I thought, the question was who represents heaven on earth?

Who represents heaven on earth?

It's not the universal church, because that's all Christians throughout all time.

It's not the elders or an elder team or a pastor, it's not a bishop, it's not the Roman Catholic Church.

It's the local church.

The local church speaks for heaven on earth.

We looked at Matthew 16, where Jesus gives Peter this authority to bind and to loosen.

And then in Matthew 18, where that same authority to bind and loosen is then given to the local church.

And it's Jesus who gives this authority to the local church.

One commentator clarifies this but helpfully, he says, he didn't mean that they could make Christians by this loosening and binding, or make the gospel what it is.

They couldn't do that any more than an embassy could make me an American or make American laws.

Rather, Jesus meant that the churches could make official pronouncements or judgments concerning the what and the who of the gospel on behalf of heaven.

What is a right confession?

Who is a true confessor?

So that's what this authority, the way the church speaks for heaven, is it's given this responsibility and this authority to say, well, what is a right confession?

And who is a true confessor?

Now we don't, again, make someone a Christian, we don't make the gospel what it is.

We're affirming those things, if they're there, and not affirming them where they're not.

If the church has this unique authority to make official pronouncements, what is a right confession, who is a true confessor, if the church has this kind of authority, the local church, then don't you think it's really important that we be clear who is a part of the local church?

And it should be very important that we do our best to make sure that those who are a part or who want to be a part of the local church are actually born-again Christians.

Again, to borrow this language or this picture of an embassy, it's an outpost that represents one nation inside another nation.

It's this institution that declares its home nation's interests to the host nation.

And it protects the citizens of the home nation living in the host nation.

I use this example last week and I'll use it again.

If you were living abroad and you lost your passport or it expired or something like that, you'll go to the embassy, if you're a U.S.

citizen, you go to the U.S.

embassy, and they would issue you a new passport.

They didn't make you a citizen, right?

But they did officially affirm that you are, in fact, a U.S.

citizen.

The church is like an embassy, it represents the kingdom of Christ here in this foreign temporary land.

The church doesn't make you a Christian, but it does affirm you are a Christian.

The primary way that the church does that is through the ordinances.

Baptism is the first ordinance given to affirm your faith, and then communion is the ongoing ordinance to affirm your faith.

That's why we'd say you need to be baptized before you partake of communion.

You need to receive the first sign, the first affirmation that you're a Christian before you can begin to receive the continued affirmation that you are a Christian.

Since the church has this local author, this unique authority to represent heaven on earth.

It's really important that we know who belongs in the local church.

Not just who's attending, but who belongs, who's here, who's committed to these things.

He will open your Bibles to the book of Acts.

Acts chapter 2, which is one of the most well-known passages about the church, and especially about the early church.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We're given this example, this model of what the first church or we'll say the early church did, how they lived.

So the book of Acts, chapter 2, I'm gonna pick it up in verse 42.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And speaking of Christians, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayers.

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

And all who believed were together, and all had things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

So we're gonna look at a few observations from this passage.

We begin with these Christians, this what do they do?

They devoted themselves.

There's not an option here.

We talked a lot last week about how church attendance and and belonging to a church, church membership has really fallen on hard times.

People treat it as optional.

If I feel good, if I don't have something better to do, then I'll go to church.

What did the church do?

What instruction or what do we observe in Acts?

They devoted themselves.

They devoted themselves to the teaching, the apostles' teaching, the fellowship being together, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.

This bread, just so you know, it's really understood to mean both communion, the Lord's table, and just fellowship.

Like they were committed to the ordinance of communion, as it was given, and we see that in 2 Corinthians, Paul giving that to the church in Corinth.

But they were devoted to that, but they're devoted to fellowshipping together, to breaking bread together.

And what was the result?

All on every soul.

Many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

They had all things in common.

They're selling the things they don't need or things they can let go of to help meet the needs of those people around them.

They're living very integrated lives.

And the Lord added to their number those who are being saved.

Now, this passage should create some tension in us as we read it.

We don't live in the first century Israel, but we are Christians.

This is a pattern, an example that we have in the New Testament, and what it means to be a part of the church.

And it creates this tension because they're living so intentionally.

They're devoted to the teaching of God's word.

They're devoted to fellowship, they're devoted to breaking bread together, to praying together.

That seems doable somewhat.

And then there's signs and wonders being done by the apostles.

Now we know that the office of apostle has ceased.

There's no apostles on the earth anymore.

But we do see them selling their possessions and their belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as they had need.

And day by day they're they're going to the temple, they're breaking bread in their homes, they're receiving food with glad and generous hearts.

This is not a kind of like one day a week or a morning a week, kind of a faith for these people.

And I would even challenge even the ones who feel like they're doing the most good.

And that's wonderful.

You're very involved.

You should feel challenged by this story in Acts, this picture of intentional living, this loving of one another well.

And you can imagine if you're kind of just thinking of the logistics, well, who's taking care of the bread and how are we taking care of who's getting with the needs?

You might begin to feel a little bit of anxiety if the Lord keeps adding to your number day after day after day after day.

There might be a question of how are we going to sustain this?

How is this going to move forward?

We know, if you know the story in Acts of the early church, persecution came.

It came and the church scattered.

There began to be lots of different churches who were doing the same thing together.

But they were devoted to these things.

The Lord blessed and added to their number.

You know, it's interesting when we begin to think about the church and how the Lord grows his church.

This isn't my church.

This isn't necessarily your church.

This is the Lord's church, his bride.

And we're stewarding it to his glory.

And it's for our benefit, our good, it's to bless the community, to bless those around us, to be sought in light in dark places.

The Lord is sustaining and growing his church.

We've said from the very beginning at Proclamation Church when we started almost four and a half years ago, our task is to be faithful to God's word.

Our task isn't to get people in the door.

Our task isn't even to make sure that they come back.

Our task is to be faithful to God's word.

Now, with that, we want to be loving, we want to be kind, we want to be hospitable, we want people to feel encouraged, we want them to feel safe, like their kids are taken care of.

All those things come.

But predominantly, far and above everything else, we want to be faithful to what God tells us in his word.

And so as we seek to do that, it's the Lord's church.

He will grow, he will close, he will extend.

It's his to do what he wants with it.

But as we do seek to be faithful to his word, we need to be clear who is committed, who is all in, who agrees with us, who's walking with us, who's helping, support, and sustain, and who is responsible, who is responsible for proclamation church staying faithful to God's word.

Who bears that responsibility that we stay faithful to God's word?

Yes, the elders do, for sure.

But scripture, I think, also teaches that the members do.

Those who are who are bought and who are who are submitted to and have joined the church, they hold a responsibility.

They're responsible for contending for the faithfulness of the gospel.

And all through the Old Testament or the New Testament, excuse me, you see examples.

You see pictures of to be a Christian is to be committed to a local church.

To belong, to be submitted to that authority, to be walking with those brothers and sisters.

The idea that it's a pretty new idea that you can be a faithful Christian and just be floating around.

Uncommitted, unsubmitted.

It's not a biblical principle.

I'm not saying that that person's not a Christian.

Hear me on that.

I am saying, though, that that is not God's plan for those whom He has saved.

Now, this is where I want to just step, sidestep and say, we've all had a lot of, not all, but most of us have had hard church situations.

And I get it where you're transitioning from one place to another.

You're trying to figure out what's going on with the church.

Should the church be like this or should it be like this?

Should we just do church in our home or should we gather on Sunday?

Why don't we gather on Monday for church?

There's times in our faith where we just are working things out.

And sometimes you're between churches and all those things.

And the Lord is gracious and kind.

And I think that you have to be figuring those things out.

So don't hear me condemning those who are trying to figure that out.

But do hear me pressing on those who are content to not figure it out.

Who are content to just kind of do it on their own.

I'll go to church when I want to, kind of show up different churches when I feel like it.

That is not what we see in God's word.

His people are committed to being together.

God did not send his son to die on the cross, paying the price for my sin and for your sin, so that we could just be frustrated with everyone else that he has saved and keep them all at a safe distance.

He saved us so that we would model love.

So we would model love and patience and forgiveness and grace first toward one another.

Those who are of the household of faith, those who are Christians, and then to the world.

How do you think that you can go love a dying, sinful world that doesn't know Christ if you're not willing to contend with broken, sinful people who do know Christ?

So we're called to be a part of, joined to, submitted to, a member of a local church.

But what is a church?

What is a church?

There's maybe lots of definitions, but they all kind of usually have the same three things.

And there should be in your bulletin a definition.

I don't have a bulletin up there.

Is it in there?

It's been in there for weeks.

Hopefully you've read it, you've studied it.

A local church is a group of baptized believers who regularly gather in Christ's name to officially affirm and oversee one another's membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom through the gospel preaching and gospel ordinances.

A local church, I'm gonna break this out.

We're just gonna break this out for a moment.

It's a group of baptized believers.

So it's not, this again, it's not universal church here.

It's not all believers at all time.

It's a group, a set group of baptized believers who are regularly gathered.

They regularly gather together.

We see this pattern in the New Testament in Revelation, we see it in Acts, we see it elsewhere.

The church gathered together on the Lord's day, on Sunday, the day that Christ was resurrected.

It's a regularly pattern of gathering.

Then there's a congregation-wide exercise of affirmation and oversight.

The church is responsible for this oversight, this affirmation.

So when we bring someone into membership, it's the members who vote on that.

They say, we're gonna take on the responsibility of this brother or sister, their soul.

We're gonna bring affirmation to them, we're gonna affirm their faith that they are a Christian, and we're gonna bring oversight, we're gonna watch over them, caring for their doctrine, for how they live.

No, will we stand before God and give an account for are they a Christian?

No.

I'm not in charge of your faith any more than you are in charge of my faith.

But as believers and sisters in a church, are we gonna give an account for how we shepherded, how we as elders loved you, and how the church as one another cared for one another?

Yes.

You will be responsible.

You will give an account for the souls of those whom you gather with and proclaim Christ with.

And then the church is to officially represent Christ and his rule on earth.

See, this this ordinance of preaching, or the ordinances and preaching.

Okay, this is that binding and loosening.

We're to know what a right confession is.

That is truth.

That aligns with scripture, that doesn't align with scripture, that's wrong, that's heresy.

And through again, the ordinances, that initial affirmation, and then the continued affirmation.

So when you see that a local church, it's a group of Christians, believers who gather together to proclaim Christ and to officially oversee one another.

It changes it.

It changes from, well, this is a church I kind of attend once a month, three times a month.

This is where I usually go on Sundays, to I'm walking in.

If you're a member of Proclamation Church, you walk in here on Sunday morning, there is a responsibility that you're bearing for one another.

There's a responsibility you have to one another and to the preaching of God's word.

If I start preaching heresy, it's on you, church members, to remove me as your pastor.

If Jimmy or I start living in a way that's contrary to Scripture, it's not for the person who shows up on a Sunday or who gives money.

It's not their job to take care of business and get rid of those who are lovingly rid of us.

It's the members' responsibility to take action.

Say, we love this brother and sister too much to let them continue in their sin.

And we love the church too much to let this brother continue preaching or teaching poor doctrine.

There's a responsibility that members bear when they come together.

That for those who are not members, don't bear.

You might get some of the fruit of the faithfulness of the members.

Praise God for those who do have contended for faithful preaching and the right administration of the ordinances in this church.

If you're not a member, you're reaping the benefits of those who are members and their faithfulness to that.

But we must know what a church is.

It's not just a group of people who claim to be Christians, who gather for a Bible study on a On a Saturday.

That's a wonderful thing.

Praise God for that.

Praise God.

It's not a church.

It's not you and your family around the table on Sunday morning opening up the word and praying and reading.

That's a wonderful thing to gather as a family and do.

That doesn't make you a church.

There must be the offices that we see in the New Testament.

There must be the right proclamation of the gospel, the right administration of the ordinances, predominantly to be a church.

So if that's a church, what is a church member?

What's a member of a church?

Should be also in the bulletin there.

Church member is a formal relationship.

Church membership is a formal relationship between a church and a Christian characterized by the church's affirmation and oversight of a Christian's discipleship.

And the Christian's submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church.

Again, a church is a you belong.

It's a formal relationship.

Now I talked about this last week.

If you live in North Korea or parts of Iran, it's still a formal member, it's still a formal relationship.

But it's a lot easier in that culture, that context, to figure out who's committed, who's regenerated, who's born again, who's in alignment.

Because there's only maybe five Christians in the whole city.

So the fact that you're gathering with other Christians is a good indicator that you're pretty serious about your faith.

And even still there, there's going to be questions about your doctrine and what you believe to make sure that you are following God's word.

Here in a culture, in a day and age where people can be Christians because they're born into it, or because they're baptized by someone, or because they shook a preacher's hand or came down and knelt and said a prayer.

Therefore, they think that makes them a Christian.

Now God might use all those things to redeem them, to save them, and bless them.

That's good.

But those things don't make you a Christian.

So we think it's the responsible, the loving thing to do is for those who want to be identified as a part of our church to say, Are you a Christian?

Is there evidence in your life that you're a Christian?

Can you tell me, just tell me what the gospel is?

That's what saves you?

Can you tell me what the gospel is?

Here's our doctrine, here's our confession.

This is how we're seeking to be faithful to God's word, what we're going to teach, how we're going to live it out.

Are you good with that?

Is this going to be difficult for you?

Is this going to be divisive in your walk?

If all those things check out, then we say to the church, this brother and sister, they believe what we believe, they're genuine for what we can tell in their faith, and they want to submit to this local church.

Church, will you affirm them?

Will you love them?

Will you be responsible for them?

Yes?

Yes?

Okay.

Welcome in.

Now you're responsible.

Now you bear the weight.

Now you live in this family together.

But it begins with this helpful to clarify this formal relationship.

So we don't just have people coming in and coming out.

Who are you to submit to?

The pastor you hear on this week or the pastor you listen to next week, somewhere else?

Who am I going to answer to God for when I die?

Am I going to answer for everyone who just shows up on a Sunday morning or for those who have committed to be a part of our church?

A church body formally affirms an individual's profession of faith and their baptism as credible.

And then it promises to give oversight to that individual's discipleship.

What a blessing to be a part of a church that's saying, listen, we love you.

We're going to do our best to make sure you're growing in your faith, to disciple you.

Primarily, our primary discipleship is the Lord's Day gathering, the Sunday gathering of the church.

You gather together, that's your primary means of discipleship.

But it goes beyond that.

It's not just come hear some good stuff, give some money, maybe you can serve and kind of feel good about that, and then go home and come back next week.

A call, this relationship to come, be discipled, and then to also disciple others.

How many people are just mature in their faith?

They've been Christians for years, but they're not discipling other people.

We need to be disciplers, as Christ has called us to do.

The last word I was saying is to be wise.

Be wise and do not submit yourself to a church that does not hold to the gospel.

Or the core tenets of the Christian faith.

Make sure if you're going to submit to a church, it's a church that you align with.

That is your responsibility as a Christian.

So, how do we do this at Proclamation Church?

I'm going to talk just briefly about a few things that we use to help guide us as a church, to be clear.

It's a loving thing to be clear about this.

The first is we're clear about what we believe in our confession.

So we hold to the New Hampshire confession.

There's copies of it back on the table.

It's on our website.

You can read.

That's just saying, like, we believe the whole full counsel of God's word.

But God's word, people differ.

Well, who can serve as a pastor?

Well, we think God's word says that qualified men are to serve as elder pastors.

Other churches see that differently.

Our confession just says, well, this is our take on that.

How is the church going to practice the ordinances?

Some people baptize infants, some people just kind of baptize whoever wants to be baptized.

Some people let people take communion before they're baptized.

Our confession just tells us how we're to take communion.

It tells us these things.

There's 18 articles.

It tells us how we intend, how we view scripture, gives clarity on those things so that there can be more unity in the church.

That we're not differing over these things constantly.

It brings clarity.

So our confession.

It's the first thing.

Brings clarity.

The next thing is our covenant.

How we're to live together.

How we as Christians intend to live together.

And bear with me, I'm going to read it for us, for you.

We say this every time we gather at members' meetings.

This is what we read.

We stand together and we read this.

Having, as we trust, been brought by divine grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give up ourselves to Him, having been baptized upon our profession of faith in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we do now, relying on his gracious aid, solemnly and joyfully renew our covenant with each other.

We will work and pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We will walk together in brotherly love as members of a Christian church, exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other, and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require.

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others.

We will endeavor to lead those in our care in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, as well as to seek the salvation of our family and friends.

We will rejoice in each other's happiness and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy to bear each other's burdens and sorrows.

We will live carefully in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, as it is our symbolic burial and resurrection and baptism that testifies to the special obligation to live a new and holy life.

We will work together for the continuance of a faithful evangelical ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, its ordinances, discipline, and doctrines.

We will contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support and the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We will, when we move from this place, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant in the principles of God's word.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

Amen.

We stand and we read this together, reminding one another what it means to be together in this local church.

This is Acts 2.

This is what they were doing: loving for one another, taking care of each other's needs, not forsaking to gather together, sustaining the ministry, giving to those in need.

We seek to be clear.

This is our covenant together, how we're gonna live.

And then we have a constitution.

The constitution just says this is how things are gonna function.

This is how we're gonna vote on things.

This is how who's gonna go, this is what kind of vote is required to appoint an elder.

This is the kind of vote it takes to bring in someone as a member.

It just makes it clear.

So we're not arbitrarily just kind of doing things.

We're clear with one another.

Our constitution makes it clear again how we're gonna function.

Our elders, our deacons.

It gives us qualifications for membership.

It spells all these things out.

It's interesting.

You don't see this really anywhere else in society where authority is pushed down toward a larger group.

And that's what happens in a church that is what congregational, like ours.

Congregational means the members have the final authority, they have the most authority.

And so I can I could just be the head guy in this church.

Some churches, they're just one pastor, he kind of does everything, he decides everything.

But we're doing is we're as even as elders, we have an elder team, but we're still pushing authority down.

This is what Jesus did in Matthew 16 and then Matthew 18.

He's saying, listen, I'm giving to you, broken, fallen, sinful people, this kind of authority.

Steward it well.

And so we, even as pastors and elders, are looking to push that authority down, as we see in scripture, to the church.

Say, we're all responsible for one another.

Church discipline needs to happen, it's the church's responsibility to make sure it happens.

The church is struggling, it's the church's responsibility to take care of the needs, to take care of the doctrine.

This pushing down of authority.

It's a model that we see in the Bible.

You don't really see it anywhere else.

It's a picture of Jesus Christ and how he loves his people.

It's amazing.

And you think about it, it's amazing that Christ is going to redeem his bride.

And he says, okay, I'm going to put in charge of the bride.

There's going to be elders and there's deacons and there's the authority of the local church.

You're going to all work this out together.

Imagine just your children, the future of your children, and saying, I'm just going to entrust the future of my children to a group of people who are messed up, sinful, make mistakes.

How gracious and kind and how sovereign God is to say, I'm going to take broken people, I'm going to form them into these local churches, these bride that make up the bride of Christ.

And they will be responsible, and they're going to be in charge of teaching my word, of loving the lost and reaching the nations.

When Jesus said in Matthew 28, when he gave the Great Commission to go to all the nations, he was trusting his plan.

He was trusting the local church that they would rightfully handle God's word.

And if they were, that they would self-correct.

He was trusting the Christians to be faithful to what he has called them to do.

And we're seeking to be faithful to do that as well.

To formally say who's a part of this, who's responsible, who is in.

You know, some of the objections to submitting to the local church or joining the church or church membership.

Those are all the same thing.

It's being a belonging, being a part of it.

The objections that I typically hear have to do with authority, responsibility, or understanding.

Authority is they don't want to submit or they don't want to have an authority over them.

And I get that.

That's our human nature.

We, especially as Americans, I don't know if you know this or not, we're not big on submitting.

We're not big on authority.

Right?

We're kind of autonomous.

I'm going to do my own thing.

It's just not what we see in Scripture.

We don't see it anywhere in the New Testament that Christians can kind of figure this out on their own and just, again, be wandering out.

The other thing I'm going to say about this authority issue is do you really trust yourself that much?

If the gospel and eternity is on the line, do you really trust yourself that much to figure it all out, to map it all out and get it all right?

Listen, I'm not, I don't, I like to think of myself as a young person.

I'm not very old.

I'm 33.

A lot, I haven't lived.

But I've already made a lot of mistakes in my life.

In the short time that I've had, I've messed up a lot of things.

And I don't want to trust my own salvation.

And figuring out all these things and understanding the Bible, I don't want to do that by myself.

I want others who love God, who love his word.

And I want to submit to them because I know they love me.

And they want to see me follow God more faithfully.

I don't want to figure this out on my own.

I want to submit to brothers and sisters who love God's word, love him, and love me.

The other objection that I often see is it has to do with responsibility.

This is pretty simple.

They just don't want the responsibility that comes with membership.

It's easy to kind of stay on the outside, again, and you're getting the benefits of it.

And say, well, I'm not responsible for the budget.

I'm not sure who voted to take on this.

At least I didn't, so I, you know, it's not my thing.

Or so-and-so is kind of making a shipwreck of their life.

What a bummer for them.

I wish someone would go and talk to them.

I wish someone would step in.

But it's not for me.

I got my own stuff going on.

We want to abdicate responsibility.

Rick's really preaching some weird stuff.

Somebody should do something about that, you know?

But not me, because I don't want to cause a ripple or I don't want to do anything.

I'm just going to slip out of this church and go into this church.

And that's where we abdicate responsibility.

And then the third thing is just understanding.

There's just a lack of understanding about what the Bible teaches on the local church.

It's not that you're people are afraid of submitting or they don't want to take responsibility.

They just don't understand how it's clear everywhere in the New Testament.

If you're a Christian, you're a part of the local church.

If you're a part of a local church, you're a Christian.

Christian.

Church, church, Christian.

They just, you can't separate them.

It's not salvation.

You're not saved.

It's like baptism.

There aren't unbaptized believers in the New Testament.

Right?

You're a Christian, you become baptized, is what you do.

It doesn't save you, it doesn't regenerate you.

But it's what Christians do.

They're obedient to God's word.

So there are times when there's just a lack of understanding of what the Bible teaches on the local church.

Now, if you hear all this and you're still have questions and you're just like, I'm just not sure about this, that's probably a good.

Work through those things.

I would love to talk to you about those things.

Hear my heart, hear me say more things.

I want to hear what you're thinking, what you have to say.

But we are the people of God.

And He's commanded and instructed us to live for Him, not for ourselves.

Not to hold our own convictions and tow our line, but to follow what He has commanded.

Listen to these verses on a hear how precious the church is to God and how important it is that your life and my life are tethered to the local church.

Hebrews 10, 24 and 25.

And let us consider.

That means forethought.

That means taking initiative, thinking about these things.

This isn't something you do on a whim.

It's something you give intentional thought to.

Let us consider how to stir one another up.

How to stir up one another in love, in good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near, the day of judgment drawing near.

What intentionality, preciousness to be tethered to a group of Christians who are saying, How can we stir one another up for Jesus?

How can we encourage one another to good works?

How can we keep from neglecting to gather on the Lord's day?

What a blessing to be tethered to that.

Colossians 3, 16.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

What a blessing it is to gather on the Lord's Day here, church, and to sing together.

And you know, sometimes we sing, there's certain songs that are better than other songs, but we're like everyone's singing together, and it's just loud, and the saints are singing to one another and to Christ with thankfulness in our hearts to God.

What a blessing it is to be a part of that, to be in a place where God's word is dwelling richly, where it's he can be faithful to teach and to admonish one another.

Not just as elders, but one another teaching and admonishing, encouraging.

Oh, to be tethered to that, to belong to that.

Ephesians 2, 19 through 22 says, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

What a blessing that the Lord is building his church.

And it's not built on sand or cultural context or what people won't think is a good idea.

It's built on the teaching of the apostles and the prophets, and Christ being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure is joined together and it grows in holiness.

To be tethered to a place that's growing in holiness.

You're no longer strangers figuring this life out.

What's God, what's true, what's good.

How do I figure this out?

You're fellow citizens.

You belong to the household of God.

And you've committed to a local expression of the household of God.

In Acts, toward the end of Acts.

We began in chapter 2 in chapter 20.

There's this admonition and encouragement given to the elders in verse 28.

It says, Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Church is not a human construct.

It's not something that people kind of made up as optional.

You get a membership card, you get it kind of scanned as you go in and out.

This is a people redeemed with the blood, by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Redeemed, made new, to which we all belong to.

Christ loves his bride.

And we are called to love the church as well.

We might not all align exactly alike.

We might not all see this the same way.

So that's why church membership looks different at different churches.

But one thing is for sure.

We want to be faithful followers of God's word.

We want to be faithful.

We want to be faithful to God's word.

So we strive to practice meaningful membership, meaningful church membership because we want to be faithful to God's word.

With who is a who's responsible, who's in charge, who will I answer to God for, who am I overseeing and shepherding?

We'll be faithful.

Again, maybe you disagree with what I've said this morning.

Maybe you struggle genuinely with the authority aspect or the responsibility or the understanding element.

Maybe again, you just see things a little different than we do here at Proclamation Church.

But hear me on this.

Be faithful to God.

Be faithful to God.

Don't try to do this alone.

Be faithful to what God has called his people to.

Maybe this isn't the church for you.

Doesn't mean you're not a Christian.

Doesn't mean that we think less of you.

But do not try to do this alone.

Don't just try to figure things out alone.

Be faithful to God's word.

Let his word rule your days and your nights.

Let his word be a lamp unto your path to guide you.

You are not made and then redeemed by Christ so you could go it alone.

You're called to be a part of a local church.

None of us have this all figured out.

I say that with just hopefully you hear that humility in my heart and my voice.

None of us have this all figured out.

But we are much better off working through these things with godly brothers and sisters than just trying to figure it out alone.

God is very gracious.

Let us trust him, let us be faithful to him.

And as an embassy of the kingdom of heaven, let us represent heaven well.

Be gracious, be biblical, and be faithful.

Let's pray.