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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
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 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.