Church Membership

1)    Who is eligible for church membership?

Bare essentials of membership – Acts 2:41-47

1. Salvation

2. Believer’s baptism

3. Desire to participate in basic functions of the body

• ·      Agreement with fundamental doctrines and willingness to be taught
• ·      Care for other members of the church family (fellowship)
• ·      Faithful remembrance of the Lord’s Supper
• ·      Praying for one another

2)    What are my responsibilities to my local church?

1.     Regular attendance – Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25

2.     The Scriptural use of spiritual gift(s) in order to edify the whole church (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:7).

3.     Financial support – 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6,7

4.     Deliberate efforts to cultivate personal holiness through both private and public means of grace – 1Thess. 4:3; 1Peter 1;15,16; 2:2; 2Peter 1:5-8;

5.     Confession and Prayer – James 5:16

6.     Service for the extension of the kingdom of God throughout the world (for example, by witnessing and prayer). Such service must be carried on in the context of the local church – Gal. 5:13; 1 Peter 4:10

7.     Willingness to confront sinning brethren – Gal. 6:1. Openness to being confronted by caring brethren – Matthew 18:15-17

8.     Scriptural honor and submission to those in spiritual authority in the church (1 Thess. 5:12,13; Heb. 13:17), including necessary financial support (1 Tim. 5:17), and prayer for them (Col. 4:2-4).

9.     Mutual care for every member, according to clear Scriptural principles (for example: Rom. 12:10; 13:8; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 3:13; 1 Pet. 4:9; etc.): consider this:

We are to help one another grow toward Christian maturity by:

• ü  loving one another and
• ü  bearing one another’s burdens,
• ü  encouraging one another,
• ü  exhorting one another,
• ü  praying for one another,
• ü  confessing our sins to one another,
• ü  speaking the truth in love to one another,
• ü  admonishing one another,
• ü  building up one another,
• ü  teaching one another,
• ü  comforting one another,
• ü  submitting to one another,
• ü  serving one another,
• ü  patiently bearing with one another,
• ü  being hospitable to one another,
• ü  living in peace with one another,
• ü  regarding one another as more significant than ourselves,
• ü  caring for one another,
• ü  exercising our spiritual gifts to serve one another,
• ü  being kind and tenderhearted to one another,
• ü  being devoted to one another,
• ü  accepting one another,
• ü  forgiving one another,
• ü  greeting one another,