Greg,

I like the seven hopes of the pastors. At MVBC we also have a four-week class for people interested in membership. Much like you set the stage with those seven hopes, we begin with a couple principles that  are biblical and essential for church life. 

First, confidence that God will use his Word to build his church. It is so easy to think that if only we had a different building, a better parking lot, or even a better preacher we would grow. We may want and be helped by all of the above. But our cardinal conviction is that God will use his Word and His church to bring a message of judgement and salvation to the world he has created. As we are faithful to this message, people will grow spiritually and, we believe, by God's grace the church may very well grow numerically.

Second, every believer is to be committed to a local church. I often tell the story of going to college and being asked to join the church. I told the college pastor, "I would, but I'm only going to be here four years." I had no sense that for those four years, the Lord wanted me to commit my life to that church, to roll up my sleeves and dig into the lives of brothers and sisters in Christ while I became formally accountable to that body of believers. 

We talk about lots of other things: our doctrine, our structure, the responsibilities of membership, and more. But we start it all out with confidence in God's Word and commitment to Christ's bride.