What should a church expect from its members?

9Marks

A church should expect that its members will:

What should be required of someone in order to join a church?

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In order to join a local church someone should be:

How can I lead my church to clean up its membership rolls?

9Marks
First, teach on church membership. Whether in expositional sermons or a topical series or a Bible study, address passages like Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5, and 2 Corinthians 2:6 and the implications they have for church membership. Patiently teach your people until they understand the importance of church membership and their responsibilities as church members. Begin removing non–attending members, beginning with the easiest and moving to the hardest. From easiest to hardest…

How can I lead my church toward meaningful membership?

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Proclaim the gospel. Preach about God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, Christ’s substitutionary atonement and resurrection, and our need to repent of our sins and trust in him. And make it clear that those who are not committed to one another in love have no reason to think that they have committed to God in love (1 John 4:20-21). Use a statement of faith and church covenant. Require members to affirm a statement of faith (what a church believes) and a church covenant (how members will live together).

Why is meaningful membership important for evangelism?

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Meaningful membership is important because the church is God’s evangelism plan for the world. A church is like a radio transmitter, sending out messages about God twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

What is “meaningful membership”?

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“Meaningful membership” means four things:

What are some other reasons to join a church?

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In addition to the New Testament’s teaching that every Christian should submit to a local church and its leaders (see Matt. 18:15-20, Heb. 13:17), there are many other good reasons to join a church:

According to Scripture, why should every Christian join a church?

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Every Christian should join a church because Scripture requires it. Granted, there is no direct command in Scripture that says, “Every Christian must join a local church,” but two factors in Scripture indicate that every Christian should be a member of a local church.

Where do we see church membership in the New Testament?

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Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The ability to exclude someone from “the church” presupposes that it’s known who belongs to “the church” as a member in the first place.

Is church membership biblical?

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The highest moral laws in the secular west today are toleration and non-judgmentalism. The very ideas of inclusion and exclusion in any context make people think of elitism, xenophobia, or racism.

Still, church membership is an idea with deep biblical roots:

Is systematic theology biblical?

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Certain academics argue that systematic theology inherently distorts the meaning of the Bible. They argue that any “system” imposes foreign thought structures that necessarily tamper with the meaning of biblical texts. Such scholars often argue that the biblical documents contain irreconcilable diversity, which is to say, contradictions. Hence, they argue that systematic theology is at best unbiblical, at worst impossible.

So is systematic theology biblical or not?

Why is expositional preaching that ignores biblical theology unsound?

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Expositional preaching that ignores biblical theology is unsound because:

Why should expositional preaching include biblical theology?

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Biblical theology is necessary in order to understand the text. We can truly understand a text of Scripture only by situating it within the overall narrative of redemptive history.

How can I grow in my understanding of biblical theology?

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Study the Scriptures thematically. While you should study all of Scripture both deeply and broadly, it can be especially helpful to read through the Scriptures in order to trace themes that run throughout the Bible. If you study how themes like creation and new creation, Sabbath rest, kingship, covenant, and God’s dwelling place with his people develop throughout Scripture you will gain a panoramic view of the glory of God and the wonder of salvation.

How should biblical theology inform pastoral counseling?

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A pastor should apply all of Scripture to his people’s lives in light of the gospel. Biblical theology teaches a pastor how to do this. And this enables Christians to draw comfort, encouragement, and hope from all of Scripture, even parts of it that seem more distant from our lives.
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