It is my contention that commitment to the local church—at least in my lifetime and in our western society—has digressed to become an afterthought even in the lives of most believers! It’s kind of the attitude that we can give God the leftovers of our lives … and that’s O.K…. What this has done to the Church is this: The result is lackadaisical Christians that are not held accountable to be living out the Gospel in community and on mission. Instead of having and holding a high view of ecclesiology...
There are many reasons that Church Membership is important … biblically … and theologically … and practically. The title of today’s message is “It’s All about Baptism!” Actually, it’s all about discipleship, but baptism is where we all begin. Before I get into that, let me move to today’s scripture … which comes from the very last verses of the Gospel of Matthew, known as The Great Commission… Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make...
This past Friday, Beth Schlueter and I had the privilege of leading a workshop and sharing with about 70 people the whole idea behind membership, that it has to do with three things, actually—three stages that we go through in becoming disciples of Jesus Christ (because membership really = discipleship). Those three stages that we go through I call the ‘Three Bs.” So, becoming disciples involves: Belief Behavior Belonging Belonging is where we want to get people to … but they have to go through a process first—a process of...
