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How
do I become a member at Christ's Church at Georgetown?
An invitation is given at the close of each worship service for people to come forward and express faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and their desire to belong to this body of believers. You will be asked to declare your faith publicly for the congregation to affirm and celebrate with you. If you have already been baptized by immersion, you will be added to the church membership rolls at that time. If you have not been baptized, arrangements will be made for the baptism to take place either at that service or later, at your convenience, or after you have had a chance to speak with someone about questions you may have.
Can
I get my questions about Christ's Church at Georgetown
answered without coming forward at the invitation time?
Yes,
call the church office (485-1611), or mark your interest on an attendance card
to make an appointment with one of the ministerial staff. They will be glad
to meet you and discuss your questions.
Membership Has It Privilege
The Privilege of Belonging
Consider what a great privilege it is to be a part of the church. The purpose of this article is to help us rediscover the privileges of being apart of the Body of Christ.
Some Christians are openly questioning the relevance of the church in their lives. The single most popular evangelical Christian expression in our century has been, “a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” And, while this expression is true and valid, it may explain why many people believe “I need Jesus, but I don’t need the church.”
As we study the New Testament Christian, we find he or she is a believer, a becomer, and a belonger.
A New Testament Christian is a believer. There are certain fundamental truths that you adhere to if you follow Christ. You believe that a virgin gave birth to a baby boy and that boy was none other than God in the flesh who grew up and revealed through His teachings the heart of God. You believe He lived a morally sinless life, was put to death on a cross for your sins, was raised from the dead after three days, and ascended to the father and is soon coming back again to claim His own.
A New Testament Christian is a becomer. The Bible teaches that as we enter into Christ, we are babies in the faith. God intends for us to grow up into a mature faith in Jesus Christ – we are a becomer.
While we need a personal relationship with Jesus, Christianity is more than a private transaction with Jesus. Biblical Christianity is corporate. A New Testament Christian belongs to a body of believers.
The Apostle Paul writes, “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19. "So in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all others." Romans 12:5 Paul is saying there are no floating Christians in the New Testament.
You see, in the New Testament when a person confessed Jesus Christ, they made that confession public by being baptized and the Bible says in Acts 2:47at that point God added them to His church, His invisible universal church.
We also know that in the New Testament every Christian identified with a locale visible manifestation of the Body. We know this because this is the way the word church appears most of the time in the New Testament. Most of the time in the New Testament when the word church is used it is not referring to that invisible army of God's people, but it is that very visible local battalion of God's people who are being His church.
This means that a New Testament Christian with out a local church family is a contradiction of terms. Practicing Biblical Christianity apart from membership in a local church is like saying, " I want to play football but I don't want to be on any team." You can't be an effective Christian and not belong to God's family.
This concept goes against the grain of our culture because in our culture people are consumers; we don't give loyalty to anything, not to a restaurant, not to a car dealership, not to a store. We travel. If you offend me, if you upset me, I'll take my business down the street and give it to the next store.
And this is exactly the way many Americans do church. We try a church for a while until they do something I don't like then I'll get upset and go down to another church and try them.
In the New Testament, Christians were not consumers. They were contributors. And one of the things we need to restore is the biblical priority of the loyalty of belonging to a local assembly of God's people.
We ought to recognize the high privilege of membership in the Body of Christ.
I believe that this is something that should be taught new Christians. They should learn the depth of blessing of being apart of a Body of Believers. Consider some of the privileges that go with church membership.
For one, you get an opportunity for growth because you are exposed to examples of strong Christians, and the teaching of the church.
Secondly, you get a context for evangelism because you have a community that can support you, and have a place to bring your non Christian friends where they can experience Christianity.
You have an arena for service. The church can offer you ministry opportunities where you can use your spiritual gifts for serving others.
You have a setting for worship where you can gather with other believers and affirm in prayer and song the things you hold dear.
You have a community that gives you fellowship support so when times get hard Christians can build you up and pray.
Also you have a means for channeling your finances to advance the Kingdom of God.
These are just some of the many wonderful things God gives you by having you belong to His Body the church.
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