Transcript Document

WHY SHOULD I BE A
MEMBER ?
Is there any real need for a church
family ?
1 Corinthians 12:25-27
…so that there may be no division
in the body, but that the
members may have the same
care for one another. And if one
member suffers, all the members
suffer with it; if one member is
honored, all the members rejoice
with it. Now you are Christ's
body, and individually members
“Funny” Membership Ideas
• “Bunny” believers who hop
around without any
accountability
• Just be a “good” Christian
without joining (or attending)
any church
A Christian without a church family is
like an organ w/out a body, a sheep
w/out a flock, or a child w/out a family.
Ephesians 2:19
19 So then you are no longer strangers and
aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God,…
Acts 9:26-28
nd when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the
disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not
believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him
and brought him to the apostles and declared to them
how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him,
and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name
of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at
Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
1. It identifies one as a true
believer.
It is a fulfillment of Isaiah 2:2
and Isaiah 11:6-9.
WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?
Isaiah 2:2
Now it will come about that In the
last days The mountain of the
house of the LORD Will be
established as the chief of the
mountains, And will be raised
above the hills; And all the
nations will stream to it.
Isaiah 11:6-9
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And
the leopard will lie down with the young
goat, And the calf and the young lion and
the fatling together; And a little boy will
lead them. Also the cow and the bear will
graze, Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The
nursing child will play by the hole of the
cobra, And the weaned child will put his
hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt
or destroy in all My holy mountain
John 17:20-21
"I do not ask on behalf of these
alone, but for those also who
believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one; even as
You, Father, are in Me and I in
You, that they also may be in Us,
so that the world may believe
that You sent Me.
Unity is a faithbuilder for the world.
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
1. It identifies one as a true
believer.
2. It moves us away from being
self-centered.
1 Timothy 3:5
(but if a man does not know
how to manage his own
household, how will he take
care of the church of God?),
As the home is a classroom for shepherds, the
church is a lab for “book theories” from
scripture.
1 John 4:20
If someone says, "I love God," and
hates his brother, he is a liar; for
the one who does not love his
brother whom he has seen,
cannot love God whom he has
not seen.
John 3:16 vs. 1 John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish, but have eternal
life.
Versus
We know love by this, that He laid
down His life for us; and we
ought to lay down our lives for
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
1. It identifies one as a true
believer.
2. It moves us away from being
self-centered.
3. It helps us become spiritually
fit and stronger.
Ephesians 4:15-16
but speaking the truth in love, we are to
grow up in all aspects into Him who is the
head, even Christ, from whom the whole
body, being fitted and held together by
what every joint supplies, according to the
proper working of each individual part,
causes the growth of the body for the
building up of itself in love.
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
1. It identifies one as a true
believer.
2. It moves us away from being
self-centered.
3. It helps us become spiritually
fit and stronger.
4. It is our safety line, for rescue.
Hebrews 2:1
For this reason we must pay
much closer attention to what
we have heard, so that we do
not drift away from it.
Hebrews 3:12-13
Take care, brethren, that there not
be in any one of you an evil,
unbelieving heart that falls away
from the living God. But
encourage one another day after
day, as long as it is still called
"Today," so that none of you will
be hardened by the deceitfulness
Encourages us…
of sin.
James 5:19-20
My brethren, if any among you
strays from the truth and one
turns him back, let him know
that he who turns a sinner from
the error of his way will save his
soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.
Saves from death…
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
1. It identifies one as a true
believer.
2. It moves us away from being
self-centered.
3. It helps us become spiritually
fit and stronger.
4. It is our safety line, for rescue.
5. It allows us to share in Christ’s
mission.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God
prepared beforehand so that
we would walk in them.
His workmanship…for good works…
2 Peter 1:3-4
seeing that His divine power has granted to
us everything pertaining to life and
godliness, through the true knowledge of
Him who called us by His own glory and
excellence. For by these He has granted to
us His precious and magnificent promises,
so that by them you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world
by lust.
We share in Deity via knowledge & work
Why Do I Need A Church
Family?
Satan loves detached
believers
Isolated from a caring family
Unaccountable to leaders
Alone in the fight
Growing weaker
No one to rescue
Before we consider
striking out on our
own, perhaps it
would be wise to
consider all that God
has done to help us
get to heaven.