Church Membership

Defining the "Church"

Ephesians 5 explains: “Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior”; and in I Corinthians 12 we read of believers: “you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

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Also, when we are born again to spiritual life by God’s grace and demonstrate that through faith in Jesus Christ, we are adopted into the family of God. John 1 reads: “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Hebrews 2, “those who are made holy are of the same family.” 

  

• When you are in Christ, you are a “member” of His Body; you are gloriously a “member” of God’s family.  

• The leaders of a local church have not ‘made up’ the term membership.

 

The Bible also uses the term “church” when referring to a group of believers in a specific geographic location. In Acts 14, Luke recorded that ‘Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each church, referring to local churches in Asia Minor. Another example of a specific local church (or perhaps a group of house churches in one city) is I Corinthians, where Paul wrote his letter ‘to the church of God in Corinth’.

 

• So, we see a consistent pattern in the New Testament of believers becoming visibly identified with a particular local church.  

• As people are adopted into the family of God through saving faith in Christ, they are to live out their new identity with their brothers and sisters in the context of the local church—Acts 2: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe.”

 

What Church Membership Means at PCBC

• Church membership is a public commitment to live out this new identity within the context of a specific local church.  

• Joining the church is a tangible statement by a believer that he or she is committed to the church family, desiring to be shepherded and encouraged by the church, and ready to actively minister to others there in obedience to Jesus Christ.

 

Therefore, the purpose of church membership at PCBC can be summarized as follows:

 

[#1] community – 

• Membership provides a level of assurance that the person has trusted Christ as Savior. This leads to:

  • Spiritual growth in Christ, together—and care for one another, together

  • It’s what we refer to from the Scriptures as “the One Anothers”

    • Romans 12:  “We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

  • This is why we, as elders, encourage all of you, along with weekly corporate worship, to be part of a Small Group here at PCBC.

 

[#2] commitment – 

• Openly joining a local church demonstrates commitment and voluntary accountability to the local church.  

• Through membership, the believer is making a public commitment of their time, their talent, and their treasure to this church family.  

• And this commitment is a two-way commitment. Not only is the individual committing to this local body, but this local body is committing to them. Church members can expect:

  • sound teaching and Godly counsel; discipleship toward spiritual growth;

  • encouragement and close fellowship with others; fervent corporate worship; and 

  • prayer support.

 

[#3] confirmation – 

• Confirmation refers to our agreeing as a local body on the essential doctrines of the faith and sound Biblical teaching. God commands each local church: “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Titus 2).

• Truthful thinking is vital for spiritual growth and living a life that pleases God—a life that leads one individually and collectively to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” [Deut 6].

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