Am I A Church Member, Biblically?...Part 2...A little out of order, sorry!

 

I realized that I posted Part 3 before I had made a post about Part 2!  It happens when I sometimes preach more than once in a week.  I do miss those days when I was preaching/teaching a Sunday School class, a Sunday sermon, a Sunday night message, and a Wednesday Prayer Meeting devotional.  I would sometimes put on top of that a midweek home group, daily email devotionals and a weekly 5 minute radio spot.  I was thankful because it was a time for me to be immersed in God's word on many fronts.  

Last Sunday we ventured into Part 2 of our mini-series "Am I A Church Member, Biblically."  We wandered from looking at the global, universal family of God to the local gatherings of His body.  I want to stress again that these Biblical principles are for us to grasp and display no matter the formalness or in-formalness of a local church's membership procedures.  So let's review.

1).  I am a Christian.  I own the statement that Jesus is "the" Christ and He is "my" Christ.  I have engaged my mouth and heart as it is recorded in Romans 10:8-11.

2).  I am pursuing loving God and loving others.  Though it is difficult at times, it is not optional.  We know by John 13:34-35 that we rise up from any fall with love as our guide.

3).  I am examining myself according to God's Word.  The Bible is the instrument panel of my life and it gives us many examination passages like Galatians 5:19-23.

Now we venture into new ground.

4).  I am listening and obeying my spiritual leaders.  God speaks through His Word to local gatherings that He supplies with spiritual leaders (under-shepherds).  Hebrews 13:7 describes our part in listening and observing them according to God's Word so that we can imitate their faith.

5).  I am being discipled by my local body of Christ.  We are discipled by one another by being with one another and practicing the "one another's" of God's Word.  Ephesians 4:31-32 gives us a good start on the list.  With these 3 points it is good to mention that this can not be done from afar or unanimously.

6).  I am understanding my Pastor's role in my spiritual life.  As one of the elders, the Pastor serves the local body of Christ in a special way.  He feels the weight of James 3:1.  He also has some sleepless nights (keeping watch over their souls) of Hebrews 13:17.  Sometimes your Pastor sees things you don't see and is the one who brings things to light that we deal with individually and collectively.

I am a little vulnerable at this end of this sermon.  I have been what I will call a "mini-depressed" following the Sunday morning services.  Why?  I think it is because I have yet to know all those who are in front of me on a regular basis.  As a pastor, I so desire to know the person in the pew, the one I am speaking to, but it won't happen from the platform.  It is not all about the passion of preaching but also the pastoring in the pews.

Adam