MemberSHIP

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you…

Introduction

We believe that the church is more than a building or an event. We believe that the church is a people called out of the world by God, for God. That is, to worship God and join Him on His mission to redeem the world.

We strongly encourage all who attend our church to consider becoming members. We do this because we want to be continually reminded that we are the church and not merely consumers of an organization. We don’t attend church as consumers; we own the call and mission to make disciples. We do this together as a family.

We hope that you would prayerfully consider becoming a member at Abide Church. Here, we’ve outlined what we believe are the most important things to know before committing to the Abide Church family and submitting to the Abide Church pastors.

Your Commitment to the Church

We have broken church membership into three parts: Up, In, and Out. “Up” is our relational commitment to God, “In” is our relational commitment to other members, and “Out” is our relational commitment to the world.

Members at Abide Church sacrificially commit to the following as disciples of Christ, knowing that God works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure

Abide Church centers on the person and work of Jesus. Life as a Christian begins by submitting to Jesus. This includes submitting to his word, the Bible. The pastors at Abide Church will strive to lead you to Jesus by patiently and lovingly calling you to submit to the Bible in all things.

Believers are called to submit to Jesus and make him central in their lives. To be a member at Abide Church, you must profess faith in Jesus. One of the first steps of obedience after repenting and following Jesus is baptism. To be a member at Abide Church, you must be baptized.

Jesus promises that everyone who abides in him will bear fruit. To abide in Jesus means to be close to him. This primarily happens through reading the Bible, prayer, discipleship, and Christian community. Abiding in Jesus is fundamental to being his disciple. The church is a gift from God to everyone who believes. The church helps us stay close to Jesus.

The Bible teaches that believers are members of one body. The Bible has a lot to say about how believers are supposed to relate to one another (For an extensive list of “one another” commands found in the new testament, visit www.abidechurch.net). The pastors of Abide Church will lead members to grow in living out all the commands the New Testament gives concerning our relationships to one another.

The Bible teaches that believers are Jesus’ witnesses and representatives in the world. We take these charges seriously at Abide Church and prioritize this aspect of Christian living. The pastors will patiently and lovingly lead members in growing as witnesses for Jesus.

Jesus is our king; this world is not our home. The Bible describes believers as “ambassadors” for Jesus’ eternal kingdom. Believers are given the ministry of reconciliation, that is, to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Membership Commitments

We ask everyone who desires to become a member at Abide Church to exchange the following commitments with the current members. Exchanging commitments happens at the end of service when we have members to add.

The Bible teaches that the relationship members have with one another is formal and covenantal in nature. While the exchanging of commitments is not found explicitly in the New Testament, the spirit of these commitments is present throughout the Bible.

Exchanging commitments is a great blessing to the current members in at least two ways. First, every time a prospective member joins the church, all the members are reminded of the commitments they made to one another. Second, members are made aware of and reminded of who the members of the church are so that they can continue to live out the commitments they made with integrity.

By making these commitments, you are not entering into a contractual relationship but rather a covenantal relationship. The mediator of our relationship with one another is Christ. This means that we can have grace for one another when we fail in our commitments to each other. We can have grace, not because we will sweep sin and shortcomings under the rug, but because Jesus himself is the mediator of our covenant. Jesus himself paid for our sin so that we can have a relationship with God and each other.

Do you believe that without Jesus you are a hopeless sinner who has rebelled against God and deserves his righteous anger?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners and do you trust that Jesus’ death on the Cross alone has saved you from your sins?
Do you believe that God has adopted you as his child, and made you part of his family and that he wants you to live your life in deep relationships with your brothers and sisters in this local church, using the gifts He has given you to serve the body?
Do you believe that God’s Word has supreme authority over the faith and practice of your life and the life of this church?
Do you commit to rely on the Holy Spirit and obediently follow Jesus in everything, as His servant, and His missionary to your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your enemies, and your friends?
As a member of Abide, do you commit to pray for God’s kingdom to advance in our city and to all ends of the earth, and do you commit to giving your time, energy, and money generously to accomplish that goal?
Do you commit to loving this diverse group of believers called Abide Church? Will you submit to our pastors, happily participate in the life of the church, eagerly pursue and protect this church’s unity, and commit to regularly gather for corporate worship?
Do you commit to fulfilling the work of the ministry by speaking the truth in love to your fellow members, and, as is required, faithfully warning and admonishing them, striving to build up the body of Christ to maturity and seeking their forgiveness when you have sinned against them?
Should the Lord choose to move you from this church to another, do you commit to first notify the pastors and then immediately seek out another gospel-preaching church where the spirit of these commitments may be carried out?

Will you solemnly covenant with these brothers and sisters, with the Lord’s help, to walk together in brotherly love as fellow church members, bearing each other’s burdens and sorrows, as well as one another’s joys?
Will you commit to regularly pray for them, to care for them, to open your lives, your homes, your resources, and your hearts to them?
Will you commit to speaking God’s truth in love to them, and, if required, lovingly seeking them out and restoring them if they begin to walk contrary to the truth of the gospel?
Will you commit to diligently strive for unity and peace with these brothers and sisters, always working to preserve one another’s conscience and Christian liberty?
Will you commit to seeking out their forgiveness and being quick to give forgiveness should sin damage our Christian unity?

If you would like to learn more about becoming an member, please join us for one of our membership classes!