This is information that is meant to help everyone understand how we see and understand membership in a local church. |
Membership 1 Cor. 1:2-3
This is information that is meant to help everyone understand how we see and understand membership in a local church.
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What about Membership?
Membership in a church is a serious decision. It is similar to a decision to marry – coming with responsibilities and privileges; joys and sorrows; expectations met and disappointments. It should be prayed over, thought through seriously, and then committed to with conviction. Joining a church is not like joining a social club, a social network, an athletic gym, or a service organization. If you decide to join Madison Chapel we have expectations of our members – not because we made them up, but because we have opened our Bibles and observed that God enumerated expectations of genuine Christian church members through the writers of the New Testament. We believe that we would be irresponsible to ignore His Word.
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Therefore, we do not encourage you to join on an emotional high, after one good service or one good experience. We want every potential member to have time to do the following before joining:
- Discover who we are, what we believe, and what we preach (to this end we offer a new members class which covers these issues);
- Pray about your membership and weigh the decision carefully, using your intellect and your emotions;
- Then commit if God leads you here, with the intention of becoming an active growing member.
We do not say these things to frighten folks off, or to give an indication that this church is an exclusive sort of club, but we do this because our love for Christ and His glory compels us to be diligent in comprising the Church of Jesus Christ in the Madison Chapel. It is His church and as such deserves our best efforts.
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Here is what we want all our members (married or single, male or female) to work faithfully at being:
- Heart-set on making much of God;
- Biblical thinkers and doers;
- 100% Biblically masculine and feminine, respectively;
- A disciple of Christ, spiritually alive and committed to growing toward maturity;
- A disciple, seeking and finding at least one other person to disciple personally ( to disciple simply means doing life together in Christ);
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- Personally responsible for finding relational connections within the church so that they may grow spiritually. It is an oxymoron to be a “lone ranger” Christian. It is a lie to believe that you can grow to maturity in Christ apart from all other people, especially other Christians. Christians and other people challenge us, they hurt us, and they cause us to learn how to forgive just as God has forgiven us;
- Personally responsible to find a place to serve;
- Physically pure and sexually chaste until God provides a lifetime partner and spouse.
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In Addition, We Want Our Married Men (Who Are Members) to Work Faithfully at Being:
- The spiritual leaders in their own homes.
- Committed to shepherd and woo their own children's hearts so that they will love Christ; avoiding simply making their children behave like Christians.
- Personally responsible for finding relational connections within the church for themselves and their families so that they all may grow spiritually.
In Addition, We Want Our Married Women (Who Are Members) to Work Faithfully at Being:
- The spiritual and practical compliments to their husbands.
- Committed to shepherd and woo their own children's hearts so that they will love Christ; avoiding simply making their children behave like Christians.
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We want our children to be evangelized, discipled, and taught by their parents, to love Christ with all their heart, mind, soul and might.
Now we are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor. 12:27
If the paragraphs above seem reasonable and attractive to you then you should read further.
If they do not then we invite you to continue to attend and we will pray that God will change your heart.
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Reasons to join.
These are reasons to consider joining Madison Chapel as a member.
You want to:
- Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and might, and be with others trying to do the same thing;
- Be:
- A part of a church trying to make much of God and less of ourselves;
- With a church that intends to grow its own elders, pastors, and leaders for the next generation, so that transitions will not result in huge swings of theology, strategy, activity, and direction;
- Accountable to those who will love you and lovingly confront you;
- Learn:
- Of the Christ of the Bible and not the Christ of man's own making;
- About who God is, who you are, and what your biggest problem is;
- How to properly handle the Word of God and interpret it well;
- To love people who are different from yourself, but who are created in the image of God;
- Grow:
- To take your faith seriously – meaning your faith will influence every part of your life;
- In Christ (that is maturing or growing up);
- As a disciple of Christ;
- Others as disciples, by personally discipling at least one other person;
- Help to spread the Gospel in:
- Western North Carolina, by personally living a holy life, speaking with a holy tongue, and sharing the hope within you;
- The world, by personally giving financial support and going if God calls.
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Reasons not to join Madison Chapel.
You should not join this church just because:
- Friends go here;
- The pastor seems nice (trust me, one day he will not seem nice);
- This church seems to be able to meet your needs (only Christ can do this);
- You feel good when you leave (one day you will not);
- You want to be happy (the Christian faith is more about growing up into deep-seated joy than what our culture perceives as happiness);
- You love the music (one day you will not);
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