What is a church member?

What if I told you there was a machine that could do 100,000 cycles a day.  About 3.5 billion in it's working lifetime.  A small machine, it takes wear and tear put on it, filters junk, and is about the size of two human fists.

It is an impressive resume, is it not?  And it should be, as that machine is our human heart!

But as amazing a piece of engineering by God the heart is, it's still useless outside of the body.

If you take it out of it's support, it's connective tissue, it would cease to function as it was designed to.

So is it to with a church member.  A christian cannot fulfill all of their functions in scripture if they are not part of a local church body.

Much like an embassy in a foreign land is a representative of another country, so to is the church.  Of another kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

Hebrews 13:15-19 admonishes us to submit ourselves to the leaders in authority over us.  Meaning, those leaders of the local church that you are a part of, as they will give an account of you.

A church member has a few characteristics.

A church member is one who submits.
A church member is one who is in relationship with "one-anothers" in the church.
A church member is one who serves those in the body of Christ with them.

The Acid Test of A Christian

Can you tell me who your parents are?  How do you know you are their child?  Many of us might point to our physical characteristics.  Having a nose like our dad, or eyes like our mom.  Or maybe our attitudes and habits.  You might jingle your keys in your pocket like your dad, or love baking like your mother.

But how about your heavenly Father?  How do you know you are His?  It can't be through our looks, so maybe it is through other ways.  People try a few common ways.

1.  Orthodoxy.  It's what you know and don't know that makes you a christian.
2. Actions.  Still others might say it's not what you know, its how you act that proves your faith.
3.  Experience.  Others say a christian needs to be able to point to a defining experience in their life.

But all of these tests fail to meet the standard for who is a christian and who is not.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 points us to the true acid test of a Christian.   A standard that holds up in all storms, all stages of life, all places in the world.

For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  

A Christian is someone who knows whose they are. Who they belong to, who fights for them, and where they fit in all of time.  A Christian can stand up and say with Paul, that the glory of God is beyond all comparison.

What is a Covenant

Last week we explored the topic of the church.  This week we get into exactly how God works with us, and how we as a church are to interact with each other.

We can look to scripture to see God's relationship with the church, what characterizes it, what defines it.  And in turn we get a picture of what should define our relationship with each other in a church.

God's relationship with the church is defined by a covenant.  This is different from a contract. Contracts involve reciprocation.  Exchange of money or goods for services.  But a covenant says "I will be this for you, no matter what"

Romans 8 gives a beautiful description of this.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Romans 8:28-31

A great way to see practically the way we are to act towards each other in covenant is the one-another's found in scripture.  There are over 50 in the New Testament.  (love one another, serve one another, etc)

What is a Church

If someone asked you to show them God, what would you do?  What would you say?  What would you show them?

The Bible says Jesus is "the image of the invisible God."  Through the records of the life of Jesus we can see God. But for us today, we can no longer see Jesus physically.  But one of the most common images for the NT church is the "Body of Christ."  This means that when people see the church, they are to see Christ.

Ephesians 2:17-22 gives a clear picture of what the church is to be:

1.  Those far away, and those near
2.  Children of God, fellow citizens, no longer strangers and aliens
3.  Built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets
4.  Fitted together by God, the master builder
5.  Growing into maturity

We think of the church as a building, or a place.  But Scripture is clear that God is building a people, not a place.