WHY SHOULD A CHRISTIAN BE A CHURCH MEMBER?

Bahagi ito ng serye ng pagaaral na itinuturo ko sa aming prayer meeting.  Please take note na sa New Testament walang mananampalataya na di bahagi o miembro ng Simbahan/Iglesia.  Noon ay walang option kung ano at saang church ka aanib because there was only one kind of New Testament Church.  Kahit saang lugar ka mapunta noon ang simbahan ay iisa ang turo at may authority na tama. 

So why should a Christian be a Church member? 

1.  The New Testament encourages it.  Acts 2:41, 47

2.  The very nature of the Church demands it.  The local Church is the expression of the body of Christ.  Each Church is a body.  Each Church is a temple of God.  Each Church is a bride of Christ.  Therefore to neglect the Church is to be in disobedience to the Holy Spirit.  If we neglect the Church we neglect the one that Christ loved and gave Himself for.  We cannot say we love Jesus Christ but not love His Church.  That is inconsistency.

3.  The believers need the Church.  The Church is the home for spiritual race. You cannot be born physically without a physical home.  The home is the institution where the physical race is propagated.  You cannot be born again and be not in the Church.  The Church is the spiritual home for the spiritual race.  We need the church just as an orphan needs a home.

4.  The Church is spoken of as a flock.  Christ is the Shepherd.  A sheep that is not in the flock is a sheep gone astray.  The sheep needs the shepherd's care -- the shepherding ministry of a Pastor.

5.  The mission of the church necessitates Church membership.  The Church is the reciprocal of the truth in this age.  It is the instrument that God has ordained to preach the Gospel.  We are not in one with God in this mission if we are not members and serving in the Church as members. 

6.  Acts 2:41-47 -- Skeleton Patter = Believing - Baptizing - Belonging