Some reasons for belonging to a church...

Yesterday, I talked about the fine line churches have to walk today to invite and be open to visitors and guests, and same time, value the commitment of those who choose to join. Today (and tomorrow) I will share some reasons for joining that I have included in our new member book, So You Want to be a Member… A Study for New Members, which is a book I wrote that we use in our new member classes here in Almond.

From the introduction, here is an excerpt on reasons to belong…

Many people sit on the sidelines for some time without ever making the commitment to belong in membership with a particular church. But there are many reasons for becoming a member. In a booklet called Why Be A Christian, Why the Church, Walter Woodbury brings out several reasons to join in membership with a local church congregation:

1. Because of what the church is (The living body of Christ), and what it has
   for me (opportunities for nurture, fellowship, growth and worship).


2. Because you need the help of God’s church, and the church needs you.
   (As for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. – Psalm
   73:2)


3. It is selfish and wrong of me to expect the benefits of the church if I
   refuse to join it and help to sustain it.


4. I would not want to live nor bring up children in a community without a
   church and I cannot reasonably ask others to provide a church for my family,
   unless I am willing to do my share.


5. By staying outside the church, I am throwing my influence against Christ and
   His Church.


6. If all people refused to unite with the church and support its ministries,
   there would be no church.


7. The church offers the opportunity to invest in a great and worthy cause,
   namely, the extension of God’s Kingdom in the world.


8. If I do not stand up for Christ and His church here, how can I expect Him to
   claim me among His own when He comes in triumph? (If anyone is ashamed of
   me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. –Mark 8:38)

Tomorrow, I’ll share some more reasons from Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life.

Thanks for reading.