Membership

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Good morning, church. It's good to see you all here this morning. Welcome if you're joining us online as well. It's good to be back. For those of you who may not know, my name's Dylan. I'm one of the pastors here. Although I haven't been here for a little while, I just enjoyed six weeks of holiday with my wife, Sally, and some good friends. We went to the far north of Queensland, up to the tip, which was wonderful. Nice to be refreshed and rested and ready to go. And as we've been getting back into the swing of things slowly over the last couple of weeks, we've gone through the usual rigmarole. Part of that is checking emails. And I was pretty good while I was away. Even my personal email, I went, you know what? There's nothing too important. It's only bills and stuff. That can wait. And so I got back and had an inbox full, six weeks' worth of correspondence. And I have to tell you, it was a really interesting experience. It opened my eyes because within the avalanche of emails, what I noticed was that the bulk of them were sent to me because I was supposedly a member of what they were promoting. I had emails from grocery shops telling me that my member specials were here six weeks ago. I had food and beverage companies, restaurants going, Hey, member discount this week only. I was like, That was four weeks ago. I had sporting outlets and different clothing stores all try and tell me about the next best thing because I was a member. Here's your member's insight. Don't miss out. Get it before it goes to the public. I play a little bit of sport. I had sports membership emails telling me about what was going on within the sporting clubs, and different unions emailing me, telling me updates because I was a member there. It became blaringly obvious because at six weeks' worth, you can't get past it. Ninety-five percent of my emails were because I was supposedly a member of this thing or that thing. But this is the reality. I wonder what your inbox looks like. It's the reality. You get drawn in. Hey, sign up, pay the fee if it's something that you really want. You spend a bit of money. You pay for your membership fee. Otherwise, you pay with your email because they know that if you give them your email, they can keep emailing you the deals, and eventually you'll spend money as well. So it still costs you. But sign up, pay the fee, and you'll receive special discounts, special access, and special privilege because you're a member of their club. What else I found out as I filtered through six weeks of emails is in our current society, there's also an option after you've signed up, after you've gone, Yes, I want all the benefits, to unsubscribe from the member emails. In essence, there's a way to reap the benefits without actively participating in the very thing that you signed up to be a part of. And sadly, This is the case in how our world views membership. Sadly, as I reflected from a biblical standpoint, our society has lost the significance and value in what it means to be a member. And the danger that we're going to look at this morning, church, is that we, living in a world which promotes this kind of carefree, non-committal membership, is that we approach church membership in the same way. Before we open up God's Word together, would you pray with me this morning? Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege that it is to gather together so freely this morning, brothers and sisters in Christ, to lift your name in worship, to spend time in prayer, to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. And we pray that you would prepare our hearts here and now as we unpack this topic of membership. Lord, as we read Scripture, would you be at work in our hearts by your Holy Spirit, leading us so that when we leave this place, we would know the action that you would have us take. Give us the strength to be obedient to what it is that you call us to do, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's set the scene. Two short verses, which will carry on a little bit from last week. John 1:9 to 12 says this. The true light, being Jesus, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor the will of man, but of God. Philippians 3, verse 18 to 21 says, For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. I don't know whether you were here last week. If you weren't, I'd encourage you to go back and rewatch the sermon. They're all available online. But last week was a timely reminder that this earthly life is not forever. In fact, Scripture tells us very clearly it is coming to an end. And in light of this, the question was asked, The end is coming, but are you okay? In other words, the end is coming, but salvation is available. Have you accepted Jesus, or are you still living in the condemnation of your sin? I hope that over the last week you've wrestled with that. I hope that as you sit here this morning, you know exactly where you stand, either with boldness to declare, Yes, I've accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am saved. My sin is forgiven. Or to be able to sit there and go, You know what? I haven't. But at least there's a clarity at the fact of where you stand. As we've taken this morning our communion, this remembrance for those who have accepted, I've seen and acknowledged it in the room. I'm speaking to a lot of people who have made that decision, who call Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. And if that's you this morning, then we have hope. Very truly, John 1:12 says, But to all who did receive him, to all who've accepted Jesus, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Just sit with that for a second. If you've accepted Jesus, you have been given the right. To be his child. Philippians 3:20. If this is you, our citizenship is in heaven. Not in Caboolture, not in Queensland, not in Australia, not on earth. Our citizenship, the place that we belong, is in heaven. And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, if you're here this morning and you've accepted Jesus, you're a citizen of heaven. You are a member of Christ's church. And already, from this initial glance, we see that Scripture reveals a very different view of membership than our world promotes. Society will say, Hey, be a member. Pay the membership costs, money or email, and then once you've paid that, once you've given us what we want, then you'll receive some benefits. We'll give you five dollars off occasionally, or whatever it may be. Scripture starts with the reality that you cannot buy your membership in heaven. You cannot earn your citizenship in heaven. In fact, it starts with the reality that all that we deserve, the only thing that we have any right to say, Hey God, I deserve this, is condemnation and death because of our sin. That's the only thing that in our sinful nature we earn: condemnation for sin. And yet Scripture starts this beautiful truth of the gospel. Rather than, hey, pay this fee and then become a member, it's bring your debt to me. Bring your debt, your sin, your condemnation to me. Jesus says, I have paid the price in full. I hung on the cross, my body broken, my blood shed for you. That if you believe, your cost is paid. I will give you new life. You'll be reconciled with God and have an eternity in relationship with me. Very truly, church, when we accept Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit, and we become members of Christ's church, his universal church. That means that we're counted among every person from every nation, every time period, and every denomination who have genuinely put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Sit with that for a moment. If you've accepted Jesus, you are counted among every nation, every denomination, every period of time that history has known. You are counted among every single person who has put their faith in Jesus. It's truly difficult to comprehend the magnitude of Christ's church. In fact, we probably won't be able to fully comprehend, fully realize the amazingness of this until Jesus comes again. Only then will we truly grasp just how amazing his church is. The reality is that we have natural limitations being human. We can't be everywhere. We can't know everything. We can't do everything. And so, even let's take out the all people from all time periods. Even here and now, to gather the church, who are currently alive, globally, let alone denominationally, is an impossible feat. We're getting close with Zoom and all the technology, but it's a logistical nightmare. We can't physically meet regularly with the entirety of Christ's church. And yet, it's important to know that if we have accepted Jesus, we are a part of his church, and that includes all people from every nation, every time period, and every denomination who have also accepted Jesus. is their Lord and Saviour. Given our natural human limitations, the Bible presents local church membership as a way to participate and experience our membership in Christ's universal church in a way that accommodates for our physical limitations as humans. Scripture reveals the early church used this model of local church membership. In fact, a good portion of the New Testament is written to members in local churches scattered around. And it's in one of these letters, as Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, that he gives an explanation of what it means, if you've accepted Christ, what it means to be a member of his church, both universally and in a local setting. If you've got your Bibles, I'll invite you to open to 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 to 27. It says this: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Paul highlights an important truth. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are a member of his church. And if you are a member of Christ's church, then you have a role to play within the body of Christ, under his headship. And church, this is countercultural. We don't sign up to memberships to get discounts, only to be told that, hey, we actually have to participate in stuff. We usually unsubscribe by that point. But the danger is that we treat our church membership like worldly membership. Very truly, there's a danger to want the benefits of salvation, to want the fellowship of other believers, but not want to be accountable, not want to be accounted for as a part in the body that has a role to play. We try to unsubscribe and keep the benefits, all while trying to avoid the responsibility that God has given us as members of his church. And the danger of this thinking leads in some specific ways. Number one, we like the thought of salvation, but we don't like the idea of having a role to play. And so danger number one is we separate ourselves from the church completely. That is, we try to be a lone ranger Christian, have the perks of salvation without the responsibility of fellowship. But church, using the example that Paul gives. We can't fool ourselves into thinking that we can do this, that we can go our lives without a proper connection with local church, with other brothers and sisters in Christ. It would be like my left hand saying, Hey, I just don't need you, and dropping off here and there. The reality is that if that happened, I'd have a very short window of time, put it on ice, get it to the hospital. Hey, can you sew this up, please? I had a whoopsie. But within a matter of hours, definitely within days and months, if that hand is not reattached to my body, it dies. Any attempt after it dies will not be successful to reattach it. And so not only is the hand then dead, but my body suffers. It's not able to function as it was designed to because I've only got one hand left. Church, the Bible is very clear that there's no such thing as lone ranger Christians. It urges us, do not forsake the meeting together regularly. It's a dangerous, misguided thought to want the perks of salvation, but not the responsibility of a role in the local church. The second danger is that we attend a local church, but we begin to consume the rest of the body. We come along, we warm up a seat. We take the benefits of other people serving faithfully in the way that God's called them to. But when it comes time for us to contribute meaningfully, we disappear out the back door. And church, this is a danger. Keeping with the body illustration, Guzik in his Enduring Word commentary puts it this way: The parts of the body work together. The eyes and the ears do not only serve themselves, but the whole body. The hands do not only feed and defend themselves, but the whole body. The heart does not only supply blood to itself, but serves the whole body. Sometimes there is a part of our body that only lives to serve itself. It doesn't contribute anything to the rest of the body, and everything it gets, it uses to feed and grow itself. We call this cancer. That's the reality. Cancer, as a part of the body, will take from other parts. Everything it receives, it will use for its own growth, to the detriment of the rest of the body. Verses 21 to 27: The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Now is the point where the rubber hits the road. What does this actually mean for you? If you're a disciple of Jesus, if you've accepted him as your Lord and Savior, if you're a member of his church, then what does it mean for you? The reality is that we can't meet regularly with the universal church. It's just not possible at the moment. And so, knowing that, being accounted for and actively involved in a local church is vital. And if you're visiting here, maybe for the first time, I'm not going to plug you. I'm not going to say it has to be Caboolture Baptist. If you've been here for 50 years, I'm not going to say it has to be Caboolture Baptist. Go where God leads you. That'll be the place where he blesses you. But make sure that you commit to a local church. Commit to a gathering of other believers who will continually grow you and challenge you and keep you accountable in your walk with Jesus. Don't forsake local church membership. We can't have the benefits without the responsibility. And so find and commit to a local gathering of believers. Partner together. Use your gifts to serve the role that God has given you, to fulfill the commandment that he has given, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so practically, if you're not a member of a local church here this morning, can I encourage you? Go to the welcome desk at the end of the service. Ask for a membership pack. I think they've got some physical ones there. Ask to get one emailed out to you. Explore this. Ask some serious questions. Commit to a local church. Maybe you've been attending Caboolture Baptist for longer than some members have. What's stopping you from fulfilling the role that God's called you to take? What's stopping you from taking on the responsibility of worshiping here? In the way that you have been, but to be counted as part of God's people here in Caboolture. Now, I know that as I say that, there'll be some hesitancy from people who have experienced church hurt. That's the reality of it. Churches aren't perfect. In fact, the reality is that unfortunately, we're not immune to the sin that still plagues this world. And with sin being a factor, there is such thing as church hurt. But I want to encourage you this morning: surrender your hurt to God, and don't let this past hurt stop you from actively participating in the role that He has called you to fulfil today and into the future. See, the Lord's been gracious to me. There's a reason that when I finished school, I went off, and He very much opened the doors for me to go into the sanitation industry, sound and lighting, not too many hammers being swung around. I love working with my hands. I'm just not very good at it sometimes. And so, I'll, with full enthusiasm, try to build something, and I'll pick up that hammer and I'll swing to try and get that nail in with a single hit. And sometimes, in full enthusiasm, zeal to get this project done, I'll miss the nail and hit my finger. And sometimes if you hit it hard enough, it bruises straight away. Sometimes there's a bit of blood. Very truly, one member of my body hurt the other. Wasn't necessarily intentional. Wasn't necessarily smart. But sometimes, in the reality of the sinful world that we live in, parts of the body do damage the other part. Church hurt is real. But using the same illustration, if I've busted up my finger, it's the other hand, the same hand that damaged the finger, that will apply the Band-Aid. And it's not just the finger that feels sore, although it cops a brunt. The whole body experiences the pain of that impact. If you hit it hard enough, you'll fall to the ground and curl up into a ball. Your whole body experiences the damage. And so too, if you've been hurt by church membership, if you've been hurt by the church in general, I'm sorry. The reality is that we live in a sinful world. It doesn't make it okay, but through Jesus, healing and restoration is possible. Don't let previous hurts stop you from fulfilling the role that God has called you to do. If you are a member of a local church, maybe you're a member of Caboolture Baptist, then the message from 1 Corinthians 12 is clear. Are you fulfilling the role that God has given you to play here in the local church in which you are a part of? Are you fulfilling the role that God has called you to do? There's two possibilities as dangers here. The first ideal one is you go, yes, God has gifted me in this way. I am actively serving. I am being fed by the fellowship here at Caboolture Baptist, and I am serving not only here, but I am feeling empowered and equipped to go out into the local community and share the good news of Jesus. If that's you, I want to say, keep going. Thank you for the way in which you minister here. Keep going in the strength of God. But there's two other possibilities. The first possibility is you've taken on membership. But whether intentionally or unintentionally, the responsibility of membership has fallen to the wayside. You still show up regularly, maybe once a month, maybe more. But really beyond your attendance, gracing the church with your presence, there's not too much that you actually contribute to. Verse 18: If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If you're a member here this morning and you're not serving in the role that God has given you, can I encourage you to prayerfully seek what it is that God has equipped you with and how it is you may contribute to his body. Maybe you sit there and you go, I've just never really been sure. I don't know how God's gifted me. Scripture is clear: God gifts all who follow him for a purpose as he chooses. If you want help trying to figure out where your gifting may be, come see me, one of the pastors, a trusted Christian friend. We'd love to pray with you and seek God for his leading in that. But church, we can't unsubscribe from the responsibility and take the benefits. The other danger is that we serve in a way and a role in which we were never intended to. A knee is really good at bracing and preparing and diminishing impact, but it should never be used to consume food. In the same way, a mouth is really fantastic for eating and sustaining the body, but it should never be used as the sole point of bracing and preparing for impact. And so maybe you're here this morning, a part of the local church, and you're feeling burnt out. You're feeling like you're really struggling. You feel like there's just not a fit or that it just, it's hard. Maybe it's been some time since you've experienced the joy of serving God. And so I ask you, where are you serving? Has God called you to be a mouth and you're there trying to be a knee? It's not going to be effective for the body. It's not going to be fulfilling for you. It's not going to be the work that God has called you to do. It's important, church, that we seek to understand where it is that God has gifted us, where it is that he's calling us to serve, and serve faithfully in what he calls us to do. Not more or less, but exactly the role that he has given us to serve in. And so my encouragement to you this morning: use the gifts that God has given to you faithfully. It is such a joy and a privilege to be invited into the work that God is doing in this world. Don't miss out on serving faithfully in the role that he has called you to. You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. So seek to obey Christ faithfully in the role that he has given. Let's pray. Lord God, here and now. My prayer is that for each of us, we would surrender wholeheartedly to you, our God. Lord, thank you for the undeserved privilege that it is to know you as our Lord and Savior, to receive the free gift of grace which reconciles us to you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you that even though we're broken, even though we're sinful, thank you that we are restored through the blood of Jesus and invited by you, our heavenly Father, to join you actively in the work that you've called us to do and the work that you're doing. Lord, thank you that you have created us to be in community, that you've created us to be around other brothers and sisters in Christ, to be encouraged and grown deep in our faith so that we may be empowered and equipped to go out into the world and share the good news of Jesus with those who don't know. And so, Lord, we surrender to you now. We pray that you would lead us in how it is that you want us to respond. Lord, if you're calling us to seek membership, would you help us to do so in your strength? Lord, if there's church hurt, would you help us to surrender that to you? Lord, we pray for healing and restoration there. Lord, we pray that if we are members of a local church, help us not to take on more than that you've given us. But Lord, help us not to settle for less than the role that you've given us as well. Lead us and guide us by your Holy Spirit. Empower us, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.