HOW DO I JOIN YOUR CHURCH?
June 20, 2004 AM
Sermon Outline
ACTS 2:41-47
INTRO: The question which is the title for this mornings sermons study is one which I have been asked many, many times. It is an honest question asked by people who have usually been genuinely interested in a straightforward answer. Of the many questions I have been asked, I think I most enjoy having someone ask me this one ... and the open door of opportunity it offers me. What I want to do this morning is to answer this question ... assuming that there may be someone here who has mentally posed that very question. Or perhaps I want to answer this question to assist some of us who may be attempting to teach others and who may be confronted with this exact question.
I IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE BE IN THE CHURCH!
A. The church is...
1. the body of Christ - Col 1:18
2. the bride of Christ - Rev 21:2
3. the family of God - Eph 2:19
4. the temple of God - 1 Cor 3:16,17
5. the blood bought church - Acts 20:28
B. Clearly, apart from the church one can have no relationship with God
1. listen: Eph 3:21 - God is glorified in the church
2. or: Acts 2:47 - the saved are in the church
3. so, the question of membership in the church is certainly critical
4. and its a question deserving of our consideration, our answering
C. Another point ... we must understand the church is not a denomination
1. the expression your church suggests a denominational concept
2. our only interest must be in the church of Mt 16:18 - His church
3. we must search the N.T. for the description, pattern of His church
4. I have no interest in being a member of just another denomination - and I have a strong suspicion that you have not such interest
II SO, WHAT ABOUT THE JOINING?
A. Lets take another look at Acts 2:47
1. perhaps to some this will/would sound a little picky
2. but according to this passage, the Lord adds the saved to the church
3. so, a larger question is, What must one do to be saved?
4. I cannot be a member of the Lords church until I resolve that matter - because it is then that I become a member of the body by the Lords action
B. So, we need to examine what has gone before in Acts 2
1. the word of God is proclaimed - vv. 22-24 (recall Rom 10:17)
2. the Lordship of Jesus is declared - v. 36
3. hearers become believers - v. 37 (and they ask a crucial question)
4. they receive a clear answer to their question - v. 38
a. repent (recall Lk 24:47)
b. be baptized (recall Mk 16:15,16)
c. for remission of sins, for gift of the Holy Spirit
5. many of those people were baptized - v. 41a (recall 1 Pet 3:21)
6. those baptized people were added unto them - v. 41b (the implication of this text is that there were some who were not baptized)
7. the summation? Acts 2:47
C. Two more passages which help answer our question?
1. 1 Cor 12:13 - baptism is into the body (the church)
2. Gal 3:26,27 - baptism is into Christ
3. it is clear that in baptism one passes from lost to saved
4. and in baptism one is placed, by the Lord, into the body, the church
D. One then sustains a relationship to the Lord in a local congregation
1. in scripture we read of churches in numerous cities
2. for example, the church in Antioch (Acts 11:26) - disciples assembled; disciples were called Christians; disciples served and gave (Acts 11:29,30)
3. or, the church in Troas (Acts 20:6,7) - the disciples assemble to eat the Lords supper; to hear the word proclaimed
4. when you are baptized, then, you are added to the church - and you sustain your relationship to the body by being a part of a local congregation
CLOSE: One of the significant things about all of this is that our answer comes directly from scripture. In other words, you become a member of the Lords church (His body) in exactly the same way that people did 2000 years ago. And because you have followed the instruction and example of scripture, you can know your are in the church of Jesus Christ!
Cecil A. Hutson
20 June 2004