Baptism & Membership
Baptism:
Baptism is an expression of commitment to follow Jesus, and a step towards membership in our church.
Membership:
Church membership is a formal commitment by a Christian to a specific local congregation, signifying their dedication to Christ's universal body, involving mutual accountability, shared worship, service, financial support, and spiritual growth within that community.
From the CBOQ website on Baptism:
Read: Matthew 28:19. What do you think it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit? When you immerse a cup into a sink full of water, where does the water end up? Inside the cup as well as all around the cup. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit means being filled and surrounded by God's Spirit. We need God's Spirit to help us do what we have made up our minds to do – live for God. God gives us his spirit when our hearts are clean – that happens when God forgives our sin when we have decided to give up our ways and follow God's way.
Being baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a way of saying, “I have decided to live for God and that means following the example of his Son Jesus who shows us what God is like and what we can be and I count on the Holy Spirit to help me do it.” Baptism was important in the early Church too. Now the person performing the Baptism lays the person down flat on their back under the water and then brings them up again. This is sort of a re-enactment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, a way of expressing what His sacrifice has done for us. There is also the symbolism of dying to our old sinful self and being raised to a new and better life.
Read: Ezekiel 36:25-27. According to this passage, God does three things to make us clean. First, God washes away the unclean thoughts, actions, and attitudes of our past. Unclean doesn't just mean naughty thoughts or actions, but any words, ideas, deeds, or approach to living that can take the life out of us or out of someone else. Second, God gives us a new way of thinking about the way we live – God's own way. And third, God puts his own Spirit inside us so that we can live God's way and get the most out of life. Becoming “clean” requires us to be ready and willing to live for God and it requires God to wash away our sins and fill us with his Spirit so that we can do it. God is just waiting for us to ask.
Read: Romans 6:6-8, 10-11. This ritual called baptism is done once and only once. God understands that our Christian faith is a journey and we are bound to make mistakes and continually have to go to God to confess our sins and ask forgiveness; to put our old desires and ways of life to death. We don't have to be rebaptized each time we recommit ourselves to Christ. We do it once and we do it publicly to tell other people that we have decided to follow Jesus. Another reason for being baptized in a public service is because we are becoming a part of a group of believers. Other Christians who watch us be baptized have a duty to help a new believer develop their faith, to walk with them on their Christian journey, and to be aware that this person is now committed to the body of Christ and will begin to take on some responsibilities in the life of the church. Once we are baptized, it is important for us to show our determination to follow God's way and Jesus' example in the way we think and speak, in our attitude to life, and the way we treat other people, in the way we make our money and how we spend it, and in every other aspect of our day to day living. That's part of having abundant life!
More readings can be found in A Guide to Baptism and Church Membership at Baptist.ca
From the CBOQ website on Membership
The Bible teaches us that each individual Christian has direct access to God through prayer.
Read: Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:26-28 and I Timothy 2:5-6a. But that doesn't mean we are expected to follow Jesus all by ourselves. Ever since the beginning of Jesus' ministry on Earth He encouraged believers to be together. After His death, resurrection, and return to Heaven, the group of Jesus' followers who met together on a regular basis for prayer and worship, education, mission, and evangelism became known as the Church. As members were scattered all over the Roman Empire, Christians gathered together in smaller groups called churches. Each church was made up of people who, by their own choice, believed in Jesus as their personal Saviour (the one who saves them from their sin and offers them eternal life) and were committed to serve Him as Lord (the one who sets the standard by which we live) of their lives. The Book of Acts makes a strong link between belief and baptism followed very closely by membership in a church which included participation in worship, learning about the faith, interacting with other members of the community, and doing the work of Christ – introducing people to what God is really like and inviting others to become part of God's family.
Read: Acts 2:37-42; 8:4-13; 16:11-15; 18:5-8. In his letters to particular churches, the apostle Paul compared the church to a body. Read: I Corinthians 12:12-27. We are the hands and feet and eyes and ears and heart of Christ in the world today. It is our job to be on the lookout for people in need of physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and social care and reach out to them through the love of Jesus to offer meaningful support. Every individual member of a group of believers has an important part to play in mission and ministry. No one is extraneous or redundant. We cannot count on someone else to do our work for us and if we don't do our part, there will be holes in our effectiveness. Question: Does this mean that we are to spend all our time and energy doing “church” activities? What did Jesus do? We do have specially trained ministers whose job it is to help us understand scripture, guide our spiritual development, enable us to discover our gifts and employ them in service for God, to name a few of their tasks, but these “professionals” are not above anyone else in the church. Our ministers, pastors, or clergy work side by side with other believers using their own gifts in mission and ministry. Every one of us represents Christ in the world. We are all expected to introduce others to Jesus and to live as servants who call him Lord. We are all members of the body of Christ. Each of us has been given gifts to use for the good of all. Read: Ephesians 3:20-21; 4:11-13 and I Peter 2:9-10. Question: How can you discover the gifts you have been given and determine where God is hoping you will use them? Since it has been God's plan for us from the beginning of creation that we should enjoy life and find it satisfying and wonderful then discovering, developing, and using the gifts God has given us should be a tremendously fulfilling experience. We can safely assume that the things we love to do, the things we are naturally good at, the things that make us feel alive are the gifts God has given us and using them in God's service ought to fill us with even more life. The Bible lists a number of gifts that can be used within the church.
Read: Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:28-31, Ephesians 4:11. These gifts were meant to be used primarily within the church and all of them are important but they are not the only gifts God has given and they are no more important than any others. The work to which God calls us goes way beyond the walls of our places of worship. It is God's desire that all people have an opportunity to learn about Jesus and consider inviting Him into their hearts and not everyone comes looking for that in our churches. Many people don't even know they need the Lord. Jesus worked among people who were not regular “religious” folk and so should we. If God has given you athletic gifts, then developing them will bring you into contact with other athletes who might never have heard about Jesus. Seeing how you live and hearing about the difference your relationship with Jesus makes in your life may have a profound effect on them. Musicians, actors, dancers, and artists can reach others in the artistic arenas of life. Mechanics, engineers, machinists, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, welders, etc. can touch the lives of people in their fields. Emergency response workers, medical practitioners, social workers, and child caregivers can show their colleagues the difference Christian faith makes in their lives. The list goes on. God wants to reach other people with His love through you and God will provide opportunities for that to happen.
Question: What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What new skills would you like to learn? How can you imagine using your gifts in God's service? How does being a member of a church affect using your gifts outside the church?
Membership sessions are starting soon. Speak to Pastor Pamela!
