Biblical Reasons
- Christ promised to build His church and it is the vehicle God wants to use in the
present day. Membership invites you to be a part of what God is doing. (Matthew
16:18)
- Christ died for the church (Ephesians 5:25), which demonstrates its importance.
- The Bible speaks of a role listing of those who belonged to the first church (Acts
2). Present church membership follows that pattern.
- Baptism is a picture of your identification with the universal body of Christ (Romans
6:1-11), membership identifies you with the local church.
Cultural Reasons
- Our generation is the first generation of Christians to be without a local church.
Church membership fights against our current culture of non-commitment.
- Our culture glorifies self-sufficiency. The Bible glories in community and inter-dependence
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Church membership allows you to reject self-sufficiency and
embrace your God-designed need for others.
Practical Reasons
- Service opportunities in the church are limited for non-members. Perhaps those very
areas are areas of giftedness for you. Membership permits you to serve in any area
you are biblically gifted for.
- Membership defines who can be counted on. Every team must have a roster. Membership
identifies our family of believers who can be counted on in our attempt to fulfill
our purpose.
- Membership allows us to better care for you and your needs. Each deacon is assigned
a group of members to care for. Non-members will not receive as personalized care
and (by constitution) do not have some of the benefits members receive.
Personal Reasons
- Membership moves people out of a vague cloud of good intentions and into the clear
light of commited participation. It is easy to observe from the fringes.
- The New Testament places a major emphasis on the need for us to be accountable to
each other for spiritual growth. Without membership, the strength of accountability
is severely weakend.
- With membership comes an umbrella of protection. If you are a member, it guarantees
that if you stray morally or doctrinally, we will come to your aid to help you get
back to where God wants you to be.
We have expectations of all members. To become a member, you are stating your intention and desire. These are not officially requirements, yet we believe they are biblical practices and are very important for the growth of a believer in Christ. Finally, we do not require that these expectations are done through our official programs.
Six Expectations of Membership
- We expect members to worship with us on Sunday mornings for corporate worship and growth.
- We expect members to be part of a small group of believers functioning biblically by practicing the one anothers of the Bible.
- We expect members to grow in the knowledge of Christ through further biblical education.
- We expect membership to serve Christ and in with this church body.
- We expect members to live an evangelistic lifestyles (PI2 - Pray, Invest, Invite) to help those who are far from God to find life in Christ.
- We expect members to sacrificially give to the financial needs of the church.
Final Thoughts
After you have given careful and prayerful attention to this matter, please attend the next Exploring Northridge class. If you do
not wish to apply for membership at this time, be assured that this does not affect your welcome in our church in any way. Thank you for your fellowship and concern for our church.
To learn more, listen to a sermon about church membership entited
"Stop Dating the Church".
Membership Process
If you are interested in becoming a member, we ask that you do the following:
- Attend the Exploring Northridge class.
- Fill out a Membership
Application
- Meet with a deacon and share your testimony.
The following sermons should be helpful to you as you consider membership at Northridge Church:
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Do versus Done
Every religious system has a viewpoint of how we interact with God's grace, how we get it and how we keep it. Every religious system also has a viewpoint of the future and how we can have the best future possible. This sermon will look at how Biblical Christianity is opposed to every other religious system on the issues of grace and eternal life.
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What's My Next Step?
Once we have placed our faith in Christ, we are called to be baptized. It is a calling we have to "go public" with our faith in Christ, being identified with him in his death, burial, and resurrection. This sermon answers the common questions about baptism.
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Northridge Church Exposed
This series is designed to explain our ministry philosophy. Why do we do what we do? How do we view issues of cultural relevance? To be culturally relevant and biblically faithful, we must consistently differentiate between what is cultural and what is biblical; between what is personal preference and what is theological conviction; between what is a temporary cultural paradigm and what it an eternal biblical principle.
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