Articles
Local Church Membership - Part 2
Last week, we began the topic of local church membership. The goal was to make this one brief article. However, with the introduction to set the foundation, it was difficult to fit in the 6 points of consideration. The brief description of the 3 items from last week required that I include one item for this week & conclude my thought the following week. Last week’s article received positive comments requesting that I expound upon these points further, which I plan to do starting in 2 weeks.
Let us resolve to do the following:
I Will Pray For The Leadership Here At Wildercroft (Hebrews 13:7 & Hebrews 13:17-18)
This congregation is blessed to have Elders, Deacons, & an Evangelist. It is sad when some believe that church membership means they have a God-given right to attack &/or criticize these men only. This makes their work that much harder. The work of leading, feeding, overseeing, protecting, disciplining, restoring, serving, working, preaching, teaching, ministering, evangelizing, & edifying is extremely draining without any added distractions. This is why members need to pray for these men. The work they do is important, authorize, & critical to the spiritual growth of this congregation. For this reason alone, they need our prayers.
In addition, these men desire this work & have met certain Biblical qualifications in order to serve (Elders – 1 Timothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-9, Deacons – 1 Timothy 3:8-13, & Evangelists – The books of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, & Titus). This speaks to their habits & their heart. Nevertheless, these brethren are still men that are tempted by Satan. An Elder may have an ego that needs to be eradicated. A Deacon may have a demon that needs to be destroyed. A Preacher may have a passion that needs to be pulverized. Whatever the issue, we need to keep these men in our prayers daily because the devil is busy (1 Peter 5:8).
- cb20140202.pdf (332.38 kB)
