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Sermon

Following is an excerpt of "Every Member Matters (3 of 8)" by James Merritt added on 02/05/2004.
This content is part of a series.
Building Blocks (3 of 8)
EVERY MEMBER MATTERS
James Merritt
Hebrews 10:24-25
5-18-03

INTRODUCTION

1. [PowerPoint(r) on the anatomy of a body]

2. Thinking about a body, and the various parts and organs of a body, helps us to answer two very vital questions about the church: What does it mean to be a member of a church? and Why is being a member of a church different from being a member of any other institution or organization in the world? Well you will understand why membership matters and every member matters if you will begin to see the church as a body, and the members as the vital organs. In fact, that is what we are told in Rom. 12:5, "In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (NIV)

3. When you talk to people today about membership, people think about paying dues, secret rituals, or having your name on some invisible roll that nobody ever sees. Paul had a very different picture of membership in a church. To Paul, being a "member" of the church was the same thing as being a vital organ of a living body. Until we understand that we will never understand the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building. It is an organism, not an organization. In order for organs of the body to fulfill their purpose they must be connected to the body. For the body to be healthy all of the organs must be connected and they must be functioning. Any vital organ that is detached from the body will not only fail to fulfill its purpose, but it will die. The same thing is true for Christians who refuse to become a member of a church.

4. Sometimes when I have tried to witness to people they have very bluntly said, "That is a personal matter." Well, quite frankly, they were only half right. While your relationship to Jesus Christ is personal, God never intended it to be private. The church is a body, and every member needs to be connected to the body. The church is a family, and every family member needs to be a functioning member of the family.

5. One of the greatest problems we face in the church today is "meaningless membership." According to the Barna Research Group, 1 in 7 people will look for a new church this year, and 1 in 6 attends two or more churches on a rotating basis.1 Now some call these people "church hoppers." I call them "bunny believers." They hop from one church to another.

6. Even though I have been critical of these "bunny believers" let's be honest. The reason many hop from church to church is because they are saying in their own way, "my membership is not meaningful." Cross Pointe is going to do everything she can to insure that "every member matters." This is going to entail a process; a never ending process that we pray will produce meaningful members. There will be four stages to this process:
* Awareness -- This is the stage where we make people aware of our church, and hopefully invite them to the church.
* Atte ...

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