Membership & Baptism – Both Are Important (October 2, 2022)
Sermon Outline for Sunday, October 2, 2022
Pastor Andy Lambert
PASSAGES: Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12; Acts 10:48; Colossians 2:11–12; Romans 6:4–5; Acts 16:31–33; Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:4; Acts 2:46–47; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Corinthians 16:15–16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 12:25–26; Acts 2:44–45; Luke 11:42; 1 Corinthians 9:6–9; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Malachi 3:10; Acts 20:28–29; Ephesians 4:11–14
BAPTISM
Our Lord Jesus ordained the rite of baptism. Its clearest statement of ordination is the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV) ~ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The early church observed this rite both in its exhortations to believers (Acts 2:38) and in its practices in evangelism (Acts 8:12; 10:48). It is significant that in all the sacramental practices of the New Testament period of the church, the church did not create any ordinance either by its own decision or by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 (ESV) ~ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:12 (ESV) ~ But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 10:48 (ESV) ~ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
Sacraments are designed to portray religious experience. The sacrament of baptism is designed to depict the following experiences in Christ: the new birth, cleansing, death to sin, burial, and resurrection to a new life. Therefore, all the elements of the ceremony are important.
• In order to represent cleaning, water is appropriate. Ananias exhorted Saul of Tarsus to be baptized and, as he did, he related the cleansing of water as the symbol for the washing away of sin:
• In order to represent death, burial and resurrection, immersion is appropriate:
Colossians 2:11–12 (ESV) ~ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
• In order to represent the new birth, the coming forth from the water into a new life is appropriate:
Romans 6:4–5 (ESV) ~ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
The temporal agent of God in the administering of this ordinance is the church. The church is subject to error in its judgment; so, its administering of the sacrament is not an assurance of salvation. It is an acknowledgment by the church that the body of believers accepts the testimony of the one who is being baptized. It does not state that the one who is being baptized is perfected in their walk with God.
Acts 16:31–33 (ESV) ~ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
• The experience of being baptized in water does not regenerate; however, it is spiritually related to our baptism into the body of Christ:
Galatians 3:27 (ESV) ~ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
• This experience enforces and strengthens our baptism into the body of Christ and our baptism into death.
1 Corinthians 12:13 (ESV) ~ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
Romans 6:4 (ESV) ~ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
We already know that the church is not this building, but we as individuals are the church. So why is church membership important?
Acts 2:46-47 ~ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
What are the responsibilities of a Church Member?
• Submission to Leadership and Authority
Hebrews 13:17 ~ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
1 Corinthians 16:15-16 ~ Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.”
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 ~ We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
• Participation in Local Activities
Acts 2:42 ~ And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
• Care of Fellow Members
1 Corinthians 12:25–26 (ESV) ~ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Acts 2:44-45 ~ And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
• Support of the Ministry and Mission of the Church Body
Luke 11:42 ~ But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
1 Corinthians 9:6-9 ~ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?”
1 Corinthians 16:2 ~ On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”
Malachi 3:10 ~ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
What are the privileges of a Church Member?
• Pastoral Care and Spiritual Nurture
Acts 20:28-29 ~ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;”
Ephesians 4:11-14 ~ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Pastor Andy Lambert ~ pastorandy@cvcog.church
Call/Text: 205.642.8744 ext 101