Our subject this morning is really going to be in the form of a challenge – I challenge you to “Be a Good Church Member.”
There are many texts that I could use to preach this sermon, but I have chosen the last words of Peter in 2 Peter 3:18 for they form the challenge to each of us this morning.
18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
What Peter is saying is; “If you want to be a good church member you must first be a good Christian and to do that you must always keep growing.”
So I challenge you this morning to grow as a Christian so that you may be a better church member. Don’t thrive to be average but above average.
I am not thinking only of the ones we recently baptized but of all Christians here this morning. If you want to serve your church and the people of your church then I have 5 “B’s” that I want to share with you that will result in you being a better church member – because you will be a better Christian.
I. Be Something!
A. Be a Child of God.
1. This is the very first thing you must settle.
a) I think it is the first thing you must ask yourself – are you a child of God?
2. Only those who have experienced the new birth are children of God.
a) If you say that ALL men are children of God to start with, that would rule out the Cross.
B. The New Testament has an order.
1. Believe and then be baptized into the church.
a) It is a BIG mistake to reverse the order.
b) I have tried to make this as clear as possible to every person I talk to.
2. Jesus makes this point of new birth coming first to Nicodemus.
a) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (NKJV)
b) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:5 - 6 (NKJV)
(1) We become children of our earthly father by the physical birth.
(2) We become children of our Heavenly Father by spiritual birth.
(a) Thus, it is only through this act of spiritually being born that we become Children of God.
c) Paul said, “26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 3:26 (NKJV)
(1) What he didn’t say:
(a) By baptism.
(b) By joining the church.
(c) By being good.
(d) By doing good.
(e) By being a Mason.
(2) He said by faith in Jesus Christ
3. So let me ask you this morning, are you a child of God?
a) Be something – Be a Child of the King.
II. Be a Disciple.
A. The definition of a Disciple is “one who receives instruction from someone else”.
1. It comes from a word that means “to learn”.
a) In the Christian realm it is one who professes Jesus and follows Him for the purpose of learning.
B. To become a true disciple of Jesus means that we are to become so related to Him that His teaching will become a part of us.
1. To do this it will mean forgetting all our preconceived ideas of what a Christian should be and be open to what He has for us to be.
2. We must keep growing.
a) In grace and knowledge.
(1) We do this by learning as we study.
(2) By learning as we work.
(3) By learning as we serve.
(4) By learning as we pray.
(5) By learning as we give
b) Study Jesus:
(1) Learn from Him how He did all of this.
(2) Then do as He did.
III. Be Faithful
A. Be faithful to God.
1. Serve Him by making His church what He wants it to be.
B. Be faithful to the church.
1. Have you ever stopped and considered just how much your church has meant to you?
a) A place where you, and your children, have learned of a Great and Mighty God who loves you and sent His Son to die so that you might live.
b) A place you have come when you have lost someone dear.
c) This has been a place of refuge for you in times of trouble.
d) This church has meant a lot to you – not only spiritually, but also physically.
2. Because of what this church has meant to you – be faithful to her.
a) Be faithful in your attendance.
(1) Become a part of the programs of the church.
(a) Find you a place and get busy.
(b) If you can teach – teach.
(c) If you can give – give.
(d) If you can help – help.
(e) Do whatever you are able to do – Just be faithful in doing it!
(2) We grow as we participate.
(a) The more we participate in the more we will grow.
b) Have you ever seen anyone grow “one-sided”?
(1) They come to Sunday School, but not Discipleship Training.
(2) They come to Morning Worship, but not Sunday School.
(3) They come in the morning but not in the afternoon.
(4) They come on Sunday, but not on Wednesday’s.
(5) They attend faithfully, but they don’t give faithfully.
(6) They give faithfully, but they don’t pray faithfully.
(7) They pray faithfully, but they don’t study the word faithfully.
C. Be all God has called you to be and be faithful in it.
Conclusion:
George Shultz, Secretary of State during the Reagan administration, kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed ambassadors had an interview with him and when ambassadors returning from their posts for their first visit with him were leaving his office, Shultz would test them. He would say, “You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country.” They would go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on the country to which sent—unerringly.
When Shultz’s old friend and former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan, even he was put to the test. This time, however, Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and put his hand on the United States. He said: “That’s my country.”
On June 27, 1993, Shultz related this to Brian Lamb on C-Span’s “Booknotes.” Said the secretary: “I’ve told that story, subsequently, to all the ambassadors going out. ‘Never forget you’re over there in that country, but your country is the United States. You’re there to represent us. Take care of our interests and never forget it, and you’re representing the best country in the world.’”
Remember you belong to the Father and although we live in this world we represent another. Take care of your Father’s intrest and never forget that you are representing the best Father in the world.
Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “A man’s heart has only enough life in it to pursue one object fully.”
I challenge you to fully pursue Jesus. Be God’s Child, Be a Disciple of Jesus and Be Faithful to His Church.
