Preaching from Ephesians 3:14-19 made me want a tangible experience of its blessings (see “Ephesians 3:14-19 // Expanding Our Vision for Christian Life“). I want to feel the Father strengthening me with power. I want to sense Christ dwelling in my heart. I want the emotions that I imagine correlate with being filled with all […]
Preachers will often cut out valuable parts of their sermon to stay focused on the main idea of the passage and keep it within a reasonable length. Recently, while preaching a sermon on Isaiah 3:1-4:1, I had to cut some explanation regarding a troubling verse. I thought it might be helpful to post it here.
Isaiah 3:17 Commentary Read More »
Why is church membership important? One big reason is that it employs the Holy Spirit. I once developed some teaching materials based in 1 Corinthians 12 about the spiritual gifts. At the end of each lesson, I wanted to point the students toward something practical they could do in discerning their unique spiritual giftedness. After
Church Membership Employs the Holy Spirit Read More »
Church membership is important because it facilitates church growth. One reason church membership may seem unimportant is that we have forgotten the responsibility each Christian has for building up the church. Ephesians 4:11-12 corrects this: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work
Church Membership Facilitates Church Growth Read More »
Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them.” But how can a Christian know who his leaders are? It was probably easy to tell in the early church where there was one primary group of Christians in each city with one team of elders. But in the modern American church, this is no
Church Membership Empowers Pastoral Ministry Read More »
Why is church membership important? One reason is that it protects Christians from drifting away from Christ. (See the other reasons here.) God warns us: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). How can we guard against
Church Membership Protects Us From Drifting Away from Christ Read More »