Membership: Priceless

Are you a member? Why is membership important?

In Pastor Rob’s sermon series based on the ‘9 Marks of a Healthy Church’, one of the marks highlighted is Membership. As we recently presented a new group of members at EMF, and prepare to begin another round of membership classes, consider why membership is important to you.

At EMF we recognize the need for a formal membership for at least three reasons.

1. First, we believe the concept of membership is biblical. While the term “church member” is never used, the concept is implicit throughout the New Testament. Believers clearly identified themselves with a specific local body and were challenged to become devoted participants.
2. Second, formal membership is valuable to the leaders of the church as they seek to fulfill their God-given task of shepherding. Our church is and always will be a place where everyone is welcome to come and explore. At some point, however, it is important to identify those who truly comprise the “flock” at Everlasting Mercy Fellowship — the core that can be counted on to build and sustain the ministries of the church. Every team needs a roster.
3. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, experience shows that membership benefits the individual. In a culture where commitment is no longer highly valued, recognizable membership is an important step that moves each of us out of the vague clouds of our good intentions and into the clear light of committed participation. It presents a challenge to “step out of the stands” and publicly affirm a commitment to Christ and to a specific local body. In a sense, membership can be a significant “defining moment” in one’s lifelong discipleship journey.

Check out the notes from the 9 Marks site about membership:

What is it? According to the Bible, church membership is a commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church. Where is it in the Bible?

• Throughout Old Testament history, God made a clear distinction between his people and the world (see Lev. 13:46, Num. 5:3, Deut. 7:3).
• Christ says that entering the kingdom of God means being bound to the church “on earth” (Matt. 16:16-19; 18:17-19). Where do we see the church on earth? The local church.
• The New Testament explicitly refers to some people being inside the church and some people being outside (1 Cor. 5:12-13). This is much more than a casual association.
• The church in Corinth consisted of a definite number of believers, such that Paul could speak of a punishment inflicted by the majority (2 Cor. 2:6).
• Not only does the New Testament speak of the reality of church membership, but its dozens of “one anothers” are written to local churches, which fill out our understanding of what church membership should practically look like.

Why is it important? Biblical church membership is important because the church presents God’s witness to himself in the world. It displays his glory. In the church’s membership, then, non-Christians should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that his gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.

Interested in membership? Talk to Pastor Rob or Pastor Leandro about attending the next 'R.E.A.C.H. 101' membership class!

Buckets of Hope

We’re excited to have received an update about the ‘Buckets of Hope’ sent to Haiti from EMF – here’s the latest news!

July 1, 2010

We are very excited to finally be writing this letter of thanks for your participation in the Disaster Relief ministry we call Buckets of Hope for Haiti. We have been waiting to send this letter so we could include the total amounts as well as the good news of the buckets clearing customs and being delivered to the people. That is now happening! Thank you God!

Now we want to say how thankful we are to the many individuals and churches in Minnesota and Wisconsin that promoted, packed, and collected the buckets. Through our Minnesota - Wisconsin Baptist Convention, you have contributed 546 buckets, included in the national total of more than 155,000.

You have a heart for giving and caring to help others. After the earthquake struck and tore open Haiti, we saw the hearts of people in our churches open wide wanting to help. Help came in from all over our two states. We received buckets – from all directions and also money to purchase the list of food items along with the buckets for these Buckets of Hope. Our own state staff each contributed a bucket on behalf of their family and our WMU contributed five buckets.

We are reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:12b “…a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” As we work together, we see that we can do so much more than individually. This project was possible in part because of Cooperative Program and people who put this together.

THANK YOU truly comes from our hearts on behalf of the people in Haiti. As the people receive these buckets, there is a gospel message included in their language and a personal contact from the local church in their area.

We are thankful how God brings these opportunities for ministry and wants to include each of us. There is a need for people to help each other and to share the Good News of the One who offers hope!

Dave Wedekind, Missions Ministries Catalyst
Jeanne Wedekind, Missions Education Catalyst

Are You Being Sharpened?

Consider the influence, be it positive or negative, that those around you have upon your life. An oft-quoted saying goes: "Show me your friends, and I'll tell you who you are." Another version says: "Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future."

Have you ever seen someone get stuck in a bad situation because they were with the wrong crowd? Wrong time, wrong place kind of thing? I believe that many of those situations could truly be avoided, were we more careful about whom we allow to 'sharpen' us.

Think about it this way - If we surround ourselves and seek counsel from people who are persistently negative, surrounded by a cloud of drama, and seem to like it that way (by doing little to improve the situation), what kind of influence and impact do you foresee them having on your life?

On the flipside, imagine building relationships with those who desire to challenge themselves, who refuse to be complacent in their own lives, and strive to achieve. Their influence causes us to look at ourselves, challenge the norm and do something positive and meaningful in our lives.

I see many people pulled in by drama which really has nothing to do with them. Imagine a friend complaining about a co-worker. A simple bad day at work can get negatively amplified so much so that the person listening to the complaints also begins to have a bad day… The listener re-tells the story, which gets relayed on to another friend, until a simple misunderstanding has now become the focus of a handful of people, magnifying a trivial occurrence. Some 'gurus' call this 'Viral Negativity'.

Simple solution: Stop partaking in drama! Stop listening, walk away, or change the subject.  And here's one we won't like to hear - Mind your own business!

I call it the theory of ‘sharpening’. Whatever you rub yourself up against is bound to have some impact on you. Seek to balance your life with people who will sharpen you in a positive way. Sometimes sharpening hurts. Sometimes friends will need to confront you, but we are the better for it. Allow yourself to be sharpened this week.

In The Word

Proverbs 27:17 (The Message)
You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.

Marriage is God's House

This week Rob and I celebrate another year of marriage, and sixteen years of being 'together'.  When we were younger, first dating, and not yet married, we brought a lot of drama into our relationship and caused each other pain and strife.  There were good times, but nothing so much as when we decided to stop running and let the Lord direct our lives. 

Check out this devotional from Urban Alternative - some great thoughts to consider if you are married or considering marriage.

What is the Marriage Covenant?

If you were to come over to my house, I would welcome you inside but there would be a set of rules by which to abide. Likewise, I would need to abide by the rules for your house. For example, in my home, I don’t allow smoking. So if you smoke, you would need to put out your cigarette before you came in my home.

I am able to make these rules and enforce them because it is my house. Marriage is God’s house. He came up with the idea. And it can only run right when it is run by His rules.

What married couples often want to do, though, is to have God’s institution of marriage, yet run it by their own rules. They want to get married in the church so that God will bless their marriage, but then they want to leave God standing at the altar. They want to make up their own rules for how a marriage should be run.

But let me tell you a secret. It is a very powerful secret. Pay attention: You don’t get God’s results without operating by God’s rules. You don’t get God’s blessings in your marriage, and in your home, without following God’s instructions. You don’t enjoy God’s provision, protection, and peace in your relationships without abiding by God’s policies concerning the covenantal union of marriage.

In The Word

Genesis 2:19-24

18-20 God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.

21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.

23-25 The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!  Name her Woman for she was made from Man."  Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

Cooking with Love

My husband (you also know him as Pastor Rob) has a culinary gifting.  This man can whip together an amazing meal after just having been inspired by a show on Food Network or something we ate at a restaurant.  Somehow he knows exactly which seasonings to add, how long to cook it, and what pairs well together.

That cooking was missed by me today. I had an incredibly lackluster lunch this afternoon.  It was bland and uninspired.  Harsh spices overtook the food, while other parts of the meal desperately needed flavor.  Details were not tended to.  It was plain sloppy.

Of the many things that lunch was missing, most importantly it was missing LOVE.  That extra ‘something’.  The tiny details that show how much passion and care went into its preparation and service.

As Rob says, ‘I put love into everything I cook.’  And that difference is evident.

Love requires a greater effort.  Love is more than a desire to make something good, it must be carried into action.  Today made me consider, ‘How much ‘love’ am I putting into everything I do?’  Are my actions a concoction of whatever I have available to me, tossed together, with some salt hastily thrown on top to hopefully make it more flavorful?

In The Word

1 Corinthians 13: 1-7 - The Way of Love
 1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.

...Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

*Photo from jogilvie

Fear Factor

Functioning in fear disables us from maximizing our full potential.  Fear paralyzes us from taking risks that would catapult us to a greater level – be it in our spiritual walk, in our business or in daily life.  We do just enough to stay inside of a cocoon of ‘safety’, and little to explore new opportunities and challenges. 

In business, I’ve heard some say, ‘But look what our competitors are doing...’  Immediately our mindset shifts away from playing to our strengths, and becomes a game of catch up where we stop innovating, and start reacting instead of being proactive.  Why?  Because we are afraid that if we approach something differently, we’ll fail.  But the truth is, we differentiate ourselves by standing out, by being proactive instead of reactionary.

In my personal life, some of the greatest accomplishments I’ve experienced were also laden with fear, or the prospect of failure.  Owning a home at 22?  What?  Founding a church?  Are you crazy?  Taking in teenagers?  What are you thinking?!  But you see, the risks that we are willing to take relate directly to the rewards we see as a result.  Rewards grow in proportion to risk.

We have to discipline and push ourselves to never settle, to constantly strive to achieve our God-given purposes in life.

How will you take a purposeful risk today, and squelch fear?

In The Word:

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (The Message)
- 2 Timothy 1:7

So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?
- Hebrews 13:6

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
- Luke 12:32

But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
- Proverbs 1:33 

*Photo credit: 'Afraid to close our eyes' by *krmenxa

Christian Maturity: Faithfulness Part III

Daniel 3:14-18
14 Nebuchadnezzar asked them, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don't serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 Now if you're ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don't worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?" 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, "Nebuchadnezzar, we don't need to give you an answer to this question. 17 If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up."

Previously on Faithfulness
1. Daniel & his friends had refused the king’s food because of their vow to the Lord. Their people had been taken captive & as an act of contrition, they had refused “party foods” like meat & wine
2. Daniel & his friends convinced the chief eunuch to do this despite the king’s orders. They took a 10 day test & after the 10 days, God rewarded their faithfulness by making their appearance better than those around them (see Daniel 1:15).
3. Daniel & his friends we’re given understanding in all manner of literature & wisdom. Daniel was given the ability to interpret visions & dreams (see Daniel 1:16-19).
4. They were 10 times better than any of the wisemen & magicians of their eras (see Daniel 1:20).

Key Points
• Synopsis
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream he didn’t understand. He wanted a revelation of what the dream meant but refused to tell anyone what the dream was for fear that somebody would lie to him about the meaning. Daniel & his friends prayed for revelation & God answered. He revealed both the dream & it’s meaning. The King was so happy, he rewarded Daniel w/offerings, honor & power. Daniel was given charge over the province of Babylon & was promoted as chief among the wisemen. Daniel then made his friends the governors’ of the province of Babylon while he remained at the King’s side.

• The King of Babylon was considered a god-king.
Psalm 82:6-7
6 I said, "You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. 7 However, you will die like men and fall like any other ruler."

• Faithfulness will be tested. What is the difference between testing & temptation – the result. (See Daniel 3:14-15)
Isaiah 48:10
10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Story: Faithfulness Being Tested
One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk said they were filled, as were all the hotels in town. "But I can't send a fine couple like you out in the rain," he said. "Would you be willing to sleep in my room?" The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted. The next morning when the man paid his bill, he said, "You're the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States. Someday I'll build you one." The clerk smiled politely. A few years later the clerk received a letter from the elderly man, recalling that stormy night and asking him to come to New York. A round-trip ticket was enclosed. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street, where stood a magnificent new building. "That," explained the man, "is the hotel I have built for you to manage." The man was William Waldorf Astor, and the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria. The young clerk, George C. Boldt, became its first manager.

Hebrews 2:18
18 For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.

Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

True Faithfulness is never compromised (See Daniel 3:16-17)

Story: Faithfulness Being Tested
Briars in the Cotton Patch is a documentary directed by Faith Fuller. It tells the story of Clarence Jordan. Clarence had 2 Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. He was a gifted man who was called to serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in the Deep South of the '40s. Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who followed the laws of segregation as much as the other folk in town. The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing workers' tires when they came to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him.

Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia Farm but Clarence's home, which they riddled with bullets. And they chased off all the families except one black family which refused to leave. Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you might guess, some of them were church people. Another was the local newspaper's reporter. The next day, the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting.

"I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing." Clarence just kept on hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking, trying to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be planting instead of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and you've but fourteen years into this farm, and there's nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you've been?"

Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes, and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don't think you understand us. What we are about is not success but faithfulness. We're staying. Good day." Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and the farm is going strong today (see http://www.koinoniapartners.org)

• Faithfulness IS NOT attached to what God has given or not given to us. It is attached to the Godhood of God (see verse Daniel 3:18)

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 43:10-12
10 "You are My witnesses" —the LORD's declaration—"and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me. 11 I, I am the LORD, and there is no other Savior but Me. 12 I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses"—the LORD's declaration—"and I am God.

Isaiah 45:21-22
21 Speak up and present [your case] —yes, let them take counsel together. Who predicted this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is no one except Me. 22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

//Listen to the 'Faithfulness' Series on the EMF Media Player