Responsibilities of Church Membership

When you unite with a church, it is because there is a need in your soul for the message and the inspiration of the Church. You are also uniting with it because there is an innate need to give and to do. Christ's work is unfinished. This unfinished work is for us to do. When you unite with a church, you accept a responsibility - a sacred responsibility - to do your part for your Master and for others.

Your sacred responsibilities of membership:

• Serving- There is a place of service awaiting you somewhere in the church. God has given you a talent to be used. This may include teaching Sunday school, visiting the sick, leading youth groups, singing in the choir, and working on committees.
• Learning- Anyone who helps others must first develop a growing faith and be able to articulate it. Participating in Bible study groups and developing the habit of daily Bible study are ways to continue learning about the character of God.
• Giving- You are expected to do your fair share in supporting the budget of your church's ministry. You should give freely and cheerfully without any thought of reward. Your giving should be systematic and proportionate to your income, not giving what you can spare, but according to what God has entrusted to you. Give to the best of your ability, for giving is a way you can take part in spreading the Gospel.
• Witnessing- "You will be my witnesses," said Jesus, "in Jerusalem [that is, at home], in all Judea and Samaria [ the surrounding areas], and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). At the same time that Jesus commissioned His disciples, He set forth your responsibility to spread the Gospel everywhere. This does not mean you have to stand on street corners reading scripture, but you can be effective witness to friends, co-workers, and family members.
• Praying- The highest and deepest benefit you can receive from prayer is strength and courage to live triumphantly each day. Start the practice of daily prayer at a time that is best for you. The worth of a prayer is not determined by its grammatical correctness, but by its sincerity. The main thing is to speak with God about the things that trouble, delight, or confuse you. Be persistent in your requests, turning your petitions to align with God's will.
• Worshipping- Worship keeps your soul, and the soul of your church, alive. Your church is set in your community to shine as a lighthouse for Jesus Christ and will shine as long as its members remain faithful in the matter of public worship. When people of God begin to forsake the house of God on the Lord's Day, God's work begins to languish and the light begins to fail. When conflicts arise on Sunday morning, ask yourself, does this have to keep me from church?