"Organized Religion" (Part 2)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. A lot of people, when you hear them talk about the church, they're talking about what is called the universal church.

Sometimes they call it the invisible church. I know what they mean by that, but it always perplexed me. Yeah, you do go to the invisible church. Like, not at all. But what we're talking about in this sermon, the local church.

The Local Church as a Privilege, Not a Burden

Because usually in the New Testament when it's talking about the church, it's talking about churches, plural. So, this is being a partaker of the life of the local assembly. So, being part of the New Testament church, you know, it's not so much a duty, it's a privilege.

If someone is looking at it as a burden, you know, there's something wrong. Because really, it's a blessing. I know there are people, probably, who see the church as, or going to church as just another thing you check off the list.

You go shopping during the week, you go to work, you mow the lawn, you go to church, it's just another thing that you do. You know, you show up, you kind of halfway pay attention, you throw a few bucks in the plate.

Lord, you saw that, right? And I'm good for another couple weeks or whatever. I'll just speak for myself. Listen, I know none of you do this. I know that. But if I did this myself, if I showed up for an hour a week or an hour every other week, whatever the case.

And kind of sat there and paid attention halfway. Didn't really invest myself, and I just saw it as another thing that you do. After a while, I would start looking at the church as something that's pretty pointless.

I mean, if that's really how I was approaching it. But, if I'm invested, if I'm meeting new people, and I'm making friends, and I'm growing in the Lord, and I'm learning things. And I'm willing to help people, and I'm willing to receive support and help from others.

And, you know, there's just this activity going on. And, oh yeah, the spiritual benefits that come from worshiping God. Because that's really what this is about, right? Following Christ in our lives. If you look at it that way, then all of a sudden, you see it as a whole different situation.

It is a blessing, not a burden. It is a privilege, not a duty. Concerning that poll I referred to a moment ago. One of the reasons why attendance and membership is on the decline. We've been hearing this for decades.

A generation or two, maybe. All the churches are in slow, slow decline. And, you know, that's true to a very large degree. And you have to ask, why? Why is that? Well, that's another sermon, really, for another day.

But there's a few reasons, I think. You know, one thing I've noticed is people are more isolated now. Neighbors don't talk to each other the way they used to. It used to be you grew up in a community and everybody knew each other.

Everybody talked to each other. But now everybody kind of stays in and does their own thing. There's not that communication and fellowship. And that's definitely changed. Obviously, the COVID lockdowns didn't help the situation.

The political division is just downright nasty. People, okay, they're not as sociable. There's all sorts of things to pull you away.

Right?

When I was a kid, the idea of someone having their birthday party on Sunday morning, that just didn't happen. It didn't matter if they were Christian, Jewish, agnostic. It just didn't happen. To have sports practice, baseball practice, cheerleading practice, you know, whatever.

It just didn't really happen on Sundays.

Right?

Am I the only one? That's true, right?

Can I get an amen?

Can I get a witness here? A generation or two ago, it was unthinkable that a Christian would go into their place of employment on Sunday. And to not go to church because you have to go to your place of employment, I mean, don't you have six other days to do that?

I know that's really unpopular to say. The first sermon I ever preached here, I said something to that effect. Really, all I said was, you know, Christians ought to be in church on Sunday. And the following week, one of the more, well, someone in the congregation pulled me and said, you shouldn't say stuff like that.

How dare you? I'm like, well, I must be doing something right. I'm going to say that next time I preach now. But in all seriousness, you know how this is. We have what? Netflix, the internet. You know, you can spend the whole morning on the couch with your smartphone.

And that will distract you all afternoon probably, too, if you want. And then, of course, we have all sorts of different entertainment. And, you know, it's not that the church is entertainment. I find church entertaining, you know, but it's not entertainment necessarily.

But, you know, gathering together for corporate worship, it's actually a commandment. Okay, Hebrews 1025. I don't know how many of you have memorized. Over the past year or 14 months, you probably should have memorized Hebrews 1025.

Where's the Bible memory group? Is that on your list of verses to memorize?

All right.

Well, if it's not, put it on your list. Hebrews 1025. And besides now, you can go to church on Zoom. You can go to church live stream on Facebook.

No, you can't. No, you can't.

That's not church. Church is what? Ecclesia, the assembly. If you're not present in person, it's just not church. I know I'm really preaching this morning. Hey, online church is great. See, I have to train myself.

Online, watching church online is great for people that are sick. If you're away on vacation, you know, I got back on Sunday evening. You know what one of the first things I did on Monday? I watched Brother Dennis' sermon, and I was blessed by it.

Amen.

Not because I had to. Well, I guess I should. No, I wanted to. Because I missed it, and I wanted to hear the word preached. You know, I hope you feel that way. Not because of me, that I'm some great speaker or anything, but because you love the word of God.

That's what it's about. So none of this is about law. These are commands. You're telling me what? Thou shalt do this. It's not about law. It's about grace. Church is a grace. It's a grace that we get to experience.

To help people appreciate the assembly more. And obviously nobody's going to do this, but if you did, it would help you appreciate the assembly more. What am I talking about? If you moved to a communist country where church was illegal, you start to appreciate the church a little more.

If you moved to an Islamic country where it was illegal or something worse could happen to you, you would appreciate the church more. So all these other things that compete for our time. It's easy. It's easy for any of us to become complacent and take things for granted.

So if you're listening, say amen. I need to draw you back in, okay?

Amen.

We need God. You need God. There might be somebody listening and think, well, they need God. It's a crutch. You know, religion and Christianity is a crutch.

Yeah.

Hey, whatever.

Fine.

It's a crutch.

Amen.

What a wonderful crutch.

You need God. Just because you don't realize, you need God. We need God and we need one another. You don't just need God. You need, we need one another. To stay on the straight and narrow path, we need one another.

We need Christian friends. If all of your friends, the people that you spend time with are unbelievers, you know what they're going to do? They're going to drag you in the other direction. So we need our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Proverbs 27 verse 17 says, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Now, before we close, I'd like to go through some of the things that our church constitution says about church membership.

Qualifications and Duties of Church Membership

And I'll give the disclaimer. This is not, this is not the Bible. It doesn't carry the same weight as the Bible. But if you look at our church constitution, we believe it is biblical. There are verses referenced.

So I believe these things are true. Here are the qualifications for membership. Membership here at Morris Corner Church. Number one, a person is to have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

As Jesus himself said in John chapter three, verse three, ye must be born again. Number two, must have been baptized by immersion.

Okay.

If you're into sprinkling, there's a Presbyterian church not too far away if you're into sprinkling, but we believe baptized means what? It literally means to immerse. We love our Presbyterian friends, but you need to be baptized by immersion.

And then number three, you know, you need to be in agreement with the doctoral statement. If you don't believe the things that we teach, probably not the best fit. Duties and responsibilities for membership.

Members shall submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Number one.

Number two, members shall adhere faithfully to the doctrinal statement and pray consistently for the pastor, for the officers of the church and for one another. Members shall be in scriptural submission to the pastor, deacons of the church and to what? One another.

Members shall attend church meetings and participate in church activities in so far as is possible. And they shall give to the church financially as God has prospered them. So I think these are very basic, very reasonable guidelines for church membership.

And again, if somebody has questions about any of this, come and talk to me during the week.

Give me a call.

I would be happy. I really would. I'm not just saying that I would be happy to sit down and discuss these things with you. All right, let's go back to Acts chapter two, and we will finish with that passage.

The Church in Acts 2 as a Model for Membership

So to summarize what we've looked at so far, while there may not be one perfect verse in the Bible to kind of summarize or clearly lay out church membership and all the details, it's really implied everywhere.

You go through the New Testament, it's implied, I think just about every book. So in the city of Jerusalem, there were 120 assembled with the apostles in Acts chapter one. In Acts chapter two, Peter preaches.

They believe they're baptized. 3 ,000 are what? Added to them. They're now part of the church, part of the body of Christ. It's not something that was just tagged on to their life. The church in some ways was at the very center of their lives.

Have you ever noticed something about New England? New England is very different from California. Or if you go to Florida, New England's different in this sense. You go to any town, just about any town in New England, what do you find in the center of the town?

A church.

That's no accident. One of the major reasons why our nation is in the state that it's in is because the Lord and His church are no longer at the center of things. Acts chapter two, verse 42. So all of that, they believe they're baptized, they're added to the church, and then what?

Acts 2 .42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. So in conclusion, based on the teachings of the Lord and His apostles' involvement in the church is at the utmost importance for the life of the believer.

I know there are many different ideas about church membership, and I've never really hammered away at this subject. Maybe I should have, I don't know. Here's what I do know. I am thankful for the church because it is for the church that Christ laid down His life.

And because of what Jesus did, dying on the cross for our sins, purchasing the church with His own blood, I want to be part of that, and I hope you feel the same way. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God, be with you.