Knighton Evangelical Free Church

MEMBERSHIP

What is the church?

"Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2: 41 - 47)

Church Membership in the Bible

As you read the New Testament you realise that as people become Christians they were gathered into local congregations of believers:

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people."

In these churches they were nurtured, taught, supported and enabled to express their gifts and their worship to Almighty God:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. . . . All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. . . And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

It's quite clear from the Bible that an individual Christian's commitment to his or her local church was very strong. Their love for each other was proverbial. And from time to time, when church discipline was required, people didn't just rush off to the church down the road, they accepted the discipline of the local church. It seems that Christians were regarded as church members from the moment of their baptism onwards:

"Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

These early Christians did not see their church membership as a casual thing, but a very deep and serious commitment. As you read the New Testament you realise that the early Christian leaders regarded the churches as the fundamental unit in the developing work of God on earth. So letters are written to churches, churches support missionary workers and churches are entrusted with the care of the weak and the disadvantaged. It would have been strange in New Testament days to bump into a Christian who wasn't a committed member of their local church. Church membership was fundamental.

That's why we believe that a strong commitment to one local church is of vital importance to spiritual development and growth today. People today are often slow to commit themselves to anything .. . but the New Testament challenges believers to be committed members of a local church.

What does it involve?

Church membership is a two-way commitment. You are committing yourself to the church and the local church is committing itself to you.

Firstly you're committing yourself to us. It is the responsibility of the church to provide the basic ministry that keeps Christians growing (i.e. the apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer). If you appreciate the ministry of the church and are in agreement with the gospel we preach, and the way we preach it, then we believe you should commit yourself with the rest of the congregation here, to making sure that the ministry is maintained and continued.

Secondly we are committing ourselves to you, so that as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we see it as our responsibility to nurture your faith, enabling you to grow in grace and knowledge of God and to reach maturity in Christ. That also means supporting you when you hit bad times or difficulties.

So church membership involves this two way commitment. In practice this would mean for example: Being in the congregation regularly to meet with and worship God. Finding some way to join in the ministry of the church. Even if that's quite a small job it's a significant contribution to what we do. Being prepared to give financially so that the church's ministry is adequately resourced. Now let me stress that there will be people for whom even these are not possible. For example for those who are ill, parents with young children, or people on low incomes, but that does not mean that you cannot be a church member.

Church membership is not so much about what you do or what you give as following the New Testament pattern of being a committed member of a Christian congregation. The church's responsibility to you has a practical outworking too, most especially to provide an environment in which you can hear God's word and worship him, and where your friends and family can come under the influence of the gospel.

We are a community of God's people with a shared responsibility to support one another in good times and bad - just like the church in Acts. The church isn't just the man in the pulpit, it is all of us! I am one of God's family . . . why should I become a member of KEFC? President John F. Kennedy in a famous speech once said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask rather what you can do for your country ... " and we think that you can apply this idea directly to church membership.

By becoming a member of Knighton Evangelical Free Church you express publicly your stand with the gospel that we preach. You encourage the membership of the church by so doing and by identifying with us in our ministry, you're in effect saying "I support you, please support me.' We believe it is increasingly important in our generation that Christians commit themselves vigorously to support the ministry of the local church, and it is to this that we are inviting you.

If you would would like to know more about how to become a member at Knighton, please contact us

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