If you would like to become a member of Brookwood Church, we offer a class, Discovering Membership @ Brookwood, about four times a year. The next membership class will be offered Tuesday, April 13 at 6:30 pm in the Auditorium. Please arrive 15 minutes early to sign in.
The word “member” originated in the Bible where it referred to being a part of a human body. (Your arms and legs are members of your body.) The human body was used as an illustration of the church, the body of Christ, with the emphasis being that every person within the church is important and necessary. Membership implies active participation, involvement and interdependence.
We are all parts of [Christ’s] one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. Romans 12:5 (NLT)
Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)
Membership at Brookwood is a bit different from the practice of most churches. Membership is not merely a matter of joining, which means having your name on a roll; it is filling a role in God’s work here. Joining this church is not merely declaring that you prefer the personality or style of this church; it is accepting part of the responsibility for the work God has called our church to complete.
Belonging to the family of God found at Brookwood, brings expectations and responsibility, but it also offers wonderful benefits.
We worship God with our lives
When we gather on Sundays or in small groups during the week, when we take part in baptism services or the Lord’s Supper, we become more aware of God’s presence because we are focusing on Him. Participating regularly in worship assists us in experiencing the reality of God’s existence. When we worship together in either a corporate body or a small group, we are able to encounter God and become encouraged to seek His presence in our personal time throughout the week.
We connect with others
We not only need God, but He created us to need each other as well. Relationships with others enable us to persevere through life’s difficult times without falling into hopelessness, despair or bitterness. Christianity is designed to be lived in community with others.
But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. 1 John 1:7 (CEV)
We grow spiritually
Spiritual maturity is becoming like Christ, not merely memorizing theological facts or gaining great familiarity with the Bible. Belonging to a church helps each of us grow by offering opportunities to learn about God and grow personally in the application of His truth. We do not grow well in isolation. We grow best in relationship with others, and this includes both increasing in our knowledge and expanding our spiritual awareness. We need people to encourage and challenge our thinking, our attitudes, and our behavior. We need honest, nurturing relationships with others who will tell us when we behave inconsistently with what we say we believe. As we make friendships and develop relationships, we are motivated to help each other grow … starting with where we are.
So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Hebrews 6:1 (NLT)
We serve others
Our church is structured to enable every one of us to use our unique gifts to meet the needs in each others’ lives. The church needs all of our gifts working together for the entire church body. When we use the gifts God has given us to serve the needs of others, we will experience a deeper satisfaction and contentment in our life.
It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. Ephesians 2:10 (TLB)
As a member of the body, we are not solitary and isolated – we belong to each other. When crises or tragedies occur, we need others to help us in bearing our burdens. In a church family, we know that we have responsibility to care for each other.
Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more ... Hebrews 10:24-25 (GNB)
We reach others for Christ
Each of us has the responsibility of reaching people for Jesus Christ. Being allowed to introduce a person to Jesus may be life’s greatest privilege.
…[T]he Scripture says, “Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.” But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them. Romans 10:13-14 (NCV)
Every person’s greatest need is to know Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. We are called to be instruments that aid others to come to faith in Jesus. Leading another person into eternal life is the greatest gift you could possibly offer someone.
