What great news this newsletter holds! We have had so many people decide to make First Baptist their church home this year that I thought it would be helpful to write up a special newsletter so our new members can introduce themselves. There are 25 people represented in this special-edition newsletter alone – and those are just the folks who chose to write an article about themselves! God is moving at First Baptist! Hallelujah!
Membership is an intentional commitment to the mission of the church (both universal and local) and a requirement for it is baptism. The people on the following pages have all made this commitment and have elected to serve Christ through the ministries of our church and in partnership with each of us. It is truly exciting to see our family grow!
Because of the subject of this newsletter, a brief reflection on the biblical purpose of church membership may be helpful. The following comes from Thom Rainer’s excellent book simply titled, “I Am A Church Member”:
“Church Membership is a gift. A gift must be treasured. It should not be taken for granted or considered lightly. Because it is a gift, we must always be thankful for it…. When we receive a gift with true appreciation, we naturally want to respond to the Giver. We, therefore, see service to God as a natural outflow of the joy of our salvation and the consequent joy of our church membership. We consider it a privilege to serve the King, so we look for those opportunities at the church where we serve.”
So then, it is a joy to see our church family grow, because it’s nice to have a full church again. But more importantly, it means we will now have new friends with which to serve Christ Himself, as we proclaim the Good News of Salvation to a world in desperate need of Jesus.
Blessings all,
Pastor Tim