I should have posted this material immediately after receiving it, but I did not. So - it may be a little dusty in my mind as I try to reconstruct it for you here. The class was divided up into 4 sections:
1. Who is Christ?
2. What is the church?
3. What makes Harvest unique
4. Ways to get involved - specific ministry opportunities.
We were also given some preliminary information about the church and that is where I want to start today. Please give me your honest opinions/views about this.
Harvest Christian Fellowship - Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.
- There is one God, externally existent in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- God the Father has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God became man to reveal the Father to us and to save us from our sins. Forever He is fully God and fully man.
- Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, became our atoning sacrifice through his death, and was raised from the dead bodily, ascended to His Father and will personally return in power and glory to the earth.
- Although we are created in the image of God, we have nonetheless "all sinned" (Romans 3:23). Until we call upon Christ to forgive our sins and become our Master, Scripture claims we are under the dominion of Satan and are members of the kingdom of darkness. Only through faith in Jesus Christ and the cleansing of His blood can we be saved. When we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we are rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13).
- The Father and the Son have given the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, transform us into the image of Christ, and equip us for service. Personal holiness, healing, the fullness of the Spirit and all the spiritual gifts received in New Testament days are available now and should be eagerly desired (1 Corinthians 14:1).
- We long for the return of Christ, at which time He will rectify everything that is presently wrong. Until then, we are to work faithfully to bring the world to Him through evangelism and discipleship. (Matthew 28:18-20).
- When Jesus returns, dead believers will be physically resurrected. Believers still alive will also receive their glorified bodies. Unbelievers will also be raised. Then there will be a judgement. Those who are in Christ will live with Him forever. Those who are not will be cast into Hell.
- The church as the body of Christ has been given special gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.) to equip every member of the body to do the work of ministry. The Church is entrusted with the ordinances of baptism in water, holy communion, the anointing of the sick, the marriage ceremony, the appointment of called persons to specific ministries, and with the preaching of the World.
- Ultimately, we believe whatever the Bible teaches on any subject. it is our absolute and infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct because God inspired every word of it in its original form.
Harvest Christian Fellowship Membership Covenant
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with Harvest's statements, strategy , and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Harvest church family. In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:
- I will protect the unity of my church by acting in love toward other members, by refusing to gossip, by following the leaders, by understanding biblical standards for correction or church discipline.
- I will share the responsibility of my church by praying for its growth, by inviting the unchurched to attend, and by warmly welcoming those who visit.
- I will serve the ministry of my church by discovering my gifts and talents, by allowing the pastors of this church to equip me for service and by developing a servant's heart.
- I will support the testimony of my church by attending faithfully, by living a godly life and by giving regularly.
I have read and understand the biblical expectations Harvest Christian Fellowship has for each of the members of this church. I agree it is my responsibility as a member of this church to embrace and promote these standards of living. I will live by these principles and encourage the other members of this church as they do the same.
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Member's Signature and Date
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I think it is pretty cool the church has a membership covenant and doesn't just accept every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants in. There are high expectations of membership and from what I've seen, the membership works hard to live up to them. Worship is dynamic because everyone there is committed to the church and more importantly, to God and His service. Pew warmers are not welcome to stay for long here, and that is refreshing to me.
So - what are your thoughts? Anything here that puts a burr under your saddle? I'm all ears...
5 comments:
I like the membership covenant too. It ought to be understood that we will behave like that because that's what we're told by God to do, but obviously we don't, and signing a covenant seems to make it more real to people.
The only thing I saw there that raised questions for me is the part about "all the gifts New Testament Christians had." Does that include raising the dead? And some of the healing gifts? I don't have any doubts that God can heal anyone He wants, but I know He didn't then, and doesn't now, heal everyone. I would like to hear more about this.
The other thing, having been to church with you, is communion. I know it wasn't served the day we were there. What is the guiding theory about communion?
And too, what is their teaching about baptism? I saw it in the privileges of the church section, but not in the salvation section. While I will not go so far as to say that no one can be saved unless they are baptized (because God can save anyone He chooses to) I do believe that baptism is an essential part of the salvation experience. It's where we meet the cleansing blood of Christ.
So what do YOU think????
New Testament Gifts - from our participation in the Holy Spirit Intensive and the Membership Class, I get the impression that they do believe all the gifts are still manifested today. Not to freak anyone out, but I have talked to someone about a person being raised from the dead. A good friend of mine here in Abernathy witnessed it and said there was no denying the guy was dead - he had turned gray and passed his bodily fluids - and was brought back. Very weird, and it put me on edge a little bit, but intriguing nonetheless. I don't think that one happens often. I know there are also some people who say they have a healing ability as well, but its not heralded as a big important thing and I like that. They see it as a gift just like any other - no less, no more - and accept that God doesn't always choose to heal and that is beyond our comprehension.
Communion - we were told they observe it every 6 weeks. The explanation was that most of the leaders there come from backgrounds that ritualized communion to the point it was meaningless. They believe it has such a special power to connect us to the Cross that it should be a special event and not become a routine of rote participation with no meaning. They felt this disgraced the meal more than not practicing it more regularly. While I certainly agree with wanting to preserve and promote the significance of the event, it seems like a little too long between times. Chris (the campus pastor) did say they were intrigued by a more regular practice and have giving some thought to "upping" the significance of communion in our services.
Baptism - we haven't had a real in-depth conversation about this yet. He (Chris) said they would REALLY like to have a baptistry in the building so they could baptize more frequently and publically. Right now they typically schedule baptism events throughout the year for everyone who wants to participate. He said the church's July 4th celebration usually is held at a pool with a big baptism party. So - they do teach that water baptism by immersion is an important part of the process of coming to Christ, but there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency about it. That seems to communicate that baptism is more for us to identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (for our benefit) rather than a necessary part of coming to God (for God's benefit). I'd like to discuss this more with the leadership this month.
Thanks for the questions!
That's interesting about the dead person. Kind of like Jairus' daughter, maybe? I wonder if anyone has seen someone who's been dead for 4 days raised? It's all kind of stretching, huh. I am interested in their view of the healing gifts too and how they use them not knowing if God will choose to heal. Lots to think about!!
Yeah,
Sounds good, I firmly believe we must hold people accountable for their actions. I have been apart of too many churches where all that was required of you is that you warm a pew and be there every time the doors open. Faithfulness is measured by attendance in this standard.
Church is about people, not how we do church, our style, or lack of style, what songs we sing, what songs we do not sing, how we do the “stuff” of Church. When we become superficially focused on the mechanics, we loose sight of the fact the “church” is people and we are called to be life-changing catalyst.
So many churches are full of pew warmers, with lives that are not transformed. Unbelievers and the “formerly churched” are so turned of by the lack of transformed lives they do not buy what we are selling because it is false advertising. I want to be in a place were peoples lives are being changed. If this is not happening in church, then what is the point?
To me I can sum up the works of the Spirit this way.
God is speaking to us today; He is NOT DONE telling HIS story on earth. He is revealing what we need to do. It is usually very simple. Today He said, "Go sit and eat with those kids over there.” Was it a voice booming from above shaking the walls, no it was still small quite voice that could have been easily dismissed or ignored and so often is, on this day I was tuned in, and I obeyed, and this is what obeying God is all about? It is not the things we once were told. I was shown obeying God is going to church, sitting in a pew, listening to a boring sermon week after week, taking Communion, prayers, singing, being there when the doors open. . .blah, blah, blah Is this really it? Is that what the great heroes of the Bible did? (Heb. 11)
On the other hand, did God call them, ask them to do something and they did it?
I also like the covenant membership. I think it is cool to make people think about their role in church - and to make a commitment to the people there.
The gifts are interesting to me, too. Something I'd like to keep hearing about. I think my reactions are more lack of "exposure" rather than disagreement. I really think it is hard for people in our culture (not only CofC) to "buy into" miraculous signs because ours is a culture of science ... proving and having logical explanations for why things happen and what is 'possible'. I don't think our lack of understanding or familiarity comes from our upbringing in church alone. I'm realizing more and more (I think I am anyway) how much of our faith and the way we approach God comes from our cultural context . (example: hyper-consumerism, etc.)
Good things ... I look forward to more. Wish we could have had more time to talk about everything while we were all there together!!! Missing you guys already!
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