WHY SHOULD I BE A MEMBER ? Is there any real need for a church family ?

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 …so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

“Funny” Membership Ideas “Bunny” believers who hop around without any accountability Just be a “good” Christian without joining (or attending) any church A Christian without a church family is like an organ w/out a body, a sheep w/out a flock, or a child w/out a family.

Ephesians 2:19 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, … nd when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. Acts 9:26-28

Why Do I Need A Church Family? 1.It identifies one as a true believer. It is a fulfillment of Isaiah 2:2 and Isaiah 11:6-9. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?

Isaiah 2:2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.

Isaiah 11:6-9 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain

John 17:20-21 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. Unity is a faithbuilder for the world.

Why Do I Need A Church Family? 1.It identifies one as a true believer. 2.It moves us away from being self-centered.

1 Timothy 3:5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), As the home is a classroom for shepherds, the church is a lab for “book theories” from scripture.

1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

John 3:16 vs. 1 John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Versus We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Why Do I Need A Church Family? 1.It identifies one as a true believer. 2.It moves us away from being self-centered. 3.It helps us become spiritually fit and stronger.

Ephesians 4:15-16 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Why Do I Need A Church Family? 1.It identifies one as a true believer. 2.It moves us away from being self-centered. 3.It helps us become spiritually fit and stronger. 4.It is our safety line, for rescue.

Hebrews 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

Hebrews 3:12-13 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Encourages us…

James 5:19-20 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Saves from death…

Why Do I Need A Church Family? 1.It identifies one as a true believer. 2.It moves us away from being self-centered. 3.It helps us become spiritually fit and stronger. 4.It is our safety line, for rescue. 5.It allows us to share in Christ’s mission.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. His workmanship…for good works…

2 Peter 1:3-4 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. We share in Deity via knowledge & work

Why Do I Need A Church Family? Satan loves detached believers Isolated from a caring family Unaccountable to leaders Alone in the fight Growing weaker No one to rescue

Before we consider striking out on our own, perhaps it would be wise to consider all that God has done to help us get to heaven.