"I Am A Functioning Church Member" Rev. Reginald W. Sharpe Jr Wednesday June 15 2022

0:41 I don't know if it's going to touch you as deeply as it touched me, but I promise you it is a word that is fresh. it's a word that we need as the body of christ in the season we're in right now and so what i want to do is give you an opportunity to sow we'll do this now we'll do it at the end so go ahead and look at the seven ways to give and go ahead and so tonight i thank god for you don't tip god tonight don't just tip god don't just say well let me just give a little ten dollars let me Give 50, no, give because you know that if I am generous on my side, it'll boomerang back. But it just won't come back like I gave it. It's going to come back pressed down, shaking together, running over. God's going to pour back into me. I thank you, fellowship, for rocking with me. Sundays we're in person.

1:35 And currently we are virtual for Wednesday nights for our refuel. And I just thank you for still being a part of our virtual ship experience. Hey, I want to introduce you to a new book called I am a church member by Tom Rainer. I'm excited about this. I only have a few moments with you tonight, but I want to jump in and spend our time together wisely. This book will be available for you to buy. this book will be available for you to have your own copy of these books are not expensive they were made and designed to be able to be practical accessible and they're little if you really look it's very very skinny it's not a big book it's a skinny book but it's a book that can help us as a church grow and this book is called i am a church member at the conclusion of each chapter there's a pledge that you make since you are a church member and I think sometimes we just say things so often down through the years that it loses its power its efficacy its meaning but what it really means to be a church member does not mean I just go to that church it's deeper than that oh I'm a member at fellowship I'm a member at this I'm a member at this church when you say I am a church member The first thing Tom Rainer wants us to know in chapter one is that you have to be a functioning church member.

3:10 So part one of this series is we want to talk about I am a functioning church member. So write that down. I am a functioning church member. The wrong assumption Tom Rainer argues in this book, especially in this chapter, is that since this is my church, I'm supposed to get things my way and I'm supposed to get what I want. Their view is more aligned like the church is a country club membership. And since you have a country club membership, there's some privileges to that. There used to be an old commercial that used to say membership has its privileges. And so that's what a lot of people come to the church as. Well, I want this and I demand this. And if they don't do it this way, then I'm leaving. But membership does not just have its privileges. Membership also has its responsibilities. And Tom Rainer challenges us in about four ideas in this first chapter that since you are a church member, you have to be a functioning church member.

4:11 What does he mean by functioning church member? Let's jump on in. He says, number one, membership means we are all necessary parts of the whole. We are all necessary parts of the whole. If you want to go deeper in this, read 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and chapter 14, because Apostle Paul speaks of us being baptized by one spirit into one body. And this body is made up of not just one part, but many parts. So when you think about this whole idea of membership, you got to change your idea by just saying, I'm a church member, meaning I attend this church. I sit at this church. I go to this church my pastor is Pastor Sharp my pastor is whomever your pastor is but when you are a church member you got to think about the body one of the names for the parts of the body in the Bible is the members whenever you see that in scripture probably King James version or the NIV version it's going to say the members whenever you see that word members it means a part of the body So a finger, a toe, a leg, a hip, eyes, nose, ears, arm, shoulders, knees, feet.

5:29 It's a member of the body. And so when you say I am a church member, you're saying I am a part of the body of Christ. And if you are a part of the body, you have to be a functioning part of the body. And everybody has its role. membership means we're all necessary parts of the whole i can't do what i have to do if you don't do what you're supposed to do i can't be called and fulfill what i'm called to do if you don't complete what you're called to do right now there's somebody working a camera right now somebody had to edit this before we posted it on facebook right now there's some musicians that are working in their part of the body because they're working elder vassar organized us joining together pastor pope is doing his part of the body the ushers the ambassadors the deacons the trustees everybody has a role to play and the first principle if you're going to understand what your role is as a church member is that my part is a necessary part of the whole so the finger is not more important than the foot the foot is not more important than the knee the knee is not more important than the back just let one thing get out of order on your body you will see that everything is affected when one thing is out of order so i it's amazing you can stump your pinky toe and that pain will shoot through the whole body your tooth you can have a toothache as small as your tooth is in your mouth that one little tooth can affect everything else in the body you can injure your arm and you can injure your right arm and they have to put a put it in a cast and now your left arm has to work harder because the right arm has been injured we are all necessary parts of the whole so there are no small jobs in god's church yeah the maintenance team the parking lot ministry those who serve with the youth serve with the children's ministry those who make sure that the doors are unlocked for you to come in on sunday morning we are all necessary parts of the whole here's the

7:38 second principle that tom rainer lifts for us he says membership means that we are all different but we still can work together country club memberships give you access to others to have others serve you so when you think that church is a country club then you have access so you can be served but when you join the church you have been granted access for you to serve and the complicated and often conflicting part of being a part of a church is that we don't like working with certain people because certain people we don't like how they work and what you have to understand is since we're all parts of the body since we're all members of the church that we can all be different and we can still work together you may not always have uh uniformity but you can have unity did you catch that uniformity means everybody gets in line and marches the same way wears the same thing says the same thing that's uniformity but unity says hey i may dress like this you may dress like that a unity is what we hear in the choir often when you hear harmony a soprano an alto a tenor it's harmony it doesn't mean that we're all the same no everybody has their part to play and you got to play it well and even though we're different we can still work together how many churches would be better if they understood you have to work together the key verses first corinthians chapter 12 verse 26 it says if one part suffers every part suffers with it if one part of the body is honored then every part rejoices with it we need more harmony in our churches i'm not just talking about fellowship because some of you all are members of other churches are you harmonious at your church or are you uh a dissonance sound a dissonant sound a dissonant chord being played you know will it help me with a soprano when the soprano sing a

9:46 No, it's what? Ah. And then the alto note would be what? And the tenor note would be what? You caught that? That's a soprano, that's an alto and a tenor. Those are three different notes. But when you sing them together, it creates harmony. So play the soprano note again. Play the alto note again. Play the tenor note. You hear the harmony that Willie just played. All right, now this time, just play the soprano note by itself. Just soprano. Cut off. Now play alto. Cut off. play tenor. Alright, you just heard three different notes. Am I using the right word? Those three different notes. Three different keys. Three different notes. Three different keys. But when you play those three notes together, you get some harmony. Let me hear that harmony again.

10:44 that's what we need in our church when the deacons meet this is what i want to hear when the ambassadors come together this is what i want to hear when the staff meets this is what i want to hear when we come to church and you don't like it because it's too hot the lights are moving too much and it's too dark i don't care what you feel just say Thank you. because although we're different we can come together and still work together to create harmony that's what a real church is about and and and those of you who say i'm leaving because the preacher preached too loud i'm leaving because the music is this i'm leaving because i don't like this i don't care where you go you're gonna find something at every church you don't like if you're looking for a perfect church and if you happen to find one please don't join it because the minute you walk in it will no longer be perfect there's no such thing as a perfect church perfect ministry perfect pastor we're all different we have different perspectives but we can all work together because we are functioning members here's another principle here's another principle that tom rainer lifts for us membership means everything we say and do is based on the biblical foundation of love lord have mercy if you want a biblical context for that go to key uh go to first corinthians chapter 13 is called the love chapter and paul writes to the church of corinth and he tells them love is patient love is kind love does not envy love is not boastful love is not conceited it does not act improperly it is not selfish it is not provoked it does not keep record of wrong y'all if we just take this verse right here we can have a better church if each of the members of the body embraced patience embraced kindness embraced not envying not being boastful or arrogant not being conceited not acting out of order not being selfish not being easily provoked and offended not keeping records of wrong some of you mad at somebody because of what they did in 1983

12:51 you went on a church trip with Reverend Evans in the choir and you've been ticked off since 83 and every time you see her see him your mind you holding a record of wrong but if you are part of a church that is representing in the name of jesus christ it is a church founded on the biblical principle of love that's why we cannot on mother's day only honor i'm about to medal we can't only honor the youngest mother who's married can you imagine how it feels to be a mother in the room and you a whole mother trying to do your motherly duty and somebody tells you you don't deserve to be honored today because you are not married y'all at the simplest core of it it does not exemplify the love of God the love of God is gracious the love of God supports the love of God finds us and picks us up and soothes us even when our life has not been picture perfect I'm trying to tell you our churches could grow if our churches embraced more love it that we don't have to be judgmental we can be more loving I know nobody's gonna like this lesson but I'm trying to told you that our churches have to embrace more love we're called to love each other called to pray for each other we're called to serve each other and we will be stronger we will be happier and our church would explode if every time you walk in the room love is at the center of the conversation and there are a whole lot of the conversations and discussions that could pitch you on one side or pitch you on another side there are a lot of controversial topics out here and i could go down the list right now and i would have to talk to you for another hour just to explain them but when you focus on love when you embrace love you do what jesus says he says hey they will know you are my disciples because of how you love not because of how you church not because of the denomination that's on your church side not because y'all sing contemporary

14:57 over here y'all sing tradition over here your pastor wears a suit and robe your pastor wears jeans with with cut out knees it ain't got nothing to do with that we are all called to exemplify the love of god and here's the fourth and final principle tonight church membership is functioning membership because we have to remain a biblical member it means that you give abundantly and you serve without hesitation if you're going to be a functioning member a member of the body a hand a foot something in the body you've got to remain a biblical member what does god tell us to do We give abundantly and we serve radically. I like that. We give abundantly and we serve radically. If all you do is complain about what doesn't exist and what ain't happening and what used to be, then you, my friend, are a part of the problem, not a part of the solution.

15:57 Are you giving? And usually what I've discovered in my little six years of pastoring, the person that's the loudest with the loudest critique and the loudest complaint, when you check their giving statement they are the loudest complainer but they are the quietest givers you you're asking what member what what are you doing in the church what you what where are you active what i mean what what are you a part of nothing that's not what you're called to do we are part of the body of christ and if you are a functioning member tom rayner says that you have to be a necessary part of the whole you got to understand that we're all different but we can all work together we may not all have uniformity but we can't have harmony it means that everything we do or say y'all everything we do or say is based on the biblical foundation of love and then number four as a functioning member i gotta remain a biblical member which means i'm a giver and it means I'm a servant and if you are giving and if you are serving you are doing what you've been called to do as a part of the body of Christ how simple it is and how complicated we make it I like what I hear these stories of Reverend Evans Reverend Evans tells these stories well I hear these stories rather about Reverend Evans and they say he did not like people to come to his church and sit down and do nothing there is no way you're going to be a pew member at fellowship now that that was ingrained in people you got to be a part of a club you got to be a part of some or auxiliary you better join the choir the youth something because when you are called to a church it is a call to serve and god knows as we continue to come out of this pandemic we need people to rush back up in the church and say where am i needed what can i do how can i be a blessing do the youth need me do the children need me do the men need me do the women need me pastor can i serve can i be one of the armor bearers can i can i help one of your leaders out can i be an assistant can i be an

18:06 editor to make sure things are edited hey before these graphics go out can y'all run them by me so i can use my skills of editing to make sure everything is well i'm a graphic designer can i help you i'm a planner can i help you i can help us get some sponsors sponsorships at this church i'm a negotiator i can make sure that we get some funds and we can get some resources to bless the community where whatever you are i need you to wake back up shake back up and join rejoin the body of christ because if you've been coming to church and have not be have not been being the church then you are no help to this church did you hear me i said if you've been coming to church and you've not been being the church you are no help to the church the way i like uh what i really like about what tom rainer does is at the end of every chapter he gives a pledge i want to read this and i want you to say it with me everybody in the room and everybody who's watching live say this with me say i am a church member i like the metaphor of membership come on say it with me It's not membership as in a civic organization or a country club.

19:19 Y'all not talking to me. It's the kind of membership given to us in 1 Corinthians 12. Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 27 because I am a member of the body of Christ I must be a functioning member whether I am an eye an ear or a hand as a functioning member I will give I will serve I will minister I will evangelize. I will study. I will seek to be a blessing to others. I will remember that if one member suffers, all members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all members rejoice with it. That is our commitment. That is our first pledge.

20:30 next week we'll be talking about i am a unifying member first week we talked about i'm a functioning member next week we'll be talking about i am a unifying member which means because i'm here i work to create unity and not disagreements and mess all over the church get your copy of the book we're going to have these available for you to grab at church you'll be able to get it online if you order it online and they are not expensive i am a church member let's pray god would you help us be better church members of the body not just people in pews but literally functioning helpful serving praying loving members of the body of christ god thank you for fellowship Thank you for the people that have kept this church strong for 72 years.

21:25 We'll be celebrating in September only because there have been people who've come through these doors who were functioning, active, agreeable members at this church. Thank you for our founding pastor, Reverend Clay Evans. Thank you for our second pastor, Pastor Charles Jenkins, our pastor, Meredith. and now God I ask that you breathe on my leadership and help me help this church go to the next level we give you praise honor and glory if somebody doesn't know Jesus help them join if somebody needs a church home where they're ready to join and get active bring them to our church so that they can be a part of the body of Christ this is our prayer in Jesus name let everybody say amen let everybody say amen let everybody say amen you can join tonight you can become a member tonight you can join the body of Christ tonight the information is at the body of the screen I love this song I think it was written by Hezekiah Walker come on sing it with me wherever you are