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Stone Creek does not have roster membership. We have tried to reflect a biblical concept of membership. The way the Bible uses the term members is in reference to people who trust Jesus Christ and are therefore members of the body of Christ, the Church. God has expectations for His people, stated in His word, for how they would behave toward one another in fellowship (in a local church); we consider those behaviors as expressing your membership in the body of Christ through a local church (the list of behaviors we list in our Constitution is just a sample). If you consider/want Stone Creek to be your local church home, we encourage you to express your membership through these and other biblical behaviors. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail the elders at elders@stonecreekbiblechurch.org. If you want to read the rest of our Constitution, click here.
ARTICLE IV of Stone Creek Bible Church Constitution
Scriptural Membership
Definition Stone Creek Bible Church recognizes scriptural members, as established in the Bylaws. We recognize membership in the body of Christ, which is established by trust in Jesus Christ and expressed by participation in the fellowship of the church. (Eph. 2:8-10, 1 Cor. 12:12-14, Titus 3:5-6, Rom. 12:3-13)
A. Ordinances – These practices, commanded by Christ, give outward expression of trust in Jesus Christ and are carried out in a church fellowship.
(1) Believer’s baptism
(2) The Lord’s supper (communion) (Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
B. Participation in church fellowship includes things such as
Loving and serving one another (Matthew 22:36-40, John 13:34-35, Matthew 20:25-28)
Exercising spiritual gifts, serving toward the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11-13)
Joining regularly in fellowship and group worship (Hebrews 10:24-25, Colossians 3:16, James 5:16)
Giving regularly to support the ministry of the church (1 Timothy 5:17)
Sharing with brothers in need (Ephesians 4:28)
Maintaining unity (John 17:23, Ephesians 4, Philippians 2:3-5, 1 Cor. 11:18-19)
Holding to sound biblical doctrine (Ephesians 4:14, 1 Corinthians 11:2)
Not putting stumbling blocks in a brother’s way (Mark 9:42, 1 Corinthian 8:9)
Praying for one another (James 5:16, Ephesians 6:18)
Getting appropriately involved in the restoration of a sinning brother (Galatians 6:1, Matthew 18:15-20)
Forgiving one another as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13, Matthew 18:15-35)
Acknowledging there are people who are given responsibility to shepherd and lead you in the Lord, and therefore submitting to them (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Hebrews 13:17) |
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