Rev. David Holwick B Church Covenant #1
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 8, 2006
Hebrews 8:8-12
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I. What's heard, and not heard.
A. Seven things you never hear in Ledgewood Baptist church:
1. Hey! It's MY turn to sit on the front pew!
2. I was so enthralled, I never noticed the pastor's sermon
went overtime 25 minutes.
3. I've decided to give our church the $300.00 a month I used
spend in Atlantic City.
4. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High
Sunday School class.
5. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!
6. Let's spend 15 minutes in silence before the worship starts.
7. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like
Pastor David's sermons on tithing. #4583
B. One thing you do hear (once a month anyway): church covenant.
1) My first church in Ohio had a similar one.
2) Curiously, it does not focus on major doctrine.
a) The Trinity or inerrancy of the Bible are not stressed.
b) This would make it a creed, which Baptists avoid.
3) The focus is on lifestyle.
a) How I should be committed to God.
b) How I should be treating my fellow Christians.
4) My new sermon series will focus on this covenant.
II. We start with Jesus.
A. Our salvation comes from receiving Jesus as our Savior.
"Having been led by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord
Jesus Christ as our Savior...."
1) The foundation of faith must be Jesus. 1 Cor 3
B. Our faith is a personal relationship with God.
1) Many Christians are up in arms over courthouse monuments
inscribed with the 10 Commandments.
2) According to the Bible, that is not where they should be.
As it says in Hebrews, referring to a prophecy in Jer. 31,
we need God's law in our hearts, not carved on stone.
3) Our faith is internal (in the heart) more than external.
C. We want our church to have people who've experienced this.
1) What set early Baptists apart from all other Christians
was their insistence on a regenerate church. (born-again)
2) Our membership is not determined by ritual, but experience.
III. How can we know who is really born again?
A. We cannot know someone else's heart, for certain.
Unless we are Southern Baptist...
In 1993 the Baptists in Alabama got into hot water.
They did a survey of the population of their state and
broke it down county by county.
They subtracted all the members of Baptist churches.
Then they used a secret formula to assess the genuineness
of the faith of non-Baptists.
Apparently being a Methodist carried more weight than being
a Catholic.
Their conclusion?
46.1 percent of Alabama was going to hell.
Just think what the percentage for New Jersey would be!
Of course, the Alabama Baptists were severely criticized
for their presumptuousness.
A population survey is not adequate for assessing
salvation.
Only God knows those who are his.
But Southern Baptists are correct about this - salvation
is not something everyone has.
And God reveals his requirements for salvation in the Bible.
#2540
B. We can have confidence in ourselves.
1) Baptists believe in the assurance of salvation.
a) We understand that salvation is God's action for us.
b) God can give me a feeling in my heart of being accepted.
2) I can back up my decision with certain actions.
a) Profession of faith.
1> To join this church, you must claim to be saved.
b) Baptism.
1> We baptize because Jesus tells us to do it.
2> We don't baptize babies because they cannot express
personal faith.
3> Have you been baptized?
Radio commentator Paul Harvey wrote in Guidepost Magazine about
his baptism.
He said that even though he had received almost every reward for
his broadcasting ability that he still felt empty inside.
One summer, however, he and his wife were vacationing in a place
called Cave Creek, Arizona.
Sunday morning came and they decided to go to church.
So they went to this little church, and there were only 12 other
people present.
Paul Harvey believed in Jesus, but he had never gone forward in
a church service.
One night years ago he had prayed in his hotel room and asked
Jesus to come into his heart.
But he felt that there was still "something that was missing,"
as he put it.
Harvey said the preacher got up and announced that his sermon
was going to be about baptism.
Paul Harvey's response? He yawned.
But as the preacher started talking about it, Harvey found
himself interested.
The preacher talked about the symbolism behind it, and how it
stood for the complete surrender of one's life to Jesus Christ,
and how there was nothing really magic about the water.
But there was this cleansing inside that took place when you
yielded yourself to Jesus.
Finally, when the preacher came to the end of his sermon he said,
"If any of you have not been baptized in this way, I invite
you to come forward and join me here at the pulpit."
Paul Harvey said, "To my surprise, I found myself going forward.
The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the water.
Yet as I descended into the depths and rose again I knew
something life-changing had happened - a cleansing inside out.
No longer did there seem to be two uncertain contradictory
Paul Harveys, just one immensely happy one.
I felt the fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit in my life."
Paul Harvey went on, "The change this simple act made in my life
is so immense as to be indescribable.
Since totally yielding to Him in baptism, my heart can't stop
singing.
Also, perhaps because baptism is such a public act and because
one's dignity gets as drenched as one's body, I discovered a
new unself-consciousness in talking about my beliefs."
#30174
IV. Entering into covenant.
"We do now in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly,
most solemnly and joyfully
enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ."
A. What is a covenant?
1) Closest modern equivalent is a marriage vow.
a) Dutch innovation - group marriage. One man, two women.
b) Different from polygamy because it is a round-robin.
2) A church covenant should be a holy commitment.
a) Membership is a start.
b) Follow it up with continued involvement.
Paul mentions two different types of commitment in
2 Corinthians 8:5:
"They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us
in keeping with God's will."
Our commitment to the church is right up there with
our commitment to the Lord.
B. Qualities of the commitment.
1) Mutual. "with one another"
a) The phrase "one another" or "each other" is used more
than 50 times in the New Testament.
We are commanded to:
love each other,
pray for each other,
encourage each other,
admonish each other,
greet each other,
serve each other,
teach each other,
accept each other,
honor each other,
bear each other's burdens,
forgive each other,
sing to each other,
submit to each other and
be devoted to each other.
All of these commands are what membership in a local
body of believers is all about.
These are the responsibilities of membership.
#17983
b) Church is not a one-way street where I come and get.
1> It is a two-way street where I give and get.
2> Even better, it is a three-way street, with God.
2) Solemnly and joyfully.
a) Church covenants should be serious stuff!
b) But not meant to be drudgery. Commitment should bring
contentment.
C. One body in Christ.
1) There should not be divisions or personality cliques.
V. God must be at the center.
A. He leads us to salvation.
1) Even our own faith is a gift from the Lord. Eph 2:8-10
B. He watches over everything we do. (angels watch, too)
C. Is he at the center of your life and faith?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 2540 "How Many Are Unsaved?" Daily Record newspaper, Parsippany, New
Jersey, September 18, 1993.
# 4583 "Ten Things You Never Hear in a Baptist Church," adapted by David
Holwick, Pastor Jim's Illustrations Plus, http://www.net153.com
#17983 "Church Membership Covenant: Expect What The Bible Expects,"
Rev. Rick Warren, Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org/,
August 19, 2002.
#30174 "Paul Harvey's Baptism," Paul Harvey, Guidepost magazine, adapated
by Ted Mulder, www.sermoncentral.com newsletter,
October 31, 2005.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
"Church Membership Covenant: Expect What The Bible Expects," by
Rev. Rick Warren, Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org/,
August 19, 2002. Kerux illustration #17983
The Saddleback Membership Covenant
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in
agreement with Saddleback's statements, strategy, and structure, I now feel
led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Saddleback church family.
In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the
following:
1. I WILL PROTECT THE UNITY OF MY CHURCH
...By acting in love toward other members
...By refusing to gossip
...By following the leaders
2. I WILL SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MY CHURCH
...By praying for its growth
...By inviting the unchurched to attend
...By warmly welcoming those who visit
3. I WILL SERVE THE MINISTRY OF MY CHURCH
...By discovering my gifts and talents
...By being equipped to serve by my pastors
...By developing a servant's heart
4. I WILL SUPPORT THE TESTIMONY OF MY CHURCH
...By attending faithfully
...By living a godly life
...By giving regularly
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