Points of Interest - Membership 4

Points of Interest

Membership Class 4 – The Values That Shape 

Our Church
I. Call to Worship:  Psalm 73:23-26
II. Offering passage:  Exodus 35:4,5, 21
III. Scripture references:

 Phil 1:27 - “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of 

Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of 
you that you  are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving 
together for the faith of the gospel”
 Rom 10:14, 17 - “How then will they call on him in whom they have not 
believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never 
heard? And  how are they to hear without someone preaching? . . . So 
faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

 John 17:17: “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.”

 2 Cor. 2:17 – “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but 
as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we 
speak in Christ.

 1 Thess. 2:13 – “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when 
you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it 
not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is 
at work in you believers.”

 1 Tim. 4:13 – “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of 
Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” 

 2 Tim. 4:2-5 – “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; 
reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the 
time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having 
itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own 
passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off 
into myths.”

 Matt. 20:28 – “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, 
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 1 Peter 4:10-11: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, 
as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who 
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength 
that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified 
through Jesus Christ.”

 Eph 4:15-16 - “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in 
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole 
body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, 
when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds 
itself up in love.”

 Col 3:16 - “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and 
admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 Heb 10:24-25 - “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love 
and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, 
but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing 
near.”

 John 13:35 - “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if 
you have love for one another.” 

 1 Peter 3:15-16 - “… always being prepared to make a defense to anyone 
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with 
gentleness and respect . . .”

 Acts 2:42 - “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ 
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

 Col 4:2 -  “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with 
thanksgiving.”

IV. Quotes:

 J.I. Packer  - “. . . God’s standard way of securing and maintaining His 
person-to-person communication with us His human creatures is through 
the agency of persons whom He sends to us as His messengers ... Such 
were the prophets and apostles, and such supremely was Jesus Christ, the 
incarnate Son . . . That is the succession in which preachers today are 
called to stand.”

 J.I. Packer - “We should not think of our fellowship with other 
Christians as a spiritual luxury, an optional addition to the 
exercises of private devotions. Fellowship is one of the great 
words of the New Testament: it denotes something that is vital 
to a Christian’s spiritual health, and central to the Church’s true 
life. . . . The church will flourish and Christians will be strong 
only when there is fellowship.”

V. Cross-references: 
 Matt. 22:36-40
 Matt. 28:18-20
 II Timothy 3:16-4:2
 Ephesians 4:11-13