This Sunday we kick off a new 6-week sermon series about church membership. Whether you are officially a church member or not doesn't really matter for this series; when all is said and done, what we'll be exploring in this series is our understanding of what goes in to being an active, engaged participant in the life of a local congregation...and those are things that can be applied and practiced by anyone and everyone, regardless of official "membership" status!
While each sermon will ultimately be grounded in Scripture to better understand what the Bible says about the major topics/points we'll be covering, inspiration for this. series comes from the four commitments that make up the Oak Hills Church Membership Covenant:
Membership Commitment: A commitment to Jesus and the Oak Hills Church community
Maturity Commitment: A commitment to regularly growing and maturing in our faith and exercise of the Oak Hills Church Core Practices
Ministry Commitment: A commitment to discovering and using our God-given gifts and abilities to serve God and the world
Missional Commitment: A commitment to sharing the good news of Jesus in any way we can and with everyone God brings into our life
We're kicking things off with a look at Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, but the "meat" of this series will be a deep dive into the teachings of Ephesians 4:1-16, looking at just a handful of verses each week as we come to appreciate the significance and implications of what Paul writes there.
Looking at a series like this in no way suggests that we are falling short in our membership commitments. I (Pastor Jason) actually tend to put together a series like this about every 2 years or so, just because it's often helpful to be regularly reminded of what we are called to be about as a church family. For long-time members, it's a great reminder of the commitments you made when you officially joined Oak Hills Church; for newer members or recent Professions of Faith, a series like this helps to reinforce the conversations you recently had with Pastor Jason and an elder; for non-professing members (attenders) this may be helpful for moving you further along you faith journey and relationship with Oak Hills Church, or at least encourage you as you continue to be part of our extended church family. Although "Church...On Purpose" is being presented as a series on church membership, our prayer is that the next 6 weeks will offer insights, tips, and tricks for being a fully engaged worshipper of any local congregation, regardless of official membership status - "Church...On Purpose" is simply about being the church, as God calls and invites all his people to.
For those who appreciate knowing what to expect, here's the plan for the next 6 weeks (subject to change if something different/better is needed)...
January 7:
"Three Strands" (Ecclesiastes 4:7-12)
January 14:
"Bear Together" (Ephesians 4:1-2)
January 21:
"Oneness" (Ephesians 4:3-6)
January 28:
"Body Building" (Ephesians 4:11-15)
February 4:
"Presents for Everyone" (Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-12, 16)
February 11:
"Up and Out" (Ephesians 4:1, 4-6)
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