
Member Commitment
God has made a covenant with his people through Jesus Christ. (Heb. 10:16) Being members of God’s new covenant community has major implications for how church members relate with one another. Because of the grace God has shown us, and in reliance on God, we make the following commitments to one another:
UNITY: we are one, so we will live as one
We will work and pray for unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)
We will gather for worship and fellowship on the Lord’s Day (Heb. 10:25)
We will love each other and will love other churches (Jn. 13:35, Acts 11:22)
We will obey and submit to godly church leadership (Heb. 13:17, 1 Pet. 5:5)
We will, as soon as we move on from Iasi, unite with another local church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant
HOLINESS: we are set apart in Christ, so we will live set apart in the world
We will refuse to participate in ungodliness and will live a new and holy life of obedience to God, forgiveness of others, repentance and reconciliation
We will grow toward Christian maturity, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:18-26, Eph. 4:11-16)
Sadly, we will at times sin. When that happens, our response is important:
We will repent right away when we become aware of our sin, asking forgiveness from God and from those whom we wronged (1 Jn. 1:9)
We will warn and rebuke one another with humility and love if we see a fellow member in sin (1 Thes. 5:14, Matt. 18:15-17, Eph. 4:32)
We will discipline according to the pattern of Matthew 18:15-17, if a member is living in sin and refuses to repent
MISSION: we are reconciled with God, so we will offer that reconciliation to others with our words and with our deeds
We will sustain the worship, sacraments, discipline and doctrines of the church so that our corporate witness to the world will be faithful
We will use words to tell our friends, family and acquaintances about the gospel we have received (Rom. 10:14-15, Matt. 28:19-20)
We will demonstrate deeds of mercy to the poor in the name of Christ so that the gospel will be proclaimed in our actions as well as words (Lk. 10:25-36, James 2:17, 1 Jn. 3:16-17, Isa. 1:10-17)
We will cheerfully and regularly contribute our time, financial gifts, spiritual gifts, talents and energy to edify the church, to relieve the poor, and to make disciples of all nations (1 Cor. 14:12; 16:2, 2 Cor. 8:1-4; 9:7, Phil. 4:15-17)