Call to Worship
O Jesus, Savior of the lost,
My Rock and Hiding Place,
By storms of sin and sorrow toss'd,
I seek Thy sheltering grace.
Guilty, forgive me Lord! I cry;
Pursued by foes I come;
sinner, save me, or I die;
An outcast, take me home.
Once safe in thy Almighty arms,
Let storms come on again;
There danger never never harms;
There death itself is gain.
And when I stand before Thy throne,
And all Thy glory see,
Still be my righteousness alone,
To hide myself in THEE.
(Tune: 'Amazing Grace, #236)
Membership in a local church is a great blessing. With the various churches and denominations that now exist, it is good for a church to set down plainly the qualifications for membership. At Grace Community Church, membership is open to all who:
1. Have professed a hearty agreement with the doctrines of the gospel preached here. It would be foolish for a man to align himself with a church he did not agree with and it would be equally foolish for a church to accept him as a member. As it is written, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
2. Have professed a trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul. The manner of that profession is believer’s baptism by immersion. Baptism was ordained by our Lord as the way in which those who professed to believe the apostles’ message would show their agreement with it. Moreover, the manner of this baptism – immersion – demonstrates the very gospel that the church preaches; that is, that sinners are fully justified by their participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
3. Are committed to the worship services and ministry of the church. The church is the Lord’s body in this world. It is the organization which is “the pillar and ground of truth,” to its generation. As members of the Lord’s body, we are obligated to one another to love and encourage one another by our attendance at the church’s meetings; as it is written, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” As those who have been entrusted with the truth, it is the loving duty of every member to promote the spread of that truth through their own testimony and their cheerful financial support of the church.
4. Ask to be a member. We do not pressure people to join this assembly. Rather, we preach the gospel and leave people alone with God to be DRAWN BY HIM. If God has drawn you to Christ and you wish to be identified with this church, just let us know; we would be glad to count you as one of us!
- Pastor Joe Terrell
Men do not KNOW Christ the Light by coming to the 5 points of Calvinism any more than they KNOW the darkness of their hearts by memorizing the 10 Commandments.
– Pastor Clay Curtis
~~~ O ~~~
Here is a different interpretation of Mark 10:38-39 to consider.
“Can you?...Ye shall.” Mark 10:38-39
When James and John asked that they might sit at our Savior’s side in his kingdom, he asked them, -“Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can.” They did not have a clue what they asked or what they said. But Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.”
Was our Savior telling these disciples that they would suffer the same wrath, the same fury, the same hell he suffered? Was he saying that his people would drink the very cup of unmitigated woe and infinite wrath he would soon drink? – Indeed he was!
When our blessed Savior suffered all the hell of God’s wrath for us, when he was immersed in the abyss of divine vengeance, when he drank the last dregs of that bitter cup of damnation, and drank it dry, when he died, we suffered all the hell of God’s wrath, we were immersed in the abyss of divine vengeance with him, we drank the last dregs of that bitter cup of damnation, and drank it dry, we died. – we were crucified with Christ! We were one with him in all that he suffered!
One with Him e’eer time begun, One with Him, the God-man born,
One with Him as he obeyed, One with Christ our cov’nant head!
One with Him in agony, Immersed in wrath, in fury’s sea!
One with Him Who died for me. - One with Him in victory.
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