How Do I Become a Member of This Congregation?
Just let the pastor know by either direct contact or letting a fellow member know to contact the pastor. There’s no elaborate process, but we like to acknowledge new members to ensure we welcome, serve and support you.
What Is Membership?
Membership is defined as the state or status of being a part of something that makes up the whole e.g. individuals composing a group. Each part of the whole is important and plays a unique role for the unity, and growth of the whole.
Church Membership In the church there are generally two forms of believers that have emerged: Those who are members of the congregation and those who are members of the Body of Christ. Members of the Body of Christ have been born again, becoming new creatures, by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior. This is universal membership to God’s church and is not limited by church organization—this church has no boundaries of its location-it is open to all that believe.
The greatest reason to join a local church congregation is to reflect your love and commitment to Christ and the desire to fellowship with other believers. In unity there is strength. The Bible teaches us to add to the church daily such that people should be saved. Therefore, a local church congregation will have members at varying levels of Christian maturity.
Local Church Congregation
People join and attend church for many different reasons. We believe the joining a local church is important to carry out our purpose of exhorting the Savior, equipping the saints and evangelizing lost.
The critical reason for attending church is to learn and apply the word of God to your life. Without belonging to a local church, its very likely a person’s spiritual needs will not be met and one will not be equipped to carry out the Lord’s Great Commission of telling the world about Him.
We come together in the local church to praise and worship the Lord. The Lord commands that everything that has breadth to praise Him and He assures us that He inhabits our praise. As believers we are fitly framed together to grow into a holy temple in the Lord so that together we can be a habitation of God through the Spirit. Most commonly we praise and worship in the sanctuary but we are not limited by material walls.
The Bible teaches us that we should assemble ourselves together to exhort/encourage one another and even more so as the last day approach. Attending church is a very basic act of obedience to God’s word. As the Body of Christ, we are jointly joined together and compacted by that which every member supplies according to our gifts and talents. Our collectively gifts and talents make the whole grow and edify itself in love.
What Do We Believe?
We believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God and is our guide unto new birth, guides our everyday life and is our pathway to eternal life. While we appreciate some summarized statements, we make no attempt to abbreviate the Bible and its teachings or to expand it into a huge volume index of faith.
We strongly encourage everyone to read and to be open to the life revealed by the Bible—Just Read It! We honor the Bible by accepting the fact that Christ is Savior and by worshipping him as Lord of Life. He is the Living Word to whom the Bible, the written word, witnesses.
New Member Class We have set aside times that those desiring to be “fitly joined together” with Refreshing Springs can be instructed in basic foundation of faith and the doctrines of this New Testament Church. In these classes we instruct those who desire to be committed to and used in this body. These classes are offered at different times during the year.
Practical Perspectives on Membership
Just let the pastor know by either direct contact or letting a fellow member know to contact the pastor. There’s no elaborate process, but we like to acknowledge new members to ensure we welcome, serve and support you.
What Is Membership?
Membership is defined as the state or status of being a part of something that makes up the whole e.g. individuals composing a group. Each part of the whole is important and plays a unique role for the unity, and growth of the whole.
Church Membership In the church there are generally two forms of believers that have emerged: Those who are members of the congregation and those who are members of the Body of Christ. Members of the Body of Christ have been born again, becoming new creatures, by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior. This is universal membership to God’s church and is not limited by church organization—this church has no boundaries of its location-it is open to all that believe.
The greatest reason to join a local church congregation is to reflect your love and commitment to Christ and the desire to fellowship with other believers. In unity there is strength. The Bible teaches us to add to the church daily such that people should be saved. Therefore, a local church congregation will have members at varying levels of Christian maturity.
Local Church Congregation
People join and attend church for many different reasons. We believe the joining a local church is important to carry out our purpose of exhorting the Savior, equipping the saints and evangelizing lost.
The critical reason for attending church is to learn and apply the word of God to your life. Without belonging to a local church, its very likely a person’s spiritual needs will not be met and one will not be equipped to carry out the Lord’s Great Commission of telling the world about Him.
We come together in the local church to praise and worship the Lord. The Lord commands that everything that has breadth to praise Him and He assures us that He inhabits our praise. As believers we are fitly framed together to grow into a holy temple in the Lord so that together we can be a habitation of God through the Spirit. Most commonly we praise and worship in the sanctuary but we are not limited by material walls.
The Bible teaches us that we should assemble ourselves together to exhort/encourage one another and even more so as the last day approach. Attending church is a very basic act of obedience to God’s word. As the Body of Christ, we are jointly joined together and compacted by that which every member supplies according to our gifts and talents. Our collectively gifts and talents make the whole grow and edify itself in love.
What Do We Believe?
We believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God and is our guide unto new birth, guides our everyday life and is our pathway to eternal life. While we appreciate some summarized statements, we make no attempt to abbreviate the Bible and its teachings or to expand it into a huge volume index of faith.
We strongly encourage everyone to read and to be open to the life revealed by the Bible—Just Read It! We honor the Bible by accepting the fact that Christ is Savior and by worshipping him as Lord of Life. He is the Living Word to whom the Bible, the written word, witnesses.
New Member Class We have set aside times that those desiring to be “fitly joined together” with Refreshing Springs can be instructed in basic foundation of faith and the doctrines of this New Testament Church. In these classes we instruct those who desire to be committed to and used in this body. These classes are offered at different times during the year.
Practical Perspectives on Membership
- We celebrate all new members that join with this local congregation, Refreshing Springs. We truly rejoice when a person becomes a member of the Body of Christ.
- If you are transferring or relocating from another church a letter of recommendation or acceptance is not required. Your personal affirmation of faith, your participation and your Christian character will demonstrate that you are a part of the family of God.
- Every person should strive to mature and grow in Christ and to desire spiritual gifts. This is an ongoing and growing process regardless of how long you have been a Christian.
- Although we all have direct access to the throne of grace, as Christians, we still are called to be subject to spiritual authority. According to the scriptures God gives us a pastor to feed us with knowledge and understanding and He holds him or her (pastor) responsible for watching for our souls.
- We seek to be on one accord although there may be times when we do not have perfect agreement on minute details of doctrine and practice. Differences should be resolved in love and with an open mind in order for our body to grow.
- Consistent attendance for primary worship services and Bible study is a basic foundation of our fellowship. Further, we look forward to our joint support of special services and events.
- We have a number of ministries and programs to assist in the exhorting the Savior, equipping the saints and evangelizing the lost. We recognize unique spiritual valve to be gained from our ministries and programs therefore we encourage, but not require, members to join at least one our church ministries for great fellowship.
- You can count on the pastor or a designee to visit or communicate with you to help meet your spiritual needs. In times of need, we seek to provide assistance as resources, talents and referrals allow.
- Since church membership goes beyond just receiving, we believe according to scriptures that members should support the ministry as the Lord has blessed them in the giving of their time and talents as well as the Lord’s tithe and offerings.
- Each member should love and protect the unity of the Body of Christ. Edifying and encouraging one another in Christ strengthens our fellowship. Gossip, slander, evil communication, untruths, innuendo and such like is persecution to the Body of Christ and destructive to the Refreshing Springs congregation. Therefore, members should mortify and shun these characteristics and make the pursuit of peace the priority.
- A person removes himself or herself from membership in Refreshing Springs when he or she is no longer committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord or when his or her lifestyle is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus and other clear teachings of the New Testament. Most persons do not have to be told this; it is obvious to both the individual and the congregation.
