Guidelines for Church Membership

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10)

Seen in the newsletter of First United Methodist Church Franklin, NC…

"From time to time, we need to be reminded of the fact that we joined the church...

...NOT to receive special attention, but to render special service;

...NOT to get our name on the roll, but to get God’s kingdom into our hearts;

...NOT to promote our private secular business, but to become a partner in God’s business;

...NOT to be petted and nursed as a baby, but to grow in Christian maturity;

...NOT to improve our own earthly reputation, but to strengthen our Christian character;

...NOT to be served, but to serve;

...NOT to be praised by others, but to direct others to the praise of God alone;

...NOT to save our own souls alone, but to help save others;

...NOT to do as we would please, but to be found pleasing God;

...NOT to make our own rules, but to live by God’s rules;

...NOT to appear respectable to others, but to become respectable to God;

...NOT to find a group of perfect people, but to worship a perfect God;

...NOT to show how good we are, but to learn how good we can become;

...NOT because God’s church might fail without us, but because we might fail without God’s church.”

If everyone at LaGrange First U.M.C. practiced being the kind of church member described above, what kind of church would we have? Better still, if everyone practiced their membership in the above ways in our community, how would our community be different?

My prayer is that each and every one of us will continue to find wasys to be the “hands and feet of Jesus” in our world, and that we'll have the grace and courage to be faithful in whatever it is that God wants us to do. Always remember, God loves you and I do, too!