Characteristics of a Good Church Member 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 In my opinion (take IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT) it may be because of more church trouble, more church trials, more church splits come because of the people not recognizing and following God’s man in the vision God has given him. Has A Good Attitude Toward Other Believers (v. 14-15 A. “Warn those who are unruly.” I believe it is the responsibility of every church member, not just the pastors, to correct those who are a reproach to the body of Christ. B. “Comfort the faint-hearted”. These are those who are worried, discouraged. These are those who also see the worst in every situation. C. “Uphold the weak” There are some that are weak in their faith. All they know to do when times get tough, the only way they know how to exercise their faith is to call someone else to pray for them. We are to disciple and encourage them to grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus D. “Be Patient” This is a virtue we all need. To be patient with folks. E. “See that no one render evil for evil” This is speaking of retaliation. This is not a good characteristic of a Christian. Has a Good Attitude Toward God (v. 16-22) A. “Rejoice always” This means joy is to be apparent in the life of the Christian. B. “Pray without ceasing” This means to pray persistently and regularly. But to do so, we must always be ready to pray. How can we do this? With a pure clean heart. C .“Give thanks in everything” This does not say give thank for everything. (Ex. The child that does not want to go to sleep and his prayer is thanking God for everything in the room.) It means “in” everything. When was the last time you thank God for the trials for those that persecute you? D .“Do not quench the Spirit” Here is my interpretation, don’t be the one that says, “we’ve never done it that way before.” When the Spirit of God is moving & changing lives don’t hinder the Spirit. E. “Do not despise prophecies.” Again my interpretation, don’t despise good preaching. F. “Test all things” We all must be careful to examine the preached Word on our own. I have always said know the truth for you. Examine and study God’s Word. Every Christian & every church member should recognize false teaching. G .“Abstain from every form of evil.” This means the child of God should remove himself from anything that looks like sin. Let me go back to my earlier question; what kind of church member are you? Remember in our study of church covenant, the first prerequisite of church membership is having a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that you will settle that today.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 02:05:37 +0000
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