05 Mar How is Membership Formative?
Before I came to school at Southeastern I had no real concept of good, church
membership processes. The limited amount of knowledge I had on church membership came
from a shallow experience of being baptized as an unregenerate child and unknowingly being
brought into membership. Shortly after I became a believer at 17 I realized that I had become a
member merely through the shallow confession that I made as an 8-year- old. Thankfully, I cameto Southeastern and I did become a member at Open Door Church. Where I was baptized asecond time, but this time it was the baptism of a regenerate believer. I waited for baptism
until I got the opportunity to be baptized by a church that held it and membership in higher
regards. Through all this Open Door has given me a better understanding of what being a
member of a church looks like.
Generation Link has provided me with the opportunity to further my understanding of
what church membership looks like by allowing me to serve with our minister over membership and discipleship. In this opportunity I can see my strengths and my weaknesses in ministry without the looming threat of my failure hurting the church. Generation Link is making it possible for me to grow in ministerial experience under the watchful eye of seasoned and gracious pastors/ministers. I am learning what it looks like to be faithful to the church and to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord while being able to serve the church that I have
connected with deeply over the years.
Within the practical side of Generation Link I am getting to connect with people and
help them make lasting connections within the church. One of my continual jobs is to be in the
?Connecting Point? after every service. This area of ministry at Open Door allows guests to
meet with someone briefly, ask questions about our church, and receive a gift from us. Another
area of ministry that is one of my more concrete jobs is to connect members and guests with
CareGroups which allow them to truly have a glimpse of life at Open Door. One of my favorite
opportunities has been to write up the curriculum for a new believer?s class and be able to
teach some of the class. These chances at actively working within the life of the church are
preparing me for the day that I will be able to pastor/revitalize churches.
Exhortations
– Be as committed to your church as you are to your family. We tend to let many things
take our time and attention, but church membership is to be connected to the family of
God in a local capacity and that community is to be one of our highest priorities.
– See church discipline as a chance to restore believers to a repentant heart. Church
discipline is not a bad thing, but it should be that the members are coming alongside
each other and encouraging their brothers and sisters to abstain from sin and pursue
holiness.
– Serve your church in any way possible. You should be using your strengths in whatever
way is possible, but you should also be working on perfecting your weaknesses so that
you can be of better service to your church family. Also remember that some service
opportunities just require a warm body and a kind heart, and we can all lower our selves
to taking out trash or stacking chairs.
Prayer Requests
– Pray for Ms. Bonnie. Ms. Bonnie is a nonbeliever that attended a session in the new
believer?s class and is being ministered to by two of our members. Pray for her
salvation.
– Pray for Open Door. If there is anything that I have learned while working at Open Door
it is that even the best churches are flawed. Pray that the Lord may give our leadership
strength and wisdom is determining and directing our church.
– Pray for me. I seem to learn more about my sin, weaknesses, and flaws daily. Pray the
Lord may give me the grace and knowledge to understand how to be molded more in
the image of the Lord for His ministry.
Dakota Yawn
Generation LINK Resident
Raleigh, NC