Discovering Church Membership

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Discovering Church Membership

• Session One
• Our Salvation

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Galatians 326-28

• You are all sons of God through faith in Christ
  Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into
  Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There
  is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male
  nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus

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WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US

• What is the meaning of my life?
• People look for meaning and happiness in many
  ways
• People
• Pleasure
• Popularity
• Power

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• But, real happiness comes from understanding my
• purpose.

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WHY AM I HERE?

• Were here to love God!
• Were here to enjoy a personal relationship with
  God and to manage all of the rest of Gods
  creation.
• Were here to know and love God and live in
  harmony with His purpose for our lives. When we
  do this, it produces tremendous benefits in our
  lives.

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IF THIS IS TRUE,WHYARENT MOST PEOPLEREALLY
HAPPY?
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WHATS THE PROBLEM?

• We all have a natural desire to be the boss and
  to ignore Gods principles for living.
• The Bible calls this attitude
• Sin
• Sin is a biblical word that means
• Miss the mark
• Key word
• Rebellion
• Sin separates us from God and causes us to live
  our lives outside of His will.

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• All the best attempts in the world wont get you
  to where you need to be. These attempts are
  worthless and lead to death because a
  relationship with God is NOT based on anything
  you do.

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WHATS THE SOLUTION?

• Jesus has already taken care of your
• sin problem
• when He died on the cross!

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WHY DID GOD SEND HIS OWN SON, JESUS, TO DIE IN
YOUR PLACE?

• Because He loves YOU!
• Romans 58
• But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
  that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
  us.

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WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO?

• Admit that God has not been first place in our
  lives and ask Him to forgive our sins.
• Believe that Jesus died to pay for our sins and
  that He rose again and is alive today.
• Accept Gods free gift of salvation. We should
  not try to earn it.
• Invite Jesus Christ to come into your life and
  be the director (Lord) of your life.

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• IF YOU BELIEVE
• YOU BELONG TO
• GODS FAMILY!

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WHAT NOW?

• After you make a commitment to Jesus, you should
  participate in two specific actions
• Baptism
• And
• The Lords Supper

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WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?

• To follow the example set by Christ. Mark 19
• To obey the command of Christ. Matthew
  2819-20
• To demonstrate the fact that I am a believer.
  Acts
  188

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WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?

• Baptism is a picture that illustrates
• Jesus death, burial and resurrection.
• My new life as a Christian.
• Important
• Baptism doesnt make you a believer.
• It demonstrates that you already believe.

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WHAT IS THE MODE OF BAPTISM?

• We believe that the proper mode of baptism is by
  immersion.
• Why?
• Jesus was baptized that way.
• Every baptism in the Bible was by immersion.
• The word baptize actually means to dip under
  the water.
• Immersion best symbolized burial and
  resurrection.

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WHO SHOULD BE BAPTIZED?

• Every person who has
• believed
• in Christ.
• Those who accepted His message were baptized, and
  about three thousand were added to their number
  that day. (Acts 241)
• Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he
  followed Phillip everywhere, astonished by the
  great signs and miracles he saw. (Acts 813)

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WHAT IF I WAS BAPTIZED AS AN INFANT?

• Some churches baptize infants. At New Life we do
  not. We only baptize those who have made a
  decision to believe in Christs death as the
  payment for their sins.
• At New Life, we have a dedication service for
  infants and children that emphasizes the parents
  role in raising a child to follow Christ.

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WHEN SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?

• As soon as you have
• believed!

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WHAT IS THE LORDS SUPPER?

• It is a reminder. (1 Corinthians 1124)
• It is a symbol. (1 Corinthians 1125)
• It is a statement of faith. (1 Corinthians 1126)

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WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE LORDS SUPPER?

• Those who are already
• believers.
• (1 Corinthians 1129)

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HOW DO I PREPARE FOR THE LORDS SUPPER?

• Self-examination (1 Corinthians 1127)
• Confession of sin (1 John 19)
• Recommitment (Romans 121)
• Restoring relationships (Matthew 523-24)

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WHEN AND HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE CONDUCT THE LORDS
SUPPER?

• This is my body
• which is for you
• do this in remembrance
• of me.
• (1 Corinthians 1124)