MEMBERSHIP

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MEMBERSHIP
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INTRODUCTION A chicken and a pig were walking
down the road together. They passed a sign for a
local diner advertising its breakfast special
Ham and Eggs 2.95! The chicken said, Thats
our whole contribution to society breakfast
food! The pig replied, For you, it may be a
contribution. For me its a total commitment.
Life in the modern world of today has programmed
us to expect a life of ease. Many times we run
the danger of expecting to receive abundant
rewards with minimal effort.
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INTRODUCTION Like the professional athlete
who chooses to illegally enhance his performance
through the use of steroids, many believers
substitute true commitment with a life of ease
and tranquility. Common sense reveals that some
of the best things in life demand effort and
prove worthy and following God is no different.
It involves sacrifice, effort, and total
devotion.
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INTRODUCTION Our spiritual growth is
reflective of our faithful investment. There is a
great danger in our time of succumbing to
mediocrity not through incompetence or a lack of
integrity but simply from a lack of genuine
commitment. In this lesson we will discuss how
your commitment helped by Christ-centered
priorities allow us to understand our role as a
member of the body of Christ (church).
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SCRIPTURE TEXT And their nobles shall be of
themselves, and their governor shall proceed from
the midst of them and I will cause him to draw
near, and he shall approach unto me for who is
this that engaged his heart to approach unto me?
saith the LORD. Jeremiah 3021
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I. You And I Are the Assembly a. Effective
ministry and placement in the body of
Christ i. Who am I? Whats the gospel that I
believe? Who am I trying to reach?
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b. Our convictions and obligation i.
Support of our organization, programs, and
doctrine 1. The Apostolic Assembly is one of
the oldest oneness Pentecostal
organizations in the world.
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c. Our character should display flexibility
and tolerance i. Respect unity
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• Sacrifice
• a. Two categories of sacrifice in the Old
  Testament
• i. Atonement sacrifice
• 1. Covering of sin with blood
• 2. Reconciliation of men with God or one
  another

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ii. Celebration sacrifice 1. The Law of
Moses also made provision for this type of
sacrifice a. When the crops were harvested,
when a child was born, when a great
deliverance had occurred the people would
come before God to offer gifts of
thanksgiving and celebration.
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b. Surrender i. Surrender to relinquish
possession or control to another, to submit to
the power, authority, and control of
another. 1. Philippians 26-8 ii.
Surrender is part of the pathway to maturity
and effective Christ-like ministry.
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• Self-sacrifice
• i. Several levels of sacrifice evident in
  Christs surrender for our example

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1. He emptied himself of His privileges and
the prerogatives 2. He veiled and laid
aside the voluntary use and glory of His many
attributes as God 3. He lived without wealth,
position, status, and even acceptance
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III. Setting Priorities a. Defining your
purpose i. To bring recognition (honor and
glory) to God rather than to bring pleasure to
ourselves 1. We can set our priorities
by discovering what will bring the
greatest recognition to God.
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ii. Vision brings clarity and purpose 1.
Without clarity of purpose and a proper
sense of priorities, our lives will be shaped
by the pressures around us rather than by a
divine call.
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b. Its a matter of perspective i. Perspectiv
e determines our priorities, and our
priorities determine our practice. ii. Idol
worship 1. Anything which keeps us away
from God 2. A Christ-centered life
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c. How to set your priorities i. Pick the
future over the past. ii. Focus on
opportunities rather than problems.
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iii. Choose your own direction rather than
climbing on the bandwagon. iv. Aim high,
for something that will make a difference,
rather than something that is safe and easy to
do.
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CONCLUSION He was Europes 350-pound wrestling
champ a little over two generations ago. His
name was Yussif, but people called him the
Terrible Turk because of his massive size and
awesome strength. After he won the championship
in Europe, he sailed to the United States to
contend with our champion Strangler Lewis a
much smaller man who weighed just over 200
pounds. 
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Strangler Lewis had a simple plan for defeating
his opponents. Hed put his arm around the neck
of his competitor and cut off the oxygen at the
Adams apple. Many an opponent had passed out in
the ring with Stranglers tactics.
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The problem Lewis discovered when it came time to
fight the Terrible Turk was that the European
giant didnt have a neck! He just went straight
from his head down to those massive shoulders.
In the ring, Strangler Lewis couldnt even get a
hold, so it wasnt long before Yussif flipped
Lewis over on the mat and pinned him. 
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After winning the championship, the Terrible Turk
demanded that every bit of his 5,000 prize money
be given to him in gold. After he wrapped the
championship belt around his vast, equator-like
middle, he stuffed the gold into the belt and
boarded the next ship back to Europe.
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Halfway across the Atlantic, a storm struck and
the ship began to sink. The Terrible Turk went
boldly over the side with his gold still strapped
around his body. The added weight was too much,
even for the heavyweight champion, and he sank
like an anvil before crew members could get him
into a lifeboat. He was never seen again. Let
go of the things of this world and you will
float, you will rise, you will live.
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The spiritual life almost always involves risks.
God frequently calls us to do things that seem
uncomfortable, risky and downright painful.
Generally speaking, the people we find in
Scripture who were called by God did not feel up
to their calling.
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Whether it was Abrahams call to leave home,
Gideons call to lead an army, Esthers call to
approach the king or Marys call to give birth to
the Messiah, none of them responded, Sure, I can
do that. The first response to a calling from
God is usually fear. God calls us to a life of
trust and risk and fulfillment, a life whose
priorities are shaped by Gods divine agenda
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MONITORED ASSESSMENT When we offer ourselves
to God what are we acknowledging? Write
down the top 10 priorities in your life. From
that list circle the top 3. These are the
values by which you live. Do they match up with
Gods priorities?