Anthem Church

As the new year begins, let us set ourselves apart in Jesus, receiving and serving as we abide in him.

New year, new you, right? The New Year holiday is time for planning and for dreaming. What will the next year bring? It's fun to set our agenda and rank order our priorities. The book of James gives us insight into how we can do so wisely.

The Christmas season promises peace, joy, and comfort; our lives, however, are often lacking in these very qualities, especially during the holiday season. How does Jesus, born on Christas Day, usher in true peace?

What's better than a good king? A king who rules with the heart of an everlasting father. In Jesus, we have a king without end who loves his kids as a perfect father, forever.

It's a simple question, but one that is of the utmost importance in our life and faith: how do you view Jesus? If he remains an ancient character in our mind, removed and distant from our current experiences, we will not follow him completely. However, if we see him rightly, as mighty, able, and for us, we will surrender all to our savior.

Where do you seek wisdom when you need it? What principles guide your life, your decisions, your priorities? In Jesus, we have a wonderful counselor, ready and able to guide us, form us, and lead us in every season and walk of life.

As we conclude our membership series, we meditate together as a community on the marks of life given to us in the grace of the gospel.

Paul calls everyone who is a member of the church to build one another up in love. Church membership is not a spectator sport, and we participate in this holy calling to give and receive the truth in the love of God. In our mutual building up, we are strengthened and encouraged, and our witness goes far beyond our reach as a blessing to those around us.

The Scriptures call us to the truest and deepest unity, a unity far greater than we could develop or imagine. God has made unity possible through his son Jesus, and it is our calling to strive earnestly to maintain this unity, by the Spirit of God and in the bond of peace.

We are called to be filled with the fullness of God. In seeking Him, we must posture ourselves with worshipful hearts, thorough dependance, and a healthy expectancy of all God can do in and through our lives, for his glory.

Family is complicated, and disagreements and conflicts are inevitable, even in the family of God. If we are called to be one unified body, how do we disagree to the glory of God and the good of those around us?

In order to be the church community we all long to be, God asks us to have tender hearts towards one another in forgiveness. We must deal with sin in honesty and humility, striving for reconciliation and unity in the church that we may reflect the love and glory of God to all.

Jesus himself said that where our treasure is, there our heart is also. The gospel calls us to freedom in God and the worship of God; our response to his goodness affects our whole lives, even our finances. Our generosity is an act of response and worship to the God who gave everything to win us back from sin and death.

Our model for humility is Christ himself. If we are to be individuals and a community that exudes humility, we must share the mind of Christ, putting the needs of others before our own and considering others as more significant than ourselves.

As we close out our four main teachings on church membership, we examine what membership looks like practically in everyday life. What are we promising to God and to one another?

This week, we focus on the word of God, which serves as the foundation for all we do as individuals followers of Jesus and as a church community.

Church membership is not logistical accounting of who is in and out of a club. The reason for church membership is to capture, walk out, and lean into the heart of God for his church as shown to us by the Scriptures. We are to live out our new lives in Christ in the context of community, holding one another up and pointing one another to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

As we begin our series on church membership, we begin by examining the heart of membership. God’s desire for the church, in and through Christ, is a unified body, experiencing and sharing the grace of God as it grows.

As Jesus ends his public ministry, he cries aloud one last time, sharing the truths that lead to true life in God. Jesus brings light, grace, and life, and those who believe and hold fast to his teaching will be saved from darkness, judgement, and death.