Concluding our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.10:

We moreover engage, that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with another other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant, and the principles of God's Word.

When we moved overseas we not only needed to get a bank account, a phone, groceries and insurance but within weeks we’d not only found a local church but joined it. Baptism and membership are how we express our universal membership in the church (and how the church recognizes who represents Jesus, Mt 16:19, 18:18; Acts 2:41).[1] It isn’t optional but an elementary expression of Christian discipleship. It was so elementary for us it ranked high on our priority list.

Sadly, many Canadian ‘evangelicals’ believe differently than our church and so there is much we can do to encourage and teach on and live out church membership. A recent state of theology Canada survey found that only 37% (18–34), 33% (35-49), 23% (50–64) and 18% (65+) believe that every Christian has an obligation to join a local church (note this is lessens the older one is).[2]

Not only do we believe membership is a biblical principle (and that our covenant contains biblical principles), we also believe that the spirit of our covenant is important too: faithfulness, relationality, love, commitment, holiness, piety, generosity, etc.
​
So may we all commit to a local church and may we all help each other faithfully fulfill our church covenant that expresses basic Christian responsibilities and privileges for our good and God’s glory.


[1] The Baptist Catechism, Question #101
What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?
It is the duty of such who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.⁠¹⁠
¹ Acts 2:41–42; 5:13–14; 9:26; 1 Peter 2:5; Luke 1:6
https://baptistcatechism.org/101/

[2] Older Christians were more greatly influenced by anti-institutionalism and post-modernism; younger Christians desire cohesiveness in chaos. 

Continuing in our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.9:

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Saviour, to secure it without delay; and

Fellowship is actively sharing in the common Christian life; life with the Father, in the Son, by the bond of the Holy Spirit.

The imagery of the church as a body can be both skeletal (institutional) and fleshly (relational). Here in our covenant we commit to four very fleshly things—what it looks like to watch over—or actively prefer each other. The final point wraps up the totality of the covenant.

1. Prayer. We think about and remember to pray for those whom we love. We do this not only corporately but also privately. We should feel covered in prayer.
2. Help. We help those—benevolence—who are in need. Whether they have been sick, lost a loved one or a job, etc. We’re practically there for each other as a body and member-member. We should have to turn away help.

     3.Speech. Speech reveals the heart. Do we have compassion and understanding toward others in        the above situations? We should. Not only this, do we convey it. We should be so encouraged by         words and actions we doubt no one’s heart.
     4.Relationships. We’re fellow sinners and so some thick skin is needed. However, if we’ve caused         offence we ask for forgiveness and should be quick to offer it. The closeness of our relationships        should cause others to desire to join us (Zech 8:23). 

These, any everything in our covenant we should be mindful, or aware of, and do without delay. Like Josiah discovering the law, if we discover that Jesus requires something of us toward our brothers and sisters—do it. Let us have humble hearts that are every growing in a knowledge of God’s will such that we are ready and willing soldiers. 

Continuing in our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.7:
​
To walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all gossip, tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to maintain sobriety, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour;

Let’s break these biblical callings down:

1.To walk circumspectly in the world;
Jesus calls us to be as “innocent as doves and as wise as serpents.” (Mt 10:6). He wants us to have street smarts when it comes to the world (anti-God values and ways). To be circumspect is to ‘look around’ or be aware.

2.to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements,
When we deal with people, in the church or in the world, we ought to be just or fair like God. We should be a people who keep our word also in the engagements (appointments) we make (i.e. not backtracking like so many do today. Think before you give your word and, once given, keep it). Nothing shines forth the truthfulness and faithfulness of God like truthful and faithful Christians! We should enact the positive side of do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, etc.

3.and exemplary in our deportment [dress];
While it is true that God judges the heart, this does not mean He is unconcerned about our outward appearance, as they reflect our heart. Paul speaks of dress in 1 Ti 1:9. While anyone should be welcomed as they are coming to worship; Christians, in worship and life, should dress in an exemplary way (a way that is an example to others). We should seek to be modest (both physically and economically), and yet wear clothes that show quality and care. We should take pride in our presentation. When we come to worship, we should bring our best to God, inside and out. This is well pleasing and a witness to others. In our super-relaxed day and age, we need to remember that deportment matters.

4.to avoid all gossip, tattling, backbiting,
Speech sins are grave sins according to the New Testament (i.e. those who persist in them will show themselves not to be among the redeemed, 1 Cor 6:9–10). Gossip is unconstrained speech about someone, usually untrue. Tattling is telling confidential information about someone, or speaking about someone without having approach them directly (c.f. Mt 18). Backbiting is harshly speaking back. All of these sins go against what God has positively taught how the believer should speak. They are of the flesh and not of the Spirit and are to be fought against.

5.and excessive anger;
We are emotional beings and anger is one of those emotions. While Jesus warns against anger (Mt 5:21–22), He also instructs us to “be angry and do not sin.” (Eph 4:26). It is possible to have a righteous anger over something unjust. However, even in our anger we must exercise self-control. Otherwise, fires can be set ablaze not unlike those of the tongue (Ja 3).

6.to maintain sobriety,
To be sober means to be able to think clearly. Historically it related to drink (and today would include drugs). The Bible speaks strongly against drunkenness (cf. Gal 5:19–21). While not prohibiting alcohol, the warning, along with idolatrous addictions and social problems caused by drink, have led Baptists to traditionally be ‘tee-totalers’[1]—for good reason. Any decision not to voluntarily abstain from drink must be met with a conscious effort to drink above reproach. However, it is best (and cheapest!) to avoid the temptation all together.

7.and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour;
While this list has included positives and negatives, here is one positive, which if followed, would rule out the negatives. Are we zealously being devoted to all of the physical and spiritual means to advance the kingdom, locally and globally. This could involve personal evangelism, supporting the worship of God, giving, praying, serving, caring, engaging in missions, etc. Let us be devoted to these good things like the early Church (Acts 2:42; Mt 6:33), for where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Mt 6:21).


[1] Meaning total temperance or Totally no drink. 

 Like the doctrine of the Trinity, which the Bible doesn’t use but that describes what is clearly seen, covenant is everywhere in the Bible and yet there is no explicit verse that says, ‘thou shalt have a church covenant.’ (Much like we believe ‘no sex before marriage’ but there is no verse that uses those exact words, yet we know from a biblical ethic and helpful verses that is God’s plan). Nevertheless, we see covenant everywhere in the Bible, it is the spine or backbone that holds the Bible together—covenantalism. (See my blog here/printed in mailbox).

Covenant means agreement. It is a relational word. A covenant spells out the nature of two parties’ relationship. Covenants are either vertical or horizontal. Covenants have different orders. The highest covenant is between God and men. In the ancient world there were also sovereign-vassal covenants of varying degrees (King to a prince, a prince to a lord, a lord to an elder, etc). Even covenants could be amended or renewed and hence were not always permanent (this was the case with the Mosaic Covenant Ex 34:1-10, though God’s other covenants were binding, e.g. Noah). There were marriage covenants (Mal 2:14, binding) and also business covenants (Genesis 23; 1 Ki 5). There are different degrees or levels of the wider notion of covenant, which can be between God and man, people; some being binding and others not. (Check out the entry for ‘covenant’ in any Bible dictionary for more info).

As the New Covenant people of God, the covenant community is carried forward into the NT. We see its finger prints everywhere. Words and ideas such as Kingdom, unity, the assembly, the household, the fellowship, the body, etc. These are not merely organic as the Church is an institution (Eph 1:22–23) as much as it is an organism (i.e. skeleton and flesh). While the church is universal it is also local. Membership/covenant is the means to delineate who is part of a local church vs. that church or this church or no church. It has a practical as well as a biblical-theological basis. Different statements of faith will express this by describing the church as an entity of those ‘who covenant together’ or who ‘associate together.’  Not until this is done, formally or informally, can a local church be said to be constituted. What is the difference between 5 Christians gathering together and 15 who covenant together to form a church—commitment and form (officers, worship, preaching, ordinances, etc). For Baptists who stress a believer’s church, baptism and membership (rooted in a covenant) are the visible means by which we show who represents Jesus. As God covenants with us, we covenant in our relationships with others.
​
Flowing from covenant in the Bible, a church covenant is a voluntary promissory statement between members that is a reminder of expectations and commitments that are reflective of God’s will for the church/believer.

Continuing in our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.7:

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotion; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances;

While using older language, this covenant clause emphasizes three commitments:

1. Personal Worship (This used to be called ‘family worship’): Whether we are single, married or a child in a family, we should all take time—ideally daily—to hear from and speak to God in praise and prayer and the reading of Scripture. We should cultivate this as a normative pattern in our lives. We should do it as a family if we are more than one and even if we are part of a family, we should also do it privately.
2. Discipleship of Children: If you have children, then there is a spiritual responsibility to disciple them (Dt 6); to intentionally do spiritual good to them. (Even if they are grown, we can still seek this). If you, or you and your spouse, don’t have children, we can always seek to do spiritual good toward children generally. If you have children, the point here is not to offload this responsibility to others (e.g. a Christian school, the church); however, involved the Christian community should be. The point is that parents have a responsibility to teach their children the faith by instruction and example.  

*As an example of points 1 & 2: every morning I lead my son in reading from a children’s Bible and, at the moment, a Christian biography; every evening after story time, we read a child friendly Christian book and then the Bible. We pray together (petitions) as a family using a ‘prayer jar’ that contains many prayer requests
      3. General Evangelization: Not only should we seek the salvation of our children (or other                   children), but we ought also to fulfil the Great Commission generally. Our entire relational                  network is our mission field. Growing and making disciples should be our bread and butter.
​*A simple example of this is to find small ways to drop biblical truths or speak of God as Gospel opportunities in day-to-day communication and examples. We can of course be more forthright too.

It is right and good to attend public worship and support the evangelistic and discipleship activities of your church. However, this clause encourages us to be consistent in our own lives. When we regularly worship, disciple and evangelize personally, our minds will be fixed on Christ, His will and Word, resulting in personal transformation, humility and readiness to serve Him. 

We’re excited to welcome a woman into membership this coming Lord’s Day. As always, these are opportunities grant us the opportunity to reaffirm our church covenant with each other. This article is also timely as this Lord’s Day morning we’ll handle the subject of tithing from Malachi.

​Continuing in our series on our church covenant (find earlier blogs here and our actual covenant here), we press into 1. 3.6:

To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry as the Lord directs and personal circumstances permit, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations;
 
To be sure, the Lord calls us, His redeemed, in gratitude, to worship and serve Him in our time, treasure and talents. We may not all have as much time, treasure or talents, however, as Christians we all commit to serving Him as personal circumstances permit. There are certain baselines (like the tithe for treasure, Mal 3:10) and sometimes the Lord directs us in more time (full-time ministry, e.g. 1 Ti 5:17) or different giftings (1 Cor 12:11). We may all give of our time, treasure and time in differing proportions, but all give we must. Plenty and want, sickness and heath, may all be limiting factors, however, like the widow who gave all we had (Mk 12:41), we are called to serve the Lord in our time, treasure and talents, aspiring ever more from the basics to serve Him as we can knowing there may be genuine limiting factors.

Why do we do this? For the Lord of course. The Lord calls us to love Him by loving His Church, supporting His people and sustaining her worship, and loving others by loving the lost and loving the poor.[1] We rob God when we are not generous with our time, treasure and talents. We also rob others if we don’t by placing undue weight upon the few. And we mustn’t forget we are more blessed if we give than if we receive (Acts 20:35), for giving is to be like God, and if He is our Father, we shall be like Him (1 Jn 3:9–10).

How are you using your time and treasure and talents here at MBC?


[1] Primarily, I believe that such service should be conducted through local churches, however, it may be done privately as well. 

How wonderful it was last Lord’s Day to welcome a new family into the church through the right hand of fellowship and, likewise, a young lady into the fellowship through baptism. It is a good time to pick back up on our blogs on our church covenant.
​
Read pt. I here, pt. II here, and pt. III here. 

​Life can be full (sometimes too full and we need to reevaluate our priorities and use of time). However, it should never be too full for the Lord. One way we express our love for Him is by being lovingly committed to our local church.
 
Now, even in a small church it is difficult, and unnecessary, to attend everything. However, as a church grows this becomes impossible. So how does one express their commitment through membership and in time to the local church? Let’s walk backwards.
 
The cornerstone of the Christian week and life is the Lord’s Day, which we believe is ‘in a unique sense, the appointed day of worship.’ It isn’t that we don’t or can’t worship God the other six days, but this is the day that is His and He has commanded, and indeed is worthy of, our public and corporate worship. It is the day when the whole church gathers. As members we put God first and connect with each other when we gather for our two main weekly gatherings, the morning and evening worship gatherings each Lord’s Day. This, I tell all people, is the starting point. Now sometimes you may have to work early on Monday and can’t come to the evening service, or perhaps you are sick, or away on vacation and so can’t come to the morning service or either, however, the normal expectation is that we’ll be there (and take advantage of online options when we can’t, or visit another church when we’re away). While not commanded by God, our quarterly members’ meetings are similar for it is when the church gathers to discuss important matters for her life and ministry. We should seek to book these in our calendars and plan to attend.
 
Once we’ve put the Lord first in these basics we can engage, ‘as the Lord directs and personal circumstances permit,” in other activities and ministries of the church. We should all have at least one area where we serve as we are able. If there are extra events we should attend and support them as interested (i.e. not everyone loves the science of CMI or getting up early for a men’s breakfast; some ministries are also for specific groups within the church: children, women, seniors, etc), or are able (i.e. some events might conflict with work trips, or a family vacation or another event in our life like a hobby).
 
The premise of this article in our covenant is that we commit to putting the Lord’s Day first and then building outward from there. 

Read pt. I here and pt. II here.

Read Church Covenant here. 

This article is especially difficult for our anti-institutional age where nothing can be trusted, nothing is true and there is no higher authority than self.
​
However, Christ is the Head of the Church and has vested Her, and by extension Her leaders, with authority (c.f. Great Commission). However, it is not a self-serving top-down authority but an inverted pyramid. Whereas the Church is not to be an institution that is to be served but to serve (Mk 10:45), so too its leaders aren’t to be served but to serve. Authority is the right to do something. Christ exercises authority on earth through His local bodies or congregations. We represent His holiness, proclaim Him and do all He has called us to do in mission, etc. To help enable this, Christ, through His local body in prayer, appoints men who fulfil biblical qualifications to teach, lead, administer the ordinances, discipline, etc. We are called to respect the Church, as Christ’s representative body on earth, and also Her officers, as representatives of the local body. Insofar as they and the Church follow Scripture, we are to follow their/Her lead, respect what they say, help them, seek their counsel, etc. The Church is God’s gift to mankind and so too are leaders a gift to the Church. Neither are unaccountable either. Churches are accountable to Christ and His Word and other local bodies. Leaders too are accountable to their congregations, even as we follow their biblical example. (This balance is called Elders’ Led Congregationalism, Handbook 13.1[1]). In the Bible respect and submission, rightly understood, are good virtues. To show disregard for Christ’s Church and Her Officers is to disregard Christ Himself, preferring pride to humility.

We also humble ourselves to all that God has said in His Word, not just leadership, but other matters of governance. Our Handbook is meant to be an accessible document that reflects the precepts and principles of Scripture we believe are in Scripture and which binds our community life together (both when we agree with a decision and when we don’t). Just as a skeleton without flesh is lifeless, so too a flesh without bones is useless. The body of Christ has bones (structure) and flesh (Spirit). When we follow God’s way, things go better for us. It is also in those difficult moments, where something is tested, when there is pushback, when there is legal challenge, that we become very grateful for agreed upon processes in our Handbook under which we all agree to love and serve the Lord.


[1] Congregationalism, in its extreme, means the whole congregation must decide on every little detail. This is paralyzing. Presbyterianism (Elders’ led), in its extreme, along with other forms of singular hierarchies, can lead to abuses in leadership (not to mention the body not being involved, only the head). An Elders’ led Congregationalism is a better reflection of what we see in Scripture. Here, Christ is the Head of the body who appoints leaders who lead it, as they engage with the members of the body, and yet which retains responsibility for significant matters.

Read our church covenant here. (Click here to read, Are Church Covenants Biblical?)

What is a church covenant?

A covenant is an agreement that forms the basis of a relationship.

Throughout the Bible covenants are the spine that hold the Scriptures together. Covenant is how God relates to us by His grace.

As believer’s have been brought into a New Covenant (relationship) with God through belief and baptism in Jesus Christ (vertical covenant), so too believers covenant together to form a local church (horizontal covenant). We are the New Covenant community pictured in Acts. A church covenant is a voluntary promissory commitment by which believers unite together in membership to live together, by God’s grace, to fulfill God’s calling upon the local church and our Christian walk.

It is a basic thing, committing to walk in the elementary things of Christ.
It is solemn because to be part of Christ’s church is an awesome thing.
It is joyful because to serve Christ and one another is a wonderful thing.
It differentiates one local church from another local church.
It is counter-cultural as we value community and commitment in an individualist and non-committal world.
It is the structure that creates a place of belonging.

We read our covenant every time a new member(s) joins and also regularly in between such times to remind ourselves of what we commit to in Christ as Christians walking together.

All of this is why our covenant is headed with these words:

"Seeing as God deals with mankind through the New Covenant, we as members of this local church, having professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and been baptized by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into His body, solemnly and joyfully covenant together before God, angels and one another as one local body in Christ, with the following promises consistent with the Biblical teaching of a New Testament Gospel church."
​
This blog series will explain the different elements of our church covenant block by block. 

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Ex 33:14)
​
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps 16:11)
 
It is a wonder we were created to relate to our Creator. We were designed for His presence in our life. His presence means life and light and peace. It is therefore the longing of every human soul that we find rest in the presence of Him who made us. God’s presence, unsurprisingly, is a great theme of the Bible.

Presence in the Garden
The LORD God was present in His garden. He walked in the cool of the day and spoke with Adam & Eve. There was abundant life in the Garden because God was there. This was symbolized in the tree of life.

Presence After the Fall
One curse of the Fall is that the Couple were driven from God’s presence. They would know death and decay. However, there remained small ways for God’s people to experience God’s presence: Remembering His Word, prayer, worship and the visitation of Angels. These were all ways in which God’s presence could be mediated. Occasionally God’s Spirit would come upon an individual for a special purpose. All of this was founded upon faith.

Presence Under the Old Covenant
When God rescued Israel from Egypt He was present with them, leading them by the pillar of cloud and fire. When the Tabernacle was built His glory rested upon the place. This was where God’s people could come to meet with the Lord. Much of the imagery (menorah and artwork of plant life) were reminiscent of the Garden. This was later reflected in the Temple.

Presence in the Incarnation
God’s people longed for God to be present with them. This longing was finally realized when God became flesh and dwelt among us. The Incarnation or Immanuel, “God with us.” Whoever met Jesus was in the very presence of God and had a taste of life (e.g. healings, etc).

Presence in the New Covenant
Jesus had said it was to the disciples’ advantage that He return to Heaven for He would send the Helper (Jn 16). They could only be with Jesus if He were with them. When the Helper came, Jesus would be with His followers 24/7/365 and wherever they went. He would come to dwell in their hearts by faith (Eph 4).

The Temple was no longer needed for God’s New Covenant people as Christ was our temple (Jn 2:19) who is building us into a spiritual temple (2 Pet 2:15). God’s presence goes wherever the Church goes! (This is why the early Christians forsook the physical Temple; believing its destruction as prophesied by Jesus was a judgement for Jewish unbelief).

Presence in the New Heavens and New Earth
As wonderful as the Spirit’s help is, we still pine for Jesus to return and physically be with His people. We await Jesus’ return and the New Heavens and the New Earth (a restored Eden) where Rev 21:3 says,

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Believers will spend eternity with the Lord! Come Lord Jesus, come!