This is document meant to synopsize aspects of The Old and New Testament Scriptures as they pertain to the current church age and to specific bodies of Christ. Our desire here at Midtown Church is to have a Biblical Church Culture, and by culture I mean concrete actions, lifestyle, practices; what we actually do, not ideas, theories or intentions. (Culture does not consist of ‘intentions’, it consists of action, deeds, relationships, practices, habits, rituals, and words spoken face to face) These paragraphs communicate standards, values and practices that are expressed in norms and values and behaviors that mark our ‘Biblical Church Culture’.
Preamble:
Having surrendered our lives to God’s grace as followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and having been publicly baptized as a testimony of our love and submission to Him, we, the members of Midtown Church, purposefully and joyfully enter into this covenant with one another, affirming our God-given leadership, in common unity as a family in the Lord. Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant:
- ‘Christ-Given Unity’
- A surrendered life is a prerequisite, each member’s response to God’s Grace
- Baptism is a common declaration
- We covenant together by choice with purpose and joy
- In submission to Christ we submit to HIS body
- John 17 / Ephesians 4 / Philippians 1
Article 1:
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To affirm by action, word, presence and heart, The Midtown Church Statement of Belief. And in unity of belief we will identify as ‘Life-long Disciples of Jesus Christ’ and actively pursue sanctification.
- ‘Body Member Identity’
- Our complete agreement on the ‘Biblical Essentials’ found in our Statement of Belief
- The identity of a disciple means it permeates every aspect of your life (Goal)
- The active pursuit of sanctification requires showing up and growing
- John 13 / John 17
Article 2
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To live out our valuing of the gatherings of this body by our consistent attendance in our Sunday Activities as well as other gathering prioritized by the Leadership, fully participating in the discipleship journey of our church body, including mentoring and small groups.
- ‘Body Presence’
- 1st you value being here by prioritizing it in your life, then you live that out
- Sunday matters! Members of Christ’s body figure out how to be here
- Gatherings prioritized by the leadership means the stuff we are all doing together
- Hebrews 10 / Romans 12 / Psalm 133
Article 3
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To Biblically practice the sacraments of Immersion Baptism and The Lord’s Supper. To be dedicated to the prayerful, consistent study and application of God’s Word, and the Spirit-Led praying for others and ourselves.
- ‘Common Basics’
- Immersion Baptism: Jesus did it, each of us should do it.
- The Lord’s Supper: Jesus commanded we do this every time
- Matthew 3 / Mark 1 / Luke 3 / Acts 2
- Matthew 26 / Mark 14 / Luke 22 / John
- 1st Corinthians 11 / Ephesians 6 / 2nd Timothy 3
Article 4
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To prioritize being a part of communicating the Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ in humble cooperation with God’s Spirit in every sphere of our lives.
- ‘Shared Purpose’
- We exist to be the ongoing presence of Jesus Christ
- ‘Holistic Gospel Declaration’…
- Spirit led living
- CANNOT BE DONE WITHOUT A LIFESTYLE OF DISCIPLESHIP IN CHRIST
- Matthew 10 / Luke 4 / Acts 5, 8, 9 & 17 / Romans 15 / Colossians 4
- Jeremiah (19 references…) 20:9 ‘God’s Word is a fire, I can’t keep in me’
Article 5
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To practice with our actions, words and attitudes, loving other members by considering others’ needs and perspectives more important than our own, following Christ’s example.
- ‘Consideration’
- The practice of caring for people, consistently matching intention with action
- We will never consider other member’s needs if we don’t know the other members
- Christ put the needs of the members of His Body before His own needs
- Philippians 2 / Romans 12:3 / James 4 / Deuteronomy 8
Article 6
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To pursue intimacy in our relationships with other church members, living all of our lives together in brotherly/sisterly love as exemplified in Scripture. To value and practice transparency and openness in our relationship together.
- ‘Relational Health’
- The ‘One Anothers’ of Scripture
- Transparency and openness requires equal commitment and shared sacrifice
- Healthy relational intimacy comes from real unity of action, belief and attitude
- Intimacy takes time and trust (Consistent demonstration of commitment)
- John 13:34-35 / Romans 12 & 13 / 2nd Corinthians 13 / 1st Peter 3
Article 7
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To exercise ‘Spirit-Given Tender Care’ for each other, with the goal of faithfully encouraging, instructing, and admonishing one another in truth and love; guided by The Spirit through The Scriptures. Going out of our way to be slow to take offense, quick to reconcile, sharing burdens and joys with tangible humility and love.
- ‘Biblical Conflict Resolution’
- God’s principals for interpersonal issues
- Recognition of our shared identity and condition
- We need Jesus to teach us how to encourage, admonish and instruct in healthy way
- Giving up our rights to everything as Jesus’ disciples, we should be hard to offend
- Tangible humility and love is the way of Christ / our honoring of HIM
- Ephesians 4 / 1st Thess. 4 / Hebrews 10 / 1st Peter 1 / 1st John 4
Article 8
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To generously and consistently give financially to the general fund of Midtown Church, as well as to approved designated budget items, based on Scripture and an informed understanding of Body Undertakings.
- ‘United Generosity’
- 10% of your net income is a good starting place, give it to your church body
- In unity we agree how everyone’s shared sacrifice will be used (no ‘pet’ giving)
- We agree to be informed about what the financial priorities of the church are
- 1st Corinthians 16 / Malachi 3 / Mark 12 / Luke 20
Article 9
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To serve the church body and our neighbors in humble and repentant representation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, informed by Scripture and empowered by The Holy Spirit who indwells us equally.
- ‘Servant Attitude’
- The opposite of demanding and entitled
- We all serve each other in The Body because we are all vessels of God’s Spirit
- We don’t serve from our own resources; rather we are empowered by God’s Spirit
- Philippians 2 / John 13 / 1st Peter 4 / 2nd Corinthians 5 & 8
Article 10
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To actively work together (collaborate with and encourage fellow members) to advance Christ-centered ministry in our church and other Christ Affirming Entities for the purpose of identifying and cultivating our spiritual gifts as we discover and practice them.
- ‘Body Ministry’
- There is no ‘My Ministry’ only ‘Our Ministry’ or Christ’s Ministry or Church ministry
- The use of the gifts God has given us is not optional,
- Matthew 25; the parable of the talents / Hebrews 13 / Ephesians 2 / Ephesians 4
Article 11
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To submit in unity to the authority of The Midtown Church Body, as led by Our Elder Team, in all matters that are Biblical, align with our Statement of Belief, Our Church Constitution, By-Laws and this Covenant.
- ‘Biblical Leadership’
- Biblically Qualified Elders & Deacons
- The Authority is held by the Body, exercised by and through the Elders
- We each submit to the body as we submit to Christ
- Ephesians 5 / Hebrews 13 / Luke 22 / Hebrews 13
Article 12
Together before Christ Our Lord, God The Father and The Holy Spirit, as members of Midtown Church we covenant: To respectfully question in reverent order, all matters and practices of the church that are not being led in accordance with Scripture, our Statement of Belief, Our Constitution, By-Laws and this Covenant.
- ‘Biblical Accountability’
- The leadership of the church is accountable to members
- The Body is responsible to ensure the leadership is doing what we have agreed to
- 1st Timothy 5 / Acts 15 / 1st Corinthians 1
SUMMARY:
Our membership covenant is a synopsis of our Biblical Church Culture. It is a summary of God’s Word pertaining to the function of Christ’s Body. It is what we agree to do together as Jesus Christ’s church, standards, beliefs, norms, attitudes and practices. The more Biblical our church culture, the more God is glorified!
APPLICATION:
Learn the Covenant and the Scripture behind it, work through any questions you have and then practice the actions and attitudes prescribed by it.