Membership
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9 – 10
A short answer to the purpose of membership: Membership is the public expression of corporate commitment to Jesus as our Lord and King, and the entrance, through faith, repentance, and baptism, into His Kingdom as a member of the local church. Through membership, we express our love and commitment to submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus, the scriptures, and the leadership of the local church body. The outcome of membership is that we, as the body, would lovingly care for one another, be built up in our most holy faith, equipped for every good work prepared for us in Christ Jesus. Those who confess with the mouth and believe in the heart that Jesus is Lord, expressed through a life of faith, bearing fruit of the Spirit, evidenced in submission to Christ and His church, regeneration, repentance, faith, and baptism, and submit to the doctrinal standards of scripture as laid out in our statement of faith are welcomed into membership at Hope Fellowship.