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Okay, as we begin to worship
God this afternoon, let us begin by singing a prayer or singing
a song to the Lord. So if you would, please stand
with me and turn to hymn 271. We will be singing, How Sweet
and Awful is the Place. 271. Please stand with me. is the place with Christ within
the doors. While everlasting love displays
the choices of her stores. While all our hearts and all
our songs join to thee admires the feast. Each of us cry with thankfulness,
Lord, Why was I a guest? Why was I made to hear thy voice
and enter while there's room for when thousands make a wretched
choice and rather starve than come. T'was the same love that
spread the feast that sweet else we had still refused to taste. and perished in our sin. Pity the nations, O our God. Constrain the earth to come. Send thy victorious word abroad
and bring the strangers home. We long to see Thy church is
full, and all the chosen race may with one voice and heart
and soul Sing thy redeeming grace. Amen. You may be seated. We are blessed this afternoon
to be having a membership and baptismal service. Normally,
we don't have a special service for those coming into membership,
but since one of those coming into membership this afternoon
is also going to be baptized, we decided to have everyone be
a part of this service. Normally, if the individuals
have been scripturally baptized, we simply have them give their
testimony and then welcome them into this local church. But again,
this afternoon, we are having a baptism, which is always such
a blessing to have. It is a blessing to have new
members added to our congregation in itself, but also to have baptism
as an extra added blessing. So with this idea of members
being added to our congregation, our brief message this afternoon
is titled, and the Lord was adding to their number. And it is taken
from Acts chapter 2. So if you would, please turn
your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. We will be reading verses 37
through 47, and then making some brief comments concerning church
membership and baptism. So Acts chapter 2, verses 37
through 47. Now when they heard this, they
were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of
the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them,
repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord
our God will call to himself. And with many other words, he
solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, be saved
from this perverse generation. So then those who had received
his word were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000
souls. they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles'
teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and
to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense
of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through
the apostles. And all those who had believed
were together, and had all things in common. And they began selling
their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all,
as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one
mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. They
were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of
heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were
being saved. In this short narrative, we see
the beginnings and the growth of the New Testament church.
And in this narrative, we see a pattern that is laid out about
church growth, church membership, and baptism. First, regarding
church growth and membership. We see this in several details
in this narrative. 3,000 souls were added, but added
to what? The people are not simply attending
a church service. They were being added to something.
That something is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, the church.
But it was not simply being added to the universal church. The
adding to the church is described in the language of the local
congregation. They were continually devoting
themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to the
breaking of bread, and to prayer. This is something that was ongoing. Verse 46 says, day by day continuing
with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to
house. This is concluded again with a statement of the people
being added to the church. And the Lord was adding to their
number day by day those who were being saved. Church membership
is not just a good idea, but it is necessary. It is God's
design. What God is doing specifically
with his people, he is doing it within the context of the
local church. As I have said before, the universal
and invisible church is made visible in the local church. Your membership into the one
and universal body of Christ is made visible in your membership
to a local body of Christ. It is not an option whether believers
are to be members of a local church or not. This does not
mean that membership looks exactly the same way. There are various
ways that churches throughout history have done church membership. But the point is commitment by
the believer to join with a local body, to serve that body, to
use the gifts that God has given that individual to serve, to
build up and edify the body of Christ, to stir one another to
good works. But this implies something that
the passage in our text teaches. There are a couple of things
that are necessary for church membership. So what is necessary
then to join a church? First, if the local church is
the visible manifestation of the universal church, and the
universal church is the whole number of those that are being
saved, I'm sorry. of the elect, then it follows
that those who are members of the local church are those that
have believed. Look at verse 40. It says, and with many other
words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them saying,
be saved from this perverse generation. Who are those 3,000 that are
being added to the church? It is those that received Peter's
word about repenting, about believing in verse 38, and about being
saved from this perverse generation. It is those who have believed
and have been saved from this perverse generation that were
added to the church. Also, when Peter says, the promise
is to you and to your children, he is speaking to unbelievers,
and he is telling them that the promise is to them and their
children. This phrase, to you and your children, was a common
phrase to refer to the Jews across generations. It was a promise
to the Jewish people. This makes sense because Peter
goes on to say, and to those who are far off. This phrase,
those who are far off, is a clear reference to non-Jews, to Gentiles. We see this in Isaiah and other
places in the Old Testament, and we even see it in Paul in
Ephesians chapter two. But the key phrase is how Peter
concludes this statement about the promise. He says, as many
as the Lord our God will call to himself. So from the Jews,
from the Gentiles, as many as the Lord will call to himself. Being saved, being added to the
number of the local congregation is then a calling by God. It is a work of God in the individual. Now, we can't ever know with
100% certainty who is and who is not a true believer. We are
to use wisdom in discerning God's work in individuals. We are to
use a credible profession of faith, not perfection, because
none of us will ever be perfect in this lifetime. But we seek
to discern that people are truly trusting in Christ, that in their
struggles, In their trials, they are looking to Christ. They are
trusting in him for their righteousness. And so Peter exhorts them, be
saved from this perverse generation. And then we are told that those
who had received his word were baptized. Baptism was a last
step in being added to the church. They had to believe and then
be baptized. And so Peter says, after mentioning
those who had been baptized, and that day were added about
3,000 souls. Why is it necessary, and what
is baptism? A concise definition can be found
in our Confession of Faith. Baptism is an ordinance of the
New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized,
a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection,
of his being engrafted into him, of remission of sins, and of
giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness
of life. Baptism is a sign of what God
has done in this individual, but it is also an oath both on
the part of God, of what He has done and what He does to us,
but also a pledge on the part of the one being baptized to
follow, to walk in newness of life. Paul, in Romans 6, says, Do you
not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried
with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in ewness of life. So the sign of baptism is so
connected to the reality of Christ saving that individual that Paul
can say, when you were baptized, you were baptized into his death. Baptism signifies that the person's
fellowship with him is engrafting into him of the remission of
sins to live and walk in newness of life. That is what it signifies.
It does not represent a general work of God or something we hope
will happen one day. It signifies to the one being
baptized that wonderful and gracious and merciful work that God has
done in that individual. It is the internal work of God
in the party baptized being proclaimed in a visible form, and this is
why baptism is necessary. It is proclaiming what God has
done in that individual, and it is a commitment to walk in
newness of life together with God's people in the local church. As we see in Acts 2, and as our
confession also states, The Lord added 3,000 souls to the church
that day in Jerusalem. This day, the Lord will have
added four new members to our congregation this day. Joshua, Erica Liz, Mark, and
Sabrina. You have obeyed the call of your
shepherd to join yourselves to this local church, but remember
that it is the Lord first and ultimately who has added you
to his church. And Sabrina, this is a special
day for you as well as the others, but not only because you are
joining this church, but because you are obeying the call of your
Lord to be baptized. I want you to remember this day
because baptism is not only efficacious to us as a means of grace only
on the day that we are baptized, but throughout our life. We can
look back to our baptism and be encouraged and strengthened
in our faith as we remember our baptism and are reminded of the
work, the good work that God has done in you. In this baptism,
not only are you pledging to walk in newness of life and under
the care and authority of this local church, but God is also
pledging that the work that he has begun in you, he will complete
it. He is pledging his love to you
and his care. Remembering our baptism is something
that we as Baptists can actually do. Lutherans and other traditions
speak of remembering your baptism. But if you were baptized as an
infant, as I was, You can't. I don't. But I can remember,
after being saved, the day that I was baptized scripturally in
a gospel-preaching Protestant church. So remember this day. Remember the importance of this
ordinance of baptism and what it signifies. in what is being
pledged by you and by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And
as you witness this baptism, you can also remember your baptism
and remember the wonderful work that God has done in you through
Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
you. Thank you so much for this great work that you have done
in adding to your church, in gathering your people, in our
Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd, the True Shepherd,
who is gathering his people. Thank you for the great work
that you have done in these individuals that will be joining our church
and baptized. And thank you for the work that
you've done in us already. We pray that you would continue
to do it, Lord God, and that you would, in adding to your
church, to this church, that you would increase our love,
our unity among us. Lord, please, we thank you and
we praise you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
At this point we are going to ask the members that are going
to be joining our church to come one by one and then they will
be giving a brief testimony of the work that God has done in
their life. So we will begin with Joshua
Emerson. So if you would come up brother. Good morning, church. My name
is Joshua Emerson. I was born in Port Moresby, Papua
New Guinea, an island off the coast of Australia. I grew up
in a Catholic home in Australia and in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
At my Catholic primary school, there was a mass on site. I became
an altar boy. I remember being drawn to know
God, yet unsure what that really looked like. I went to Catholic
private schools off and on until the age of 16. Later that year,
I walked away from the Catholic Church, confused and bewildered
by the hypocrisy of priests in my town and the ritualistic works
that no longer made any sense to me. My grandfather on my mother's
side was a Christian, and when he would often come visit with
us, he would bring me a Bible and pray with me and my siblings.
At 17, I was invited by a friend to visit a Christian camp on
an island where the gospel had been presented on many nights.
I was convicted of my sin and need for Christ, yet was not
converted. However, looking back, I do see
how God, the Holy Spirit, was beginning the work of drawing
me to himself. In 2001, I watched the Twin Towers
go down in flames on national TV and chose to enlist to the
United States Marines with my best friend. Later that year,
my dreams and aspirations of what I thought my future held
were They were all gone and I injured my shoulder and severely so and
had to be honorably discharged. Over the next year, Christ had
sovereignly brought me to a place of brokenness in my personal
life. I was seeking fulfillment in
the world and only ended up feeling further empty and broken over
my sins. Looking back, I'd see Jesus had
been sovereignly wooing me and drawing me to himself through
preparing my heart to surrender all. In the cold winter evening
of 2002 in East Hampton, Massachusetts, he sovereignly arrested my soul. I was brought to my knees and
he opened the eyes of my heart to see my desperate state of
sin, my inability to be free from it, and that only he could
set me free. He opened my eyes to see how
selfish I had been. and how I had pushed away His
grace and His kindness up to that point. I cried out to the
Lord throughout that night to save my soul. That evening, He
gave me the grace to put trust in Christ to set me free. He opened my eyes to see what
He had done on the cross, that He shed His blood for me. that
only faith in Christ and His work could save me. No priest,
no pope, but through Christ in Him alone. Joy filled my heart
that late evening into the next morning and the days and weeks
that followed. Christ Jesus gave me the power
over my sin. the strength to turn from my
sins, to repent and seek him. He gave me the grace and power
within to turn from the things I once loved and cherished. He filled my heart with joy of
being cleansed of my sins, giving me peace formerly unknown. that I now was right with God. He gave me a clean conscience,
and oh, how sweet it was. All I could do was praise him.
He filled my heart with an overwhelming passion to know him more. I longed
to know him. As Moses knew him, as I read
face to face, He also placed in me an overwhelming passion
to see others to come to know him, to hear his wonderful good
news of the gospel of God. I remember when I would arrive
at home from work in construction that whole year, working in concrete,
all I longed to do when I arrived at home at the end of the day
was shut myself in my room and read his words of life late into
the evening and the next day, and pray how to be faithful witness
at my work, and pray how to best share with everyone I could about
him. In the fall of 2003, I was baptized
by Pastor Art Warner, who had been discipling me at the church
I attended. Christ led me to jail ministry,
where I helped lead a Bible study along with my elders with inmates
in our local prison in Greenfield, Massachusetts. I later joined
a reformed evangelism school where I was trained to preach
Christ biblically, and I started street preaching in Northampton,
Massachusetts. Preaching Christ and Him crucified
was an overwhelming passion He placed in me. His gospel consumed
my new life in Christ. I had the privilege of being
a part of God's plan to sing one of my sister's mother, And
one of my brothers put their faith in Christ over the following
years as Christ radically changed and saved them also and brought
them to repentance. I thank God for his grace in
many men and mentors and elders over the years, some of which
who have passed away to be with the Lord now. who Jesus blessed
me with as dear friends, mentors, I thank God who poured their
life in me. I would not be the man I am today
if it was not for Christ's grace in them towards me. Our great
and triune God has been faithfully leading me the past 21 years,
and I thank God he granted me favor and gave me my dear wife,
Erica Liz Emerson, who I praise him for, that we are now celebrating
this month 12 years of marriage. I praise him for my four children
given by his hands. I thank God for his local church
where we have been longstanding members of the Reformed churches
in Southern California. In moving to Texas in December
of 2020, we thank God for leading us to the Texas Reformed Baptist
Association. We were members of two years
at a church association in Waco. after which we moved to our parent
church here, ERBC in Georgetown, as I had a desire to pursue an
opportunity for ministry and finish my master's in divinity.
After a year at ERBC and praying for the Belton plant, Partaking
in its first services and seeing answered prayer in God's providence,
providing the calling of another elder here at Redeemer, we after
much prayer decided as a family to move to Redeemer Reformed
Baptist Church. Myself and my family are personally
so grateful to God to be able to pursue membership here now
and to unite with his local body here at Redeemer. Thanks be to
God. Thank you, brother. Now we'll
have his wife, Erica Liz, come up and give her testimony. Can you hear me okay? Yes, okay. Hello, I'm Erica Liz Emerson. I was just thinking. Collecting myself. I was raised
in a Catholic church. and was required to participate
in religious practices, both at home and in church, and even
attended private Catholic all-girls high school. God mercifully and
graciously led me to meet a Filipino friend, outside of all that,
that invited me to his small Christian church. I was enlightened
by the idea that Filipinos can be Christians too, being raised
in the Catholic bubble all my life. Though that enlightenment
led me to curiosity, it also sparked the love of Christ through
his church to draw me into a journey to seek and know him and to walk
away from the Catholic church by faith. This first step broke
my dad to tears and led my mother disappointed and angry. Abruptly,
only after several months, my parents decided to move our family
to a far city from my childhood home. I no longer was connected
with this Christian church and surrounded myself with living
a life void of truth, temporary pleasures, and a cycle of broken,
empty relationships. It came to a point in my life
where I often would find myself staring at the stars late at
night. Asking God to reveal himself
to me. God mercifully continued to help
me see my brokenness and longing to know him. At the age of 20,
I attended a Christian university, and it was in their empty school
chapel. Late evening on my knees, I begged,
cried, and sought God to reveal himself to me again, as I realized
I could not change myself. He opened my eyes to see only
he could save me. He gave me the grace to put my
faith and trust in his love for me and his finished work on the
cross. From a heart of stone to a heart
of flesh, the Lord opened my eyes and gave me the courage
to make a choice to let go and repent and turn from my sin. And of the voice that once filled
my heart to receive his forgiveness and allow him to fill my heart
with his love and peace in Christ. It was the most difficult and
heart-wrenching choice, yet the most biggest, unexplainable,
peaceful assurance I ever felt in my lifetime at that point,
so when he saved my soul, the Lord then led me to a ladies'
Bible study. that challenged me to grow in
ways to fully surrender my life to God. I was deeply involved. Through Him changing my heart
and giving me the willingness to grow in Him, the Lord helped
me acknowledge my deeper need for Him in my life, not only
in head knowledge, but in doing His work through me. I yet again
went through another difficult and most peaceful season of Christ,
sanctifying me to wholly surrender. Over the years, with God's help,
I have met some wonderful, faithful Christian friends, mentor moms,
a special older mentor couple who's dear to my heart, who had
such great love for the Lord that led me to believe a life
so messy could become so beautiful. And through my church family,
the Lord has been faithful to carry me through this life, through
hardships, persecutions, and difficulties in life. By the
grace of God, I am married to my beloved and best friend Joshua
of 12 years, and having children of my own now, my overall journey
in this life is similarly pictured as a wounded and broken ceramic
mended with gold, progressively growing in the grace and knowledge
of God. Today I'm here by the grace of God and I am who I am
because of the work he has done in me and who promises to complete
the work for his glory. I no longer am not bonded by
the fleeting assurance of what this world has to offer, the
bondage of sin and weight of this world. But I'm gratefully,
humbly, divinely captivated by the love of Christ who continues
to immersively rescue me from my sins to completion. Thank
you. Thank you, sister. Our next membership
or membership candidate is Brother Mark Samson. So please come up
and tell us how God has worked in your life. Just one page. Former Catholic, so that makes
three. Okay. There were a couple of
times when I rejected God because the world was more satisfying
to my flesh. But in those times, I knew there
was something greater than my life of sin. And I felt that
something was what I needed. As a Catholic, prior to confessing
Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I served as a staunch Catholic
altar boy, thinking then my committed service to God. I was good to
go, but I wasn't. As they said, the third time
is a charm. I was reborn, water baptized in September 1977. That
was a long time ago. But today, I know God is still
involved in my life. In word study, intimate prayer
fellowship, and more importantly or equally important, with my
lovely wife and family, I am truly blessed. As most Christians
would say, they have a certain Bible verses that cling to their
soul and perhaps keep them on course with their spiritual walk
in Christ. I'd like to share a verse that's
personal to me. It comes from the book of Proverbs,
chapter three, verses five and eight. It says that, trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding,
but acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. Be not wise
in your eyes, but fear the Lord, and turn away from evil, because
of its health to your body, and refreshment to your bones. I
genuinely understand trusting God will keep me on course He
laid out for my life. In doing so, my physical life
benefits from God's promise. Also, this verse promised a refreshment
deep within my inner soul. Indeed, this verse provides comfort
and assurance that God chose me to be his in September 1977. I am eternally grateful that
he did. Amen. Thank you, brother. You will
now hear from Sabrina. So please come on up. Sabrina doesn't think that she
could read it and keep her emotions under control. I don't know if
I can. So I'm going to read it for her.
My name is Sabrina Stark. My troubles started early in
life, foster care, teen pregnancy, no parents, no support system,
I was always angry, and my favorite lines were, why me, God, or you
must really hate me. I thought I loved God, but I
didn't understand the way God loved me or how to show him that
I loved him. After my sister died on September
25, 2023, I cried out to God more than ever. I wanted answers
that I now know. My life was characterized by
sin of almost every kind that controlled my life. I started
attending church, completed a Bible study, and discovered I was a
helpless sinner and separated from God, a slave to my sinful
nature. God gave me new desires and a
new heart that wanted to stop sinning and to live for him. I understand that is what Jesus
means by being born again. He gave me faith in Jesus Christ. I am not perfect, but God has
changed my life in big ways. I was able to stop using drugs.
I've been able to refrain from sexual immorality. I've experienced
God actually answering prayers. I am able to witness at times
and desire to tell people about Christ. I am very passionate
about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's such a blessing to hear
the testimonies of what God has done in various individuals.
Because although we can see the similarities, yet each one is
so unique. Their lives, their upbringings,
so unique, but yet here they are. The Lord has brought them,
has gathered them. his sheep, and it's just a wonderful
blessing to hear God's work in these individuals, and we're
thankful for them. We will now be singing a hymn
while our sister Sabrina gets ready for baptism. We will be
singing a hymn, Blessed be the tie that binds, which speaks
of the unity that exists among the brethren So please stand
with me and join with me as we sing this song to our Lord. And
while Sabrina goes to the bathroom and gets ready, we will sing
this song. It's a 285. Let's be the tie that binds. Blessed be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above. Before our Father's throne, we
pour our ardent prayers. Our fears, our hopes, our aims,
our want, our comforts, and our cares. burdens bear, and often for each
other flows the sympathizing tear. When we It gives us inward pain, but
we shall still be joined in heart and hope to meet again. ♪ This glorious hope revives
♪ ♪ Our courage by the way ♪ ♪ While each in expectation lives ♪ ♪
And longs to see ♪ From sorrow, toil, and pain and
sin we shall be free. And perfect love and friendship
reign. Amen. Okay, so what we're gonna
do is we're gonna go out. I'm sure you guys saw the baptistry
outside. We're gonna walk out there and
stand in front on the pavement. Once we conclude the baptism,
while she dries off, we will, in the bathroom, we will all
come back in here, sing a couple songs, and then we will proceed,
okay? So let's make our way out to
the outside. you I don't know. I don't know. Thank you. Thank you. Right here? Thank you. Okay. Let's praise the Lord for this.
Let's turn if you would turn to your in your trinity in your
hymnal to hymn 188. There is a fountain filled with
blood. Please stand with me as we sing. 188 There is a fountain filled with
blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that
blood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains
Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day. And there have I, as vile as
he, washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away Washed
all my sins away And there have I, as vile as he Washed all my
sins away E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream, Thy flowing
wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall be till And shall be till I die. And shall be till I die. Redeeming love has been my theme. And shall be till I die. Dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood Never lose its power Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin
no more Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin
no more Amen. 268 will be the last hymn
that we sing. 268, we would turn there. Christ is made the sure foundation. Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone. Chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the church in one. Holy Zion's held forever. and her confidence alone. All that dedicated city, dearly
loved of God on high. In exultant jubilation pours
perpetual God the one in three, adoring
in glad hymns eternally. To this temple where we call
Thee Come, O Lord, upload today With Thy wanted lovingkindness
Hear Thy people as they pray And Thy fullest benediction shed
within its walls away. Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
what they ask of thee to gain. what they gained from thee forever
with the blessed to retain and hereafter in thy glory evermore
with thee to reign. Land and honor to the Father. Lord and honor to the Son. Lord and honor to the Father. ♪ To the spirit ever three and
ever one ♪ ♪ One in might and one in glory ♪ ♪ While unending
ages run ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ You may be seated. We will now
have the members come up and they will be signing the church
covenant. So if you all would please come up to the front here. I see my home and I see my home
town. I see my home and I see my home
town. I see my home and I see my home
town. I see my home and I see my home
town. I see my home and I see my home
town. I love you. I love you. Oh. Okay, well, we thank the Lord
for you all, Joshua, Ericka Liz, Mark, and Serena. Thank you,
and we thank the Lord for what he's done in your life. We would
now ask you to please come up, as you are now members of the
New American Orthodox Church. Come up, and for those that are
here members, please give them a welcome into our congregation.
And the Lord Added to Their Number
Series Adding of a New Member
| Sermon ID | 106242151394016 |
| Duration | 58:16 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Language | English |
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