Next Steps
Where do things go from here? What should I do?
Salvation
Salvation is a gift of God not a result of works lest any man should boast. The reality is that every one of us was born in sin and transgression. God is perfectly holy and righteous. He sets the bar for righteousness. The problem that I have, the problem that you have, the problem that every single person since Adam and Eve have is that we fall short of that goal. God has set a line. He set His law. And we transgress that law. We go over that line. That transgressing make us moral debtors to God. The wages for that moral debt is death.
BUT! The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why at Sharon we’re all about Jesus.
It’s in Jesus Christ that we have salvation. This is why Jesus Christ had to come. To die. Jesus Christ came and He lived a perfect life. He never transgressed God’s law. He never fell short of God’s glory. Jesus Christ is the one who is perfectly righteous.
The Scriptures tell us . That God does, to make us love Him, is takes out our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh. And in this transplant that He does it make our hearts desire Him. To love Him. He removes the scales from our eyes. Then we can see that we have not loved Him with all of our heat, mind, soul, and strength. Nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves. But, if we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The good news of Jesus Christ is that we get everything and it cost us nothing. It is God who has provided the way of salvation. It is in Jesus Christ that we are accepted into the holy of holies. It is through Jesus Christ that we have eternal life. If He has changed our hearts and given us that faith we are those who can confess with our mouthes that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead. And, we are saved.
So, that’s the question you have to ask yourself.
Do you confess your sins?
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord?
Do you believe that God has raised Him from the dead?
This is why Jesus is the crux. Jesus is the center of the gospel. This is the good news of God toward us. And this is the very first step we must realize and take.
Baptism & Membership
What comes next after salvation? It’s baptism.
Baptism is an ordinance ordained by Jesus Christ. In baptism we recognize that we are born in our sin and conceived in our transgressions. That we are those who are in need of the washing of the water, the blood, the Spirit, of Christ. It is in baptism that we are called to renounce sin and this entire world. It’s in baptism that we are graciously received in the family of God, into His covenant, and into His covenant people. God puts His name on us baptizing us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
With Baptism also comes the call to obey the covenant obligations. To be able to say, “I am dead to the world” and “I am alive in Christ.” That we are united to Jesus Christ. We are dead with Him in His death. And, we are alive with Him in His resurrection.
When our children are baptized they don’t understand all that is going on. But, there’s a reality of what God says throughout the Bible about Baptism. It starts in Genesis 17:17. This is when God makes a covenant with Abraham. And God promises to Abraham, “I will be your God. To you and to your descendents after you.” This is an everlasting covenant. Then when we get to Colossians 2:11-12 we see that in the Old testament the sign of the covenant was circumcision. Here now in the New Testament it’s Baptism.
Baptism is that sign of the covenant. That same covenant of grace of grace that runs all through the Bible.
So we baptize our children, not because it is a cute thing to do. But, because this is what God has commanded us to do. Jesus Himself in Mark 14 embraces the children. He tells the disciples and those around Him, “to these is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of God belongs to little children because the promise is to you and to your children. That doesn’t mean that when children are born we presume that they’re Christians right away. However, their baptism calls them to repentance, to turn away from sin. To believe and embrace the covenant that has been given to them.
This is the beauty of baptism. That we all know from the youngest to the oldest of converts that each one of us needs the washing of Jesus Christ. We are united to Him in His death and in His resurrection.
Baptism is the second step. If you’re looking to join our church, the first step is salvation. The second step is baptism.
What will I have to do to official join?
You’ll go through a 13 week membership / orientation course to explain everything in detail. This is an important part in your discipleship. Before you join the church you’ll get to know a whole bunch about it. What we believe and why we believe it.
Have you been baptized before?
No - then it is with great joy that you get to be washed in the waters of baptism.
Yes - you will most likely not be rebaptized. (There are some rare circumstances we can talk about).
If you’re an adult who hasn’t been baptized before - baptism and membership happen at the same time. If you have been baptized then you’ll take vows of covenant church membership. If you want to read more about what our church believes about Baptism you can read a little more here.
The Covenant of Baptism
Here’s the covenant promises parents make when baptizing their children.
1. Do you believe this child is a possession of God entrusted to your care?
2. In this light, do you promise to provide for their temporal well-being, to teach them to love God and His Word, the Bible, and to provide them with a God-centered education?
3. Do you promise to teach them of their sinful nature, of the plan of salvation which centers in Jesus Christ, and their own personal need of a relationship with Christ?
4. To the end that they may grow in the Christian life, do you promise to pray for him/her, and to train him/her to read the Bible, to pray, to keep the Lord’s Day and to understand the nature of the Church, the value of its worship and fellowship, and their need to seek communicant membership in the church?
5. Do you promise to lead them, by your example and parental discipline exercised in love, to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in all the relationships of life?
6. Do you make these promises in the presence of God, in humble reliance upon His grace, as you desire to give your account with joy at the Last Great Day?
Official Vows
Covenant of Communicant Membership
1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life?
2. Do you believe in the one living and true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as revealed in the Scriptures?
3. Do you repent of your sin; confess your guilt and helplessness as a sinner against God; profess Jesus Christ, Son of God, as your Savior and Lord; and dedicate yourself to His service: Do you promise that you will endeavor to forsake all sin, and to conform your life to His teaching and example?
4. Do you promise to submit in the Lord to the teaching and government of this church as being based upon the Scriptures and described in substance in the Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America? Do you recognize your responsibility to work with others in the church and do you promise to support and encourage them in their service to the Lord? In case you should need correction in doctrine or life, do you promise to respect the authority and discipline of the church?
5. To the end that you may grow in the Christian life, do you promise that you will diligently read the Bible, engage in private prayer, keep the Lord’s Day, regularly attend the worship services, observe the appointed sacraments, and give to the Lord’s work as He shall prosper you?
6. Do you purpose to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in all the relationships of life, faithfully to perform your whole duty as a true servant of Jesus Christ, and seek to win others to Him?
7. Do you make this profession of faith and purpose in the presence of God, in humble reliance upon His grace, as you desire to give your account with joy at the Last Great Day?
Discipleship
Getting Plugged In
One of the last things Jesus told his disciples to do was to, “go and make disciples of all Nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded. And, lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
A huge heart of the ministry here at Sharon is discipleship. Seeing Christians grow in their faith. Seeing you rooted deeply, built up, and established in your faith. Growing in your knowledge of God, in your love for the Lord. In your heart being assured more and more of his love for you. And, seeing you die more and more to the world.
This process that we call sanctification sanctification. Your growth in holiness. Your flourishing as a Christian. Your looking more and more remade in the image of God who has created you. So that looks like Bible studies. That looks like one-on-one discipleship. That looks like counseling. That looks like marriage conferences. That looks like using God's word every chance we have to grow as disciples, as followers, as students of Jesus Christ.
Service
He did not come to be served by to serve
One of the big things about becoming part of the family at Sharon is service. We desire to serve people outside of these four walls at the church and also within. We desire to show true religion:
caring for orphans and shut-ins,
going and visiting widows
caring for the poor in the needy in our area
looking around and trying to figure out who are the people who have needs.
That's outside the church that we seek to care for the lost. Inside the church we care for one another in our fellowship. Fellowship is this idea that we share a common bond and unity with each other. That we love each other.
Service is deeply rooted in what Jesus himself did. He says, “I did not come to be served but to serve.”
Sometimes it looks like making a meal. Sometimes it looks like volunteering to run a Sunday school class. It can look like just going and visiting people. Or calling people and asking, “how can I pray for you?” Sometimes service looks like running a Bible study. Sometimes it looks like just being a friend and loving each other.
So, there are both formal ways and also informal ways to serve. And that's what we seek to do here as we grow in our discipleship. We seek to be more and more like Christ.