In Hope of Restoration

I recently preached a series of four sermons at Bethlehem concerning the biblical and theological importance of keeping accurate church membership records. Two of those sermons are posted here, the two that I believe are the most important. I have not taken the time to upload the other two, but I may do so eventually.

At the 2008 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), an important resolution was passed that reaffirmed the historic Baptist commitment to regenerate church membership. One of the grounding statements in the resolution points out that of the 16, 266,920 members of Southern Baptist Churches, only 6,148, 868 attend primary worship on a given Sunday. That's an average attendance of 37% of the membership in church on any given Sunday. Bethlehem is no exception to the rule (we are actually slightly below the average for the SBC). The first sermon here asks the basic question: "What's the big problem with inflated membership records?"

The Membership Record

The biblical goal of the Church Discipline process is restoration of the fallen, sinful, or absentee brother (1 Corinthians 5:1-5, Matthew 18:12-17). This next sermon answers the question that everyone finds difficult to face when addressing the issue of faithful church membership records and the process of Church Discipline. It answers the question: "What happens when all efforts at restoration fail?"

When All Else Fails

** To listen, simply click the link above. If you want to download the audio sermon, right click the link and select "save target as" (Internet Explorer Users) or "Save link as" (Firefox users).

** If you are on the membership committee, it is the second sermon that I discussed with you tonight: "When All Else Fails"