Weekly Newsletter 10-18-2024
- Author: Pastor Jay
Good Morning Church Family!
Beloved NBC Berkeley Church Family,
Psalm 118:24 reminds us, this is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. May today find you rejoicing because of God and being glad you are in His family. This morning I was able to sing a great hymn in my personal devotional time. The hymn is called Have Thine Own Way, Lord and it was written in 1906 by Adelaide Pollard. Here are the lyrics and may it be our prayer this day.
Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter,
I am the clay.
Mo,ld me and make me
After Thy will,
While I am waiting,
Yielded and still.Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Search me and try me,
Master, today.
Whiter than snow, Lord,
Wash me just now,
As in Thy presence
Humbly I bow.Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Wounded and weary,
Help me, I pray.
Power, all power,
Surely is Thine,
Touch me and heal me,
Savior divine.Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Hold o’er my being
Absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit.
This week we got our church sign!! Praise God!!! The entire community that drives by our building can see something new and special is taking place through the people of Northwood Berkeley. Don’t forget that on Saturday, November 2nd we will have our Fall Festival from 3-5 p.m. We will have games for children, a chili-cook off, hotdogs, and plenty of opportunities for you to serve. Please invite your family, friends, and neighbors. On Sunday, November 3rd following our 11:00 a.m. worship service we will have another Connect to Northwood Berkeley Class. We will feed those that participate lunch. If you want to know more about what we believe, what church membership means, or how you can serve please plan on attending.
I now bring your attention to a very special day in the life of our congregation. On Sunday, October 27 we will have our first ever Covenant Sunday. This next paragraph applies to current members of Northwood Berkeley. When the members of Gethsemane Baptist Church decided to replant our church, adopt new by-laws, and identify as Northwood Berkeley we agreed that we adopt Covenant Membership. This was clearly stated in the proposed by-laws we passed out nine weeks before we affirmed to adopt those by-laws. Historically, Baptists have had church covenants. We will be signing our church covenant every year to reaffirm our commitment to the Lord, each other, and the local church. A church covenant is a way to unite a congregation. A church covenant is to make sure everyone can still affirm our commitments to the Lord, our doctrine, our practices, and our love for each other. As a congregation we will be able to sign our church covenants on October 27. It will be a day of celebration. If you are not able to be there that Sunday due to illness or travel, you can sign a church covenant beforehand and give to Marie or any of the other church staff. Per our new by-laws you have until our Annual Meeting in January to sign the covenant before you will be considered a non-member of Northwood Berkeley. Copies of our church covenant can be found in the lobby.
No one has addressed these issues to me, but I did have someone come to me and express that there was some questions or confusions about the church covenant. So here is a brief Q and A.
To maintain my church membership at Northwood Berkeley must I sign the church covenant by our Annual Meeting?
Yes
If I, by conviction, I can’t sign the church covenant or just won’t sign the church covenant and choose not to retain my membership what does that practically mean?
You will no longer be an official church member of Northwood Berkeley. You will not be able to affirm proposals at Annual and specially called Congregational meetings. You will not be allowed to serve as a Pastor/Elder, Deacon, Church officer, committee member, or teacher for the congregation. You still may attend worship services, Life Connection Groups, and other church activities. You still will receive pastoral care. You still will be loved and prayed for.
What about current homebound members or homebound members with memory care issues? Will they be removed from church membership because they can’t come to the church campus to sign a church covenant?
Of course not. It will be the responsibility of our Deacons to make sure our homebound members receive a copy of the church covenants in their homes and can be signed in their homes and brought back to the church office. Our blessed church members with memory care issues will receive a special dispensation and retain their church membership.
Why bother with signing a church covenant at all?
Many churches have four times as many members on their rolls as actually attend. There are some church members that haven’t been to a worship service in years. They don’t serve, they don’t give, they no longer or maybe never believed the doctrines of the church but is some cases folks like this have been rounded up to “vote” in church business meetings. Membership at Northwood Berkeley means something. Yearly we choose to retain our membership. We are saying to the Lord and to each other the local church matters. We are reaffirming our love to Christ, his church, and to each other. Sadly, other denominations haven’t practiced membership that matters. As a result, teachers started teaching against the doctrines of their church. In some cases, the divinity of Christ was denied, or marriage was redefined. The ordination of pastors was no longer considered on the basis of Biblical qualifications but rather the fads of the moment. Longtime members pressured pastors into marrying their children in the church who were not Scripturally qualified to be married. Issues of ordination and doctrine started to divide churches and denominations. A church covenant serves to unify and clarify.
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