I. Becoming a Christian puts you into the church in the universal sense – Acts 2:47<\/p>\n
A. Calling yourself a Christian doesn’t mean you are – Acts 19:1-7<\/p>\n
B. Teaching the gospel doesn’t mean you are faithful – Philippians 1:16-17<\/p>\n
II. God wants us to be with other Christians<\/p>\n
A. Acts 9:26 – Paul tried to join the brethren in Jerusalem <\/p>\n
B. Hebrews 10:24-25 – Stirring up each other<\/p>\n 1. In their case they were losing ground because of persecution and not\nenduring – Hebrews 10:32-39\n
III. Care that we are not supporting error <\/p>\n
A. I Timothy 5:21-22<\/p>\n
B. No ties with unbelievers – II Corinthians 6:14-7:1<\/p>\n
C. Don’t share in sins – Ephesians 5:6-11<\/p>\n
IV. Churches can limit membership<\/p>\n
A. Ideally membership should be of those in the universal church<\/p>\n
B. Acts 9:26-29 – Mistaken exclusion<\/p>\n
C. III John 9-10 – Improper exclusion<\/p>\n
D. I Corinthians 5:1-2 – Improper inclusion<\/p>\n
V. Letters of Introduction<\/p>\n
A. Personal Introductions<\/p>\n
1. Romans 16:1-2<\/p>\n
2. I Corinthians 16:10-11<\/p>\n
3. II Corinthians 8:23<\/p>\n
4. Ephesians 6:21<\/p>\n
5. Philippians 2:19-23<\/p>\n
6. Philippians 2:25-30<\/p>\n
7. III John 12<\/p>\n
8. Colossians 4:7-9<\/p>\n
B. Introductions by churches<\/p>\n
1. I Corinthians 16:3 – Corinth introducing couriers<\/p>\n
C. Personal Warnings<\/p>\n
1. I Timothy 1:19-20<\/p>\n
2. II Timothy 1:15<\/p>\n
3. II Timothy 4:14-15<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFundamentals of Christianity\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Membership I. Becoming a Christian puts you into the church in the universal sense – Acts 2:47 A. Calling yourself a Christian doesn’t mean you are – Acts 19:1-7 B. Teaching the gospel doesn’t mean you are faithful – Philippians 1:16-17 II. God wants us to be with other Christians A. Acts 9:26 – Paul tried to join the brethren…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":26590,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65220","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26769,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":0},"title":"The Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Church The word \"church\" is used to translate the Greek word ekklesia, which simply means an assembly of people. It doesn't always have to mean an assembly of Christians (Acts 19:32, 39). There are two types of assemblies mentioned in the Scriptures. \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One is talking about all Christians as\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10154,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-conversion-of-saul\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":1},"title":"The Conversion of Saul (Acts)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Conversion of Saul Text: Acts 9:1-19 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While we were looking at events in Philip\u2019s life, we must not forget that Saul continued to persecute the church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was not satisfied with just searching out Christians in the Jerusalem area, he also searched them out in other regions. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He obtained\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/what-would-god-have-us-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":2},"title":"What Would God Have Us Do? (Fundamentals)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What Would God Have Us Do? Text: I Thessalonians 2:1-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was talking with a young man the other day. He wasn\u2019t certain what God wanted him to do in regards to school and career. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I finally realized that he wanted someone else (God) to make his decisions for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/growing-pains\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":3},"title":"Growing Pains","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing Pains Text: Acts 6:1-7 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property - Acts 4:34-35 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the distributions were not fair and even-handed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular it was claimed that the widows who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":4},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Acts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Acts Text: Acts 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Acts is a continuation of Luke\u2019s earlier account - Acts 1:1-3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All early manuscripts use the title \u201cActs\u201d or \u201cActs of the Apostles\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author is not named, but continuation and the style makes it clear that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30483,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/spiritual-gifts-different-gifts-in-one-body\/","url_meta":{"origin":65220,"position":5},"title":"Spiritual Gifts: Different Gifts in One Body","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Spiritual Gifts: Different Gifts in One Body The influence of the Spirit\u00a0(I Corinthians 12:1-3) The subject now shifts to spiritual matters, in particular spiritual gifts. Ignorance in these matters would not serve the Corinthians well. In their past, many of the Corinthians were idol worshipers, led by their impulses and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65220\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}