Membership: to be a member who enjoys all the rights and accepts all the responsibilities of being a participant of a particular organization.

Most of us probably have a membership with a number of organizations or stores that offers us a variety of privileges, as well as responsibilities. You may be a member of a country club or a warehouse store.  Maybe your membership is something less formal than that, but you belong to a book club or social organization.  Whatever it is, there is a cost of some sort for the benefits derived from belonging to a group effort.

It is not different when we look at membership of a church.  There are benefits, and yet, there is a cost.

At Quest, there are two sorts of memberships.  The first is an informal type of membership that comes will all sorts of benefits.  This type of membership is defined simply by showing up and relating.  Quest is open to anybody and everybody; “the skeptic, the inquirer, and the already convinced” are all invited to belong, consider believing and to engage being transformed at a heart level.  The benefits are many but most importantly it is a place where you can be known and respected for who you are with all of your strengths and uniquenesses, as well as your not so good habits and hang ups.  We want Quest to be a place where you can be the real you and participate in discovering the width, the depth and the height of what life was supposed to be along side others who bring the real them to the party as well.

The second kind of membership is a more formal type.  This is a membership that says, “I want to cast my lot in with this group of people who are focused on a mission of developing the kingdom of Christ in the hearts of every man, woman and child that God would allow us to come in contact with.”  This is a type of membership that says, “I am going to invest myself and my time, talents and treasures in spite of the imperfection of this group of people.”  This type of membership says, “I want to tie myself to others  so that I can grow and develop as a follower of Christ.”  This membership says, “I want to be transparent and vulnerable even if it is challenging.”  This membership comes with the privilege and responsibility of establishing direction and priorities as one part of a whole.  This comes with the commitment to seek the mind of Christ along side others who are doing the same.  That may require negotiation and compromise to agree on a path of action, but we will trust God to work in our midst.

I would like to invite anyone who has entrusted their lives to Christ to consider becoming a formal member of Quest and throwing your lot in with us, in order to bring Christ’s name into all of it’s glory.

Sign up for the class on Sunday, July 23^rd… it will meet from 11:45am-2:00pm on the lower level of our building and lunch will be provided.

Kevin