LIFEHOUSE OWNERSHIP/MEMBERSHIP
We use the word “ownership” instead of “membership”. the main reason for this is that today, in our culture, the word membership is associated more with “privileges” than it is with “responsibilities”.
Becoming An Owner
“just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all others.” – Romans 12:4-5
“consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” – Ephesians 2:19
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are members of God’s household called by Him to participate and minister in a particular place within the body of Christ. A body working properly has each member doing its part well. A healthy church consists of the same: members who are committed and equipped” do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Owners of Lifehouse Church live missionally taking the gospel to the culture. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ…” Lifehouse owners are missionaries who plunge into the culture of Nashville, placed there by God to point others to Christ. By receiving God’s “abundant provision of grace we reign in life” (Romans 5:17). God’s grace working in us and through us impacts our homes, marriages, schools and workplaces.
Owners also serve in countless ways within the church: Sunday worship services, children’s ministry, showing hospitality, prayer groups, lifegroups, communication and technical help and much more.
The gathered church is God’s new community. Instead of the temple he has chosen to dwell in the corporate people of God. “and in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which god lives by in His Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). You and I are where God lives! Being an owner at Lifehouse Church is being part of a family. It is about being committed to the purposes of God and to one another.
At the same time, leadership commits to you. Elders and leaders love and equip, counsel and guide, pray and care for members. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10). To transition to an official member of lifehouse church we ask that you first attend the ownership class, which covers the basics of the faith and the story that God is writing called Lifehouse Church.