Club	Church
Direction	by Leadership	by Sacred Mission
Focus	Internal	External
Purpose	Will of the Members	Will of the Lord
Membership	Exclusive	Inclusive
Outsiders	Cares Little	Cares Greatly

Is our church a club, or is it a life-saving station? 

Are you harbored safely in the station, or are you out searching for the lost?

1.  PRACTICE HOSPITALITY

1 Peter 4:9. Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

(1)  Show hospitality… 

(2)  Without grumbling or complaining… 

1 Peter 4:10.  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

(3)  Use your gifts to serve others. 

(4)  Faithfully administer God’s grace.  

(5)  Administer God’s grace in its various forms. 

1 Peter 4:11. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

(6)  Speak the words of God. 

(7)  Serve others with the strength God provides. 

(8)  Praise God through Jesus Christ.  

2.  SHOW KINDNESS

1 Thessalonians 5:15.  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

(9) Never retaliate, but show kindness instead. 

Proverbs 25:21-22.  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: ²²For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.[1] 

3.  SHARE THE GOSPEL

John 4:9-14.  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ¹¹The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ¹²Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? ¹³Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: ¹⁴But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(10) Use every opportunity to share the gospel message. 

4.  GIVE OF YOURSELF

(11)  Give wholly of yourself to others. 

In these passages we have found eleven imperatives that, if are part of our very character, would characterize us as a life-saving station:

• Show hospitality… 
• Without grumbling… 
• Use your gifts to serve others.
• Faithfully administer God’s grace. 
• Administer God’s Grace in its various forms.
• Speak the words of God.
• Serve others with the strength God provides.
• Praise God through Jesus Christ.
• Never retaliate, but show kindness instead. 
•   Use every opportunity to share the gospel message.    
•   Give wholly of yourself to others. 

Let us each look into our own lives and into how we use our influence in the church to promote its mission as a life-saving station, and work to minimize its character as an exclusive social club.

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[1] Also cited in Romans 12:20.