The Village Belonging Covenant
Purpose: when anyone enters into relationship with God by grace from, and faith in, the person and work of Jesus Christ they are entering into two covenants. The first is to journey with God for the rest of their lives and love Him fully. The second is to journey with His other children in the community of the local church. Your Belonging in a church is an official recognition of this, and the purposes of the Village belonging Covenant is: 1. to join the Spirit in forming an authentic church community that reflects the relationship between the Father, Son, & Spirit. 2. To clarify the on-going blessings & responsibilities of each belonger. 3. To encourage consistency, accountability, and loving unity within the church family. 4. To accomplish God's call for the Village church family. This agreement does not imply that you will never fall short of the goals, but that the desire of your heart is to fulfill each of the responsibilities stated to the best of your ability. We trust that your commitment will be a personal blessing to your own journey in Christ, as well a blessing to those around you.
The Leaders
With the help of the Holy Spirit, the church leadership covenants the following:
1. We commit ourselves to lovingly caring for you and seeking your growth in Christ (Heb. 13:17; I Thes. 5:12).
2. We covenant to provide teaching, preaching and counsel from the Scriptures (Gal. 6:6; I Tim. 5:17-18).
3. We commit that this teaching will span the whole counsel of God's Word (Acts 20:27-28).
4. We commit to helping you in times of need (Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35, Jm. 2:14-17).
5. We covenant that your tribal elders and tribal Lead ministers will meet the criteria assigned to them in the Scriptures (I Tim. 3:1-13 & 5:17-22, Titus 1:5-9, I Pt. 5:1-4).
6. We covenant to pray for you regularly, particularly when you are sick (Jm. 5:14).
8. We covenant to exercise church discipline when necessary (Matt. 18:15-20; I Cor. 5; Gal. 6:1).
9. We covenant to help you become equipped to serve Christ (Eph. 4:11-13).
10. We covenant to seek God's will for our church community to the best of our ability as we study the Scriptures and follow the Spirit (Acts 20:28, I Peter 5:1-5).
11. We covenant to set an example and join you in fulfilling the duties of Belonging (1 Co. 11.1, Philip. 3:17, I Tim. 4:12 ).
The Community
With the guiding help of the Holy Spirit, I, the undersigned, covenant the following:
1. I have read and understood Apostle’s Creed and agree to not be divisive to its teaching. I also understand the importance of submission to church leadership and will be diligent to preserve unity and peace (Hebrews 13:7, 17; Ephesians 4:1-3)
2. I will endeavor to maintain a close relationship with Jesus: My journey in Christ will be evident through my regular participation in the corporate worship services, and involvement in other small gatherings(Ps. 119:97, 105l; Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:23-25).
3. .I will strive to properly manage the resources God has given me, including my time, body, gifts and talents, attitudes, finances and possessions (Eph.5:15-18; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-16; Gal 5:22-26; Proverbs 3:9-10). This includes regular giving to Village that is sacrificial and cheerful (2 Corinthians 8&9).
4. I commit myself to the Village church family and agree to aid in fulfilling its missional purpose to both be and bring the gospel to Tucson
5. I commit to using the spiritual gift(s) God has given me for the building up of the church, both at the Village and universally (I Pt. 4:10-11; Romans 12:1-8, 1Corinthians 12:7-31).
6. I covenant to practice the humility and sacrificial attitude of Christ by considering the needs of others (Philippians 2:1-11), not gossiping (Pr. 16:28, Matt.18: 15-17), and seeking spiritual friendships
7. I covenant to have friendly Christian relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ from other churches, but I will not function in leadership or belong to another church family (Hebrews 13:17).
8. I covenant to follow the biblical procedures of church discipline, and submit myself to discipline if the need should ever arise (Matt. 18:15-17,Gal. 6:1-5).
9. I covenant to submit to the authoritative voice of Scripture (Psalm 119, 2 Tim. 3:16-17). |
