Having been called by God,

Who has loved his chosen people with an everlasting love before the foundation of the world, bringing us out of darkness into his marvelous light and making us who were dead in sin to become alive in Christ, forgiving us of all our wrongdoings and adopting us into his family forever, sealing and baptizing us by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, and saving us by his grace, through faith, unto good works to the praise and glory of his name;

And who has called us as his prized people and a kingdom of priests to join him on his mission to spread the glory and fame of his Son to our neighbors and the nations until Christ is preached and worshipped among all peoples;

And understanding that membership in the universal body of Christ (through all ages and places) has always been expressed in covenant community within a particular fellowship of believers in a biblical local church, where members love one another, are devoted to one another and belong to one another;

And believing he has called me to biblical membership at CrossWay Church,

1. I affirm and joyfully submit to the teachings, instructions, and authority of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, as God’s perfect revealed Word to us, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice inside and outside the local church (2 Tim. 3:16).

2. I commit to join God’s kingdom mission through his church to make disciples, beginning in my own family, extending to my community and to the furthest reaches of the globe (Matt. 28:18; Acts 1:8). I will give generously and faithfully of my time, talents, skills, spiritual gifts, and financial resources to the building up of the body of Christ and the carrying out of her mission, realizing that I am a steward of all I have in material and non-material possessions—all of which come from God, belong to God, and have been entrusted to me to be used for the glory of God. I commit to biblical stewardship.

3. I commit to protect the unity and health of this body, because the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, and because Jesus said the world would know he was sent by God through the believers’ unity (John 17:23) and the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35),

I understand that this biblical mandate is lived out through Loving one another (John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17, Rom. 13:8, Heb. 13:1, 1 Pet. 1:22, 4:8, 1 John 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11, 2 John 1:5), Being Devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10), Living in Harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16, 1 Cor. 1:10, 1 Thess. 5:13, 1 Pet. 3:8), Honoring one another (Rom. 12:10), Accepting one another (Rom. 15:7), Showing Concern for one another (1 Cor. 12:25, Phil. 2:3), Serving one another (Gal. 5:13, 1 Pet. 4:10), Carrying Burdens of one another (Gal. 6:2), Bearing with one another in patience (Eph. 4:2, Col. 3:13), Being Kind and Compassionate to one another (Eph. 4:32, 1 Thess 5:15), Forgiving one another (Eph. 4:32, Col. 3:13), Submitting to one another (Eph. 5:21), Speaking Truth in Love to one another (Col. 3:9, Eph. 4:15), Encouraging one another (1 Thess. 4:18, 5:12, Heb. 3:13), Teaching and Admonishing one another (Col. 3:16), Spurring one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24), Being Hospitable to one another (1 Pet. 4:9), Being Humble with one another (1 Pet. 5:5), and Fellowshipping with one another (1 John 1:7).

I further commit to protect the unity and health of the body of Christ by not forsaking the gathering together (Heb 10:25), not slandering one another (James 4:11), not causing one another to stumble (Rom. 14:21; 1 Cor. 8:13), not causing division among one another (1 Cor. 12:25), and not speaking or listening to gossip (Rom. 1:29; 2 Cor. 12:20; 1 Tim. 5:13).

I commit to address conflicts through biblical peacemaking, and not resort to avoidance or attack responses. (Matt. 5:23-24; 18:15-17). I will seek the help of my pastors and leaders in conflict resolution as needed. [See “Peacemaking Principles: Responding to Conflict Biblically” provided by CrossWay pastors. For more information on biblical peacemaking, see www.peacemaker.net.]

4. I commit to protecting the reputation and witness of the Gospel and the mission of the body by obeying 1 Corinthians 5:11: “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.” I will honor and stand in solidarity with the weighty judicial actions of the church (with whom Jesus promises to stand) regarding persons who are placed under biblical discipline or disfellowship for severe and egregious unrepentant sin as prescribed in Scripture (Matt 18:15-20).

5. I commit to happily and prayerfully abide by Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

I affirm that these responsibilities accompany the rights and privileges of membership, which shall be revoked for refusal to abide by this covenant.
Therefore, I humbly enter into this covenant soberly, joyfully and sincerely,

To the glory of God and the sake of his name.