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Key Bible Verse: As each part does its own special work … the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love (Ephesians 4:16). Bonus Reading:Ephesians 4:4-6, 11-16

Three denominational leaders visited our congregation. "What are the benefits of membership at Mosaic?" they asked. Their question surprised me. I suddenly felt like we were American Express.

So I asked our pastoral team what exactly were the benefits of being a member. One responded, "Members are entrusted with responsibility." We started laughing at the irony of realizing that membership was the entryway to public service. The only benefit was the privilege to serve!

Today we clearly express that becoming a member of Mosaic is a declaration that you're moving from being a consumer to being an investor; that you're joining not simply the community of Christ, but the cause of Christ. On a deeper level, it is an invitation to genuine intimacy. People who become members say they're submitting their lives to the spiritual authority of this community and welcoming genuine accountability in their spiritual journeys.

So up front, we ask for this sincere, God-motivated commitment: to allow God to work in and through them as they invest their passions, their service, their resources, and their relationships for the sake of the Kingdom.

—Erwin McManus in An Unstoppable Force

My Response: How is my church benefiting from my witness, serving, and giving?

Thought to Apply: The church isn't a dormitory for sleepers, it's an institution for workers; it's not a rest camp, it's a front-line trench.—BILLY SUNDAY (baseball player, evangelist)

Adapted from An Unstoppable Force (Group, 2001) by permission.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

As Your disciple, Lord, I recognize I can't remain detached from Your church. Help me to truly connect.

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