5560

5560. Introductory Remarks.
Minister: Dear friends, the privileges and blessings which we have within the fellowship of the church of Jesus Christ are very sacred and precious. Christ so loved the church that He gave Himself for it, sanctifying Himself that the church might be sanctified. He chose to speak of Himself as the Head of the church and of the church as His body; and again He spoke of Himself as the husband and of the church as His bride. Christ gave Himself unselfishly, and He asked the church to share its glorious relationship with all humankind, sending it into the world to preach the Scriptures, to save the lost, to administer the sacraments, to maintain Christian fellowship and discipline, and to build up the believer until He comes again. All of us, whatever our age or position, stand in need of Christ’s church and of those means of grace which it alone makes available.

It is in keeping with Christ’s commission to the church that we meet together now. There are some among us who testify to having been received already into the spiritual fellowship of the universal church, and who desire to be received into the official and visible fellowship of this local unit of the body of Christ.