Joining The Mission - Membership at Immanuel

Joining the
Mission:
membership at
immanuel
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Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
We’re so glad God has caused your path to cross with ours!
You’re most likely reading this because you’re exploring this whole concept of
becoming a member of Immanuel Baptist Church.
What does that mean? Hopefully the rest of this packet will help answer that
question. But in short, it means joining us on a mission.
We’ll talk more about that as we go on…
But before that, we want to be very clear what membership does not mean.
It’s not about joining a club like the Lions, the Kiwanis, or the Rotary Club. It’s
not something to pad your resume.
It’s not about some institutional organization with meetings and committees
and bureaucracy, etc… How boring!
It’s not about being on the good team versus the bad team (i.e. the world).
That’s pretty self-righteous and messed up.
It’s also not about getting into a tight-knit community of friends that you like to
hang out with (and maybe marry). That’s called a clique.
And it’s not even about performing a Christian duty – “A good Christian has to
be a member of a church.”
How far from the biblical concept of church and the Christian life these are! If
that’s what becoming a member of a church is all about, what’s the point?
We hope this packet gives you a more compelling picture of the gospel, of
Christians’ purpose in life, and of what membership in a local church is all about.
And it’s our prayer that by the end you’ll want to throw yourself into Immanuel
and its vision and join us on a mission together.
Enjoy!
~ The Elders at Immanuel
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Joining the Mission CD Track Listing
mp3 audio format
Track Title
1 Introduction
2 Part 3 A – Why Do I Have to Become a Member of a Church?
3 Part 3A – FAQs
4 Part 3 B – How Do I Become a Member of Immanuel?
5 Part 3 C – What is Expected of Members of Immanuel?
6 Part 4 – Immanuel’s History
7 Part 5 A – The Holy Scriptures
8 Part 5 B – The Godhead
9 Part 5 C – The Father
10 Part 5 D – The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
11 Part 5 E – The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
12 Part 5 F – The Depravity of Man
13 Part 5 G – Salvation
14 Part 5 H – The Ordinances
15 Part 5 I – Religious Liberty
16 Part 5 J – The Last Things
All mp3 audio also available at

www.immanuel-baptist.net
Sermons | Special Messages
© 2008 Immanuel Baptist Church. All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible
Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
Part 1: It’s About the Good News!............................................................ 1

Individual............................................................................................... 2
Cosmic.................................................................................................... 6
GOD......................................................................................................... 8
Part 2: So What is the Mission? ................................................................. 9
Vocal....................................................................................................... 10
Vocation................................................................................................ 12
Involved ................................................................................................ 15
Part 3: Joining the Mission: Church Membership ........................... 17
Why?....................................................................................................... 18
How? ...................................................................................................... 23
What?..................................................................................................... 24
Our Church Covenant ...................................................................... 25
Part 4: Immanuel’s History ........................................................................ 27
Part 5: Immanuel’s Statement of Faith................................................. 29
Part 6: Immanuel’s Distinctives ............................................................... 35
Church Government......................................................................... 36
Men’s and Women’s Roles.............................................................. 39
Calvinism vs. Arminianism ............................................................. 41
Addendum: Denominational Affiliation.................................... 43
Part 7: Immanuel’s Vision & Values ....................................................... 45
Core Value #1 – Missional Mindset.............................................. 46
Core Value #2 – City-Center ........................................................... 51
Core Value #3 – Prayer ..................................................................... 63
Core Value #4 – Community .......................................................... 64
Core Value #5 – Corporate Worship............................................ 65
Core Value #6 – Arts.......................................................................... 66
Core Value #7 – Biblical Teaching ................................................ 67
Part 8: Where Would I Fit at Immanuel? .............................................. 69
New Member’s Information Sheet .............................................. 75
New Member’s Completion Sheet .............................................. 77
Part 9: Immanuel’s Bylaws ......................................................................... 79
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Part 1: It’s About the Good News!
‘Good news’ is the literal meaning of the word ‘gospel’.
The gospel is the centerpiece of Christianity.
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if
you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, [and] that he was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
So here we see that the gospel is of first importance. This means that if a church
makes anything other than the gospel central, it is missing the point.
The gospel is also something that Christians constantly need to be reminded of.
It’s not just the basics that you believe in order to become a Christian but then
move on from to other things. The gospel is not just the A-B-Cs but the A-to-Z
of the Christian life.
So what is the gospel? It is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures. It is news about what Jesus has done in time and space 2,000 years
ago. The gospel is a declaration, a report of something that happened in
history. <= read this sentence at least 10x
So why is the news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection good? There are two
crucial angles to look at it from… and then a third.
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The Individual Angle
The first way to understand the goodness of the good news is to look at what it
means for you personally.
This approach generally looks across the whole Bible and pulls out the following
categories: God – Man – Sin – Salvation.
God is completely perfect. Each of us was made to have a relationship with
God. However, our sin (our willful defiance of God’s laws and steady
determination to set other things, especially ourselves, up in God’s place) keeps
us out of the presence of a perfect God and in fact justly incurs his judgment.
But Jesus (the perfect God in human flesh) took our sin on himself and bore
God’s judgment in our place on the cross – Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures.
This is good news because even though we are sinful people who deserve a
holy God’s eternal wrath, Jesus was sinless yet he suffered in our place on the
cross so that we could be forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, and adopted
into his family forever. There’s nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. It’s
purely a gift of grace! Salvation is something that has been accomplished for us
by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
Jesus’ burial confirms that he really died. And his resurrection confirms that his
death really atoned for sins. And so if we repent of our sins and trust that Jesus
died to pay for them (repentance and trust are two sides of the same coin), then
when God looks at us he sees Jesus and therefore sees us as righteous, even
though in ourselves we are not. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The gospel says, “You are more sinful than you ever imagined, yet on account of
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection you are more accepted than you ever
dared dream.” This is what makes Christianity utterly unique and distinguishes
it from all other religions. As Tim Keller is fond of saying – ‘Religion’ says, “I
obey, therefore I’m accepted.” The gospel says, “I’m accepted, therefore I obey.”
Those are two radically different concepts!
For more reading, we highly recommend picking up a little book by C.J.
Mahaney – The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing. The
illustration on the next page helps in understanding the individual aspect of the
gospel. It’s called ‘The Gospel Trampoline’ and it’s borrowed from Darrin Patrick
at The Journey Church in St. Louis. We encourage you to spend time bouncing
on it. Actually, spend the rest of your life going deeper and higher!
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As
we go deeper into the darkness that is in our hearts, we will peel back more and
more layers of idols. We should constantly be seeking to go underneath the
surface sins and see the deep-seated root sins. The deeper we go in repentance
the higher we can bounce in faith as we realize the amazing truth of the gospel
– I am completely sinful and yet on account of Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection I am completely accepted by God! As Martin Luther said, “Simul et
justus et peccator” – simultaneously just and a sinner. It’s amazing! And it’s also
the key to transformation because the higher we bounce in faith, the more we
worship God for his grace and thus the less prone we will be to worship our
idols.
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Some Questions That Help Expose Near Idols
What other than Jesus has become your main source of significance, happiness,
meaning and purpose?
What other than being a child of God are you using as your primary identity?
What have you used to make yourself feel accepted or worthy before God, yourself
and others?
What do I worry about most? What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to question
whether or not I wanted to live?
What do I rely on or comfort myself with when things go bad or get difficult? What
do I do to cope/feel better?
What do I think most easily about? What does my mind go to when I am free? What
preoccupies me? What do I daydream about?
What makes me feel the most self-worth? What am I the proudest of? What do I
want to be known for?
What do I lead with in conversations? What do I want to make sure that people
know about me fairly early on in the conversation or relationship?
What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think about turning away from
God?
What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
What is my hope for the future?
Some Examples of Near Idols
Statues you burn incense to, sex, money, family, fame, entertainment, food, sleep,
sports, education, physical fitness/appearance, stuff…
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Go Deeper: Discerning Far Idols
A far idol is the central value by which all other values are measured and judged
and that which all other values serve. A far idol is that which fuels most of the
sin and other idolatries in our lives. It is the sin underneath most sins. It is the
root from which most behavior is simply the fruit.
WHAT WE SEEK (synonyms)—Price we’re willing to pay—Our greatest

nightmare—How we often make others feel—How we often feel
COMFORT (privacy, lack of stress, freedom)—Reduced productivity—

Stress/demands—Hurt—Bored
APPROVAL (affirmation, love, relationship)—Less independence—Rejection—

Smothered—Cowardly
CONTROL (self-discipline, certainty, standards)—Loneliness/spontaneity—

Uncertainty—Condemned—Worried
POWER (success, winning, influence)—Burdened/responsibility—Humiliation—

Used—Angry
Comfort idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if — I have this kind
of pleasure experience, a particular quality of life.”
Approval idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if — I am loved and
respected by .”
Control idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if — I am able to get
mastery over my life in the area of .”
Power idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if — I have power and
influence over others.”
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The Cosmic Angle
Another way to understand the goodness of the good news after you’ve seen it
from the individual angle is to look at what it means for the whole world.
This approach generally looks along the story-line of the Bible and sees the
following plot: Creation – Fall – Redemption – New Creation
God created the world in perfect harmony. The first humans rebelled against
him, thus plunging the world into disarray, not just individually, but
interpersonally, societally, ecologically, spiritually, etc… But God embarked on
a plan of redemption that focused largely on the nation of Israel and reached its
climax in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus started something
that he will return again one day to wrap up when he remakes the whole
cosmos (including the bodies of those who trusted in him) to be in a perfect,
eternal state. This is the overarching narrative of the Scriptures.
This is good news because even though we live in a world that is full of evil,
injustice, pain, and heartache as a result of our sin, Jesus has begun to make all
things right. He died to deal definitively with our sin, and he rose again to
inaugurate the New Creation as its first installment!
The gospel is no less than the justification of individual sinners by grace alone,
through faith alone, on the basis of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection alone.
But there’s more! The hope offered in the Scriptures is not that we can “die and
go to heaven.” It’s that “heaven” is coming down to swallow up this earth.
Jesus died and rose again to defeat death and sin and evil and will come again
one day to put the world right and put us in it to live with perfect interpersonal,
societal, ecological, and spiritual harmony.
One of the ways the Bible talks about this is by referring to the good news of the
kingdom of God. Jesus began his earthly ministry by saying, “The time has
come… The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mk.
1:15). Toward the end of his earthly ministry Jesus said that “this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and
then the end will come” (Mt. 24:14). And in Acts 8:12 we see Phillip preaching
“the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” [Christ =
Messiah, the long-awaited king who ushers in the long-anticipated kingdom of
God] Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection began a new kingdom – a subversive
kingdom of love and peace and justice that will one day rule the whole world.
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that will one day rule the whole world. Until then, the resurrected Christ sits at
the right hand of the Father on his throne… reigning.
The good news refers to more than just individual salvation. It has a cosmic
dimension. Jesus – through his death, burial, and resurrection – has begun to
redeem and remake the whole world! This brings hope. God doesn’t just have
a wonderful plan for your life; he has a wonderful plan for the whole universe!
See Mt. 19:28, Acts 3:21, and especially Col. 1:20.
Perhaps the diagram below will be of some help in getting the ‘big picture’.
Note: not to scale ☺
The Sweep of Salvation History
return of Christ
Kingdom Consummated
Kingdom Inaugurated
(already-but-not-yet)
Kingdom Anticipated
Creation Fall Redemption New Creation
birth, life, death, burial, resurrection,

& ascension of Christ
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The GOD Angle
If the gospel is left just at personal escape from judgment and imputation of
Christ’s righteousness and the hope that the world is being set right, then it’s
missing the main point, the thing that makes the news of Christ’s death, burial,
and resurrection GOOD, and that’s GOD!
The gospel is good news because it gets us to God, the source of all good!
1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God.” This is the greatest good of the gospel. He is
the perfection of all beauty and the source of all satisfaction.
And Revelation 21, which describes the consummation of the kingdom (the
return of Jesus to transform this world and us), talks about the final state as a
perfected society, a city in fact. And there we read, “Now the dwelling of God is
with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself
will be with them and be their God” (v. 3). The greatest thing about the New
Creation will be that God is there!
What amazing news! Because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection we can
be forgiven and accepted into God’s everlasting kingdom where we will enjoy
him together forever and ever – the infinite source of joy and delight!
For more about this concept, check out John Piper’s book, God is the Gospel:
Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself. Here’s just a snippet:
The highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no
other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ
revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God’s
commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is
most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself. Since we are
sinners and have no right and no desire to be enthralled with God,
therefore God’s love enacted a plan of redemption to provide that right
and that desire. The supreme demonstration of God’s love was the
sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners
might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of
his presence forever. (pp.13-14)
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Part 2: So What is the Mission?
We’ve been talking about the great and glorious gospel – the good news.
We’ve seen how it’s central – everything else (even good and necessary things
like building healthy marriages, helping people with their finances, fighting
injustice, serving the poor) is peripheral.
We’ve seen how it never grows old. The good news, rightly understood, never
becomes old news. Every single problem in life ultimately stems back to a
failure to grasp fully the gospel.
We’ve seen how it’s historical. The gospel is not merely a collection of ideas or
concepts (e.g. grace, forgiveness). It’s news about an event that has happened
in time and space – a real person named Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and
came back to life in fulfillment of all the hopes put forward in the Scriptures.
We’ve looked at it from the individual angle and the cosmic angle and
ultimately the GOD angle. We’ve seen how Jesus lived the perfect life we could
never live, died the death we should have died, and gives us a righteousness we
could never earn. But not only that, history is going somewhere! The gospel
brings both personal peace and a grand scale hope… and God is the source,
means, and goal of it all (see Rom. 11:36).
This gospel gives meaning, purpose, and significance to life. Those who have
heard and believe this good news are freed from guilt, despair, futility, and an
otherwise pointless existence.
So what is our mission in life? It is to glorify God by spreading the good news of
what he’s done in Jesus!
We do this in three main ways: we get vocal, we get a vocation, and we get
involved.
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Get Vocal
The great, 20th century British preacher D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used the
following illustration:
Suppose a medieval king marshaled his army and went out from his walled city
to engage the enemy on the battlefield. If the king failed to defeat the enemy,
what would he do? He would send military advisers back to the city right away
– people who would direct those left in the city how to prepare for a siege. “Put
archers in this tower, fortify that wall, close these gates, load the catapults, dig
in and prepare to fight.” The king would send advisors to tell them what they
must do.
But what would happen if the king went off to battle and won a decisive and
definitive victory over the enemy? What would he do? He would then send
heralds/messengers back to the city to announce the good news of what has
happened; to declare that the battle has been won. “Rejoice! Live your lives in
light of this peace that the king has won for us!”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said that every other religion offers advice, but Christianity
offers good news. Advice is counsel about how to do something that needs to
be done. News is a report about something that has already happened and
there’s nothing more that needs to be done. Do you see the difference?
The gospel is the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection which was
the decisive victory over sin and Satan and death. He has paid for sins once and
for all. Christianity is not an advice religion (here’s what you have to do), it is a
news religion (here’s what Jesus has done).
And news, by very definition, must be told. Those who say, “Preach the gospel
at all times, use words if necessary,” may not really understand what the gospel
is. Think about it…
Here’s the point: those who know the good news to be good… tell it whenever
they can. This is our mission in life. At the end of the Gospel according to Luke
we see Jesus telling his disciples, “This is what is written [in the Scriptures]: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day [the gospel], and
repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached
[heralded/declared/proclaimed…] in his name to all nations, beginning at
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Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Lk. 24:46-48).
Likewise, those who have heard and believed the good news today are also
commissioned to be witnesses to all nations. That’s a great task! That’s your
mission. It’s not supposed to be a burden, but a natural outburst from a heart
that has truly grasped the goodness of the good news. This will mean getting
vocal.
Vocalizing the gospel is called evangelism – literally good newsing. A good

resource for this is Mark Dever’s slim volume called The Gospel & Personal
Evangelism. Some helpful tools in learning how to evangelize are: Two Ways to
Live (www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl) and Christianity Explained
(www.christianityexplained.com).
Christians believe the good news and share it frequently!
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Get a Vocation
So what are you saying? Do I have to become a pastor or a missionary? A

missionary? YES! But you don’t have to go overseas… more on this in a
moment. A full-time pastor? NO! Nor do you have to work for the church or a
Christian school or a Christian company or a law firm that only takes freedom of
religion cases.
A vast, vast majority of Christians are supposed to spend their lives working a
regular job in the real world. We see in the Bible that even the Apostle Paul was
a tent-maker by trade (see Acts 18:3). In fact, having Christians in the workforce
is necessary for the carrying out of the mission. What better way to spread the
gospel than to send vocal Christians out into the places where people spend
roughly 1/3 of their lives?
But your job is more than an excuse to meet people you can share the gospel
with. It’s not just a way to make money so you can have food on the table (see
2Thess. 3:10) or have something to give to those in need (see Eph. 4:28) or to
support those taking the gospel to unreached places (see Rom. 15:24), though it
is all that. But you’re also supposed to enjoy it!
God created this world and put humans in it to play a part in the shaping and
running of society (see Gen. 1:28). As a result of the first humans’ sin, this world
is now fallen and so societies are dysfunctional and corrupt. But Jesus died, was
buried, and was raised to life to inaugurate a New Creation. He has instituted a
new kingdom that will grow like yeast through dough and when he returns will
take over the world (see Lk. 13:21).
By working for and contributing to the good of society, you are playing out and
prefiguring the cosmic aspect of the gospel – that Jesus has begun to remake
this world and will do so completely one day. And when Christians are involved
in a variety of fields and disciplines for the overall well-being, justice, and
flourishing of society they bring credibility to their vocal witness to the gospel.
All this is to say that in thinking about our mission as Christians, we need to
regain a proper sense of vocation.
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The Oxford Dictionary defines vocation this way:
vocation /vōkáyshən/ n. 1 a strong feeling of fitness for a particular

career or occupation (in religious contexts regarded as a divine calling);
call, calling, mission…
So many Christians have no sense of calling. To many a calling is merely for

those whom God calls to go to the bush in Africa as international missionaries.
But they don’t see being a student as a “call, calling, mission.” They don’t
understand that being a computer programmer or a public school teacher or a
dentist or an engineer or a secretary or an actor is a vocation in the religious
sense of the word.
Part of living out the gospel and carrying out your mission involves getting a
vocation and pursuing excellence in it. How has God equipped you? What role
in society is he calling you to? Where does he want you to be salt and light (see
Mt. 5:13-16)? Being a plumber is just as valid as being a preacher. A great book
to read on this would be Gene Edward Veith’s God at Work: Your Christian
Vocation in All of Life. You can also check out www.faithandwork.org.
Now, here’s something that may throw you for a loop. It may not even be on
some of your radar screens. But you also need to see marriage/singleness and
kids/no kids as an aspect of vocation too.
A vast, vast majority of Christians are called to be husbands or wives. And a vast
majority of them are called to be fathers or mothers. In fact, this vocation
supersedes all others because family is the bedrock social institution. For some
wives and mothers it may even replace a career. And there’s great dignity and
purpose in that.
Take seriously whether God is calling you to be married and whether he’s
calling you to be a parent. Broken families are one of the greatest effects of sin
on our world. Being married and raising kids to love the gospel is one of the
most effective strategies for changing the world and most likely is part of your
mission in life.
Singleness is also a special calling from God that frees people up to play unique
parts in the kingdom. If that’s what God has called you to (even for a season)
embrace it and take advantage of the opportunities it opens up for you to be
used for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.
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Here’s the point: ask God what role(s) he’s calling you to serve him in. For most
people it will mean getting a ‘secular’ job and being an employee. And for most
people, it will also mean getting married and being a husband or a wife. And for
most husbands and wives it will mean having children and being a father or
mother. None of these roles are in any way ‘less spiritual’ than others. In fact,
these vocations are the main avenues for living out our mission to glorify God
by spreading the good news of what he’s done in Jesus.
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Get Involved
Another thing to ask God is where he’s calling you to be vocal and have a
vocation. Wherever he calls you to live and work, he’s also calling you to be a
missionary, whether that’s the bush in Africa or a city in America.
The where question is just as much a part of your calling as the what of your
vocation. For most people, driven by personal career goals, where you live is
dependent on where you can get the best job offer and then what
neighborhood or house brings the most status or comfort. But if you’re driven
by kingdom of God goals then your mission and purpose in life is not your own
glory; it’s to glorify God by spreading the good news of what he’s done in Jesus.
And that changes everything. You’ll want to go wherever you can best achieve
those goals.
So once you’ve understood the gospel as good news for you and for the world
and once you’ve understood that good news by its very nature demands to be
vocalized and once you’ve figured out what God’s calling you to do and who
he’s calling you to marry (if anyone) and where he wants you to be then you put
it all together and begin to think and act like a missionary in that context. And
that means at least one more thing: you get involved.
Imagine that you were dropped by parachute into a jungle in Africa as a

missionary. What would you do? First you would go about learning the
language, the culture, the customs, the history of the locals. In the process
you’d find ways to engage the culture and meet and begin building
relationships with people who lived there, finding out what makes them tick,
hanging with them on their own turf, and then having them into your tent. All
this is in an effort to find ways to connect the individual, cosmic, and GOD
angles of the good news with their hopes, dreams, fears, and desires and see
them eventually accept the good news and become vocal about it themselves.
This is what we expect of missionaries ‘over there’. But the very same things are
what every Christian is supposed to be doing ‘back here’. Get involved where
God has called you. Get a library card, read up on the history of the area,
subscribe to the local paper. Find out what kind of people live around you,
what they do for fun, start doing the same things. Get involved in the PTA, a
local book club, organize a block party, have new people on the street over for a
BBQ, play basketball at the local park, go for drinks and wings at the end of the
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end of the day with coworkers, arrange play dates for the kids, volunteer at a
community center, take your laptop to the coffee shop down the street. Find
out who your local elected officials are and ask them about the community’s
greatest needs. Get involved in people’s lives. Chat with the owner of the
pizzeria on the corner, have neighbors over for your kids’ birthday parties,
shovel the snow for the old lady next door, borrow tools from the guy down the
street, pray for your mailman by name, shop at local businesses, boycott
businesses that mistreat their workers, take your kids to a nearby nursing home
to visit shut-ins at Christmas. You get the idea. Get involved!
All of this is in an effort to find ways to connect the individual, cosmic, and GOD
angles of the good news with the hopes, dreams, fears, and desires of the
people living in your mission field. And it’s with the hope of seeing them in
time accept the good news and become vocal about it themselves.
In the words of missiologists Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch, Christians everywhere
are supposed to “seep into the cracks and crevices of a society” in order to share
the gospel with those who haven’t yet heard it.
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Part 3: Joining the Mission: Church Membership
to be completed while listening to mp3 audio
So the marvelous truth of what Jesus accomplished in his death, burial, and
resurrection is the greatest news that could ever be told. It changes everything.
We are accepted and loved by God, despite our sinfulness, because Jesus took
our sin on himself and paid for it on the cross and gave us his righteousness
instead!
Plus, God has in Christ begun to and will one day completely remake this world
to make it the home of righteousness (cf. 2Pet. 3:13) where those of us who
belong to Christ will dwell!
And finally, we are forgiven and freed so that we can feast on the richest of fare
forever… and that is God!
This never grows old. It is the reality we will progressively revel in for all eternity
and thus the thing that should occupy us all our days in this life. This is the
Good News.
And this gospel brings great purpose and meaning to our existence. Our lives
are now about bringing glory to God by being vocal with the gospel, by being
faithful in our vocation and by being involved in the neighborhood God has
called us to. This is our mission.
But there’s still one final and crucial piece of the puzzle. This mission is not a
solo mission! Just as much as God is calling you to repent and believe the
gospel and then to get vocal, get a vocation, and get involved, God is also
calling you to join a local church where you live. This is part of the whole
package. Becoming a member of a local church is how you join the mission.
Here we will consider together the three most commonly asked questions
about membership:
WHY do I have to become a member of a church?

HOW do I become a member of Immanuel?
WHAT is expected of members of Immanuel?
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Why?
1. Christ left behind a .
The Trinity
Sin => Redemption => People (Israel in OT; Church in NT)
Jesus
Group Project
“It’s impossible to avoid community and be close to Jesus. Wherever Jesus is, there are other
people.”
Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”
The book of Acts
Invisible/Universal Church and Visible/Local churches
GOSPEL!
Human to God Human to Human
Ephesians 2:11ff
Individualism
Church = tool by which the gates of hell would be stormed and the kingdom of God would
be advanced!
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2. Community fosters .
MISSION CHURCH
“The task is bigger than any one person.”
“In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”
(Rom. 12:5).
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I
don’t need you!’” (1 Cor. 12:21).
We all need each other...
3. Community provides .
Gospel
Irreligion Religion
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Regular rhythm of weekly worship:
Proclamation Ordinances Singing Fellowship
Church is more than Sundays, however…
We need other people to help us see how the gospel applies to our life!
4. Community teaches .
suspicion => authority <= rebellion
Arenas:
Family (Eph. 5:22 – 6:4)
Job (Eph. 6:5-9)
Government (Rom. 13:1-7)
“Do not give up meeting together” (Heb. 10:25).
Ephesians 5:21 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Elders are charged by God to “be shepherds of the church of God” (Acts 20:28).
MISSION CHURCH > Elders
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.”
GOSPEL = God paid the death penalty for our treason in person of Jesus
Now we learn submission through church

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5. Community allows .
Hebrews 3:12-13 – “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that
turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called
Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
We need to be “kept in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14).
We can’t just trust ourselves to do that!
‘One Another’ Commands

(especially Luke 17:3; Colossians 3:16; Romans 15:14; James 5:16!!)
Church Discipline (see Matthew 18:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 5)
6. Community requires .
For some more on these ideas we encourage you to pick up Joshua Harris’ little
book called, Stop Dating the Church: Fall in Love with the Family of God.
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FAQs
Okay, but did Jesus and the NT really have in mind all this (buildings and budgets
and membership packets) when they talked about Christian community?
1.) An understanding of the !
2.) A sense of .
3.) A regular .
4.) .
5.) Participation in the ( & ).
6.) Pastoral .
7.) .
I’ve been burned before by churches. What if this church hurts me?
There’s no perfect church!
“If you were to join a perfect church, I am sure it would not be perfect after you had been
admitted into it.” – C.H. Spurgeon
But church is so boring and draining!
Church ≠ club Consumerism Perfectionism Individualism Religiosity
GOSPEL + MISSION + CHURCH = !!!!!
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How?
1. The first requirement for membership at Immanuel is in Christ as

your Lord and Savior, which should be accompanied by .
2. The process to become a member follows these steps:
a. You attend Immanuel regularly for a few months.
b. You notify an Elder of your interest in becoming a member.
c. You receive a Joining the Mission packet with a CD.
d. You complete the packet before the next Mission Class.
e. After this you attend the next scheduled Mission Class.
f. Then you meet individually with an Elder to share your story of how
you came to hear and believe the gospel; to review the doctrine,
distinctives, and vision of Immanuel; and to discuss ministry
opportunities for you through the church.
h. Your name is then submitted in writing to the current members at

least one week before a membership meeting.
i. At the next membership meeting, you are presented by the Elders

to the church and a vote is taken on your membership.
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What?
1. Sign and adhere to .
2. Regularly attend .
3. Be in your personal walk.
4. Support the church .
5. Be involved in a .
6. Be active in .
7. membership meetings.
8. for Immanuel.
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Our Church Covenant
As a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, I declare myself to be a follower of Jesus Christ
and affirm that I cannot be such apart from a community of other Christ followers. I
recognize that community requires commitment and I therefore make my commitment
official and public by willingly entering into this covenant with my fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ at Immanuel Baptist Church:
A Christian’s life must be distinct amidst a world of sin. Therefore, I covenant to live a
holy life of integrity and purity according to God’s standards (cf. 2Cor. 7:1, 1Thess. 4:7).
The ultimate mission of the church is to spread the message of salvation through Jesus
and expand the kingdom of God. Therefore, I covenant to intentionally seek
opportunities where I can share the gospel with those who do not currently believe (cf.
Mt. 28:18-20).
Love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand. Therefore, I covenant to practice
religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless by exhibiting a concern for the
poor and oppressed and championing the cause of social justice in whatever ways I can
(cf. Mt. 22:39, James 1:27).
Community requires openness. Therefore, I covenant to foster relationships of
authenticity and transparency by letting people in the community into my heart and life
(cf. James 5:16).
When sinful people are together they are bound to step on toes or rub each other the
wrong way eventually. Therefore, I covenant to not grow bitter or leave (cf. Eph. 4:31-32),
but to patiently cultivate genuine love between members (cf. 1Jn. 4:7-12) and proactively
work to preserve the unity of the body (cf. Eph. 4:2-3).
Being a part of a body means that members are intimately interrelated. Therefore, I
covenant to consider how my words and deeds affect my fellow members and act
accordingly (cf. Rom. 12:4-5, 14:1-23).
Scripture grants oversight of the church to its Elders. Therefore, I covenant to joyfully
submit to their leadership (cf. Heb. 13:17).
In addition, I specifically covenant to:
o regularly attend Sunday worship services (cf. Acts 20:7, Heb. 10:25),
o seek to grow in my practice of personal spiritual disciplines (1Tim. 4:7b),
o faithfully give of my finances to the church according to my means (cf. 1Cor. 16:2),
o be actively involved in a weekly small group (cf. Acts 2:46b),
o seek ways to serve the church with my gifts (cf. 1Pet. 4:10),
o attend Membership Meetings,
o and pray consistently for the church and its members (cf. Col. 1:3).
Finally, I recognize that participating in such a church community requires accountability.

Therefore, I covenant to lovingly rebuke fellow members when necessary, accept rebuke
when received, and unflinchingly extend forgiveness upon repentance (cf. Lk. 17:3-4). I
also covenant to submit to and uphold church discipline (Mt. 18:15-17, 1Cor. 5).
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26
Part 4: Immanuel’s History
A. The Dream
1. Starting in the fall of …
2. They prayed that:
a. God would instill in them a love and reverence for His
b. The Church would once again embrace the of

Jesus and revel in the all-sufficiency of Christ’s
c. God would saturate the Church with the spirit of
3. On the first Sunday of September, , Immanuel Baptist

Church had its first service in , Chicago.
B. The Early Days
1. Immanuel Baptist Church first sought to minister to the

in the area.
2. Immanuel was forced to its ministry focus.
C. Other Locations
1. Immanuel found a shelter in two local .
a. First in the
b. Second in the
D. The Lincoln Park Years
1. God provided a place in Lincoln Park –
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2. We continued to reach out to and
from other neighborhoods of Chicago as well as from the
3. In our left.
4. We extended a call to in of 2004.
E. It All Comes Together
1. The Elders presented to the congregation a vision for

the . Why?
a. the and diversity,
b. the setting,
c. the proximity to an ,
d. and the lack of
2. First official service in the UIC Area on ,
3. We met at
4. Then we met at
5. Until finally we’ve settled at
6. Immanuel now has an vision for reaching a

specific neighborhood and its people:
a. and
b. , , and
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Part 5: Immanuel’s Statement of Faith
A. The Holy Scriptures
The Church believes in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the
inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation
of His will for the salvation of men, and the Divine and final authority for all Christian
faith and life.
1. The Bible is .
2. The Bible is .
3. The Bible is .
4. The Bible is .
5. The Bible is .
B. The Godhead
The Church believes in the one triune God, eternally existing in three persons, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, Who are co-eternal in being, co-equal in power, and having the
same attributes and perfections.
1. God is .
2. God is .
3. God is .
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C. The Father
The Church believes in God the Father, the Almighty, Creator of all the heavens and
the earth, perfect in holiness, perfect in love, perfect in judgment, from Whom the
Son and the Spirit proceed.
1. The Father who is .
4. The Father from whom both and

proceed.
D. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
The Church believes that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, that He was conceived
by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.
1. The of Christ.
2. The of Christ.
The Church believes that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as
a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that the justification of those who
believe on Him are made sure by His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead, and
that His name and work are our sole means of salvation.
3. The of Christ.
4. The of Christ.
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The Church believes that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, where He is
exalted at the right hand of God above all power and dominion, and ministers as our
High Priest and Intercessor.
5. The of Christ.
6. The of Christ.
E. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
The Church believes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ, and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, indwell,
guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly service.
1. The Holy Spirit still has a .
2. The Holy Spirit’s job is .
F. The Depravity of Man
The Church believes that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and
thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation
from God, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and become
sinners in thought, word, and deed.
1. Man is a being.
2. Man is a being.
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3. Man is a being.
G. Salvation
The Church believes that eternal salvation is solely the gift of God, and that all who in
sincere contrition repent of their sins, believe the gospel and receive the Lord Jesus
Christ by faith alone are born again of the Holy Spirit and become adopted sons of
God.
1. Salvation is by alone.
2. Salvation is through alone.
3. Salvation is on the basis of alone.
H. The Ordinances
The Church believes that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the
local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Church believes that Christian
baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of the triune God.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His
death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered
until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. and are
ordinances for the church today.
2. The ordinances are not .
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I. Religious Liberty
The Church believes that every human being has direct relations with God, and is
responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and
must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that
therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each
fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
1. We believe in individual .
2. We believe in church .
J. The Last Things
The Church believes in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to
earth and the establishment of His kingdom. The Church believes in the resurrection
of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous and the endless
suffering of the wicked.
1. will come again.
2. will be rewarded.
3. will be punished.
Some Good Reference Works to Have on Your Bookshelf:
Systematic Theology – Wayne Grudem

Christian Theology – Millard Erickson
Concise Theology – J.I. Packer
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology – ed. Walter Elwell
33
34
Part 6: Immanuel’s Distinctives
Truth in Advertising
You’ve seen our Statement of Faith which basically lays out the core Christian
doctrines that we believe. Except for a few Baptist distinctives (i.e. believer’s
baptism and church autonomy), all orthodox Christians agree on that stuff – the
Bible, the Trinity, Sin, the deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, the second
coming, etc… And so we’re on the same team. We want to collaborate with and
support all other churches and ministries on our team that hold to these same
precious truths.
However, there are a number of other issues that orthodox Christians have
varying opinions on. They are what give different churches their own distinct
flavors. They’re important to know because they have a significant bearing on
how a church operates and defines its identity.
The following are three key distinctives of Immanuel. In other words, these are
issues which we have strong opinions on and new members should be aware
of. You can disagree with the following positions and still be a member of our
church, but we just want to be honest with you ahead of time. These issues are:
>> Church Government

>> Men’s and Women’s Roles
>> Calvinism vs. Arminianism
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Who’s In Charge Here? – Church Government at Immanuel
You might not think it’s the case, but how a church is structured and operates is
a very important issue. Many people think that the Bible doesn’t address the
topic of church government, but we believe strongly that it does. We hold
firmly to a unique form of Elder led congregationalism. This is a hybrid between
a congregational model of church governance (final governing authority rests
with the membership of the local congregation) and a presbyterian model
(plural Elders govern their respective local churches; in a full-blown presbyterian
system some or all of the Elders from a local church make up a presbytery or
general assembly which governs several churches in a region and a
denomination as a whole).
Article IV of our church’s Bylaws explains this arrangement in further detail

(found in Part 9 of this packet). There are specific areas of government that are
reserved for the membership like affirming Elders and Deacons, approving the
budget, receiving new members, disciplining current members, and purchasing
property. In becoming a member you are given a say in these matters. Giving
the congregation this authority provides a nice check and balance to the
leadership and also helps foster a sense of ownership among the members of
the church.
However, Immanuel is not a pure democracy. Anything else pertaining to the

affairs of the church not specifically reserved in the Bylaws for the congregation
belongs to the realm of the Elders. Our Bylaws state, “the Elders shall be
entrusted with the responsibility to superintend all areas of congregational life.”
Most decisions dealing with the church’s ministries, vision, direction, etc. are
made by the Elders. Practically speaking, what this means is that the leadership
of Immanuel is entrusted to a small group of qualified, godly men.
The first thing to notice about that last sentence is that it says “men” and not
“man.” This means that we are committed to leadership by a plurality of elders,
not just one pastor. What’s called the ‘Single-Elder’ or ‘Single-Pastor’ model is a
very popular model of church government today. In this model the ultimate
authority lies with ‘the senior pastor’. That is not how Immanuel is structured.
We believe that Jesus is ‘the senior pastor’ (cf. Jn. 10:11ff; Col. 1:18; 1Pet. 5:4)
and that the New Testament prescription is for a group of Elders to lead
together, under Jesus’ authority. Several texts demonstrate this (i.e. Acts 20:28;
Tit. 1:5; 1Pet. 5:1-2), but the most convincing one is found in Acts 14:23 where
the church-planting procedure of Paul and Barnabas is made explicit – “Paul
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“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders [plural] for them in each church [singular]
and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had
put their trust.” The rest of the New Testament assumes that individual
churches are led by a plurality of elders/overseers/pastors (shepherds) – all
different terms for the same office.
Based upon texts like 1 Tim. 5:17, one or more of the Elders who are particularly
gifted in preaching, teaching, and leading may be compensated by the church
for their work. In other words there may be some who are Elders as their
‘career’. At Immanuel, this is pastor Nathan. He is considered ‘first among
equals’ on the Elder team and the church supports him and his family full-time.
The bottom line is that if you’re familiar with a type of church government
where all the decisions are made from the top and come down from on high
you might have to adjust to the way Immanuel works and the amount of
authority delegated to the membership. However, if you’re from a tradition
where the congregation wields quite a bit of power it may be a change for you
to learn to submit to the authority of the Elders and see them as your leaders (cf.
Heb. 13:17).
For more information about how Immanuel views the role of Elders, see Biblical
Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership by Alexander
Strauch. You can also find information about Biblical Church Leadership at
www.9Marks.com.
The Deacons, following the prototype in Acts 6:1-6, are by definition servants.
They are qualified men and women who are committed to cheerfully and
sacrificially serving the body in whatever way the Elders see fit to use them. The
role of Deacon is not a leadership role in the way that Elder is, but it is an
important part of the church’s structure. The task of the Deacons is to relieve
the Elders of duties that might detract from their primary role as spiritual
leaders. The Elders must be able to give themselves fully to such things as
shepherding, overseeing, teaching, counseling, and praying. The Deacons also
often play an advisory role to the Elders.
On the next page you will find a chart that’s meant to help picture the authority
structures set up in the church and generally how things operate at Immanuel.
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Senior Pastor
JESUS!
1Peter 5:4
Elder Team
“superintend all areas of congregational life”
B. Men and Women in the Church Congregation

1. Affirm all Elders and Deacons
Full-time
Elder
Elder Elder 2. Approve Annual Budget
3. Approve and Dismiss Members
4. Approve Purchase of Property
5. Approve all Amendments to

Bylaws
Deacons
“relieving the Elders of duties…as the Elders
see fit”
Deacon Deacon Deacon Deacon Deacon

at Large of of of Int. of
Children Finance Missions Facilities
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Is Immanuel an ‘Equal Opportunity’ Church? – Men’s and Women’s
Roles at Immanuel
At Immanuel, we hold that men and women are essentially different. We

believe this is the obvious conclusion of Genesis 1:26-2:25. God made Adam
first, then Eve (cf. 1Tim. 2:13). Eve was given to Adam because it was not good
for him to be alone; he needed a ‘suitable helper’. Prior to the Fall there was a
clear, God-ordained difference between men and women that allowed them to
live together in a beautiful harmony. Each was made in the image of God and
therefore equal in value and worth, yet they were also made distinct from each
other in role and function.
The introduction of sin into the world caused male-female relations to be

messed up. They either tend towards one extreme where men oppress women
and/or women act like door-mats or the other extreme where men are weak
and/or women attempt to usurp male authority. We here at Immanuel believe
in a theological position called complementarianism, which essentially means
that men and women are equal in value but have distinct and complementary
roles. The other major position found among some churches today is called
egalitarianism. This view erroneously maintains that gender distinctions are the
result of the Fall and verses like Gal. 3:28 state that Christ came to reverse such
distinctions (but such verses do not have the respective roles of men and
women in view, but rather the availability of salvation to all). Such people who
hold that men and women are indistinguishable before God may possibly be
uneasy at Immanuel.
The complementarian position obviously has a great affect on how marriage is

understood. We believe that, according to passages like Eph. 5:22-33, husbands
should be the leaders in the home and wives should submit to them. This is not
an endorsement of sinful male domination or chauvinism. Far from it! It is
rather a beautiful picture of how Christ relates to the church, his beloved bride.
Men must lead in a Christ-like manner, being willing to lay down their lives for
their wives. And wives must submit willingly and lovingly. In such a
complementary relationship, the full beauty of marriage as God designed it to
be is realized.
However, such a conception of gender roles not only applies to the home, but
also the church, the household of God (cf. 1Tim. 3:15). Paul makes this
application in 1 Tim. 2:11-15 when he appeals to the creation order to prohibit
women from certain roles in church leadership. Above, attention was drawn to
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to the fact that the Eldership at Immanuel is composed of “men” and not a
“man.” Secondly, it also must be noted that Eldership is reserved for “men” and
not “women.” We affirm that Paul’s prohibition stating that women are not
permitted “to teach or to have authority over men” is a prohibition against
women in the Eldership. Thus, our Bylaws reserve Eldership for qualified men.
Beyond this, however, the application of the complementarian position to how

women can function in the church is somewhat of a gray issue. Here is where
Immanuel has decided to draw the lines: women may not be Elders and women
may not preach. Apart from these parameters let it clearly be said that women
are urged to pursue all leadership and ministry positions anywhere else in the
church in line with their gifts! We need and desire strong, godly, wise, mature
women. Women are free to be things like a Deacon, the Finance Team chair, a
Worship Team member, a Sunday School teacher, and even a small group
leader since teaching and leading a small group discussion does not carry the
full weight of authoritative teaching like preaching on Sundays over the entire
congregation does.
Immanuel holds firmly to its position on these matters. If you do not personally
believe this understanding of the complementarian position that’s okay,
provided that you are not actively teaching against this position or seeking to
change our convictions and that you are comfortable with us teaching sexuality
this way. For a more thorough explanation of this position, see Recovering
Biblical Manhood & Womanhood edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. You
can also find helpful information about complementarianism at
www.cbmw.org.
You’ll also hear us talking a lot about getting men to step up to the plate and be
leaders because we believe this is biblical and this is one of our culture’s (and
the church’s) greatest problems. We believe that if we want to really affect our
city with the gospel we need men – men who can lead themselves, love and
care for their wives, and be the pastor of their families.
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Don’t You Believe in Free-Will? – Calvinism vs. Arminianism at Immanuel
Whenever discussions concerning theology arise, they inevitably end with or

touch upon at some point the questions concerning God’s sovereignty and
man’s free-will. This has come to be known as the ‘Calvinism vs. Arminianism’
debate. The name is somewhat unfortunate because the basics of this
argument predate John Calvin and Jacob Arminius historically and (we believe)
the theological position generally labeled Calvinism is really nothing more than
biblical Christianity. But we will use the terms because these are what everyone
recognizes the topic by. It can be stated unequivocally that Immanuel is
Calvinistic.
We believe that God is sovereign over everything, including and especially the
salvation of people. While Calvin himself never used such an acronym, what has
come to be known as TULIP adequately summarizes the theological position
named after him and it is a good way to briefly outline what Immanuel believes.
These five points are rebuttals of five points made by Arminians in Holland in
the 1600s. We believe that all five must be believed together:
Total Depravity – the idea not that humans are hopelessly evil but rather
that every aspect of human nature has been thoroughly corrupted
by the Fall so that we need to be saved and we can’t save ourselves
Unconditional Election – an act of God before creation in which he

chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen
merit in them, but only because of his sovereign grace
Limited Atonement – the understanding that Christ’s death actually paid
for the sins of some people (i.e. the elect) and did not merely make
forgiveness of sins possible
Irresistible Grace – the fact that God effectively calls people and also gives
them regeneration, both of which guarantee that we will respond in
saving faith
Perseverance of the Saints – the doctrine that all those who are truly
“born again” will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as
Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who
persevere until the end have been truly “born again”
We don’t seek to be contentious about this conviction or beat people over the
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head with it. In fact, we maintain that angry Calvinists (and there are many)
don’t really understand what they say they believe. If there’s absolutely nothing
in me that makes me any better than other people, but I’m saved by sheer grace
then I will never assume a posture of moral or intellectual superiority towards
other people. Calvinism should produce the utmost charitableness.
That said, you need to know that everything we do, whether preaching or
worshipping or praying or evangelism or teaching will have a distinctly
Calvinistic flavor to it. This is so because how we view God and his relation to
his world affects everything else. We believe God is big, infinitely powerful,
majestic, beautiful, all-knowing, supreme, and deserving of all glory and that
this does not make us mere robots. Calvinism ≠ fatalism.
Some people who call themselves Calvinists go to the wrong conclusion that if
God is ultimately in control of who gets saved, then we don’t have to worry
about sharing the gospel. This is what’s been called Hyper-Calvinism. This
position is distinct from Calvinism. It is an illogical, unbiblical, and devastating
distortion of Calvinism’s implications. We believe that instead of impeding
mission, faith in the sovereignty of God actually impels it.
This is preached unapologetically from the pulpit and is the unwavering

position of all the Elders. If you adamantly oppose this position you may find it
hard to fully participate in Immanuel. If you are unsure about how this
understanding of human responsibility and God’s sovereignty works out then
we would be glad to discuss it with you more.
Please investigate this more on your own and search the Scriptures. Check out
“What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism” on the Desiring God
website (www.desiringgod.org).
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Addendum:
What Does it Mean to Be Baptist? – Denominational Affiliation at
Immanuel
Many people will wonder what it means that Immanuel is a Baptist church. This
is not something that you will hear a lot about in the everyday life of the church.
But since it’s part of our name we will briefly address it here.
Essentially, what it means to be a part of the historic Baptist tradition is:
(1) To hold to a position that’s called believer’s baptism (a.k.a credo-

baptism). This means that the church doesn’t practice infant baptism
(a.k.a. paedo-baptism) like other traditions do because it sees baptism
in the New Testament as always occurring after someone has come
to believe in Jesus. The ordinance is understood to entail immersion
in water and to be a symbolic and powerful picture of what has
already happened in someone’s life when they believed the gospel –
their sins were washed away and they were raised to new life with
Christ.
(2) To hold to a position that’s called local church autonomy. This means
that local churches are not part of any ecclesiastical or governmental
hierarchy or under any denominational control because they see in
the New Testament a pattern of each individual congregation being
self-governing.
Some Baptist churches freely choose to join a loose association of other Baptist
churches for accountability, support, and ultimately cooperation and greater
effectiveness in mission. The largest such network of Baptist churches in the
world is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC; www.sbc.net) of which
Immanuel is a part.
Here’s how this works out for Immanuel:
(1) We are a part of a local association of over 200 very diverse Baptist
churches called the Chicago Metro Baptist Association (CMBA;
www.chicagobaptist.org). We cooperate together in the daunting
task of reaching the 9.5 million people in the Chicago metro area.
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(2) The CMBA is one of over 30 different local associations that make up
the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA; www.ibsa.org)
headquartered in Springfield, IL. Each year Immanuel voluntarily
sends money to IBSA through what’s called the Cooperative
Program. Some of that money supports state missions, some of it
goes back to the local associations, and a large portion of it is sent on
to the SBC.
(3) At the national level, Cooperative Program funds are primarily used
to support:
A. The International Mission Board (IMB; www.imb.org). This is the

largest missions organization in the world. The beauty of it is
that all the international missionaries are fully funded through
Cooperative Program dollars. So as a member of a SBC church
anyone can go overseas through IMB without raising support.
We’ve sent someone out from among us to take the gospel to
unreached peoples through the IMB before and it’s great!
B. The North American Mission Board (NAMB; www.namb.net). This

organization sends missionaries all over the continent to share
Christ and start churches. We’ve also received financial support
through NAMB in the past to fund a full-time collegiate minister.
And there are many other means of help available to us through
NAMB.
C. Six Southern Baptist Seminaries (see www.sbc.net/aboutus/
sem.asp). These schools provide a top-notch theological
education for a fraction of the price. And if you’re a member of a
SBC church, the already subsidized cost is further cut in half.
Again, we’ve sent people out from our church to go to one of
these seminaries for cheap!
Immanuel is an autonomous church and has the freedom to kind of ‘do its own
thing’, but we also appreciate being a part of something bigger than ourselves
and not just being a maverick. While we would distance ourselves from much
of the church culture associated with Southern Baptists, we are in general
agreement with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message (www.sbc.net/bfm) and the
historic Baptist confessions (see www.founders.org). And we see much benefit
in partnering and pooling resources with other churches in order to do
international and North American missions.
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Part 7: Immanuel’s Vision & Values
Immanuel Baptist Church is about

transforming sinners into a holy people who find eternal satisfaction in
Christ.
The following are the core values of our church that drive this vision and guide
us in all that we do here:
>> Missional Mindset

We have a mission to see sinners transformed. This missional mindset drives
everything we do.
>> City-Center
The sinners we seek to see transformed are those who live in the UIC Area. We
do this by living among them.
>> Prayer
Such transformation only happens by the power of God. Therefore we pray.
>> Community
Transformed sinners form a holy people. Therefore we live in community.
>> Corporate Worship

This holy people finds eternal satisfaction in Christ. We express this by
worshipping Him together.
>> Arts
Christ satisfies by filling our hunger for beauty and meaning. Therefore we
value the arts as a means to worship and a connecting point with our culture.
>> Biblical Teaching

It is the Bible that displays Christ to us. Therefore it is the foundation of
everything we do.
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>> Missional Mindset
We have a mission to see sinners transformed.
This missional mindset drives everything we do.
We believe wholeheartedly that missions isn’t just something the church

does… it’s what the church is! We are a missional community. And so a
missional mindset has to permeate every aspect of how we think and what we
do.
The Theology
The Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is a community on a mission.
From the beginning, we see that God is about glorifying himself by redeeming
fallen people and a fallen world.
The missio Dei (mission of God) culminated in the Father sending the Son into
the world on a mission. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save
what was lost” (Lk. 19:10). Jesus accomplished his mission ultimately through
his death, burial, and resurrection.
And just before he ascended into heaven Jesus said to the community he was
about to leave behind, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (Jn. 20:21).
They were to be a sent community – a community on a mission.
The book of Acts records the sending of the Holy Spirit to empower this
fledgling community as they carried out their collective mission to glorify God
by spreading the good news of what he had done in Jesus. And as the news
spread, churches were formed that in turn worked to spread the news further.
Our God is a God on a mission and he has brought his church in on that mission.
The History
Typically, American churches have viewed missions as merely one aspect of
what the church does. There would be a Missions Committee along with a
Social Committee and a Flower & Lawn Committee and a Women’s Ministry and
Sunday School classes, etc…
Some churches considered themselves especially ‘missions-minded’, but that

just meant they talked a lot about and sent a lot of people and money ‘over
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there’.
‘Back here’, many churches may have had an evangelism program alongside its
many other programs. But even that consisted of special events (i.e. ‘revival’
services held in the church building and which mostly urged churched people
to come back to church or switch churches) or special coordinated efforts (like
going door-to-door to talk with strangers using an unnatural script based upon
a lot of biblical assumptions and expected to produce an immediate decision).
Evangelism was a hiccup, not the heartbeat of a church.
This is because churches presupposed a ‘Christian’ culture. Since the time of

the Roman emperor Constantine (circa 313 AD) Western civilization had
become fused with Christianity in a phenomenon called Christendom. The
church held a prominent if not privileged place in society. So for the most part
in Christendom, to be French was to be Catholic; to be German was to be
Lutheran; to be English was to be Anglican; etc… Even in America up until
recently a vast majority of people were members of some Christian church even
if they didn’t attend regularly. Businesses were closed on Sundays. There were
Bible readings in the public schools. And denominations fought each other for
adherents.
But a variety of factors including globalization, immigration, and secularization

have led to a collapse of Christendom (except for a few remaining vestiges in
what’s referred to as ‘the Bible belt’, but even there Christendom’s days are
numbered). This means there has been a shift in Western society back towards
the pluralistic setting the church found itself in for the first 300 years of its
existence. By the end of the 20th century Western missionaries who spent their
entire lives on the mission field overseas were coming back home and noticing
that ‘back here’ is now just as much a mission field as ‘over there’.
Some churches have noticed this and reacted by trying to fight a ‘culture war’
and have slipped into an ‘us vs. them’ mindset that withdraws from and
condemns the world. But many are allowing the death of Christendom to help
them recover the biblical/theological notion of being a sent community and
have adopted a ‘missional mindset’ that seeks to enter into and engage the
world with the gospel. Churches in America can either ignore this emerging
reality and continue to do things as they’ve always done them with little or no
effectiveness, or they can resist it and fight to ‘take America back for God’, OR
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for God’, OR they can embrace it and approach their communities as
missionaries and see themselves as a missional church.
Missional vs. Missions

A missional church sees absolutely everything it does as geared towards
glorifying God by spreading the good news of what he’s done in Jesus!
Missions or evangelism is not just one distinct aspect of the church’s life, but is
the overarching thrust and permeates every aspect of the church’s life.
So discipleship isn’t just about making people memorize verses and have a
mystical feeling of being close to Jesus; it’s also about teaching people to apply
the gospel to every area of their lives and be close to Jesus by staying right on
his heels as he leads you out into the world where the sinners and tax collectors
are for the sake of the gospel (cf. Mt. 9:9-13). Prayer meetings aren’t just about
introspection and praying for cousin Fred’s broken toe; they’re also about
aggressive and strategic pleadings with God to send his Spirit to help advance
his kingdom (cf. Acts 4:29-31). Small groups aren’t just about getting other
Christians together for food, fun, and a Bible study; they’re also supposed to be
communities that not-yet Christians would find welcoming, intelligible, and
attractive (cf. Acts 2:46-47). Even Sunday gatherings for worship are not just
about believers getting away from the world to sing familiar songs, be taught
from the Bible, and fellowship with others; they’re also places where skeptics
and ‘outsiders’ should be regularly encountering God (cf. 1Cor. 14:24-25).
A missional church doesn’t exist just to perpetuate a religious organization full

of people who are like each other and who like to be with each other (most of
the time). It doesn’t see itself as the chaplain to a ‘Christian’ culture. A missional
church is a community of people who have had their lives turned upside down
by the radical grace and inimitable hope of the gospel and desire together to
see others enveloped by it. And the missional church, while still caring deeply
about international missions especially among ‘unreached’ people groups,
doesn’t merely support ‘missions’ or do ‘evangelism’ on the side, but sees
sharing the gospel as the warp and woof of the church.
Missional vs. Attractional

Having a missional mindset also entails going to people where they’re at and
not just expecting them to come to you. There are times and places for
attractional outreach (events that are designed to draw people in to share the
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gospel with them). But in a post-Christendom setting, churches need to
primarily learn how to equip and encourage believers to meet the lost on their
own turf.
A purely attractional church will build a gym in hopes of reaching people. A

missional church will save the money and encourage its people to go play in a
city league or join pick-up games at the local park district gym. A purely
attractional church will start an English tutoring program on its premises for
immigrants. A missional church will make its people aware of volunteer
opportunities with tutoring centers already in the neighborhood. A purely
attractional church will advertise a book discussion night on its sign and then
wonder why only a few Christians show up. A missional church will tell its
people about book discussions happening at the local library or bookstore.
A missional church doesn’t live in a Christian bubble. It will assume the posture
of a servant to the neighborhood it’s in. It will seek to position itself in such a
way that if it disappeared overnight the neighborhood would notice and some
would be sad (a truly missional church, however, will also make some people mad
if it’s vocalizing the gospel; cf. Jn. 15:20; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2Cor. 2:16). A missional church
knows and cares about the issues facing its community. Without assimilating to
the sinful patterns of the world around it, the missional church will enter into
and adopt the flavor of its immediate culture. It will “do all this for the sake of
the gospel” (cf. 1Cor. 9:19-23).
Missional and Immanuel

Immanuel desires to be a missional church. We want to love the gospel and
band together to see others experience its goodness too. We don’t want you to
see church as something you go to on Sunday morning, but rather something
you’re a part of all week long as you seek to advance its mission through being
vocal in your vocations and community involvement. We want every member
of the church to see him or herself as a missionary.
We don’t want to offer religious goods and services for spiritual consumers. We
don’t want to present entertainment for passive audiences. We don’t want to
provide a hiding place for Christians from the big, bad world. We don’t want to
give a list of religious dos and don’ts so that people can circumvent the gospel
and feel good about themselves based upon their religious performance and
feel subtly superior to others (i.e. non-Christians). We want to deliver a rallying
cry for people to get behind and give their lives to… and that is the GOSPEL!
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Immanuel desires to be a missional church. We have a mission to see sinners
transformed. And we believe that the gospel transforms sinners. In becoming a
member at Immanuel you are joining that mission.
For a point of entrance into this kind of thinking, try Mark Driscoll’s book The
Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out.
A Church Planting Movement

This isn’t just about church growth. Yes, we want to grow, but not primarily by
‘transfer growth’ (other Christians switching to our church) but by ‘conversion
growth’ (sharing the gospel with people and seeing their lives transformed).
And we don’t just want to grow by addition, but by multiplication. We want to

be part of a movement of exponential church planting in Chicago. Statistics
show that new churches (and typically smaller churches) are more effective at
seeing ‘conversion growth’. Therefore, we want to be constantly and
consistently raising up and sending out people to start all kinds of new
churches all over Chicago.
Immanuel was a church plant in 1994. In 2005 we in a sense re-planted in the

UIC Area with a clearer vision for missional engagement in a specific
neighborhood. On our first Sunday in the UIC Area the Elders announced what
has come to be known as Vision 2010 – our commitment to be spinning off
new churches at least every five years, the first one getting off the ground by
the year 2010. This is what we're praying for and planning for. By joining
Immanuel you are getting in on this movement.
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>> City-Center
The sinners we seek to see transformed are those who live in the UIC Area.
We do this by living among them.
We love the city and we love our neighborhood!! We want you to too! We
believe God has called us on a distinctly urban mission. And we believe this is
done best by being a community church as opposed to a commuter church.
The Theology
The Bible begins in a garden, but ends in a city! Genesis 1:28 records the
cultural mandate given to our first parents – “Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air
and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Adam and Eve were
to continue God’s work of forming and filling the world as his
representatives/images on earth. This meant an increasing population and a
developing civilization. In other words – CITIES!
Contrary to what some have said, cities are not a result of sin. They are part of
God’s intention for humanity. It’s just that sin now corrupts cities. So instead of
being a place of human cooperation and harmony, they become places of
segregation and division. Instead of being a seedbed of cultural creativity that
reflects God’s beauty, they become production centers of art, science,
technology, and culture that demean and debauch. Instead of being places
where God’s temple is at the center and God is collectively worshipped (i.e.
Jerusalem), they become centers of idol worship (especially the god of Money)
and pride with modern-day ziggurats downtown (i.e. Babel). Sin has corrupted
cities.
But Christians should not abandon the cities because God still sees them as part
of his plan. The book of Hebrews says that Abraham was “looking forward to
the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (11:10), and that
God “has prepared a city” (Heb. 11:16) for those with Abraham’s faith.
Revelation 21-22 describes that city. It says that the New Creation (the
consummation of the kingdom which Jesus inaugurated in his death, burial,
and resurrection) will be like the Garden of Eden (cf. Rev. 22:2). But it will be the
fulfillment of the original purposes of Eden; it will be a city – a fully populated
and perfected civilization!
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Until then, the church is to work to be a ‘city within the city’, the City of God
amidst the City of Man (à la St. Augustine’s classic, The City of God). We are a
subversive community that witnesses to the cosmic aspect of the gospel and
prefigures the consummation of the kingdom that is coming when Jesus
returns. Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles from Jerusalem in the pagan city of
Babylon gives us this mandate –
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they
produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your
sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may
have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not
decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I
have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it
prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer. 29:5-7)
Christians should be a presence in the cities, working for their good.
What’s more, cities provide the most strategic places for proclaiming the gospel.
We see this clearly in the book of Acts. The most momentous yet often missed
advancement of the gospel in the book of Acts was when some Christians who
had been scattered because of the persecution resulting from Stephen’s death
“went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good
news about the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20).
Antioch was one of the major cities in the Roman Empire. It was the third
largest behind Rome and Alexandria. It had an estimated population of half a
million people. It had 200 people per acre (Chicago has 20 people per acre).
And it was cosmopolitan – Syrians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Persians, Armenians,
Parthians, Cappadocians, Jews, and even Indians and Chinese were said to live
there! But each group lived behind walls that separated ethnic enclaves from
each other. Sociologist Rodney Stark states that “Antioch was a city filled with
hatred and fear rooted in intense ethnic antagonisms and exacerbated by a
constant stream of stangers.” Antioch was a large, dense, diverse, dirty, and
divided city… and the church flourished there!
The Bible says that “the Lord’s hand was with [those who proclaimed the gospel
there], and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts
11:21). And Acts 13:1 indicates that this new church was multi-ethnic in its
make-up. It didn’t just appeal to dispersed Jews or one ethnic group. For the
first time in the history of civilization people were crossing over ethnic barriers
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barriers to worship the same God together. Before that, religion and ethnicity
were always closely tied together. This was a new phenomenon and so they
had to come up with a new name for it – “The disciples were called Christians
first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
And from the major urban center of Antioch a movement of the gospel was
launched that has literally changed the world. Paul and Barnabas were sent out
from Antioch to proclaim the gospel and plant churches. And where did they
go? They went almost exclusively to the leading cities of each province. They
spent practically no time in the towns and villages of the countryside. They
went to cities like Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. The
early church’s strategy was city-focused! And by the year 300 AD, 50% of the
urban populations of the Roman Empire were Christian, while over 90% of the
countryside remained pagan. Actually, that term pagan most likely comes from
the Latin word paganus which means a farmer or a man of the country.
What does this tell us? It tells us that the gospel was made for the city! Yet
Christians today generally think of the city as the place to avoid, the enemy of
faith. The Bible says that if you want to reach a country or a culture with the
gospel, you go to the cities – the centers not only of population but also of
education, law, finance, art, politics, media, and entertainment. So why is it that
Christianity for the most part is associated with rural ‘red states’ or suburban
megachurches in America today?
The History
The Pax Romana resulted in a unique setting – a highly urbanized society of
cities connected by an advanced system of roads and travel. It was perfectly
suited for the spread of the gospel and authentic Christianity had its heyday.
However, with the rise of Christendom, the fall of Rome, and eventually the
advent of the Dark Ages the face of Western civilization changed. Up until 1850
there were only 4 cities in the whole world that were a million people (and
those were mostly ethnically homogeneous).
However, with the rise of industrialization and now globalization, the increase in
immigration, advances in travel and communication technologies, and the
death of Christendom the entire world now finds itself in many ways like the 1st
century Mediterranean world. There are currently over 25 ‘megacities’ (urban
areas with over 10 million people) in the world. In 1950, there was only one –
New York City. Global cities are even beginning to eclipse nation-states in
importance and influence, which means a city like Chicago will have more in
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in common and more interaction with a city like Hong Kong than Springfield, IL.
Will Christianity again flourish and spread? It depends on whether or not it re-
situates itself in major, global cities.
The history of the American city demonstrates what we now see happening
around the world:
Urbanization The Industrial Revolution in the 1800s meant that
immigrants and rural Americans began migrating to burgeoning cities for
work. In 1900, 60.4% of the American population still lived in rural
settings (defined as less than 2,500 people). However, by the 1920 census
a majority of Americans were found to be living in urban areas and we
have never looked back. 1920 was also the year Sinclair Lewis published
his mockery of small town life entitled Main Street.
Suburbanization In the 1950s, de-segregation happened as a result of
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and the daily commute was born with
the implementation of the interstate highway system (1956). These and a
number of other factors produced what’s come to be known as ‘white
flight’, ‘suburban sprawl’, and ‘urban decay’ as the upper and middle class
(and Christians!) in large part fled the cities for a new destination –
suburbia – leaving the cities behind to become generally associated with
poverty, crime, poor education, drugs, gangs, etc… Interestingly, the
middle-class characters in the popular 1950s sit-com I Love Lucy moved
out of their New York City apartment and into the suburbs in the show’s
final season (1957).
Re-urbanization (Gentrification) Beginning in the 1990s cities began to be
revitalized as the middle and upper class began to move back in. Cities
have now become ‘hip’ places to live and there has been an influx of
yuppies (young urban professionals), DINKs (dual income, no kids), and
artists, among others. The 1990s saw the wild popularity of sit-coms like
Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex & the City which all glamorized the city life.
As opposed to ‘inner-city’, which traditionally connotes economic depression

and ethnic minorities, we use the terms ‘center-city’ or ‘city-center’ to describe
those neighborhoods (generally close to the downtowns) that are being
revitalized and are increasingly multi-ethnic. They are full of new residences for
professionals and close to the economic and cultural institutions of the city, yet
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city, yet also include or are directly adjacent to pockets of poverty and
immigrant communities. They represent a ‘salad bowl’ (as opposed to a
‘melting pot’) of cultures and are home in large part to the creative class, the
corporate leaders, the intelligentsia, the students, the poor, the immigrants, and
the gay community. City-center neighborhoods are the single most strategic and
needy places for church planting!
The evangelical church did a fairly good job of adapting to suburbanization.

There are many vital and growing churches on the fringes of American cities.
But it hasn’t done a good job of reaching the cities, especially in light of the new
trend of re-urbanization. The Redeemer Church Planting Center in New York
City has done more than anyone else to mobilize Christians for urban church
planting (see www.redeemer.com). They put the situation this way:
There is a lot of bemoaning the fact that, while there are millions of
born-again Christians, they seem to be having no impact on the
culture. The reasons given are usually complex and unconvincing.
Nobody notices that Evangelicals are totally non-urban.
Homosexuals, while only 2% of the population, are nonetheless
highly influential. Why? They live almost exclusively in the largest
urban areas, where they work in places that control social discourse.
But evangelicals, who are 15%-20% or more of the population,
have fled the cities. This is a recipe for complete cultural
irrelevance.
Of course, there need to be vocal Christians and missional churches wherever

there are people. But what is needed now more than ever is a strategic focus on
the city-centers of the world.
Missional and Incarnational

Furthermore, as a missional community the church must take its cues on how to
go about its mission from how God went about his. He didn’t have Jesus
commute from heaven every day. No, instead “the Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us” (Jn. 1:14). Or as Eugene Peterson paraphrases –
he “moved into the neighborhood” (The Message). This is called the
Incarnation. Jesus entered into our humanity and into a particular culture and
place.
Likewise, someone can’t be a missionary to China if he or she doesn’t live in

China and participate in Chinese customs and language. The same goes for
missionaries in America. You can’t most effectively reach center-city
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Manhattan, but live on Long Island or in up-state New York, for example. The
only way to really reach city-centers is to live there. But what’s more, you can’t
simply live in a center-city neighborhood, yet not attempt to understand and
engage in its way of life. A missional approach goes hand-in-hand with an
incarnational approach.
John Stott wrote in 1990:

This process of urbanization, as a significant new fact of this
century, constitutes a great challenge to the Christian church. On
the one hand, there is an urgent need for Christian planners and
architects, local government politicians, urban specialists,
developers and community social workers, who will work for justice,
peace, freedom and beauty in the city. On the other, Christians
need to move into the cities, and experience the pains and
pressures of living there, in order to win city-dwellers for Christ.
Commuter Christianity (living in salubrious suburbia and
commuting to an urban church) is no substitute for incarnational
involvement.
James Montgomery Boice wrote in 1996:

If even ten percent of the evangelicals of our nation moved in to the
largest cities and lived out lives of love, truth, and servanthood, the
culture would be fundamentally changed.
The City and Immanuel

Immanuel seeks to be a counter-cultural community for the common good that
collectively bears witness to the gospel in a city-center neighborhood of
Chicago we call the UIC Area.
We believe so strongly in the importance of the city and in a missional-

incarnational approach that we strongly discourage suburbanites from
attending Immanuel and ask that members of the church at least live in the city
of Chicago, if not in the UIC Area itself.
If you live in the city now, we want to help you fall in love with it and live here
for the long-term. If God should call you to move out of the city, however, we
will bless you but ask that you find a church in your new neighborhood to be on
mission with.
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We fully realize that there are risks, sacrifices, inconveniences, and unknowns
involved with living in the city and especially raising kids in the city. First of all,
it’s expensive! The crime-rate is generally higher. The pace of life can be
exhausting. There are issues like parking, stairs, taxes, schools, etc…
But there are also great benefits. Instead of having your own fenced in
backyard, there’s shared public space at nearby parks where you can meet
other people and your kids can interact. There’s wonderful diversity. There are
unique cultural and entertainment opportunities through museums and parks.
You can get around on foot, bike, and public transportation and leave the car
parked. And there are countless others examples. But as we’ve said before it’s
the single most strategic place for Christians to live!
By living near each other, we can also more easily have authentic Christian
community and be a support network for each other as we face the challenges
of city living. And together we can demonstrate a counter-cultural mindset that
flows out of the gospel and bucks the city trends of transience, workaholism,
and materialism. We want to be a ‘city within the city’ that balances work,
family, and community involvement with rest and leisure; that gives power
away in the practice of servanthood; that treasures God over money and
demonstrates this by radical sharing and generosity; and that neither fears nor
idolizes sex but celebrates it as a good creation of God and uses it in life-giving
ways instead of de-humanizing ways. We want to see the gospel set other city-
center dwellers free from the myriad ways that sin enslaves them.
Immanuel is distinctly a city-center church. We love Chicago as a whole and our

neighborhood – the UIC Area – in particular. And we want to see a movement
of the gospel take root here and grow throughout the city… and beyond.
Chicago
As a missionary to Chicago, we want you to get to know the city. Chicago’s
history perfectly illustrates the history of the American city:
Urbanization Chicago incorporated in 1833 and grew rapidly through the
1800s due in large part to its meatpacking, manufacturing, and steel
industries combined with its position for trade on Lake Michigan and its
status as a railroad hub. At the time of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 the
population was 300,000. By the time of the famous World’s Fair held in
Chicago in 1893 the population was over 1 million. By the year 1900
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1900 Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world!
Suburbanization Chicago’s population peaked at 3,620,962 in 1950 and
then began to drastically decline, losing nearly 1 million people to the
burbs. Highways like I-55 (Stevenson), I-290 (Eisenhower), I-90/94S (Dan
Ryan), I-90/94 N (Kennedy) cut out major swaths of the city and destroyed
communities. Race riots engulfed much of the south and west sides,
leaving behind abandoned lots that remain to this day.
Re-urbanization In 1990, Chicago’s population hit its low-point before the
present rebound. Since then there has been an explosion of growth and
new developments. Lofts, condos, and townhomes are popping up
everywhere. 2004 marked the opening of the much anticipated and
acclaimed Millennium Park, which is representative of the center-city
renewal taking place.
For some good ‘Chicago’ reading, pick up Mike Royko’s, Boss, which tells the
story of the first Mayor Daley and ‘machine’ politics; Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
is a classic; Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City will give you a thrill and
insight into the 1893 World’s Fair; also we recommend checking out the
American Experience DVDs entitled City of the Century from the local library and
watching them. Also, get your hands on any of the Geoffrey Baer videos.
Chicago is like the Antioch of today. It’s the third largest city in the United
States behind New York and Los Angeles with nearly 3 million people in its city
limits and 9.5 million in its metro area (SMSA). Chicago is one of only 10 alpha
class cities in the world (GaWC), a designation that indicates global influence
and impact. It’s the second largest tourist destination in the country. It has the
world’s busiest airport (O’Hare). 12 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered
in the city. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Board of Trade is the world’s
largest global derivatives exchange. Harpo Studios in Chicago is where the
highly influential Oprah Winfrey Show is filmed and disseminated to millions of
households. The University of Chicago has produced more Nobel Prize winners
than any other university (81). And through Chicago’s own WGN, which is
broadcast as a Superstation on cable, people from around the country can
watch Chicago’s local news every night.
Chicago is roughly 36% Black, 31% White, 26% Hispanic, and 5% Asian. 30
different ethnic groups have populations of at least 25,000. The city’s history
includes major contributions from Irish, Italian, and German immigrants.
Chicago still has more Poles than any other city in the world except Warsaw,
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Poland. It boasts large numbers of Swedes, Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Serbs,
Romanians, Czechs, Ukrainians, Assyrians, Greeks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans.
Along Devon Avenue on the north-side is one of the nation’s largest
concentrations of South Asians, especially Indians and Pakistanis. And on the
south-side around Cermak and Wentworth there is a large Chinatown. The
nations are flocking to Chicago for education and economic opportunities.
Chicago is fascinating in its history and mind-boggling in its size, influence, and
diversity. But its most staggering statistic is its spiritual need. Chicago often
gets overlooked in this area because people see it as a tame, Midwestern city
that’s home to several evangelical schools, organizations, publishing houses,
and megachurches. However, a vast majority of these ‘bright spots’ are out in
the suburbs. And an in-depth research project conducted in 2006 showed that
“for the Chicago area to reach a 1 church for every 1000 ratio (not quite the
national average [of 1:909]), without eliminating any current churches a total of
3726 new churches would need to be planted in the right areas of Chicagoland”
(emphasis added). The need is great in the region, but especially in the city-
center neighborhoods where people are least likely to believe in Jesus and
attend church.
Daniel Burnham, famous for his role in making Chicago an architectural pioneer
and for planning the layout of the city in the early 1900s, once declared, “Make
no little plans.” The city’s motto inscribed on its seal is URBS IN HORTO, or “City
in a Garden.” Our hopes and dreams for Chicago are big – to see a movement of
the gospel sweep across it to make it a place more like that garden-like city
Jesus is coming to establish one day – the New Jerusalem.
The UIC Area

Chicago is a massive city, but it’s really just a collection of small towns. There
are officially 77 Community Areas that make up the city and around 183 distinct
neighborhoods. If you’re going to understand Chicago, you’ve got to
understand its neighborhoods, which is another reason why an incarnational
approach to ministry is so crucial.
Immanuel’s neighborhood is called the UIC Area. It is a perfect example of a

center-city neighborhood. It takes up parts of the Near West and Lower West
Sides of Chicago just south and west of the Loop. The boundaries are I-290
(Eisenhower) on the north; Canal on the east; Cermak on the south; and Western
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Western on the west. It contains several important components:
UIC The hub of the UIC Area is Chicagoland’s largest university – The
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). UIC enrolls 25,000 students – 45.6%
Caucasian; 20.8% Asian; 12.7% Hispanic; 8.6% African American; 7.6%
foreign. 1 out of every 10 college graduates in Chicago came through
UIC. It has an east and a west campus. The west campus is home to the
nation’s largest medical school. The east campus was formed in the
1960s amidst much protest because it uprooted much of an established
Italian neighborhood and the historic Jane Addams settlement houses.
Jane Addam’s Hull House is still standing on the eastern edge of the
campus as a monument to the first American woman to be awarded a
Nobel Peace Prize. UIC has been traditionally a largely commuter school,
but is becoming more and more a premier residential, research institution
(due to the fact that cities are becoming ‘hip’ places to be).
University Village This term is used by some to describe the whole section
from the Eisenhower to the Dan Ryan to the Railroad Tracks to Ashland
and encompassing UIC’s east campus, the new developments along
Halsted and Racine, and the historic Taylor Street district. University
Village is also a specific name of a new development of lofts, condos,
town homes, and million-dollar single family homes that took the place of
the old Maxwell Street Market. Maxwell Street was a large open-air
market which served as a port of entry for immigrants and also was the
birthplace of Chicago Blues and the Maxwell Street polish sausage.
University Village was formed in conjunction with UIC’s south campus
expansion project to build more dorms amidst much protest in the late
1990s. The University Village development sparked other similar building
projects nearby. University Commons rehabbed the old produce docks
along the Railroad Tracks between Morgan and Racine. Roosevelt Square
is a sprawling, multi-phase development that stands in place of the old
ABLA government projects. These areas are filled mostly by yuppies and
are fairly multi-ethnic.
Pilsen Just south of the Railroad Tracks all the way down to Cermak and
between Canal and Western is Pilsen. Pilsen got its name from the Central
and Eastern European immigrants who settled there early on and named
it after a city back in what is now the Czech Republic – Pilzn. Much of the
architecture reflects this influence. Beginning in the 1950s Pilsen became
a major Mexican-American community for which it is world famous. It
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world famous. It hosts the National Museum of Mexican Art, annual
festivals like Fiesta Del Sol, and as you can imagine there are great spots
for Mexican food. On the eastern corridor of Pilsen along Halsted there is
the Chicago Arts District – the largest artist colony in the city with studios
and galleries open to the public on the second Friday of each month.
Approximately 15,000 artists have lived there since 1960. Much of it is
due to the patronage of the Podmajersky family. Gentrification has also
seeped into Pilsen, though, and is causing rent and property taxes to go
up, especially in east Pilsen.
Near West Side We use the designation of Near West Side to refer to the
largely African-American and poorer parts towards the western edge of
the UIC Area, although ‘Near West Side’ is technically the name of the
larger Community Area. Several government subsidized apartment
complexes remain and will remain woven throughout this segment of the
neighborhood. The farther west you go towards Douglas Park and
Lawndale, you will enter a predominantly African-American community.
Some economic development has occurred in this area in recent years,
especially surrounding the Jewel-Osco at Ashland and Roosevelt. Fosco
Park also has a new community center with state-of-the-art facilities
serving this area. The Cook County Juvenile Detention Center and the FBI
building can also be found along Roosevelt by Ogden.
Little Italy The northwest quadrant of the UIC Area is roughly referred to
as Little Italy. This includes the Tri-Taylor residential plot in the far
northwestern corner, home to tree-lined streets and quaint row houses. It
also includes the Illinois Medical District, home to UIC Hospital, Rush
University Medical Center, the Jesse Brown VA Hospital, and the Stroger
Cook County Hospital (the setting for the TV show ER), among other
medical related facilities. But the main strip of Little Italy runs along
Taylor Street and includes not only a fine selection of Italian fare, but still a
large number of Italian-American residents. There’s a National Italian
American Sports Hall of Fame, the ever popular Mario’s Italian Ice stand,
and the famed Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, among many other notable
places. The Meeting Place (Taylor & Loomis) is in the heart of Little Italy.
So there are roughly four major quadrants surrounding the University of Illinois
at Chicago: University Village, Pilsen, the Near West Side, and Little Italy. All
within walking distance you have students, professionals, artists, Mexicans,
Blacks, and Italians, among others. Sounds like a microcosm of Antioch, doesn’t
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Antioch, doesn’t it? Immanuel desires to see a movement of the gospel
transcend these ethnic, class, and sometimes geographical boundaries so that
people from the UIC Area come together to worship the one true God. By
becoming a member at Immanuel you are joining us on a mission to the UIC
Area.
UIC Area Map
I-290
Harrison
Canal

Western
Ogden

Roosevelt
Halsted
Damen

Racine
18th St.

Ashland

I-90/94
Cermak
- UIC East Campus - Pilsen: Arts District - Little Italy: Tri-Taylor

- UIC West Campus - Pilsen: Main Part
- Little Italy: Med. District
- University Village - Near West Side - Little Italy: Main Part
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>> Prayer
Such transformation only happens by the power of God. Therefore we pray.
If the mission is going to move forward in a setting like the city, it will have to be
because God showed up. And God has ordained to show up in response to his
people’s prayers. Immanuel wants to be a prayer-soaked church. We want all
who are a part of us to experience an explosion in their prayer lives.
We were made to glorify God by spreading the good news of what he’s done in
Jesus! If this mission was something we could do in our own strength and by
our own wisdom then we would get the glory. As it is, God gets the glory and
we get the joy of being used by him as we rely on him to work through us.
Being focused on prayer instills a deep sense of dependence on and humility
before God and heightens our gladness in seeing him act.
We see prayer as the necessary air war that goes before and backs up the
ground war. Sending troops in on a mission without air support is foolish.
Sending vocal Christians out into their vocations and their neighborhoods
without prayer support is likewise arrogant and doomed to fail. We believe that
if the sinners that live in the UIC Area are going to be transformed by the gospel
into a holy people who find their eternal satisfaction in Christ, then God has to
do it and therefore prayer is absolutely crucial.
Prayer is certainly a private discipline that everyone is expected to be practicing

and growing in. But it’s also a part of the community life of the church.
We have an Intercessory Prayer Team (IPT) comprised of two tiers. Tier 1 prays
weekly for prayer requests sent from the community to prayer@immanuel-
baptist.net. IPT Tier 2 also prays through the list of Immanuel’s members,
attenders, international missionaries, and ministries every Sunday morning
before the worship service.
Also, from before the church’s inception, a group of people has gotten together
on Saturday mornings to pray. The Saturday Morning Prayer Meeting is still the
heartbeat of our church. There’s something special that God does when people
come together to join their hearts and voices in prayer and cry out to him. We
encourage everyone to come to these when they can!
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>> Community
Transformed sinners form a holy people. Therefore we live in community.
We want to combine two realities that seem to rarely go together: an outward

focused, missional thrust with a tight-knit, family feel. We believe that the
gospel can produce such a phenomenon. As people are transformed by the
gospel they are inevitably formed into a community. That community is the key
setting where continued transformation happens, but also one of the key tools
in evangelism.
You can’t be a part of Immanuel and not be intimately connected with other
people’s lives. We need each other. This takes work. The Koinonia ministry
organizes functions that help facilitate relationship building as we work side-by-
side to serve the UIC Area. But the main avenue for deep bonds to form is
through Small Groups. We want these to be the places where relationships are
made that help you remember, apply, and share the gospel.
As relational beings, everybody is looking for community, a place to belong.

Most people find superficial community with others due to things like common
interests, backgrounds, cultures, causes, or affinities. We believe that a
community centered on substantial, life and death realities is the only thing that
will really satisfy our God-given hunger for community. This is what the church
provides – a common bond through the greatest person (Christ) and around
the greatest mission (his gospel) for the greatest cause (his glory). The
strongest community is found not when people huddle together to sing
“Kumbaya,” but when people band together to advance a common mission.
And as Francis Schaeffer once said, “[Christian community] is the final

apologetic.” Jesus prayed for the unity and oneness of the church ultimately “so
that the world may believe” that the Father sent him on a mission to redeem
sinners and a sin-sick world (Jn. 17:21)! Especially in post-Christendom city-
centers, Christian community will be key in helping people come to Christ.
When the world sees men and women from diverse ethnicities, educational
backgrounds, and economic strata loving God, loving each other, and loving
‘the other’, it will sit up and take notice of their message.
Immanuel values deep, intimate, loving, and open (!) community.
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>> Corporate Worship
This holy people finds eternal satisfaction in Christ.
We express this by worshipping Him together.
The gospel not only creates a holy people, a new community, but the GOD
angle of the gospel so wows and astonishes and satisfies them that they can’t
help but worship, celebrate, praise, honor, and adore him together. Immanuel
will always value corporate gatherings to revel in the glory of God displayed to
us in the gospel.
Worship is a way of life. We worship God through our vocations, at the site of a
beautiful flowering tree or lit up sky-line, upon reading a great story, while
eating a tasty meal, etc… Worship is a personal discipline that we should be
cultivating 24/7.
But there is also a corporate dimension to it. The Bible, especially in the Psalms,
talks a lot about the people of God gathering to worship, often through music –
“Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the
saints” (Ps. 149:1). ‘Churches’ that don’t intentionally and regularly gather to
sing God’s praises are insufficient.
Throughout church history and even in the NT Christians have gathered for
corporate worship on Sundays (i.e. Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:2). Immanuel is
committed to these times. There’s an element of the mundane to them – a
week-in and week-out basic liturgy of Word, ordinance, and song. But we also
want to be open to the spontaneous and expect the Spirit of God to move in
fresh ways to touch us and enliven our worship.
What the world desperately needs is to see Christians who are happy in God,
not because he gives them stuff or makes their lives easy, but because of who
he is. Immanuel is committed to coming together to “ascribe to the Lord the
glory due his name [and] worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” (Ps.
29:2) and at the same time beckon others to “taste and see that the Lord is
good” (Ps. 34:8).
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>> Arts
Christ satisfies by filling our hunger for beauty and meaning.
Therefore we value the arts as a means to worship and a connecting point with our culture.
One of the most common misunderstandings about the gospel is that it

sterilizes people’s innate hunger for beauty and meaning. Many churches play
into this, advocating lives devoid of desires and passions, mechanically going
about religious duties, staying far away from anything that could potentially be
construed as ‘worldly’. But the gospel is the proclamation of a reality that is not
only historically true or practically beneficial, but also world affirming and
aesthetically magnificent.
Sin is ugly and its tangled web is horrific. But individual lives that reflect
touches of grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and transformation make for
portraits of beauty.
What’s more, the cosmic story of redemption contains the most compelling
motifs. It’s a masterwork laden with heart-breaking tragedy, passions gone
sour, murder, hopelessness, sacrifice, heroes, villains, bravery, cowardice.
There’s the cry for paradise lost and the longing for immortality. It’s a story
about a Lover’s unyielding pursuit of his beloved. And the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus provide the most thrilling climax ever scripted.
The gospel is not a pat answer that addresses a little question, but the
polychrome reality in which we live and breathe. Ultimately, it gets us to God
who is the source and perfection of all beauty (cf. Ps. 27:4). His mind conceived
the many wonders of creation (hummingbirds and elephants, sunsets and
lightning bugs). He is the greatest sight to behold and the fiercest force to be
reckoned with. How about this for an artist’s inspiration?
We want to encourage Christians to create excellent art that’s not just white-
washed and sugar-coated imitations or utilitarian ‘ministry tools’ but perceptive
and provocative articulations of human longings and pains that in some way
point people to the source of true hope and infinite pleasure.
Part of being missional/incarnational in a city-center culture that values the arts

also involves reading what our neighbors read, watching the movies they
watch, going to their plays, concerts, and exhibits, etc… in order to better
connect the gospel with their (and our!) deepest longings and dreams.
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>> Biblical Teaching
It is the Bible that displays Christ to us.
Therefore it is the foundation of everything we do.
Last but not least, it must be said that Immanuel values biblical teaching as the
basis of all we do. It is through the Scriptures that we understand what the
gospel is and means. And it is there that we find our marching orders for our
mission. The main way this value is played out at Immanuel is through the way
we approach preaching.
First of all, we still believe that preaching is indispensable to the life of the
church, despite the insistence by some that postmodern people prefer dialogue
to one-directional proclamation of God’s Word. We need to humbly hear the
works and will of God declared to us!
Secondly, we believe that the main style of preaching should be ‘expository’ as
opposed to ‘topical’. Topical preaching generally takes popular issues and tries
to explain what the Bible says about them (i.e. relationships, finances, etc…).
Expository preaching is the consistent preaching through books of the Bible,
section-by-section in such a way that the main point of the text is the main
point of the sermon.
While there are occasions for topical sermons, sticking mainly to expository
preaching is the best way to guard us from making the Bible fit into our agenda
and instead forces us to submit to God’s authority. It means we will have to
cover passages that are hard and/or obscure but no less inspired and useful for
teaching (cf. 1Tim. 3:16-17). It also causes us to trust not in our own ingenuity,
but in the power of God’s Word to accomplish his purposes. And it teaches
people to read their Bibles for themselves.
We also believe that every passage of Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus and the
cross. Therefore every sermon is a chance to share and be reminded of the
gospel.
It is our hope that those who are a part of Immanuel will benefit from a steady
diet of this type of meaty preaching. And through the regular preaching of
God’s Word we trust you will come to love God and his gospel even more.
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Part 8: Where Would I Fit at Immanuel?
The final question you may be asking is – Where could I serve in Immanuel?
Really, the main way you can participate in Immanuel is not in the church per se,
but in the neighborhood. The best way to serve the church is to throw yourself
into the mission by being vocal about the gospel in your vocation and your
involvement in the neighborhood!
As a missional church we don’t want to take up all of your time with ‘church
stuff’. We want you to have time to pursue excellence in your job (while
maintaining balance!). We want you to have time to focus on your marriage and
care for your kids (if your home life is out of whack nothing else matters!). We
want you to have time to have neighbors over for dinner (hospitality is key in
advancing our mission!). We want you to have time to pursue hobbies and
interests that you can use missionally (get involved in local biking clubs, knitting
groups, ultimate frisbee leagues, Spanish magic realism reading clubs, etc…!).
Towards that end we have an intentionally ‘bare bones’ ministry structure.

We’ve tried to cut out everything superfluous. With what remains, however, we
do need your help. Based upon what your spiritual gifts are (cf. Rom. 12; 1Cor.
12) we expect you to help out with the following:
[For an introduction to spiritual gifts and a self-assessment tool check out Bruce
Bugbee & Don Cousin’s Network: Participant’s Guide]
Church Planting – starting new churches where sinners are transformed into a holy people
who find eternal satisfaction in Christ.
We are planning and preparing to plant a new church in the city at least every five years!
Ways to Serve: (1) pray! (2) be willing to join a new church plant team
International Missions – partnering to transform sinners from all over the globe into a holy
people who find eternal satisfaction in Christ.
This ministry oversees funding of and communication with Immanuel’s international

missionaries, helps raise overall global awareness at Immanuel, and coordinates short-term
missions trips.
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Currently, we maintain close relationship with the following people working for the cause of
the gospel overseas, learning from them and in turn supporting them through prayer and
monetary gifts:
• George and Marlys McFall in Taiwan with TEAM

• Pastor Sangwien and his wife Papah at Siam Bangkok Church in Thailand
• Ivor and Denisa Poobalan at Colombo Theological Seminary in Sri Lanka
• Dave & Rose in East Asia with IMB
• Brian & Melissa Hayward in West Africa with Frontiers
• Cu Dieu & Thi Dum in Vietnam with Voice of the Martyrs
Ways to Serve: (1) join the International Mission Team; (2) pray for missionaries; (3) go on a
short-term trip
College Ministry – transforming students into a holy people who find eternal satisfaction in
Christ.
This ministry partners with para-church ministries at UIC to do evangelism, discipleship, and
help plug students into the life of the church. Specifically, we see the following campus
ministries as extensions of Immanuel’s mission to the neighborhood, a large part of which is
UIC:
• Campus Crusade for Christ

• Cornerstone
• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship – Multi-Ethnic chapter
• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship – Asian American chapter
• Servants
• Christian Medical Association
Ways to Serve: (1) if you’re a student, see Immanuel as your church and join one of the above
ministries as the arm of Immanuel to reach the campus with the gospel; (2) if you’re not a
student, volunteer to help with events on campus; (3) be available to disciple a college
student; (4) help organize student get-togethers; (5) befriend college students to help them
feel a part of the church
Prayer – seeking God’s power in transforming sinners into a holy people who find eternal
satisfaction in Christ.
The Prayer Ministry includes the Intercessory Prayer Team (IPT) and the Saturday Morning
Prayer Meetings. IPT prays weekly for church ministries and members, prays for all special
requests. The Saturday Morning Prayer Meeting meets every Saturday for corporate prayer.
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Ways to Serve: (1) come on Saturday mornings; (2) sign-up for IPT Tier #1; (3) sign-up for IPT
Tier #2
Koinonia – helping us be a holy people that finds eternal satisfaction in Christ.
Koinonia oversees and coordinates missional social functions like concerts, retreats, movie
nights, volunteer opportunities, holiday parties, showers, etc… in order to help us be a
community in our community.
Ways to Serve: (1) join the team and help plan and execute events that get people together
and get people out into the neighborhood
Small Groups – transforming sinners into a holy people who find eternal satisfaction in Christ.
Small Groups meet weekly for community, Bible study, and praying for each other.
Ways to Serve: (1) be involved! (2) apprentice as a leader
Worship Team – helping a holy people find eternal satisfaction in Christ.

Our Worship Teams lead the church in corporate worship on Sundays.
Ways to Serve: (1) play an instrument and/or be a vocalist; (2) operate the sound system; (3)
operate the slides
Administration –
• Publications – makes weekly bulletin, etc…
• Web Development – oversees the development and maintenance of the website
• Set-up & Tear-down Crews – comes early or stays late on Sundays to set-up or tear-
down
• Greeter Team – greets people, collects offering, hands out visitor info cards, operates
lights
• Finance Team – counts offering, manages financial accounts, pays bills
Ways to Serve: (1) print bulletin; (2) help maintain website; (3) join Set-up or Tear-down Crew;
(4) join the Greeter rotation; (5) be a Scripture Reader; (6) join the Finance Team
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Children’s Ministry – transforming kids into a holy people who find eternal satisfaction in
Christ.
We staff a Kids Corner (0-5) during Sunday services and offer classes for kids 6 and older
before services
Ways to Serve: (1) be a Kids Corner volunteer; (2) be a Sunday School class teacher
Addendum: Core Convictions Regarding Children’s Ministry
The following are the core convictions of our Children’s Ministry that guide us in fulfilling our
vision of transforming kids into a holy people who find eternal satisfaction in Christ:
(1) Children are important! Scriptures like Psalm 127:3-5 and Luke 17:2 remind us that
children are important in God’s eyes. For the most part, our center-city culture says the
opposite – children are a burden to be avoided altogether, postponed indefinitely, or
shipped off to daycare. We desire to cultivate a church culture that values kids.
(2) Children have a place in the city. For most center-city dwellers, if they do settle down
and have kids, they eventually move out to the suburbs. We believe it’s not only possible,
but necessary for Christians to remain in the city to raise their kids. In cultivating a church
culture that values kids, we seek to establish a counter-culture that affects the neighborhood
for the good over the long haul. It will be hard, but we want to provide a support network
that helps families stay in the city and transform it.
(3) Children should be included in the community. Children are born guilty of and bent
on sin (cf. Psalm 51:5) and in need of salvation. Thus they are not full members of the church
community and are not admitted to the Lord’s Table until they have demonstrated evidence
of conversion and been baptized. However, they should be welcomed and integrated into
the community life (just like an adult non-believer) in the hopes that they will come to
experience the living God themselves. We feel that it is mutually beneficial for kids and
adults not to be segregated.
This conviction applies to all of community life, including Sunday gatherings for worship. In
the Bible (and throughout the vast majority of church history), when the people of God were
assembled in the Lord’s presence, the children were included (cf. Deuteronomy 31:12-13,
Joshua 8:35). We believe that children should be in the worship service with their parents as
early as possible (we strongly recommend by age 6). This exposes them to the rhythms of
community life so that they can hopefully one day take their place as full-fledged members
of it. Research shows that a staggering percentage of kids raised in the church disappear
from church life after leaving their high school youth group or college campus ministry. We
seek to teach kids God’s plan for the local church and assimilate them into its life and mission
at an early age. We provide a Kids Corner for very young children as a service to parents, but
even there kids are being prepared to join mom and dad in the service.
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(4) Parents take the lead. The community plays a crucial role in the development and
discipleship of its children, but the main responsibility lies with the parents, especially the
fathers (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7, Colossians 3:18-22). Parents do this by modeling godly living
and joyful worship, by disciplining their kids, by maintaining family devotions and prayers,
by cultivating caring relationships with their kids, and by teaching their children the great
truths and traditions of the Christian faith. As a church we seek to do all we can to equip
parents for this task.
(5) Keep it simple. At Immanuel we want to keep programs to a minimum. A popular trend
among churches is to establish specialized ministries to address the particular needs of
groups based on age, sex, marital status, and even career fields. While it is true that there are
unique needs for specific groups that must be cared for differently, Immanuel believes that
the best ministry happens organically. As an intentionally small church whose goal is to
constantly plant other churches, simplicity is an essential value. We want to avoid elaborate
programs that require intensive man-power and/or cause too many people to miss the
Sunday worship services.
(6) Be Missional. Absolutely everything we do as a church has to contribute to our mission

to advance God’s kingdom in the UIC Area. We seek to reach our own kids with the gospel,
reach other neighborhood kids with the gospel, and train children to reach their world with
the gospel. Children’s Ministry at Immanuel is not about entertaining our kids or insulating
them from the world or making them into nice, clean-cut ‘Christian’ kids, but it exists to help
us reach our neighborhood for Christ and make the kids that we encounter into radical, sold-
out, life-long followers of him.
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New Member’s Information Sheet
Name:
1. Write a brief account of how you became a Christian (if you’ve been baptized include
when and where you were baptized):
2. What are your vocations?
3. What are your hobbies/interests?
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4. What are your spiritual gifts?
5. What ways do you see yourself contributing to the mission of Immanuel?
6. List any areas of service in this church that you are currently involved in or are
interested in looking into:
7. My last church was: in
Name of one of the Pastors: Phone:
I left this church as a:
Member in good standing Member under discipline
The Elders may contact my former church
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New Member’s Completion Sheet
1. Complete the following before the Mission Class:
Read parts 1 & 2
Listen to mp3 audio and complete Parts 3, 4, & 5 in the membership packet
Read parts 6, 7, 8, & 9 in the membership packet
Complete New Member’s Information Sheet
2. Attend the next Mission Class scheduled for
3. Complete the following after the Mission Class:
Meet with an Elder for a membership interview
Attend the next Membership Meeting on where, provided you

completed all the previous steps and there is no objection from the Elders, you will
be voted on by the current members to be accepted into membership at
Immanuel.
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Part 9: Immanuel’s Bylaws
This is the legal mumbo jumbo, but please still read it (or at least skim it),
especially the first 7 Articles…
ARTICLE I
NAME
The name of the organization shall be Immanuel Baptist Church, a not-for-profit

corporation organized under the laws of Illinois, and hereinafter referred to as the Church.
ARTICLE II
PURPOSE
SECTION 1. GENERAL PURPOSE
The general purpose of the Church is to operate a Baptist church and to do so on a

nonprofit basis and exclusively within the purpose and meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States
Internal Revenue Law) (the “Code”).
SECTION 2. SPECIFIC PURPOSE
The specific purpose of the Church is as follows:
A. The foundation of this Church is the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11), and its code
of guidance in all of its affairs, the Word of God, and this Church does hereby
affirm its faith that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the
Word of Almighty God. (Mark 13:31)
B. The object of the Church shall be to worship God according to the teaching of
His Word, to practice the precepts and examples of the Church of our Lord
Jesus Christ as set forth in the New Testament, to sustain its ordinances and
doctrines and to preach and propagate among all peoples the Gospel of
Salvation which is by personal faith on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
C. The priorities of ministry of this church flow from the vision of God’s glory
revealed in Jesus Christ. The Church exists to live this vision out in the:
● Worship of God through all that we do. (Jn. 4:23; 1 Cor. 10:31)
● Edification of fellow believers in the body of Christ. (1 Thess. 5:11)
● Outreach through evangelism, missions, and loving deeds. (1 Pe.
2:9; 3:15; Matt 28: 18-20; 5:16)
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D. The Church shall function as a self-governing organization and shall work in
cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention and with other groups with
which the Church may desire to cooperate. The Church shall financially
support and work in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention and
other evangelical organizations in carrying on home and foreign missions.
SECTION 3. STATEMENT OF FAITH
A. The Holy Scriptures
The Church believes in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the
inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete
revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and the Divine and final authority
for all Christian faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21)
B. The Godhead
The Church believes in the one triune God, eternally existing in three persons,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Who are co-eternal in being, co-equal in power,
and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 43:10-11; Matt.
28:19; Luke 3:22; 2 Cor. 13:14)
C. The Father
The Church believes in God the Father, the Almighty, Creator of all the heavens
and the earth, perfect in holiness, perfect in love, perfect in judgment, from
Whom the Son and the Spirit proceed. (Gen. 1:1; 17:1; Isa. 5:16; 6:3; 43:15; Matt.
11:25, Jn. 6:57; 8:42; 14:16-17; 16:28; Rom. 11:17; 1 Jn. 4:16)
D. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
(i) The Church believes that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, that He
was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is true
God and true man. (Matt. 1:18-25; Jn. 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35)
(ii) The Church believes that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that the
justification of those who believe on Him are made sure by His literal,
bodily resurrection from the dead, and that His name and work are our
sole means of salvation. (Isa. 53; Acts 4:12; Rom. 4:25; 5:1, 9; 1 Cor. 15:3,
4; 1 Peter 2:24)
(iii) The Church believes that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven,
where He is exalted at the right hand of God above all power and
dominion, and ministers as our High Priest and Intercessor. (Luke 24:36-
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24:36-48; Acts 1:9-10; Eph. 1:20-21; Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25; 9:24; 1 Jn. 2:1)
E. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
The Church believes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord
Jesus Christ, and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing
sinner, indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly service (Jn.
14:16; 16:7-15; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Titus 3:5)
F. Depravity of Man
The Church believes that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned
and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is
separation from God, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature,
and become sinners in thought, word, and deed. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:23; 5:14;
Eph. 2:13)
G. Salvation
The Church believes that eternal salvation is solely the gift of God, and that all
who in sincere contrition repent of their sins, believe the gospel and receive
the Lord Jesus Christ by faith alone are born again of the Holy Spirit and
become adopted sons of God. (Jn. 1:12, 13; 3:3-5; 5:24; Titus 3:5; Acts 2:38; Eph.
2:8-10; Rom. 8:16)
H. The Ordinances
The Church believes that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances
to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Church believes that
Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of
the triune God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for
commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should
be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt.
28:18-20; Rom. 6:3-5; 2 Cor. 11:23-26)
I. Religious Liberty
The Church believes that every human being has direct relations with God, and
is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is
independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or
political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as
having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or
patronage of the other. (1 Tim. 2:5; Rom. 14:7-9, 12)
J. The Last Things
The Church believes in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ
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Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. The Church believes in
the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the
righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked. (Matt 16:27; Mark 14:62; Jn.
14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil 3:20; 1 Thess. 4:15; 2 Tim. 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Cor. 4:5; 15; 2
Thess. 1:7-10; Rev. 20:4-6, 11-15)
SECTION 4. OUR CHURCH COVENANT
As a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, I declare myself to be a follower of Jesus Christ

and affirm that I cannot be such apart from a community of other Christ followers. I
recognize that community requires commitment and I therefore make my commitment
official and public by willingly entering into this covenant with my fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ at Immanuel Baptist Church:
A Christian’s life must be distinct amidst a world of sin. Therefore, I covenant to live a
holy life of integrity and purity according to God’s standards (cf. 2Cor. 7:1, 1Thess. 4:7).
The ultimate mission of the church is to spread the message of salvation through Jesus
and expand the kingdom of God. Therefore, I covenant to intentionally seek
opportunities where I can share the gospel with those who do not currently believe (cf.
Mt. 28:18-20).
Love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand. Therefore, I covenant to practice
religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless by exhibiting a concern for the
poor and oppressed and championing the cause of social justice in whatever ways I can
(cf. Mt. 22:39, James 1:27).
Community requires openness. Therefore, I covenant to foster relationships of

authenticity and transparency by letting people in the community into my heart and life
(cf. James 5:16).
When sinful people are together they are bound to step on toes or rub each other the
wrong way eventually. Therefore, I covenant to not grow bitter or leave (cf. Eph. 4:31-32),
but to patiently cultivate genuine love between members (cf. 1Jn. 4:7-12) and proactively
work to preserve the unity of the body (cf. Eph. 4:2-3).
Being a part of a body means that members are intimately interrelated. Therefore, I
covenant to consider how my words and deeds affect my fellow members and act
accordingly (cf. Rom. 12:4-5, 14:1-23).
Scripture grants oversight of the church to its elders. Therefore, I covenant to joyfully
submit to their leadership (cf. Heb. 13:17).
In addition, I specifically covenant to:

o regularly attend Sunday worship services (cf. Acts 20:7, Heb. 10:25),
o seek to grow in my practice of personal spiritual disciplines (1Tim. 4:7b),
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o faithfully give of my finances to the church according to my means (cf. 1Cor. 16:2),
o be actively involved in a weekly small group (cf. Acts 2:46b),

o seek ways to serve the church with my gifts (cf. 1Pet. 4:10),
o attend Membership Meetings,
o and pray consistently for the church and its members (cf. Col. 1:3).
Finally, I recognize that participating in such a church community requires accountability.

Therefore, I covenant to lovingly rebuke fellow members when necessary, accept rebuke
when received, and unflinchingly extend forgiveness upon repentance (cf. Lk. 17:3-4). I
also covenant to submit to and uphold church discipline (Mt. 18:15-17, 1Cor. 5).
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
SECTION 1. METHOD OF ADMISSION TO MEMBERSHIP
Candidates for membership shall:
A. Notify the Elders of their interest in membership.
B. Attend the membership class(es) where the following will be discussed:
(i) The Church’s doctrine and philosophy of ministry.
(ii) Ministry opportunities in the church.
(iii) The Church Covenant.
C. Following the membership class, the candidates shall meet with one or more
of the Elders to affirm their faith in Christ and desire to join the Church.
D. Only those who confess faith on the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior, who
give evidence of regeneration by lives consistent with their profession and
with the views of faith, doctrine and practice of this Church, and who have
been baptized by immersion will be considered for membership. Candidates
who meet all the other requirements listed above, but have been baptized as
an adult by a method other than immersion, will still be eligible for
membership provided they have the special approval of the Elders.
E. All acceptable candidates will be presented to the church for approval at a

duly called membership meeting. The membership will be notified concerning
who is being recommended for membership at least one week before the
membership meeting. The Elder Board shall confirm that all acceptable
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acceptable candidates have met all of the membership requirements set forth
herein.
SECTION 2. TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP
Church membership shall be terminated:
A. Upon death of the individual.
B. At the request of the individual.
C. Automatically, upon the individual’s moving from the Chicago area, unless
special arrangements are made with the Elders.
D. If any person has been absent for twelve months and no communication has
been made with the church. The Elders shall attempt to contact the individual,
but if contact is not made, the individual shall be dismissed from membership
at a membership meeting.
E. By the church as the last step of discipline. (cf. Mt. 18:15-20)
SECTION 3. DISCIPLINE
If a Member believes he/she knows of an ongoing sin in another Member’s life, he/she
should first pray for wisdom, discernment and love before humbly addressing the matter as
follows:
A. Discuss the matter privately with the accused person.
B. If there is no evidence of repentance after initial confrontation, bring one or

two witnesses to exhort the accused person.
C. If there is still no evidence of repentance after this, the issue must be brought
before the Elders to be handled as appropriate to the situation.
D. If the Elders affirm that the offense warrants discipline and the person remains
unrepentant, then the matter shall be brought before the church.
E. The church may revoke membership with a 75% vote.
Note: The goal of discipline is repentance and restoration. Because of this, upon
repentance, the disciplined individual should be restored immediately to
membership.
ARTICLE IV
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
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The government of the Church recognizes the various areas of responsibility and
authority given to the membership and the leadership of the local church. This relationship
is a partnership in which the various groups have different spheres of authority.
SECTION 1. THE MEMBERSHIP
The membership assembled in a duly convened meeting shall have the authority in
the following areas:
A. The selection, affirmation and dismissal of Elders, Deacons, and Deaconesses

as otherwise provided in this article.
B. The approval of the annual church budget.
C. The approval of the reception of all new members and the dismissal of current
members for disciplinary reasons.
D. The approval of the purchase or sale of all real property.
E. The approval of all amendments to these Bylaws.
SECTION 2. THE ELDER BOARD
A. The Qualifications of Elders - An Elder shall be an active member of the church,

male, and meet the qualifications of 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Tit. 1:5-9.
B. The Function and Priorities of Elders:
(i) To keep right with God (Acts 20:28 and 1 Pet. 5:2).
(ii) To feed and protect the flock (Acts 20:28 and John 21:15-17).
(iii) To pray and study (Acts 6:4).
(iv) To be free from self-interest (Acts 20:33 and 1 Peter 5:2).
C. Authority and Responsibilities of Elders:
(i) The Elders shall be entrusted with the responsibility to superintend all
areas of congregational life (1 Tim. 5:17) not specifically reserved for the
membership in Article IV, Section 1. They shall, in the physical absence
of the Chief Shepherd (our Lord Jesus Christ), strive to equip the
congregation to properly minister, so that the church may be built up in
Christ-likeness and unity (Eph. 4:11-16).
85
(ii) The Elder Board shall oversee the appointment and function of Deacons
and Deaconesses.
D. Procedure for Elder Affirmation:
(i) Prospective Elders may either be approached by the existing Elder

Board or they may notify the existing Elder Board that they are
interested in pursuing eldership.
(ii) Such persons will then be rigorously examined by the existing Elder
Board to insure that they meet the biblical qualifications for eldership,
agree with the doctrinal position of the church and are prepared to
defend that position, and that they agree to uphold the Church’s
Bylaws and covenant. There is no time limit on such a process.
(iii) If there are no unresolved objections, prospective new Elders must be

affirmed by a 75% positive vote from the membership in a membership
meeting.
(iv) There will be a corporate installation of a newly approved Elder

emphasizing his role as a servant leader and the membership’s
responsibility to submit to the Elder’s prescribed authority.
E. Dismissal of Elders - Elders may be removed from office by:
(i) Withdrawal from membership.
(ii) Voluntary resignation.
(iii) Failure to receive a 75% reaffirmation
F. The Elder Board shall consist of not less than three (3) and not more than eight
(8) Elders.
G. Term of Service - Elders shall serve for three year terms staggered such that 1/3
of the Elders are affirmed or re-affirmed each year. A 75% positive vote is
required to continue in service as an Elder.
H. Pastor(s)
(i) All Elders are to be considered pastors. However, according to 1 Tim.

5:17-18, one or more Elders may be set aside to devote full time to
preaching and teaching. Of these salaried pastors, one shall be
considered a “first among equals” and be primarily responsible for the
pulpit ministry of the church and the training of the other Elders. This
pastor shall be referred to as the Senior Pastor.
86
(ii) Selection of the salaried pastor(s) - The general procedure for the
selection of a pastor(s) shall be the same as for the other Elders.
Candidates shall be reviewed by the Elders and affirmed by a 75%
positive vote of the membership in a membership meeting.
I. Early Reconsideration of Elders - In the unlikely event that an Elder be deemed

derelict in his responsibilities, 10% of the membership, but not less than 5
members, can petition the Elder Board for an early reconsideration of that
leader. Failure to receive a 75% reaffirmation from the membership will result
in the removal of this leader from his responsibilities.
SECTION 3. THE DIACONATE
A. The Qualifications of Deacons and Deaconesses - A Deacon or Deaconess shall

be an active member of the church and meet the qualifications of 1 Tim.
3:8-13.
B. The Responsibilities of Deacons and Deaconesses consist of relieving the

Elders of duties that detract from the Elders’ ministry of the Word and prayer as
the Elders see fit to delegate such duties.
C. Procedure for Deacon and/or Deaconess Affirmation:
(i) Prospective Deacons may either be approached by the Elder Board or

they may notify the Elder Board that they are interested in pursuing the
Diaconate.
(ii) Such persons will then be rigorously examined by the Elder Board to
insure that they meet the biblical qualifications for
deacons/deaconesses. There is no time limit on such a process.
(iii) If there are no unresolved objections, prospective new Deacons and

Deaconesses must be affirmed by a 75% positive vote from the
membership in a membership meeting.
D. Dismissal of Deacons and/or Deaconesses – Deacons and/or Deaconesses may

be removed from office by:
(i) Withdrawal from membership.
(ii) Voluntary resignation.
(iii) Failure to receive a 75% reaffirmation
E. Term of Service – Deacons and Deaconesses shall serve for three year terms
staggered such that 1/3 of the Diaconate is affirmed or re-affirmed each year.
A 75% positive vote is required to continue in service as a Deacon or
87
Deaconess.
F. Early Reconsideration of Deacons and/or Deaconesses - In the unlikely event

that a Deacon and/or Deaconess be deemed derelict in his/her responsibilities,
10% of the membership, but not less than 5 members, can petition the Elder
Board for an early reconsideration of that person. Failure to receive a 75%
reaffirmation will result in the removal of this leader from his/her
responsibilities.
ARTICLE V
MEETINGS
SECTION 1. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
A. The Annual Membership Meeting of the Church shall be held during the
month of December with notification of the membership as detailed in Article
V, Section 3. The fiscal year shall end of December 31.
B. The Senior Pastor, Elder Board, Diaconate, and other groups as determined by
the Elder Board shall prepare a report of the year for the Church which will be
presented at this meeting.
SECTION 2. SPECIAL MEETINGS
A. Special meetings may be called by the Elders in order to deal with any matters
of urgency or seek the participation of the membership in establishing the
direction of the church.
B. Special meetings must be called immediately by the Elders upon petition by

10% of the membership, but not less than 5 members.
SECTION 3. PUBLICATION OF MEETINGS
Special meetings must be publicized during all church meetings for one full week
prior to the meeting date.
SECTION 4. QUORUM
A. Quorum shall be 20% of the membership.
B. A 75% positive vote will be required to affirm decisions specified under Article
IV, Section 1.
ARTICLE VI
CHURCH PROPERTY
88
SECTION 1. PROPERTY
The church shall have the power to receive, either by gift or purchase, and to hold
such real, personal, or mixed property as is authorized by the laws of the State of Illinois and
as is deemed necessary for the business of the Church, and shall be in the name of the
Church.
SECTION 2. DIVISION OR DISSOLUTION
A. In case of a division in the Church (from which we pray God by His mercy to
preserve us), the property of the Church shall belong to those who abide by its
Bylaws.
B. In case of dissolution of the Church organization, the property shall be

assigned to the Chicago Metropolitan Baptist Association (the “Association”) so
long as the Association is exempt from taxation within the meaning of Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision
of any future United States Internal Revenue Law). If the Association does not
qualify for such an exemption, then the Association shall designate an entity
that does qualify for such an exemption to receive the property of the Church.
The Church shall be considered dissolved if so decided by the organization, or
when the Church has not held an annual meeting for three years, or when less
than six members remain.
ARTICLE VII
AMENDMENTS
The membership may make changes in these Bylaws which may seem necessary.
Changes will be voted on in any membership meeting which meets the criteria for the
quorum. Changes will be adopted if they receive a 75% positive vote. Article II, Section 3
can only be amended by a 100% positive vote of the entire membership.
ARTICLE VIII
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS APPENDIX
Since the Church has incorporated under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act
of 1986 there are a number of legal provisions and terms that must be incorporated into
these Bylaws. Accordingly, in order to meet the legal requirements promulgated under the
General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986, the Legal Requirements Appendix has been
prepared and is attached hereto and is hereby incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit A.
89
EXHIBIT A
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS APPENDIX
ARTICLE I
OFFICES AND REGISTERED AGENT
SECTION 1. PRINCIPAL OFFICE
The Church shall have and continuously maintain a principal office in the State of
Illinois. Such place shall be within the State of Illinois as the Elder Board may, from time to
time, designate.
SECTION 2. REGISTERED AGENT
The Church shall at all times maintain a registered agent within the State of Illinois.
SECTION 3. CHANGE OF PRINCIPAL OFFICE OR REGISTERED AGENT
The principal office and the registered agent of the Church may from time to time
be changed by the Elder Board.
ARTICLE II
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Elder Board shall be deemed the Corporation’s Board of Directors for purposes
of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986.
ARTICLE III
OFFICERS
SECTION 1. ELECTION AND REMOVAL OF OFFICERS
The officers shall consist of President and a Secretary and may consist of a Treasurer,
and Financial Secretary. These officers shall be elected by the Elder Board. Any officer other
than the President may be removed by the Elder Board at any time.
SECTION 2. TERMS OF OFFICERS
The term of office for the Secretary, Treasurer and Financial Secretary shall be for one
(1) year. Persons elected to such terms of office are not limited and may serve successive
terms.
SECTION 3. ROLE OF PRESIDENT
90
For so long as an individual acts as the Senior Pastor, such individual shall
automatically be appointed to the office of President and shall preside at all meetings of the
Elder Board, Members and the Officers. Once such individual ceases to be the Senior Pastor,
such individual shall also automatically cease to be the President of the Church. The
President may sign, with the Secretary or any other Officer of the Church authorized by the
Elder Board, such documents and deeds of the Church as necessary or appropriate including,
but not limited to, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments which the Elder Board
has authorized or by these Bylaws to some other Officer or agent of the Church, or shall be
required by law to be otherwise signed or executed, and, in general, shall discharge all duties
incident to the office of President and such other duties as may be assigned by the Elder
Board from time to time. The President shall be an ex-officio voting member of the Elder
Board and an ex-officio voting member of all other committees, ministries, and task forces
appointed by these Bylaws or by the Elder Board. The President shall not be counted in
quorum requirements for all memberships except membership on the Elder Board.
SECTION 4. ROLE OF SECRETARY
The Secretary shall (a) be responsible for the keeping of the minutes of the Elder
Board, Members, Officers, congregational and Committee meetings in one or more books
provided for that purpose and to maintain the current accurate list of all Church Members
and their status; (b) see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of
these Bylaws or as required by law; (c) be custodian of the Church records; and (d) in general,
discharge all duties incident to the office of the Secretary and such other duties as from time
to time may be assigned by the President or by the Elder Board. The Secretary must be
either an Elder or a Deacon.
SECTION 5. ROLE OF TREASURER
The Treasurer shall:
A. Oversee the management of all moneys and securities of the Church;
B. Monitor the financial books of the Church;
C. Keep regular books of account;
D. Render to the Elder Board, from time to time as may be required, an account of
the financial condition of the Church including reports of income,
disbursements and assets; and
E. In general, discharge all duties incident to the office of Treasurer, and such
other duties as may be assigned by the President or by the Elder Board.
The Treasurer must be either an Elder or a Deacon.
91
ARTICLE IV
INDEMNIFICATION OF OFFICERS, DIRECTORS,
EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS
SECTION 1. ACTION IN GOOD FAITH NECESSARY
The Church shall indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be
made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether
civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the
Church) by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the
Church, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including
attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts in such action, suit or proceeding if he acted
in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best
interests of the Church, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no
reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or
proceeding by judgment or settlement, conviction or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its
equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith
and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interest of
the Church, and with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to
believe that his conduct
was unlawful.
SECTION 2. NO INDEMNIFICATION FOR NEGLIGENCE OR MISCONDUCT.
The Church shall indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be
made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the
Church to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he is or was a director,
officer, employee or agent of the Church, or is or was serving at the request of the Church as
a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust
or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably
incurred by him in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if he
acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the
best interests of the Church and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of
any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable for
negligence or misconduct in the performance of his duty to the Church unless and shall
determine upon application that despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the
circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such
expenses which the court shall deem proper.
SECTION 3. AMOUNT OF INDEMNIFICATION.
92
To the extent that a director, officer, employee or agent of the Church has been
successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to
in Sections 1 and 2 of this Article, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, he shall
be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred
by him in connection therewith.
SECTION 4. AUTHORIZATION NECESSARY
Any indemnification under Sections 1 and 2 of this Article (unless ordered by a court)
shall be made by the Church only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination
that indemnification of the director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the
circumstances because he has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in Sections 1
and 2 of this Article. Such determination shall be made (a) by the Elder Board by a majority
vote of a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to such action, suit or
proceeding, or (b) if such a quorum is not objectionable, or, even if obtainable, a quorum of
disinterested directors so directs, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion.
SECTION 5. NOT EXCLUSIVE
The indemnification provided by this Article shall not be deemed exclusive of any
other rights to which those indemnified may be entitled under any contract, agreement or
otherwise, both as to action in his official capacity and as to action in another capacity while
holding such office, and shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director,
officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, and
administrators of such a person.
SECTION 6. INSURANCE
The Church shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any
person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Church, or is or was serving
at the request of the Church as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation,
partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against him
and incurred by him in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not
the Church would have the power to indemnify him against such liability under the
provisions of this Article.
ARTICLE V
SPECIAL AMENDMENTS
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in Article I through Article VIII of

the Bylaws, to the extent these Bylaws need to be amended in order to comply with any
governing authority, including, without limitation, the General Not For Profit Corporation Act
of 1986, or to qualify for any tax exemption, the Board of Elders may amend these Bylaws by
a simple majority vote.
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ARTICLE VI
CONFLICT WITH BYLAWS
If any term or provision contained in this Legal Requirements Appendix shall conflict
with any term or provision contained in Article I through Article VIII of the Bylaws, the terms
and provisions contained in this Legal Requirements Appendix shall control.
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Joining The Mission - Membership at Immanuel

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Joining The Mission - Membership at Immanuel

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Joining the

We’ll talk more about that as we go on…

All mp3 audio also available at

© 2008 Immanuel Baptist Church. All Rights Reserved.

Part 1: It’s About the Good News!............................................................ 1

‘Good news’ is the literal meaning of the word ‘gospel’.

The gospel is the centerpiece of Christianity.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

Some Examples of Near Idols

WHAT WE SEEK (synonyms)—Price we’re willing to pay—Our greatest

COMFORT (privacy, lack of stress, freedom)—Reduced productivity—

APPROVAL (affirmation, love, relationship)—Less independence—Rejection—

CONTROL (self-discipline, certainty, standards)—Loneliness/spontaneity—

POWER (success, winning, influence)—Burdened/responsibility—Humiliation—

The Sweep of Salvation History

Creation Fall Redemption New Creation

birth, life, death, burial, resurrection,

Vocalizing the gospel is called evangelism – literally good newsing. A good

Christians believe the good news and share it frequently!

So what are you saying? Do I have to become a pastor or a missionary? A

vocation /vōkáyshən/ n. 1 a strong feeling of fitness for a particular

So many Christians have no sense of calling. To many a calling is merely for

Imagine that you were dropped by parachute into a jungle in Africa as a

WHY do I have to become a member of a church?

1. Christ left behind a .

Sin => Redemption => People (Israel in OT; Church in NT)

The book of Acts

Invisible/Universal Church and Visible/Local churches

Human to God Human to Human

“The task is bigger than any one person.”

We all need each other...

Proclamation Ordinances Singing Fellowship

Church is more than Sundays, however…

suspicion => authority <= rebellion

“Do not give up meeting together” (Heb. 10:25).

Ephesians 5:21 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

MISSION CHURCH > Elders

Now we learn submission through church

We can’t just trust ourselves to do that!

‘One Another’ Commands

Church Discipline (see Matthew 18:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 5)

1.) An understanding of the !

5.) Participation in the ( & ).

There’s no perfect church!

But church is so boring and draining!

Church ≠ club Consumerism Perfectionism Individualism Religiosity

GOSPEL + MISSION + CHURCH = !!!!!

1. The first requirement for membership at Immanuel is in Christ as

2. The process to become a member follows these steps:

a. You attend Immanuel regularly for a few months.

b. You notify an Elder of your interest in becoming a member.

c. You receive a Joining the Mission packet with a CD.

d. You complete the packet before the next Mission Class.

e. After this you attend the next scheduled Mission Class.

h. Your name is then submitted in writing to the current members at

i. At the next membership meeting, you are presented by the Elders

1. Sign and adhere to .

3. Be in your personal walk.

4. Support the church .

Finally, I recognize that participating in such a church community requires accountability.

1. Starting in the fall of …

2. They prayed that: