Membership Matters

Class Participation Guide

Thank you for coming to learn more about meaningful church membership at C3 Houston. Because we believe the church is to be comprised of those who have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior, we desire to give those who wish to join C3 Houston a means to share with us their faith and willingness to commit to church membership. 

We've designed the membership process with one guiding principle in mind: a desire to experience and pursue, for all our church family, genuinely meaningful membership. We hope that this process unites us together under these beliefs and commitments as we affirm our shared faith and willingness to partner together as Christ Community Church. We pray that prospective members will engage these initial steps with that vision in mind. 

Membership Process

The process to become a member of Christ Community Church is as follows: 

  1. Membership Matters Class: Each person desiring to become a member must attend this orientation led by a leader of our church.

  2. Membership Questionnaire: Each person desiring to become a member at C3 will need to fill out a membership questionnaire. You can complete and submit this questionnaire online at c3houston.org. 

  3. Elder Affirmation: Once you submit your membership questionnaire online, the pastors/elders will read it over and send you an email either affirming your desire for membership or ask to follow up questions from your membership questionnaire. 

  4. Prayer with a Pastor: Visit with one pastor/elder on a Sunday morning between or after a worship service to discuss any final questions we have, or you have and pray together committing yourself to membership. 

  5. Affirmation by Membership in a Members Meeting: Be affirmed by the members of C3 Houston at a members’ meeting. 

If you have any questions about this process, please contact Erin Bush at erin@c3houston.org.

What We Believe & Practice

Member’s Affirmation of Faith 

We believe… 

  • The Scriptures - are true, authoritative, and sufficient.1

  • The Godhead - There is only one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit. The Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son.2

  • The Fall of Man - Each person, i.e., all humanity (Christ excluded) is by birth and action a sinner. The just penalty for sin is death, both physical and spiritual (i.e., eternal).3

  • The Person of Jesus Christ - He is the eternal Son of God, was born of a virgin and is both fully God and fully human.4

  • The Work of Jesus Christ - He died on the Cross as a substitute to pay the penalty for sin. Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead and physically ascended into heaven and will one day physically return to earth.5

  • Salvation - Based on the Cross, salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Only by God’s grace can one be reconciled to God, justified, sanctified, and ultimately glorified.6 

  • The Christian Life - Sanctification is the ongoing work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who graciously sets apart for God's purposes those who trust in Christ. The presence and power of the indwelling Spirit enables the believer to progress in Christ-likeness and holiness. Growth in grace should continue throughout the believer's life, yet final perseverance is based on the sure promise of God Himself to preserve His own to the end.7

  • The Righteous and the Wicked - There will be a future physical resurrection of the dead. Those who trusted in Christ alone will be raised to eternal reward. Those who did not trust in Christ will be raised to eternal punishment.8 

Teaching Statement

View teaching Statement on C3 website

What’s the difference between our Member’s Affirmation of Faith & Our Teaching Statement?

Those who commit to membership at C3 Houston are expected to affirm our Member’s Affirmation of Faith. Rejecting any of these core doctrines disqualifies one from membership. Our Teaching Statement is more expansive and sets the parameters for our teachers at C3. The teaching statement explains C3’s position on a number of secondary and tertiary doctrines not covered in the Affirmation of Faith. Those seeking membership at C3 would need to acknowledge that they understand our theological distinctives and agree not to be divisive if they interpret the Bible in another way. Furthermore, all teachers at C3 are asked to not contradict the teaching statement regardless of their personal position.

The Member’s Covenant (What we practice together)

Having been brought by divine grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in God’s presence, solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body, the Church. 

Regarding the Word of God, striving in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will faithfully engage in personal Bible study and prayer and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together for the worship of our God and proclamation of His Word. We will love our family with Christ-like love, honoring marriage and treasuring our spouse, bringing up our children in the teaching and instruction of the Lord. We will cheerfully, regularly, and generously contribute toward the financial needs of the Church, and esteem and pray for our leaders. We will honor the restorative and discipline efforts of our church according to the instructions of God’s Word. 

Regarding the Community of the Body, depending on God’s working in us, we will participate in the community endeavors of the Church family, pursuing authentic relationships. We will work and pray in humility for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, being slow to take offense, and pray for each other, walking together in brotherly love, shunning all gossip and slander. We will exercise affectionate care and watchfulness over each other, using our spiritual gifts and natural abilities to serve one another. We will faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require, and rejoice in each other’s happiness and bear each other’s burdens in tenderness and sympathy. 

Regarding the Mission of the Church, trusting in our Lord’s enabling, we will eagerly and lovingly seek the salvation of our family and friends while seeking to live carefully in the world, denying its lusts or any lifestyle displeasing to our Savior. We will endeavor to serve the poor and needy in our community and city in the name of Jesus, for the sake of His Gospel. We will work together for the continuance of the outreach ministries of the Church, spreading the Gospel in our neighborhoods, our city and nation, and to all peoples. 

We will, upon moving from the Church, as soon as possible, unite with another church family of like-convictions, beliefs, practices, and covenant. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

C3 Distinctives

Summary: We are a gospel-centered, expository preaching, reformed Baptist, missionally-minded church.

Gospel-Centered Church Culture

We believe that the central message of the Scriptures points to the person and work of Jesus Christ. We believe the gospel is the good news of what God has graciously accomplished for sinners. We also believe that this gospel is the foundation for the life of the church. We believe that the gospel is not only the means by which people are saved, but also the truth and power by which people are sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the gospel enables us to genuinely and joyfully do what is pleasing to God and to grow in conformity to the image of Christ. So, we aim to "major in the majors" and "minor in the minors." We also believe that centering our church, and our reliance on the gospel protects us from depending on our religious performance and being seduced away by idols. We believe a gospel-centered church and life produces the fruits of confidence, humility, intimacy, transformation, and community.9

Expository Preaching

An expository sermon is one in which the main and primary applications of the sermon are necessarily rooted in the main idea of a biblical text. “An expositional sermon is a sermon in which the point of the biblical text is the point of the sermon, applied to the life of the congregation.” (Dever)10

Reformed Baptist

Church Polity & Practices:

  • An elder-led, congregationally accountable church leadership & governance.11

  • A church membership made up of believers in Christ.12

  • We practice believer’s baptism by immersion for those who have professed faith in Christ.13

  • We are willing to admit those who adhere to paedobaptism (infant baptism) into membership.

    • Provided they reject baptismal regeneration. Additionally, they should realize we will not practice paedobaptism in our church.

  • A complementarian view of gender roles in the family and the church

    • Commitment to traditional, Biblical view of marriage and sexuality.14

    • Equality in value, standing, importance, giftedness.15

    • Diversity in roles/responsibilities, in the family and the church.16

  • A commitment to the careful, loving, and consistent pursuit and practice of church discipline and restoration.17

  • Reformed Theology: We enthusiastically embrace the theology of the reformers in the 16th century. Especially as many of them highlight the sovereignty of God’s grace in saving sinners! While these truths represent an important doctrinal distinctive at C3, we do not assert that this is the most essential doctrine we hold…far from it. Reformed theology could be summarized by the five solas of the reformation: 

  1. Sola scriptura: “Scripture alone”

  2. Sola fide: “faith alone”

  3. Sola gratia: “grace alone”

  4. Solo Christo: “Christ alone”

  5. Soli Deo gloria: “to the glory of God alone”

Missionally-Minded

For more information about C3’s vision, particularly as it relates to our mission of Sharing Jesus, Making Disciples, and Planting Churches, please refer to our A Church for the Glory of God booklet (available at the Connect desk).

Scripture References

  1. Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21
  2. Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6; Isaiah 46:9-10; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5, Genesis 1:26; Psalm 45:6-7; Psalm 110:1; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:1720; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
  3. Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23, 5:8, 5:12-21, 6:23, 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3, Genesis 2:15-17, 3:19; James 1:14-15
  4. Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:52; John 1:1-4, 1:14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3
  5. John 1:29, 10:1-18; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 1:20-21, 1:25; 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7
  6. John 3:18, 3:36, 14.6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Timothy 2:5-6
  7. Romans 6:5-14, 8:13; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 1:6, 3:12-14; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 1:13-14
  8. Matthew 25:31-26; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15
  9. Romans 1:16-17; Luke 24:27; Galatians 3:24; Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3, 3:12-14, 4:16, 7:25, 10:22-25; James 4:8; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17
  10. Romans 10:17; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Ezra 7:10; 1 Timothy 4:11-15; 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2
  11. The elders’ qualifications/responsibilities can be found in the following texts: 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-10; 1 Peter 5:1-5. The congregation's responsibilities can be found in the following texts: Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; 2 Corinthians 1:10-11; 1 Timothy 5:17-20; Hebrews 13:1
  12. Acts 2:37-47, 6:1-6; Romans 16:1-16; 1 Timothy 5:3-17
  13. Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-4; Acts 8:37-38; Colossians 2:11-12
  14. Genesis 1-2; Ephesians 5; Romans 1
  15. Genesis 1-3; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Peter 3:7
  16. 1 Timothy 2; Titus 2; 1 Corinthians 11; Ephesians 5
  17. Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 John 5:1-5