"Joining" the Palm Springs Drive Church

“Joining” the Palm Springs Drive church begins first with being added by Jesus Christ to His church.

In the beginning, when Jesus established His church, those who became members did so by obeying the commands Jesus gave through His apostles. We can read about it in Acts 2. It was the Jewish holiday known as the Pentecost. A multitude was gathered in Jerusalem for the festival when the miraculous power of God descended upon the apostles. Just a few days earlier, Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem and “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;...” (Acts 1:8) The Holy Spirit did come upon them mightily, and the apostles spoke the foreign languages of those who heard even though they had never studied those languages. The multitude was amazed as we would have been, and they asked, “Whatever could this mean?”. (2:12) The apostle Peter answered that it was what the prophet Joel had promised: “And it shall come to pass, That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.” (2:21)

The attention of that gathering was arrested. They listened carefully as Peter spoke to them about Jesus Christ, affirming that though they had crucified Him, God raised Him from the grave and exalted Him to God’s right hand. The record states that when they heard this they were cut to the heart and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Clearly, they believed. They believed all that Peter had proclaimed. Most especially, they believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ. He had proved His claim to be God by His victory over death and the grave. That event, attested to by many credible eye witnesses, is an historical fact that cannot be denied - an event that should arrest our attention and prompt our own belief as it did theirs.

What then? Did they only believe? No. Not at all. Listen to Peter’s answer to their question, “What shall we do?” He responded, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) Peter could see that they believed, but they needed to do more. He told them to repent and be baptized to have their sins remitted. Was this Peter’s own formula for salvation? No! It was the Lord’s. Peter was simply carrying out the instructions of Jesus when He told His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15, 16) Verse 41 of Acts 2 tells us that “those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Added to whom? Why, to the body of the saved in Christ. To the church. Note the reaction of that early church regarding the salvation they had found in the Lord. Verse 47 says they were “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Would you like to join the church that Jesus Christ built? You may if you believe in Jesus as the divine Son of God. But, there is more than simple belief. Saving belief is action based belief. It is belief that motivates one to obey the will of the Father in Heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ. Just as those first converts believed and repented and were baptized for remission of sins, we also must do the same to join the one true church that our Lord built. Actually, we don’t really join after all. When we obey His commands, He adds us to “those who were being saved.”

After you have been added by Him to His church you may join any local assembly of His disciples that you choose. We would love to have you join us at the Palm Springs Drive church of Christ. (Acts 2:47)