The Sycamore Church

September 27, 2026

Pastor Eric Burton

Sunday, September 27, 2026

We believe church membership is important because:

• People want to join our church but do not know how.
• People do not know they are part of our church.
• People are part of our church but do not act like it.

We want to clarify and define what it means to become a member of the church. We are revising our Next Steps class—formerly known as Connect4—as Discover Syca(more).

Membership begins with discovering what our church is about and then making a clear decision about whether you want to be a member or an attender. We will love you either way and welcome you no less.

You may be asking, “Am I a member?” Your next step is to complete Discover Syca(more).

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

We have a code of conduct that allows us to carry out God’s plan for the church, as the church, and through the church. This code helps us:

1. Teach truth.
2. Recognize what is wrong—you cannot recognize wrong until you have heard the truth.
3. Correct what is wrong. This is where we lose people.
4. Teach people to do what is right.

“You can’t disciple an unconnected person.” —Who said that?

Proverbs 18:1 (NKJV): “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.”

When we are not connected, we do not let people get close enough to teach us the truth about ourselves.

Membership is important because it lets us know whom we can trust with God’s people, ministry, and resources. We want you to go through Discover Syca(more) so that you understand our heart and our method of operation.

Membership lets us know whom we can pastor and disciple.

Paul gives instructions on how to correct those in the church and remove those who do not want to be corrected.

1 Corinthians 5:1–5: “Turn him over to Satan!” What does that mean? It means removing him from the protective fellowship of the congregation.

1. It causes a person to deal with the consequences of their sinful nature.
2. It protects the whole body of Christ so that others are not infected.
3. The church was bragging about its liberty.

Proverbs 3:11–12: Jesus corrects those he loves. “My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”

Malachi 1:2–3: “‘I have always loved you,’ says the LORD. But you retort, ‘Really? How have you loved us?’ And the LORD replies, ‘This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.’”

Why not Abraham, to whom God gave the promise? Or Isaac and Esau?

God chose to use Jacob and Esau to demonstrate his love. The first time God refers to Jacob and Esau, he refers to them as nations, not individuals.

Beware if we do not see or sense God’s correction in our lives. When was the last time we allowed the Scriptures to teach and correct us?

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Correction never leaves us hobbled; it leaves us equipped.

The Sycamore Church

How Do I Become a Member? Pt. 3

Pastor Eric Burton

Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026

How Do I Become a Member?

We’ve been talking the last few weeks about what it means to be a member of the church. We have come to discover it’s more than a roll call. It’s a spiritual buy-in to Jesus Christ.

We learned in week one of our series that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2:47. He added to an assembly that provided protection and community, but more importantly, this salvation:

1. Delivers from the penalties of the Messianic judgment.
2. Delivers from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance.

You have to be saved. But what does that mean?

Sin is not just bad behavior; it’s a trespass against God, our neighbors, and ourselves. Sin is more than bad thoughts; it’s the position of being separated from God. Regretfully, people don’t know they are separated from God.

1. It’s a change of view.

Astigmatism is when light coming into the eye is bent or fractured and blurs the vision. In the beginning, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good AND evil. Their eyes were opened, or fractured, so they saw more than one thing. Before, their eye was singular, knowing only the love of God. But sin opened their eye, or fractured their vision, to see good and evil—multiple things. We need Jesus to fix our eyes.

Matthew 6:13: Pray like this… “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

In Matthew 4, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, but He overcomes Satan. Now He is saying, when you pray, pray that you overcome like I overcame: “Don’t yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:22: The eye is the light of the body. If the eye is healthy, the whole body is full of light. But if the eye is “evil” (meaning distracted, fractured, double-minded, worried, and anxious), the whole body is filled with darkness or is unhealthy. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep is that darkness? How deep does it go?

1. It’s a change of thinking.

People don’t know what sin is until they know what is right. The apostle said it like this: “It was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, ‘You must not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)

God’s Word sheds light on my life and showed me I was wrong and there was a better way. It didn’t call for me to change my behavior; it called for me to change my thinking.

Romans 12:2: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

The best modification of behavior is not a change of action, but a change of thinking.

1. It’s a change of heart.

Nicodemus was a member of a religious group, and he believed Jesus was sent by God. Proximity and knowledge don’t save you. We need Jesus to change our thinking and our heart. You must be born again!

Romans 2:28–29: “For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit.”

Colossians 2:11: “When you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting of your sinful nature.”

Jesus isn’t coming back for a building full of people enjoying life together. He is coming back for a people that are saved—a bride that He will present as blameless and without spot because they have been washed by the Word of God.

Pastor Nelson Hight