In this part 2 edition of UBC Sermon Discussions pastor Jason Wing answers questions from his sermon out of 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

The main idea for the sermon was: A maturing church will sometimes need to remove its members for God’s redemptive purposes.

Questions discussed in this episode:

Q. What is church discipline?

Q. At UBC, do you have to be a member in order to be brought under discipline?

Q. How do we handle it if the friend in a habitual lifestyle sin goes to another church? Do we cut off friendship with them?

Q. How do I relate with a believing family member who is unrepentant in their sin/under church discipline? I’m thinking of thing like when I see them in future family gatherings or things like that?

Q. You talked about “confronting.” In the sermon, you also mentioned that Is church discipline handled sensitively, privately?  What does the process usually look like?

Q. So, we practice discipline in the manner described in Matthew chapter 18. It seem like this passage is not talking about someone who falls temporarily, but living a lifestyle. How do you know when to confront in love?

Q. I understand that the purpose for church discipline is for the repentance, reconciliation, and spiritual growth of the individual being disciplined. Let’s assume someone is listening who has been removed from UBC (or from another church), but they are interested in being reconciled and restored. Can you go into detail of what that would look like and how the church would come alongside the individual in this process?

Q. In your closing prayer you mentioned something to the effect of “trusting that uncomfortable parts of scripture like this are good for us.” How do we find that balance of not being a stereotypical “hellfire and damnation Baptist church” and something like a prosperity gospel seeker-friendly church?

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