Home Church Help

Many people who gather in homes for worship and fellowship find that a prescribed formula for church meetings can seem pretentious or false. It is a fact that liturgical worship is hardly biblical. In the New Testament we do find some instructions for church meetings, but there is no prescribed order of events or strict directions for procedure. To preplan and schedule the events in a church meeting is about as beneficial as preplanning an intimate evening with your spouse.

Date Night Agenda:
6:15 pm – Date begins.
6:17 pm – Discussion of the day’s events.
6:22 pm – Share a hug.
6:25 pm – Laugh at a funny joke.
6:26 pm – 1 minute and 26 seconds of silence.

How could you possibly schedule every event of an enjoyable time with someone you love? It may be beneficial to have a general idea of some things you might want to do together, but to over-structure your time will kill all spontaneity. Intimacy is always spontaneous. If you don’t allow for spontaneity, you don’t allow for intimacy. Intimacy with Christ is what the church meeting is all about. This is why you will find only general guidelines in the New Testament for church meetings, but no instructions of ceremonial order that would replace a true interaction with the Spirit.

The same is true for your individual relationship with Christ. It is needful to set aside time during your day to be with the Lord. But if you preplan exactly what you are going to do once you are with Him, you will lose the relationship dynamic. If your individual time with God is truly “time with God”, then how do you know beforehand that He wants you to read the Bible? How do you know He wants you to study a certain devotional book before you even meet with Him? Read more »

In the last article, we talked about how having quality in church life can attract some people and also drive some people away.

People “come and go” from Christian fellowships all of the time. Some attend for only one visit. Some stay for a few months and then never come back. Some stay for the long haul. The question is this: Do you have any individual responsibility regarding a person leaving your group or staying?  Or, if a person leaves or stays is it just a choice they make that is out of your hands and has nothing to do with you?

I sometimes hear people say, “What happened to that family that was coming around?” Or “Where is brother so and so?” Without a doubt, we ultimately cannot choose for other people. There are many reasons why someone may stay or leave a particular group and some of their choices may have nothing to do with you. But if someone chooses to leave or stay, have you ever thought that you maybe a contributor to their choice? Read more »

As you meet around the Lord in simple ways, quality is the goal, never quantity. In other words, we want good things to be happening in the meetings and within the relationships in the group. The number of people that are gathering together is not near as important as the quality that is in your midst.

The hallmarks of quality include having a group culture that is prayerful, worshipful, and scripturally sound. We want healthy and encouraging relationships that are both loving and based in truth. We want to encounter the living God when we come together, which requires humility, submission to the Spirit, and fervent, abandoned hearts. We want to have relationships that are devoted to one another and that will work out difficult problems and remain in the light together (Rom. 12:10). These are the things that contribute to quality in a fellowship. Read more »

Many people are concerned with heresy, biblical error, and weirdness in house church. People tend to think that house church can be “cultish”.

First of all, the churches in the new testament met in homes. So it is not the meeting place itself that makes something a cult. So what is it really that makes some people concerned about the idea of “home church”?

Pastors and those in leadership positions in traditional meeting places often warn people about the dangers of home church. In some ways they have a point, and we are going to discuss that here in this article. However, it should certainly be mentioned that it only makes sense to question the “clergy’s” motives in warning us about home church. Read more »

What we do with our actions is always our true message, as opposed to what we say.

I will not use any names in this article, but there are men in the “home church movement” who have built big names for themselves, while their true experience in church life is questionable or limited at best.

I am not saying these guys don’t have good things to say. I actually like these men and appreciate their contributions. Some have done helpful research. The Lord can and will use these brothers. But the concern is that they draw men unto themselves and set a bad example of what we are trying to do in home church – that we would stop following men. Read more »

ism’s and ology’s

Imagine for just a moment that you and a close friend take a walk together down a trail into the forest. While you and your friend are walking down the trail, a brilliant light appears before you both. Suddenly, the Lord Jesus Himself is standing right in front of you. He is clothed in bright, glowing, white light. His glory and power permeates you and your friend. Such an overwhelming experience of love, truth, and heavenly power is filling you both. Then, the Lord begins to speak…

But in the middle of the Lord’s first sentence, you turn to your friend and you say, “Hey Mike. You know I really think that the ”once saved always saved” doctrine is a load of crud. What do you think about it?” Your friend Mike replies, ”You know that I disagree with you. Once we come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus then nothing can snatch us out of His hand. But what do you think about pre-destination? You know I’ve been doing a lot of study on that subject. How could anyone possibly be a Calvinist?” Read more »

As you gather together with other people to meet around Jesus Christ, you will discover that not everyone is meeting together for the same reasons. There is a natural tendency to assume that the other people you are meeting with are united with you in heart and are in agreement with you. But this is not always the case.

There are many reasons why it may appeal to someone to gather in homes or in a small group setting. Some of these reasons are more harmless than others. For example, someone may want to meet in a home church setting primarily in order to avoid having to dress up, act ceremonial, or behave formally during the weekly church meeting. Although this type of reason may not be extremely noble, it probably will not cause wide spread damage to others. But again, not all reasons and motives for meeting in a home fellowship are quite as mild as this example.

Potentially damaging motives are when brothers and sisters attend the church meeting with “an agenda” in mind. A person has an agenda when their primary reason for gathering is to change the group in some manner. It usually means they are viewing the group as a ministry project or they see themselves as God’s worker, sent to the group to help them (without the group agreeing to this). A person who has an agenda has a primary motivation to introduce and propagate change according to their particular “cause”. Read more »

Heb 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

One of the primary characteristics of sin is the deception that is coupled with it. When sin is introduced in our lives, deception is often a close counterpart. In the account of the first sin in Genesis 3, Satan used deception in order to achieve the goal of Adam and Eve sinning against God.

Gen 3:4 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!”

1Ti 2:14 “… but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

We often allow ourselves to be deceived in order to commit sin. When sin is accomplished, our judgment remains skewed as we continue in our slumber and the fog of deception. The deceit continues as we justify our actions and give reasons that excuse our deeds. Only repentance and humility can wake us up from sin’s deceit.

When Sin Becomes Public

When sin takes place in the body of Christ and many are affected by it, deception is still at work as sin’s companion. Not only are the effects of sin proliferated throughout the church, but deceit and deception are also broadcast corporately as seeds spreading throughout the body. Read more »

Meeting in a small group or home setting provides for a wonderful opportunity for the Lord to accomplish what is truly on His heart. It can also be a slippery slope involving multiple dynamics. Read more »