|
What is a "House Church"
or Home Bible Study Group
Acts 2:41-42 (KJV)
Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized:
and the same day
there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
{42} And
they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:46-47 (KJV)
And they,
continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking
bread from house to house,
did eat their
meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
{47}
Praising God, and having favour with all the people.
And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Rom 16:5 (KJV)
Likewise
greet the church that is in their house.
Salute my
wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto
Christ.
1 Cor 16:19
(KJV)
The
churches of Asia salute you.
Aquila and
Priscilla salute you much in the Lord,
with the
church that is in their house.
Col 4:15
(KJV)
Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and
Nymphas,
and the church which is in his house.
Phile 1:2 (KJV)
And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our
fellowsoldier,
and to the church in thy
house:
Dear Fiends in
Christ,
Obviously, there is adequate
precedant for having a "house church", that is, a meeting of the "called out
ones" (greek=ecclesia word for "church") in someone's home, when you consider
the above Bible verses. Not everybody can afford to build big buildings to house
a church, and in many countries Christianity is illegal and persecution of
Christians is the day. In some communities, there is no good Bible
believing and Christ-honoring church. And yet, Christians need fellowship, and
Jesus said,
Mat 18:20 (KJV)
For where two or three are
gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of
them.
So, Jesus will bless a small group of people meeting
together in His Name. This is the highest level of encouragement to do
so.
What is a "house church" or a
small group Bible study? It is simply a group of like-minded believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ meeting in somebody's home or other suitable place, to study
the Word of God together, and bring praises to the Lord Jesus, and enjoy the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and be encouraged. If it develops into something
more, so be it.
I have personally seen two
reasons for starting such small groups, but there are many more I am sure..
One is, if there is no suitable
"organized church" in the region. This can be due to being in a remote location
where no church exists, or if worshipping Christ in public is illegal, as it is
in some countries.
The other reason is to bring a
"personal touch" to the ministry of a very large church, where people could
remain othewise unknown and undiscipled and un-cared-for, and their spiritual
and personal needs are not being met.
Such groups can be started
either by word of mouth, simply hanging up a sheet of paper on a public bulletin
board, advertising for anyone interested in studying the Bible to call a certain
phone number...the methods are endless.
And there must be PRAYER,
PRAYER, PRAYER. Since we know that no-one comes to Christ without the Holy
Spirit drawing them, we need to ask God to bring to us the people who are
serious about "going deeper" in their walk with Jesus with more than just a
"Sunday-go-to-meetin' " kind of mentality. If there are more than one of an
inner circle of leaders in a larger group, these should meet together for prayer
often during the week to bathe the ministry in prayer from top to
bottom.
What goes on in this kind of a
meeting?
I have seen two main types of
these meetings, but there can be infinite variety and one should not be
dogmatic about it. These types differ in the EMPHASIS of the meeting, either for
mostly Worship and singing, or mostly for Bible study and only a little singing.
Both are fine, and anything in-between is fine too. As long as the focus is on
Jesus Christ, His Word, and His leading, you will be fine.
Here are some suggestions for
what I have seen work in a House Church or small group Bible
Study...
Call the people together that want to participate in the Bible Study. Pick out one certain night during the week which is best for most of the people, and always meet on the same night every week at the same time of day or night. You may start the evening out with singing,
people bringing guitars, keyboards, drums, tamborines, other instruments, some
may want to playing a special music song or hymn, but have a group
sing-along for everyone to participate too...of favorite christian songs. Make
it a time of praise and celebration to the Lord.
After the singing you can have a time of
prayer to calm everybody down and prepare for the time of study to come. Pray
for the sick, pray for God to raise up a leader in His good timing, pray for the
effectiveness of the Word and the study, pray for each other, for the church and
missionaries.
Then go into the actual Bible study time.
One person should be designated to
lead the study each week...give him/her a week in advance to prepare. Let each
one share the leadership on a rotating basis...a different person every week.
This will give more people the opportunity to discover and use their spiritual
gifts.
Take one book of the Bible, a short one, like
First Timothy, or First John, Philippians, you choose...and work through the
book chapter by chapter, or a few verses at a time...each leader taking a
paragraph, about one third of the chapter or so...whenever the text changes to a
new subject.... use other reference helps like study Bibles, Bible
dictionaries., concordances, topical Bibles...let each person take
responisbility for bringing some information from one of the Bible references
and contributing to the discussion. Require that people prepare beforehand
before coming to the study, especially the leader for the night. The more
individual preparation, the better the study will be.
Dont rush through the scriptures. If you only
discuss one topic or one verse in one night, that's ok. Just let the Holy Spirit
be in charge and guide the evening along. Encourage each person to contribute
something to the discussion, and don't let one or a few dominate the whole
evening, unless you perceive that this person is being raised up to be a leader.
Be sensitive to the shy persons, that their contributions be honored with equal
weight and importance as those who are more outgoing.
You can meet in the home of a volunteer
family, or in the church basement, or a community hall. After the singing,
the prayer and the study, you can have a time of refreshments and fellowship.
Somebody (maybe more than one) can volunteer to bring a treat of some kind,
cookies, popcorn balls, whatever, and pop or punch or kool aid...let it be
a free time of fellowship and enjoyment of the Lord and each
other.
Then all hold hands in a big circle and do a
closing prayer..either one person or each person one phrase...and maybe one
chorus of a favorite hymn with just the voices...the leader gives a blessing
that's it. And dont forget the clean-up duties..if everyone helps out the job
will go quickly.
I was in a group that did all of these things
in one night and it was awesome.. there was no pastor present, and as a matter
of fact, this group turned into a new church in the small town that we
lived.
Sooner or later, there may be some ministering to people after the
group, like during the week or by phone or over coffee or lunch someplace. Be
prepared for this, as this is an opportunity for some one-on-one discipling. It
is always a good idea for men to minister to men and women to women...for
obvious reasons.
As time goes on and effectiveness becomes apparent, Satan may try
to introduce problems into the group. This may take the form of problem
people who want to introduce heresies, or cliques, or gossip...just like in a
BIG church. It is for this reason that lots of prayer be raised to the Lord for
His mercy in purifying the group and keeping its focus on Christ.
But again, numbers are not important...commitment to
Christ is all-important. Those who leave after some degree of persecution or
discipline were probably not really committed to Christ in the first place.
Their reason for being in your group may have been social or cultural or
who-knows-what...but the bright light of persecution always tends to scare off
the uncommitted...that is why persecution is important.
As far as content of your meeting, center your meeting
on the person of Jesus Christ. Worship HIm, read about Him, sing praises to Him,
and focus on helping those that are truly interested in deepening their faith in
Him, or coming to know Him for the first time.
Let those that come know that you not running a
christian dating service, if that is all they're interested in, although strong
relationships among committed christians should not be discouraged. The focus of
a group is to study the Bible and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is
where it should stay.
And be sensitive to The Holy Spirit's leading as to
perhaps some kind of projects or activities your group may want to get
into..such as street-corner or beach evangelism, or some project for the
homeless, or orphans, or singing hymns at a nursing home...all kinds of ways
that you can show Christ's love in a very practical way to those that need it,
and again to discover and use your spiritual gifts for the
Lord.
It has been my experience that Jesus would rather have a very
small group of truly dedicated christians than a large group of wishy-washy
ones... even if that group consists of only 2 or 3 persons. In some
countries where it is illegal to have a public church meeting, the
christiains practice what may be called "potato-vine evangelism",
meaning... I tell you, then you tell a friend, then the friend tells a
friend..and so on, and so on...pretty soon you have a roomful.
I hope this has been of some
help to you. As has been stated earlier, "if you can't find a good church, START
ONE. " There is really nothing holding you back. Think outside the box a little,
and look at what the Holy Spirit did in the first century church. The Greek word
for "the church" is "ecclesia", the called out ones. We sometimes think of the
church as "the called in ones", called into a big institutional building complex
for worship and service. Although, God uses this type of approach, the small
home meeting is important as an alternative where no good church exists, and can
be an adjunct to the larger church to personallize the
ministry.
Perhaps God is calling you out
of a dead church to start a new living church. Or perhaps He has put you
in a lonely place where your only choice is to start a church. In any case, be
sensitive to the calling and purposes of God.
And God bless you, your family,
and your Ministry for Jesus.
In Christ...brother
bob......<><
2 Tim 2:1-4 (KJV)
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus.
{2} And the things that thou hast heard
of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also.
{3} Thou therefore endure hardness,
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
{4} No man that warreth entangleth himself with
the affairs of this life;
that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a
soldier.
Mat 28:18-20 (KJV)
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.
{19} Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {20} Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you:
and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the
world. Amen.
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH
DEVOTIONALS
ALWAYS FREE OF
CHARGE
(but
not necessarily free of COST)
Feel free to redistribute
these materials to whomever you want...
Be careful to observe
copyright information where appropriate...
Please submit all
questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for
subscriptions to
Request a free copy of my evangelistic
presentation:
"The God Who is Really There"
from [EMAIL PROTECTED]
to unsubscribe
from these devotionals,
type the word "cancel" in the subject line of the message.
and send a "reply to
author" from your email
software. God Bless
You.....brother bob.......<>< This message scanned for viruses by CoreComm
For more information, please visit our home page http://www.nazerene.com
SPONSORED LINKS
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
|
