Re: [TruthTalk] Home Church Ministries

[Debbie Sawczak]

triumphs and struggles, eeeeehhh? (Sorry, just baiting!)   I like your encouraging people to participate and minister with their gifts. Even "church church" services could give more opportunity for this. In my current church (where I don't fit very well, on many counts) the sermon has been expanding like the Sahara desert, four minutes per year, and squeezed out all but the singing and a couple of pulpit prayers. People also need to be encouraged to recognize ministry in talk/activity that isn't obviously "spiritual"; a gift (such as prophecy) indicates function, but not form. How 'bout more storytellers and poets in church?    Debbie   ----- Original Message ----- From: David Miller To: TruthTalk Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 5:56 PM Subject: [TruthTalk] Home Church Ministries Following is my next article for our church newsletter.  Terry expressed an interest in seeing it.  I welcome all comments.  The audience for this article is an apostolic non-denominational church which also has home church meetings.  I'm trying to help introduce the concept to those in the church who are familiar only with traditional church structure.  We have five home churches meeting right now.  I will be meeting with the leaders tonight.   Peace be with you. David Miller.   Home Church Ministries Church Participation   1 Corinthians 14:26 (26)  How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.            The first century believers regularly met in homes.  Therefore, the descriptions of some of the church meetings in the Scriptures may look somewhat different from our experience with church.  The passage quoted above, 1 Corinthians 14:26, is one such passage.  Here we read, EVERY ONE OF YOU has a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, or an interpretation.  Imagine coming into the meeting of the church, and everybody there had something to minister!  One person has a psalm, another has a teaching, still another is sharing a dream that they had, and yet another is offering an interpretation of that dream.  One person is compelled to pray for the sick, while another person has experienced the working of miracles.  Still another person has a message in tongues to deliver, and yet another person gives a word of prophecy.  Such a situation describes the situation with the church in Corinth.  Unlike the problems of many churches today where apathy and passivity dominate, there in Corinth, the problem was just the opposite.  Everyone was active and eager to minister the grace of God to one another.             Paul had to instruct them how to love one another while at the same time he was careful not to quench their zeal for spiritual gifts.           One of the natural results of having church meetings in the home is the ability to minister into the lives of one another.  Being in a smaller group makes it natural to share in the lives of one another.  We begin to find ourselves genuinely interested in others and learning more and more about each other the more we meet together in homes.  We also begin to learn of both the triumphs and struggles that each of us have.  We find ourselves praying less for ourselves and more for others.  This is exactly the way the Lord wants it to be.  Church life becomes more about serving others and less about what we can receive.  As the servant�s heart develops in us, it becomes natural for spiritual gifts also to develop.  After all, we are seeking God for how to help one another, and when the Spirit answers those prayers, it will be in the form of anointing us to minister one to another.          The church in Corinth is described as one where various people would minister various gifts one by one.  One might give a message in tongues, and another would interpret those tongues.  One might give a word of prophecy, and others would consider what was said.    1 Corinthians 14:29-31 (29)  Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. (30)  If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. (31)  For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.            Although your particular home church meeting might not look exactly like this description right now, we should expect that the Spirit of the Lord will be leading us in this direction.  The Scriptures provide for us a blueprint of what church looks like.  While we may be use to passivity, where one person speaks and everyone else is passive and receives, we need to look at church in a different way.  We need to see it as a place where we bring a part of what church is all about.  This week, be seeking the Lord about what he would have you bring.  Do you have a song?  Do you have a revelation?  Do you have a teaching?  Do you have a gift of healing or a word of exhortation? Bring it with you to home church, and seek the Lord about how to minister it to others in the spirit of grace.