First house meeting

[ByTheSpirit]

So I post this only to ask for suggestions in forming the pattern of ministry. I do not believe that is possible as the Spirit can and should be allowed to do what He wants, but to have some sort of stability, I ask for suggestions.

It was just myself, my wife, and our 3 children, today at least. I feel strongly that the Lord wants us to focus on growing in the knowledge of Him with a strong emphasis on prayer. So that is what I explained would be the focus of the ministry of sorts.

We start by reading a Psalm, today we read Psalm 1. When a Psalm is incredibly long we will break it up into smaller portions.

After this we worship and praise, today was only one song, but perhaps we could throw a couple more in there. After this is over, I put IHOP-KC's prayer room on the speaker's to play throughout the rest of the meeting.

We then spend 3-5 minutes in personal prayer and thanksgiving. Focusing on asking the Lord for increased revelation and knowledge of Himself. I close this time of prayer by reading Paul's prayer to the Ephesian church as outlined in Ephesians 3.

Then we go through the life of Jesus, using a "Harmony of the Gospels" outline for direction. Today we started with John 1:1-18. After we read the passage(s), we discuss what happens. How Jesus reacted and spoke, and how we can learn from it.

We end in prayer, and close by praying Paul's prayer for the Ephesians as outlined in Ephesians 1.

Perhaps I should allow more time somewhere so that we can just worship silently and allow the Spirit to speak and move. Perhaps at the end? It's hard to do as 2 of my oldest have autism and aren't easily controlled. So I'm trying to be flexible with the layout. I know God will in His grace, hear us and bless us.

Any ideas brothers and sisters?

 

[ByTheSpirit]

After reading a few other threads here I realize how I can add a few more things... Now to be sure I am not adding things to make it longer, but rather I see how I can incorporate some stuff to make it a more social type event rather than just a weekly Bible study. The one thread about going from 1-Midnight with games and activities is outstanding. Just the social and family aspect of it.

 

[1watchman]

Depending where you are, I may know of an established gathering near to you, friend.

 

[jannikitty]

Have done many small groups (but mostly women's ministries) and have found there always needs to be time (although you usually have to gate keep and limit it) devoted to simply personal sharing. That is..how is it going things? That is how folks get to know more about one another. But careful this doesn't become too time consuming or problem focusing or else there won't be time for the Word, Worship, and Prayer/Praise.

 

[timf]

Any ideas brothers and sisters?

In our house church we start with asking what questions anyone has. Sometimes we will suggest to the children during the week, "That would be a good Sunday question".

An interactive discussion can be more engaging than a lecture.

Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

In our house church we start with asking what questions anyone has. Sometimes we will suggest to the children during the week, "That would be a good Sunday question".

An interactive discussion can be more engaging than a lecture.

Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

You know, I actually had a vision not long ago about this thing. I was in front of a traditional church though, but I was slated to speak and instead of opening with the normal, open your Bibles to xyz passage, I stood there and I asked the congregation what was on their minds, then when a certain topic seemed to stick, we prayed about it and found a passage in scriptures that dealt with it and had a congregational study. So awesome how the Lord works like that!

 

[ezeric]

You know, I actually had a vision not long ago about this thing. I was in front of a traditional church though, but I was slated to speak and instead of opening with the normal, open your Bibles to xyz passage, I stood there and I asked the congregation what was on their minds, then when a certain topic seemed to stick, we prayed about it and found a passage in scriptures that dealt with it and had a congregational study. So awesome how the Lord works like that!

Your vision was a prophetic word brother, and praise the LORD for it!

One question: When you said 'in front of a traditional church' do you mean leading it (inside) or on the outside, near the front doors?

I would also add that allowing others to lead or share is important.
Have loads of laughs and fun, don't worry about that. You are supposed to be 'in the SPIRIT' and you can do that playing games or sharing both have their place!

The LORD showed me once, that you can be in the SPIRIT reading the newspaper and in the flesh reading your bible.
Its not an outward show of the flesh, rather a heart thing.

Keep up the excellent work of hearing from the LORD.
That is the only way it will grow, is HIS leading!

Exciting!

-eric

 

[jrdnoland]

So I post this only to ask for suggestions in forming the pattern of ministry. I do not believe that is possible as the Spirit can and should be allowed to do what He wants, but to have some sort of stability, I ask for suggestions.

It was just myself, my wife, and our 3 children, today at least. I feel strongly that the Lord wants us to focus on growing in the knowledge of Him with a strong emphasis on prayer. So that is what I explained would be the focus of the ministry of sorts.

We start by reading a Psalm, today we read Psalm 1. When a Psalm is incredibly long we will break it up into smaller portions.

After this we worship and praise, today was only one song, but perhaps we could throw a couple more in there. After this is over, I put IHOP-KC's prayer room on the speaker's to play throughout the rest of the meeting.

We then spend 3-5 minutes in personal prayer and thanksgiving. Focusing on asking the Lord for increased revelation and knowledge of Himself. I close this time of prayer by reading Paul's prayer to the Ephesian church as outlined in Ephesians 3.

Then we go through the life of Jesus, using a "Harmony of the Gospels" outline for direction. Today we started with John 1:1-18. After we read the passage(s), we discuss what happens. How Jesus reacted and spoke, and how we can learn from it.

We end in prayer, and close by praying Paul's prayer for the Ephesians as outlined in Ephesians 1.

Perhaps I should allow more time somewhere so that we can just worship silently and allow the Spirit to speak and move. Perhaps at the end? It's hard to do as 2 of my oldest have autism and aren't easily controlled. So I'm trying to be flexible with the layout. I know God will in His grace, hear us and bless us.

Any ideas brothers and sisters?

Follow the way of the early church, use it as the pattern.

Some Apostolic traditions that should still be followed by the church today:
1. The Lord’s Supper eaten as a full meal (1 Co 11:17-34).
2. The Lord’s Supper partaken of weekly (1 Co 11:17-22).
3. The Lord’s Supper eaten as the main reason for meeting each week (Ac 20:7, 1 Co 11:33).
4. Interactive, participatory, open church meetings ( 1 Co 14:26, 37).
5. Mutual edification, encouragement and fellowship as the goals of church meetings (Ac 2:42, 1 Co 14:3-5, 12, 26, Heb 10:24-25).
6. Church government by consensus: elder-led rather that elder-ruled churches (Lk 22:24-27, 1 Pe 5:1-4).
7. Locally trained leaders (2Ti 2:2).
8. Church eldership that is male, plural, non-hierarchical, homegrown, servant leadership (1 Ti 3:1-7).
9. House churches: smaller congregations (Ro 16:5, Col 4:15, Phlm 2).
10. Meeting regularly on the Lord’s Day (Mt 28:1-7, Ac 20:7, 1 Co 16:1-4, Re 1:9-11).
11. The baptism of believers only (Mt 28:19-20).
12. The separation of church and state (Phlp 3:20).
13. A regenerate church body (Mt 18:15-20).
14. Children present in the church meeting (Mt 19:13-15, Lk 2:41-50, Ac 21:5, Ep 6:1-3, Col 4:16).
15. A community based church that can easily experience daily fellowship (Ac 2:42-47).
16. Church reproduction and equipping through the ministry of itinerant church workers such as apostles and evangelists (Ep 4:11-13).

 

[parsley]

How is it going so far?

I have found it comfortable when members share snacks and coffee at the beginning -- that helps people connect personally, and slow down from the rush to get there.

Too much structure with food -- a balanced meal-- tends to add tensions when there are gaps and things are not contributed in perfect order.

The personal time is good, as long as it doesn't get intrusive. Some people like to have a very connected relationship, but usually in these tighter groups there are still some people who do not agree to that amount of closeness. It can get to the point of leaders dictating how members should live, and that is not good.

"How is that going" -- Leave freedom for people to decline answering. People gossip, and it gets back to employers or family members, all twisted and inflated.

If the premise is a Bible study to learn more about God, and to pray, then keep that at the heart of what you do.

Games... hrm there will be people who did not come to the Bible study for games. If everyone agrees, then fine. But some people are really turned off by icebreakers. Since you are limited on time, stick to your focus unless you feel it truly will help.

I attended a very long Bible study with peers when I was a teen. We decided on topics, led prayers, taught each other under an adult facilitator. Snacks were held til the end, and play was scheduled on other nights where we could invite other friends. It worked out great.

We applied daily situations to Bible verses: "Psalm 1:8 reminds me of what's going on..." and also dug through concordances and other scriptures while on a topic. It would have been more dull if one person had taught.

I still find this true as an adult. If I want one person teaching, I will turn on the radio.

 

[cardigon]

yes

 

[Stefos]

Follow the way of the early church, use it as the pattern.

Some Apostolic traditions that should still be followed by the church today:
1. The Lord’s Supper eaten as a full meal (1 Co 11:17-34).
2. The Lord’s Supper partaken of weekly (1 Co 11:17-22).
3. The Lord’s Supper eaten as the main reason for meeting each week (Ac 20:7, 1 Co 11:33).
4. Interactive, participatory, open church meetings ( 1 Co 14:26, 37).
5. Mutual edification, encouragement and fellowship as the goals of church meetings (Ac 2:42, 1 Co 14:3-5, 12, 26, Heb 10:24-25).
6. Church government by consensus: elder-led rather that elder-ruled churches (Lk 22:24-27, 1 Pe 5:1-4).
7. Locally trained leaders (2Ti 2:2).
8. Church eldership that is male, plural, non-hierarchical, homegrown, servant leadership (1 Ti 3:1-7).
9. House churches: smaller congregations (Ro 16:5, Col 4:15, Phlm 2).
10. Meeting regularly on the Lord’s Day (Mt 28:1-7, Ac 20:7, 1 Co 16:1-4, Re 1:9-11).
11. The baptism of believers only (Mt 28:19-20).
12. The separation of church and state (Phlp 3:20).
13. A regenerate church body (Mt 18:15-20).
14. Children present in the church meeting (Mt 19:13-15, Lk 2:41-50, Ac 21:5, Ep 6:1-3, Col 4:16).
15. A community based church that can easily experience daily fellowship (Ac 2:42-47).
16. Church reproduction and equipping through the ministry of itinerant church workers such as apostles and evangelists (Ep 4:11-13).

Ditto but I would nix this point as there is no proof this happened weekly:
2. The Lord’s Supper partaken of weekly (1 Co 11:17-22).

I would add these points:
8 A. Deacons & Deaconesses being established according to I & II Timothy standards

9. Widows list as mentioned in Timothy as well.
In the ancient world, there was no Social Security card and no food stamps either!
To be a widow meant "I depend on God solely via HIM moving through his people"
Read Timothy & see if what I say is true or not.....I'm sure you'll agree!

I would reconsider this statement:
9. House churches: smaller congregations (Ro 16:5, Col 4:15, Phlm 2)

The House church is where a particular congregation met.
Many denominations say "We have cell groups/house church but we gather together for Sunday Celebration!"
It makes Sunday still seem to be "The Day" for spiritual things "to happen" which is not true as every day is "The Day" for spiritual things "to happen."

Amen?
I think so......I too am a sinner saved by grace & I think I too have the Holy Spirit....Thank you Lord Jesus

Stefos

 

[hopeinGod]

I'm reminded of the verse that encourages us to "give heed to reading, exhortation and to doctrine." In other words, reading, an encouraging word (or preaching, which in today's "church" is often too much like a scattered gunshot, or what I call "steer messages," a point here and a point there, with a lot of bull in the middle), and teaching.

I have always believed a systematic approach to teaching is important -- not so much devoted to any particular Bible book, but instead, principle studies, what the Word has to say throughout it regarding a particular topic. For instance, what does the Bible say about fear?

Well there are three basic fears mentioned: the fear of evil, death, and man. The verses that go with these are numerous, but you could go through a decent study with about thirty of them found in Psalms, Proverbs, Romans, 1 Cor., 2 Cor., Philippians, Hebrews, and others. This type of approach allows for the building of a serious student.

I have built a systematic approach to Bible study on my website. If interested, please IM me.

May the Lord bless your efforts.
David

 

[parsley]

That is..how is it going things? That is how folks get to know more about one another.

People these days are starved for connection to others. They are overworked, overstressed... and hope to make human contact in churches but then end up sitting and listening, then walking out the door. It is important to allow for natural conversation in a small setting like that, since connectedness (spiritual and social) is probably a big factor in why people are coming.

Keep the phrase "facilitate" in mind. You are there to make sure it happens. But since the Bible study needs to touch the people where they're at, the where is determined partially by the people's input.

 

[dagiffy]

So I post this only to ask for suggestions in forming the pattern of ministry. I do not believe that is possible as the Spirit can and should be allowed to do what He wants, but to have some sort of stability, I ask for suggestions.

It was just myself, my wife, and our 3 children, today at least. I feel strongly that the Lord wants us to focus on growing in the knowledge of Him with a strong emphasis on prayer. So that is what I explained would be the focus of the ministry of sorts.

We start by reading a Psalm, today we read Psalm 1. When a Psalm is incredibly long we will break it up into smaller portions.

After this we worship and praise, today was only one song, but perhaps we could throw a couple more in there. After this is over, I put IHOP-KC's prayer room on the speaker's to play throughout the rest of the meeting.

We then spend 3-5 minutes in personal prayer and thanksgiving. Focusing on asking the Lord for increased revelation and knowledge of Himself. I close this time of prayer by reading Paul's prayer to the Ephesian church as outlined in Ephesians 3.

Then we go through the life of Jesus, using a "Harmony of the Gospels" outline for direction. Today we started with John 1:1-18. After we read the passage(s), we discuss what happens. How Jesus reacted and spoke, and how we can learn from it.

We end in prayer, and close by praying Paul's prayer for the Ephesians as outlined in Ephesians 1.

Perhaps I should allow more time somewhere so that we can just worship silently and allow the Spirit to speak and move. Perhaps at the end? It's hard to do as 2 of my oldest have autism and aren't easily controlled. So I'm trying to be flexible with the layout. I know God will in His grace, hear us and bless us.

Any ideas brothers and sisters?

I would say be quiet before God. Wait. As the de facto leader, encourage your family to speak out what is on their hearts...for that is where God lives. If it's praise, worship, prophecy (speaking what is true) about God, let it go. Do not allow pandemonium, but one at a time.

Don't sing a song unless He puts it on someone's hearts first. Put the bible down; the Writer of the bible is there.

If you can't think of anything to do, then wait. He is there and He desires intimacy. You can't force it...or Him.

You CAN fake it, unfortunately.

It is the complete antithesis of the church service or mass approach and therefore completely foreign to most of us in the West, but it also happens to be the only kind of meeting taught in the N.T.

And forget "bible study" for a good, long while. That's what has gotten us in this mess. The exhortations to reading and to doctrine were given in a situation where almost no one knew the scriptures and almost everyone was a baby believer.

In time you will learn more from a morning spent with Jesus than all of the bible studies, sermons, and teaching tapes you've ever heard put together. He is worth waiting for, and don't be hard on yourself. You won't be able to study and reason yourself into intimacy, there's too much yeast there.

Wait on Him. Alone. Corporately with your family. Learn to listen to your heart, for that is where He dwells. He will lead you from your heart, and when you develop a taste for Him that way, the very thought of a "bible study" or a "church service" grows strangely dim by comparison.

 

[Willie T]

You don't have a time of praying for one another? Even in our home groups, the time of prayer for various kinds of healing is one of the most important parts.

 

[dagiffy]

I understand what you are asking. The only way I can answer it is if He leads us that way, we do. Amazing things happen when we don't "have a time of praying for each other", but rather follow His lead in everything.

One time as we were praying an older lady said her knee was hurting her. The Lord told another lady present to pray for her, so she did. We thought that was the end of it and thought no more of it that day.

The next time we got together, the older woman had a story to tell. As she was being prayed for, she had a vision of a doorway opened and flames inside the doorway. Later that week, the two ladies involved got together by themselves and prayed some more about this. What did it mean? The Lord told the second woman that the knee pain was there in response to sin in the older woman's life (though she kept that to herself at the time). The Lord told the older woman that these flame represented hell fire, that sin was in the camp (which she also kept to herself at the time).

The end of the matter, as the rest of us were told the next time we got together, was that this poor older woman had been a closet homosexual, not acting on the urges physically, but rather delighting in them within. Further, she discovered she resented God for making her a woman and was rebelling against His intentions for her as a woman, not delighting in Him and how He made her.

She was vaguely aware of all of this, but through the knee pain, praying for her...all led by Jesus in our midst...this poor woman's eyes were opened as to the condition of her heart, she was moved to ask Him to forgive her and set her free, and that life long burden was taken from her.

I could talk about other amazing things like this, but suffice it to say we don't have times of prayer for each other unless that's where He takes us that day. We don't presume to suppose we know what we need in any way but have perfect confidence that He does and that He will...if given the freedom to do so...bring about the ministering we need by Him through each other.

Our unspoken rule was "wait on Him" and basically when our time together started, we mainly waited together in His presence, meditating on Him. The rest just came out of our hearts and He led us along. Sometimes that was praying for each other and sometimes it wasn't.

 

[gfellowships]

Follow the way of the early church, use it as the pattern.

Some Apostolic traditions that should still be followed by the church today:
1. The Lord’s Supper eaten as a full meal (1 Co 11:17-34).
2. The Lord’s Supper partaken of weekly (1 Co 11:17-22).
3. The Lord’s Supper eaten as the main reason for meeting each week (Ac 20:7, 1 Co 11:33).
4. Interactive, participatory, open church meetings ( 1 Co 14:26, 37).
5. Mutual edification, encouragement and fellowship as the goals of church meetings (Ac 2:42, 1 Co 14:3-5, 12, 26, Heb 10:24-25).
6. Church government by consensus: elder-led rather that elder-ruled churches (Lk 22:24-27, 1 Pe 5:1-4).
7. Locally trained leaders (2Ti 2:2).
8. Church eldership that is male, plural, non-hierarchical, homegrown, servant leadership (1 Ti 3:1-7).
9. House churches: smaller congregations (Ro 16:5, Col 4:15, Phlm 2).
10. Meeting regularly on the Lord’s Day (Mt 28:1-7, Ac 20:7, 1 Co 16:1-4, Re 1:9-11).
11. The baptism of believers only (Mt 28:19-20).
12. The separation of church and state (Phlp 3:20).
13. A regenerate church body (Mt 18:15-20).
14. Children present in the church meeting (Mt 19:13-15, Lk 2:41-50, Ac 21:5, Ep 6:1-3, Col 4:16).
15. A community based church that can easily experience daily fellowship (Ac 2:42-47).
16. Church reproduction and equipping through the ministry of itinerant church workers such as apostles and evangelists (Ep 4:11-13).

I feel these suggestions are sound. You do not need to impliment all things at once just try doing something each week or teaching on each subject.

 

[dagiffy]

Originally Posted by jrdnoland;

""Follow the way of the early church, use it as the pattern.

Some Apostolic traditions that should still be followed by the church....""

​

"I feel these suggestions are sound. You do not need to impliment all things at once just try doing something each week or teaching on each subject." __________________

I guess the only problem with this is that we are not called to follow the leading of "the early church". Remember, the early church was admonished by Jesus for conducting their business without Him (Rev 3:20), among other things.

The early church isn't the model for us to follow, they had all kinds of problems just like we do.

We are called to follow Jesus. If we would start there, and stay there, a LOT of grief would be avoided. He's more than willing to teach us how He wants us to do this, that, and the other...why not go to Him?