The Church in Homes: House Church Ministry

The Church of Jesus Christ worships a trinitarian God. Christians today perceive and worship God the Father and Creator as declared through the 'Word made flesh' (Jesus Christ) who redeemed mankind. Jesus Christ is, in turn, known through the Bible (the written Word of God) as interpreted by the Holy Spirit.

The aim of this ministry is to design an infrastructure which conforms to the arrangements put in place by the founding fathers of the Church at its inception. Namely that the life, love and power seen in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ is seen to be present in its product, the Church. If Jesus Christ is seen to be the sole Prince and Ruler of His Body for which He paid dearly with His blood; and if the Bible is the standard reference point for all traditions, there would be much less need for the concretised organisational structures seen in the existing institutions.

To allow God to breathe life back into the Church through His Holy Spirit so that the signs discernible in any living organism can be seen in the Church (viz:- replication/reproduction, movement, communication, growth/self-repair etc) the following seven features are put forward. The first three are fundamental statements of belief which underpin the practical arrangements described in the last four.

  1. The Centrality of Jesus Christ to all decision-making and style must be restored. (As in Charles Sheldon's 'In His Steps' -What Would Jesus Do? WWJD). Thus Theocracy replaces Democracy as the modus operandi in the Church and in individual lives. In addition, God’s priorities once again become the priorities of the Church – for example, the Great Commission comes back to the top of the agenda. Mt 23:8-12; Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-18,20. The initial goal and preoccupation of the Church, to prepare individuals for the return of Jesus Christ as Judge must be restored. Acts 17:30,31.

  2. The Bible must be restored as the Word of God under the authorship of the Holy Spirit. 2 Tim 3:16,17; 2Pet 1:20,21. It must be believed and used as the primary basis of all teaching in the Church.

  3. The Holy Spirit must be restored to His place as the Teacher par excellence of the Church of Jesus Christ 1 Jn 2:20,27; Jn 14:26; Jn 15:26, Jn 16:13

  4. Four Basic Guidelines for Daily Discipline towards Personal Spiritual Growth:

    1. Daily Feeding on the Word of God - Reading, Understanding through re-reading and analysis, Memorising, Believing and Acting (RUMBA) 1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:14.
    2. Two-way communication with God in Prayer - Adoration and Address, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication/Intercession and listening for God's voice (ACTS) Eph 6:18; Is 30:21
    3. Intimate Holy Fellowship - Acts 2:42
    4. Witnessing - Rom 10:9,10; Mk 16:15; 1 Pet 3:15

  5. Principles governing Fellowship - The four things that constituted the fellowships in the early Church listed in Acts 2:42 should form the basis.

    1. There should be Bible study and it is suggested that each group should start by studying the Gospel of John, Acts and Romans using a study Bible and looking at all cross references from both OT and NT.
    2. There should be corporate prayer for each individuals needs, societal needs etc.
    3. There must be praise and worship with across the 'body' ministry.
    4. There must be breaking of bread. Depending on convenience, there might be either a conjoined bible-study/prayer meeting or there might be two short mid-week sessions per week. The principal regulation should be done by the Holy Spirit with 1 Cor 14:26 as guideline.

    The groups should preferably be kept small (eg 10-12 adults maximum). Each member should be encouraged to bring a new guest per week and there should be an opportunity for a visitor to make a decision to accept Jesus as Lord. When the group becomes larger than optimal, it should split into two. All members should be encouraged to host meetings.

  6. Conjoined Village-wide/Town-wide celebrations, possibly once a month should be arranged in a suitable location. Resources should be pooled – i. e. worship leaders and instrumentalists, people with ministry gifts e. g. apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors should minister and it should be possible to spend extended time in the presence of the Lord.

  7. Oversight is designed to operate over villages or towns, with additional co-ordination coming in at national or international levels. The only Master is Jesus Christ, but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as in Acts 1 and 6, elders will emerge after prayer.

By the end of 1999, a few groups have already started forming. If you are a mature and discipled Christian (no matter where you are living) are reading this and are interested in founding a group please make contact with me. We can then work together for the restructuring of the Body of Christ under His leadership. No one needs to leave their church fellowship for this purpose, since all that is intended is merely to shift the primary accountability of the individual towards Jesus Christ.