Source: LK10.com, article by John White

Years of sitting in traditional church has not prepared us to do church in the manner described in the New Testament.

We have been taught to come. To sit. To watch and listen to what others have prepared. Someone described it as “sit, soak and sour.”

This is Spectator Church. And it is no way to train believers to be priests!

By contrast, the churches described in the Bible engaged in Participatory Church. This kind of church requires preparation on the part of all of it’s members. This is new. We haven’t been taught how to do this.

Therefore, some retraining is in order. One of the best passages to help us do this is Heb. 10:24-25. As you consider the instruction in v. 24, note that it is given in the context of the church “meeting together” in v. 25.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”(NIV)

Here are a few notes to help understand the passage:

1. “Let us…” Note what this doesn’t say. It doesn’t say “Let the pastor consider…” or “Let the house church leader consider…” The key word is “us.” Every member of the church. The priesthood of all believers. The mark of a mature church is that every member understands and fulfills their role in “preparing for church”. No spectators in New Testament church!
2. “Let us consider…”: from katanoeo. noeo = to think + kata = an intensifier. To think deeply about, consider, contemplate, observe. Jesus uses the same word when he says, “Consider the ravens…consider the lilies.” (Lk. 12:24-27) This is work that we must do ahead of time. This is where listening prayer comes in. We consider God’s prevenience. What is He initiating in the lives of the other people in my spiritual family?
3. NIV says “Let us consider how …”. The Greek really says “Let us consider one another…” We are to be observing and thinking deeply about the others in our simple church in order to be able to effectively “stir them up to love and good works”. (Hard to do this if we only see them once a week.) Each one is unique. What works for one may not work for another. I must “think deeply” about each one. (Difficult to do this in a church of 100 or 1000.) How is God already at work in their lives? How am I to join Him in what He is doing?
4. “Let us consider one another to spur (them) on.” “Spur on” comes from a root word that means “to make sharp” as with a sword. (Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”) It means “to stir up, incite, provoke, motivate”. (Note: What motivates one will not motivate another. Every parent and every coach know this.) This is the focus and goal of the New Testament church meeting – every member involved in lovingly and effectively motivating the others. Teaching the Word, singing, prophesying, etc. are not the goal of our meeting together, they are the means to the goal. (This helps us understand 1 Cor. 14:26 – “Let everything be done for the strengthening (edification) of the church.”)
5. “Let us consider one another to spur (them) on to love and good deeds.” How do we know if our meeting has accomplished what God wanted? We know if people leave being motivated and spurred on to love (God and others) and to express that love in good works throughout the week. (Note: This is not a guilt motivation resulting from “should’s and ought’s”. Rather, it is a heart motivation that comes from a genuine desire that God stirs up on the inside. We can’t make this happen. We can only see what God is doing and join Him in that.)

Church prepares us for the rest of the week (24/7). And the rest of the week (24/7) is where we (all of us!) prepare for church.

Source: LK10.com, article by John WhiteWhile I don’t want to see house church reduced to a “program”, I do believe that there are certain values that are present in healthy churches. These values are often conveyed best in pictures and stories. Here’s one of those stories…

Here’s an email from a church planter in Uganda who is becoming a part of the “revolution”:

Hi john,

I am indeed greatful for your consideration to me as part of this great ministry of dawn. Concerning church planting missions in uganda and the areas i do opperate my missions we are begining without delay. we want to raise a healthy and a church of quality not quantity! Please John i have a quastion,when starting a house church do you need to build a struture or fellowships are done in believers houses? Is there a differance between a cell group fellowships and the house church fellowships? How large should a house fellowship be? God bless you indeed and my the lord of hervest bring many labourers to His field.

These are great questions and I suspect that there are many others who are just starting on this journey who have similar questions. While I don’t want to see house church reduced to a “program”, I do believe that there are certain values that are present in healthy churches. These values are often conveyed best in pictures and stories.

I want to share with you the picture of a house church in Portland, Oregon led by Rich and Kimberly Hagler (See below).  Here are some of the important values that I see portrayed in what they call “the Isaiah 61 House Church”…

1. A clear goal. See the comments on Isaiah 61. The goal is not the meeting. The meeting is a means to the end of life transformation. That is, “being shaped” to look more like Jesus.
2. A clear process. “Hearing and following the leading of the Spirit”. This is the alternative to implementing programs and it results in intimacy with the Lord and each other.
3. Not just a meeting. They do meet together (almost all day!) but the church is not limited to the meeting. Or, perhaps we could say that the “meeting” goes on all week.
4. Unbelievers reached. Not from an “evangelism program” but as a natural result of being “drawn to the Father’s glory”.
5. Church planting. The Hagler’s church was planted by the Mayhew’s church. Now, the Hagler’s church is planting other churches “in Portland and beyond”. At least three generations of churches are represented in this story in a little over one year. This kind of church planting comes from “sensing the Father’s call” and feels natural and spontaneous.
6. Part of a network. The Hagler’s church is part of a larger community or network of house churches called the Columbia-Williamette Simple Church Co-op. For those of you concerned that house churches may become isolated and ingrown, see the attachment for the excellent newsletter of this Co-op which is produced by Dan Mayhew. These three simple church networks partner in all kinds of equipping and missional activities. One of the wonderful things about the house church movement is the glorious diversity and creativity that is emerging. The Hagler House Church is not the way to do it but simply the way that the Lord has led them. Learn from them but don’t copy them.

Allow the Holy Spirit to create something wonderfully unique in your home.

John White
Lk10 Community Facilitator

Experiencing Isaiah 61

Our Isaiah 61 House Church began on Sunday, September 4, 2005 with 13 adventuresome folks, previously meeting at Dan & Jody Mayhew’s home, joining with Rich & Kimberly Hagler who were sensing the Father’s call to start a new house church.

Building on “hearing and following the leading of the Spirit” DNA that the Mayhew’s modeled, Isaiah 61 is a gathering of believers who desire to intentionally and experientially submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus as He disciples us and to walk together with all others who share that desire. As His Body, we believe our corporate, committed discipleship journey includes living out Jesus’ own Gospel ministry, which He announced in quoting Isaiah 61:1 There He declared,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19).

The church gathers at Rich & Kimberly’s home every Sunday morning starting at 11 AM, to live out these Kingdom values over the course of the day (and by extension, throughout the rest of the week). Based on 1 Corinthians 14:26, the Body-life begins with an extended time of Spirit-led, spontaneous praise, worship, Scripture reading, prophetic words, and prayer to the Father, which then transitions into sharing and ministering to one another over what the Lord has been saying and doing in our lives as He disciples us. The gathering continues with a meal around the table and informal fellowship lasting into the late afternoon (and sometimes the evening).

Since we first started meeting together, we have been humbled and blessed by the growing sense of the Father’s intimate presence, out of which the Spirit has been actively ministering in many areas of our lives and relationships. That ministry has been both good and challenging as the Father has been shaping and sanctifying each of us to look more like His Son.

As a result of these intimate interchanges, the group has been growing in love for one another and bonding as a community, often meeting together informally in smaller groups for prayer, fun, and fellowship throughout the week. The church includes both singles and married couples in all walks and stages of life, spanning the ages of the mid-20′s to the early-70′s.

Finally, the Father has been pleased to give us 2 huge additional blessings. First, the Lord has been adding a number of newcomers to our Body, both unbelievers who are being drawn to the Father’s glory and are now in various stages of the process of being saved, as well as believers who have been previously either disconnected from or dissatisfied with their church experience and “are looking for more.”

Second, our church is experiencing the joy of becoming “parents”, seeing a number of our excited members and friends who have been blessed in Is 61, now planting their own HC’s in Portland and beyond. It’s been a wonderful and wild ride following “the Wild Goose” so far (which is how the Celtic Christians referred to the Holy Spirit), and we are looking forward to so much more!

The night of his betrayal Jesus told his disciples that he would soon be leaving them. He understood that a painful death awaited him, followed by a glorious resurrection, and ascension to be with the Father.

John 16:5-6 – “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”

All of this would happen in the next forty-some days, but the disciples didn’t know that. All they knew was that the man they called “Lord” was leaving for a place they could not go.

This was the man they experienced life with for the past three years. He was the one who brought them all together. He was the common bond among these fishermen, tax collectors, and political activists.

He had once called each of them saying, “Follow Me,” and they responded. Peter left his fishing boat. Matthew left his lucrative financial career. Each one of them had dropped everything they had and threw their lot in with the Jewish carpenter who spoke words that resonated in their souls. And now he was leaving.

The rug was pulled from underneath their feet. The foundation they had built their lives upon was seemingly crumbling. Sorrow must have surged through their hearts, stealing their breath and closing their mouths. James and John, called the “Sons of Thunder” for their boisterous nature, now had nothing to say.

They had no religious practices to turn to. There were no best-seller books to read or conferences to attend. They didn’t have the luxury of piously flavored, religious distractions to occupy them in his absence. They couldn’t just walk back into the local Jewish synagogue after having experienced life with Jesus.

He had become the center and reason of their lives. Imagining life without his presence was inconceivable. It would have left them inconsolable.

Now we know the whole story. We know how Jesus rose from the dead, how he ascended to his Father in heaven, how the Spirit was poured out on Pentecost. But they did not. All they knew was that Jesus was going to be missing and it devastated them.

As I read this story, I have to ask myself how content am I to live without the presence of Jesus in my life. Can I go a day, a week, or a month without really missing his absence?

How many times have I left church services without experiencing his presence? Worse yet, how often have I quieted this inner disappointment by saying, “Well, we can’t always expect to feel his presence.” Worse still, how many times have I spoke this cheap excuse to others?

Are our standards so low that we can find contentment without the presence of Jesus? We can gather together, sing a few songs, and listen to a lengthy sermon – all without encountering the Person of Jesus Christ. What does that say about our form of Christianity?

I am done with living an emaciated life, starved from the presence of Jesus. I am finished trying to find contentment in the outward motions of “spiritual discipline” while my soul remains untouched by His presence.

There is one thing I want and it is Jesus – completely, entirely, exclusively, unashamedly Jesus.

“One thing I ask, this one thing I will seek, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord all the days of my life” (Ps 27:4).