One of the defining turning points in my mind when I think of the history of the twelve tribes of Israel was a point of decision. God had, with a mighty hand, led them out of slavery in Egypt, through the mighty red sea, and now into the desert where he would prepare them for their promised land. The whole nation was encamped near a mountain and God had told them to draw near so he could talk to them from the mountain. He desperately desired fellowship and open communication with His people.

The people purified themselves and drew near to the mountain, which was now enveloped in loud thunder, flashes of lightning, great quaking, and a roaring fire: a display of the awesome glory of God. The people were afraid – and their fearful desire for self-preservation was greater than their desire for fellowship with their creator – so they told Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Ex. 19:12 – 20:21) So the people withdrew from the bottom of the mountain to stand afar off and watch.

I can only imagine God’s disappointment when he saw the people back away. He had done so much for them and all He expected in return was an open line of communication. He did not want to start a religion, He wanted to start a relationship with His people. He wanted to talk to each of them, and only one was willing to do it face to face. Only one was hungry enough to know God that they were willing to risk hair and hide to find do it. Only one.

The unfortunate dilemma in many church systems today is very similar. Churches have been set up using Old Testament hierarchies when the Old Testament has passed away. The church in the first century was so wonderfully free from religion that there were no heads or tails among the people. No pulpits and pews in their meeting rooms. No clergy and laity. Rather all were kings and priests to God, and for the most part they acted like it. They all ministered in different ways, all were used in differing gifts of the Spirit, all took part in building up the whole body. As a result, all layed hands on the sick, all visited the infirmed or imprisoned, all baptized new believers, and all were charged with being prayer warriors and soul winners.

The average church group today looks very different. They have a Moses, and they have told him, “You go for us.” Without realizing it, they have rejected God as their King and heaped to themselves a mediator. Someone who will talk to God on their behalf and deliver His messages for them. A leader they can call their own and who will represent them to the world and to God. This setup hinders the forward movement of the body of Christ in at least two key ways. The leader becomes overworked and born down with way too much responsibility, and the saints under their ministry become fat and lazy and carnal – I say this with great respect for the motives and efforts of every church group today, because I used to be on both sides of that coin.

What is most unfortunate is that most saints prefer it this way!

Stapleton is a growing neighborhood in Denver, built on the former site of our airport. As you walk through the open air malls, there are young trees in the middle of large circles of soil. Three metal stakes surround the base, and strands from each stake connect to the diminutive trunk. Though the tree is young and no more than 8 feet tall, it is obvious what Stapleton intends for these saplings to become. Tall, strong trees providing shade in the summer, and beauty throughout the year.

Imagine now this same setting…a large circle of soil, three metal stakes, three strands…connected to a seedling about one foot tall. A bit odd you might say? Not only that, but the seedling would either be ripped out of the ground or choked to death. These growing organisms benefit from support that is designed for their stage in the life cycle of a tree.

In our church network, Ancient Paths Church, we have begun to multiply churches into several neighborhoods in Denver. As we grow, our need for support also has grown. We have begun a monthly leadership meeting for house church leaders and shepherds to share God stories, encourage one another, share church family needs, and share lessons learned. With almost a half dozen churches in existence or starting soon, there were about 15 people in the room. This monthly meeting will be essential for us to stay connected, encouraged, and focused.

In Colorado at large, we have begun to gather together from across the state to accomplish similar goals. Previous posts here on this website talk about the blessing it has been to share our challenges, blessings, and lessons learned. in the past months, opportunities have also begun to arise for training through several of the church networks. It has seemed good to the Spirit and to many of us involved in leading networks to begin praying about how we can grow churches, disciples, and leaders tall and strong.

All of this has happened….quite organically. As the need has arisen, the Head of the church has placed it upon the heart of individuals to exercise their gifts for the benefit of the church.

It is far too easy too look for hard and fast models. “If you want a healthy church network have 1 local leadership meeting each month with 3 leaders from each church, 6 community gatherings per year, attend 2 national conferences, read 8 books…” Too many of us have experienced the fruitlessness of building a house in vain, where the Lord has not been the builder. It is also seductive when experiencing growth to take too much credit for that growth. It is true that the skilled gardener deserves her due, but also the One who provided the sun, rain, seed, soil, and fertilizer.

Are you looking for wisdom in how to grow your church sapling into a tall, strong tree? The Lord knows better than any other the condition of the soil and those seeds that grow best. He knows the gifts His Spirit has given to the members of the body, and following His lead will provide the best context for those gifts to thrive.

Pray for wisdom to know what supports your community needs. If you don’t see those supports available, perhaps you are the one to begin praying for them, and initiate offering them to others!

Do you have training opportunities or support ideas gained from your church networks? Leave a comment to this post and share how God is working.

I recently posted this on my personal blog and thought it would be good to share here. ~Rose Starr

Some of you may know that we are a part of a house church network. Desi, my husband is a pastor/house church coach/mentor here in Denver. We have had a very interesting journey these past 4+ years in this lovely city. We came out as inner city missionaries to start a traditional church. After meeting in our home weekly for awhile (doing house church but not calling it that!) we ended up being given a large donation from an anonymous donor and began renting a small chapel. Although we had a sizable core group, we didn’t grow. We moved to another location and again did not grow. I struggled with not enjoying Sundays at all. It was so much work to haul tub after tub of stuff only to go through these church motions and then have to clean up again. We moved to another location and started meeting on Sunday nights. Again, no growth…people left instead! It was discouraging. We felt like we were wasting God’s resources and after much prayer and about 6 months at that location we went back to Sunday mornings at a house.

We decided to pray and seek God and His will for our group which had grown and shrunk and grown again with people leaving and God bringing us together with another small group. Turns out we had the same vision and heart for the city as this other group who joined up with us before we moved to Sunday nights renting space at a local church. Desi and Bruce (his ministry partner) along with Carrie (another inner city missionary) began to meet/pray regularly and in earnest. I’m not sure how, but we heard of a large house church conference that would be in Denver that summer that was put on by House 2 House. We felt led to go and wouldn’t you know it, that was our start into house church gatherings. We had a lot of ‘traditional mindset’ to re-think as we searched the Scriptures to see what ‘church’ was really about. We discovered some simple and profound things: That were two or more are gathered in His name, He’s there and really that is church…the believers…we are His bride…the church is people and when we are together, we are doing church! Now this may be too liberal a definition for some folks, and that’s ok, but we love it!

Our group met on Sunday mornings at one house for about a year, getting used to being a part of something so different than most of us had been a part of. We began to minister to one another in beautiful ways. We used resources to give to the needy in our own group as well as in the city. We grew in friendship, love and life. We saw some leave and many more come. We joined up with large traditional churches for outreaches and VBS’ in the summer. We prayed that God would send laborers for the harvest and He did! Story after story of how He grew us and brought new people. I love it! Near the end of last year, we realized our core group was getting too large for the house we met in. We all began to pray and ask God to lead us, to move in our hearts and give us a desire to multiply in order to grow and continue to make disciples.

Since then, we have grown into a network of five house churches. One meets Sunday morning, two on Sunday nights (alternating between two houses), one Tuesday night and one Thursday night. Each church looks and feels a bit different, but each is active, alive, nurturing and growing. Desi and I are hosting every 2nd & 4th Sunday evening partnering with another couple who live about a mile from us who host the 1st and 3rd Sundays at their house. It’s nice to start off just every other week and share the hosting and cooking. At our Sunday evening gatherings we share a meal at 5:30 and have our gathering after the meal. Our first gathering was last Sunday. I felt led to have us do an activity I found in a book about Lent for kids. It was a family tree where we all drew/cut out a symbol with our name to represent our branch. We then wrote on leaves qualities that we saw in others that were a blessing and glued the leaves to their branches. It was a wonderful way to start off our gathering and include our 4 kids. We then moved into a time of sharing while we sipped tea and after a little while the kids retired to the basement for a movie. We adults continued to share and fellowship till almost 11pm!

Here’s our Family Tree

Our gatherings will be a bit ‘loose’ as we seek to listen to the Spirit’s leading. Our desire is to encourage spiritual gifts and give place and time for those gifts to be shared. We want to come together with something learned from the week that we can offer to each other. We desire transparency, honesty, respect, to honor one another and to grow in relationship with our father God. We will invite neighbors, friends and whomever God leads us to with no expectations other than to see what God has for us.

Our network will plan regular large gatherings, outings, trips, parties, outreaches, celebrations, ect…in order to stay connected with one another. Desi and I will host a game night once a month with the invite open to all the house churches and our neighbors. We are praying about various VBS’ put on the the various house church homes/neighborhoods for this summer to reach kids and neighbors with God’s love.

I wanted to share what we were doing and how blessed I am to be a part of something that has helped me grow in my spiritual walk more than ever before. I have been challenged to be an active participant in every meeting. To be open to different views, different people, different ways of interacting with God. We still have much to learn, will probably make mistakes, will start something- realize it doesn’t work- and change our plans, and that’s ok! I have so much to learn as a daughter, wife, mother, friend and neighbor. I am learning to be ok with the process, to enjoy the journey, to see events in my life as a small piece of a much larger picture, to see God’s hand of grace in every aspect of my daily life. It’s mind boggling really.

~Rose

Friends,

All of us have been drawn into simple/house churches believing that Jesus had more in mind for church than what we had been experiencing in the institutional church. At this present moment, we have the opportunity to explore more deeply Jesus’ idea of church by partnering with simple churches in Kenya in this time of their desperate need.

Let me give you some background.

In the Fall of 2006, three of my friends Greg Strand (Indianapolis) and Jan and Tina Cowles (Denver) were asked to come to Kenya by church leaders there to teach on simple church. What they found during their 16 day stay was a situation prepared by God. They ministered in several different cities but here is a comment from Greg following their 4 days of training in one of those cities called Kitale:

“Incredible conference! God has been moving powerfully. These men and women have been prepared by the Spirit with the same message we have been learning… The major training in listening to the voice of Jesus, Luke 10 teaching, community and doing life together has been readily accepted. They have a renewed vision to reach this area as the Spirit guides each one.”

Since that trip, scores of simple churches have been planted by the Kenyans in their own country and in surrounding countries. Greg and Jan and Tina have continued to stay in regular contact with the Kenyan leaders through email and phone (Skype).

In November of 2007, my friends, Roger and Brooks Thoman (Central California) traveled to Kenya to further encourage the leaders of the growing simple church movement there. Here’s what Brooks reported:

“But what I saw in Kenya, I also see in America and other parts of the world…The Reformation of the 21st Century, led by the Holy Spirit, is taking Christianity out of containers into the open spaces of the neighborhoods and nations of the world.”

Then, this last December, shortly after Roger and Brooks returned to the US, widespread violence broke out in Kenya as the result of a disputed presidential election. Thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands have lost their homes. Many of our new simple church friends have been deeply affected. Here’s an email from Isaac Cheduke to Roger just a couple of days ago on 1/31/08:

“So far since you left us I and my wife Colleta had managed to teach and multiply our Nakuru house church membership to thirty houses which has total number of 100 people. From these houses being the meeting points, people were being mentored to go and begin more house churches and continue multiplying in other surrounding areas.”

Roger – Obviously, the situation has now greatly changed and the following report is hard to even imagine:

“It’s unfortunate for us that in our process of the Good News spreading to broaden our Nakuru House church network in Kenya calamity has befallen us. All of us are displaced and our houses looted from, our businesses closed down, our women and girls raped, our members killed. Right now as I speak we need to bury ten of our members killed in this violence. Some of us have received death threats, but in the camp where we are, we have learned to stick together as a family. We pray together, read and discuss the word, sing praise and worship songs. We share our experiences and put all our trust in God. Surprising, for when we begin our services many people are joining us and we are telling them we are Nakuru House church and teaching them the gospel of multiplication. So far we have ten families which have joined us right in this camp.”

Isaac goes on the describe some of their imminent needs:

“I personally need to move my family to safety. My wife is being threatened to be raped and I have also received death threats. My two boys are not going to school anymore.” (Note from Roger: money we are sending this week has been partially earmarked specifically to get Isaac and his family to safety).

We need to bury our members who have been killed as a result of this violence. Currently there are ten bodies: 4 women, 3 men, and 3 children.

We have had three girls and five of our Nakuru house church women raped before their husbands and children. Three of them were raped with more than ten people and two of them with more than seven people. These women have not been thoroughly examined by a doctor and treated for lack of finances.

I need to move our members who are not the tribe of this place (Nakuru) to western Kenya. Otherwise they will be killed. There are ten families. What they need is only transport and Police escort. Here we pay police escort. These ten families are all numbering 30 people. Transport which includes police escort fee is KSH 3000($50) per person. Without police escort here traveling is like committing suicide…

Even though we are weak now but we are strong. Some of us have never been in such a situation, sincerely we don’t even know what to say or how to act. The more days go by the more it sinks in for us that it’s happening.”

This is where simple churches in North America and the rest of the world come in.

A number of us have felt that we are to present this situation to the simple churches here so that they can ask Papa how we are to partner with the simple churches in Kenya.

Here’s what we have done…

1. A Kenya Listening Team has been assembled. This is comprised of Greg Strand, Jan and Tina Cowles, Roger and Brooks Thoman and Dawson Mudenyo (a house church leader in Kenya). Their mission is to listen to what is going on in Kenya and to listen to what God is saying about what to do about it. Specifically, they will direct whatever funds are contributed to help in Kenya.

2. A website has been set up. Roger has set up a website to keep us informed on what is going on and what the Listening Team is hearing. http://www.simplechurchescare.com

Make sure you look at the short video at http://www.simplechurchescare.com/learn.html

Information on contributing finances is at http://www.simplechurchescare.com/donations.html

Here’s what we are asking you to do…

1. Look at the website. Take a look at the website to see what is happening. Share the info with your simple church.

2. Ask Papa. As a church, ask Papa what He want you to do.

3. Pass this on. Send this email on to other simple churches that you are in contact with.

So, here’s the bottom line.

This is an opportunity for us to step up and partner with brothers and sisters who are on the same journey we are on. We are not working through huge organizations or ministries here. We are working through relationships. I know the people on the Kenya Listening Team and I trust them. They know the house church leaders on the ground in Kenya and trust them.

Isn’t this the way we pictured simple church working?

Your brother,

John White

“The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gifts to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” Acts. 11:29,30.

A Miracle is something only God could do, and I can confidently say I have been blessed to be a part of a very unique one.

    Over a year ago, my family left our traditional church, feeling the call of God to start gathering from house to house in Aurora and east Denver – just as the believers did in the New Testament. When we first started, we did not know that there were so many others doing the same thing all over the place! A few months later, through a series of God-ordained events, we made our first contact with another “Simple church” in the five points area near downtown Denver. I remember emailing Desi Starr (I had found him by chance through house2house.org) and going over to their home a couple nights later to meet and share what God had been doing with us. This began a close friendship between us and our house churches, which shortly thereafter included a meeting with John White, local DAWN associate and house church friend.

    Well 4 or 5 months ago Desi, myself, and another brother started talking about the need for holding a larger gathering of simple churches every few months for support, fellowship, and a larger vision. We proceeded in presenting the idea to a few other simple churches we knew around here, and it seemed that nearly everyone was feeling the same desire to be connected to other simple churches around the front range. So back in October, on a Saturday evening we gathered for the first time in Golden, CO for an evening of sharing food, testimonies, and fellowship. We weren’t sure how many would show (at least 50 would’ve been nice!) but when the event arrived there were an estimated 150 or more people (not counting the kids) packed into this fellowship hall from house/simple churches all over the front range (from down in Pueblo all the way up to up in Fort Collins!). People from different denominations, different backgrounds, different beliefs – but all gathering with one purpose - to love Jesus and love and build up one another.

    What’s the miracle? The Christian church here in America has been segregated by denominations for so long, it is hard to see how it will ever regain its original unity (remember the wonderful diversity and unity of the “love feast” gatherings of the early church?)… Personally, in all my life I’ve never been a part of a church gathering with such incredible diversity and such incredible unity at the same time - but God is doing it, right here and now!  In our planning sessions alone between gatherings (of 8-12 people), we have at least 8 different denominational backgrounds represented (Lutheran, evangelical free, southern baptist, foursquare, presbyterian, campus crusade, grace brethren and united pentecostal). Imagine how many denominational backgrounds are represented when we come together in our larger gathering of 150+ people! What could people from such different backgrounds and belief systems possibly have in common? Well, at least 2 things: A sincere love for Jesus Christ, and a burden to see simple churches of all kinds in every neighborhood along the front range.

    You can experience this miracle as well.

Our next Colorado house church gathering is Saturday, January 12th at 5pm! (see below)

Much love to all the brethren :) 

-Sean Hyatt, Aurora CO, 303.523.2315

________________________________________________________        As always, we seek to keep the Head of the Church (Jesus) at the head of our gatherings, but here are the general details:

Last year, my network of churches in Lakewood began meeting every 8 weeks with a network from Golden for mutual encouragement and celebration. More recently, we have begun meeting with the leaders of networks in central and east Denver. Out of this flowed a combined Celebration on October 20th which included worship, sharing and vision casting for our city. It was a packed night and some people were standing for over two hours as people shared from house churches all over Denver Metro. We had people all the way from the Black Forest area in the south to Ft. Collins in the north. There were over 100 people from at least 20 different house churches.

This is just wild, not only how many there are and how we are connecting and but the spontaneous growth that is happening among them. There was an excitement of the growing numbers of HC’s… guessing 70 or more in the Denver area. For the next gathering we may need to get a room about 4 times the size. There is a new website and we are trying to get all the house churches on the map. www.coloradohousechurch.com

Our vision of a house church within walking distance of every person in Golden/Lakewood… Denver ….Colorado… North America… is beginning to spread.

Does that make you want to be part of a HC …and the HC movement… and then join to help and/or start one after that?

Living for so much more and it is too exciting,

Jan Cowles
Lakewood, Colorado

jancowles[AT]comcast.net

In Luke 10:2b, we are commanded “Pray that the Lord of harvest would send out laborers into his harvest field.” There is a Luke 10:2b virus going around. People are pairing up to pray this prayer daily and some have reported seeing answers weekly. After praying Luke 10:2b almost every day over the phone for a year with Randy, a friend from Indy, we have begun to see some fruit in the Denver metro area in the last several months. The passage about the patient farmer waiting for the crops to come (James 5) rebukes me. I had begun to wonder if God was hearing our daily persistent knocking. Now I am wondering if the trickle of what is happening is a prequel to what could become a flow … yikes …a flood.

In late spring, my main church planting partner, Dan Thoemke, and I began to see about one new house church starting every month. As of late, this is increasing in our part of the western subs of Denver. Recently, three new churches have started in the Green Mountain area. Two of them are big enough to make two or three more house churches. This kind of growth is coming sooner than we expected because our focus has been on carefully growing healthy churches with a strong DNA that will grow other healthy churches.

There are many more thrilling stories. One brother, who I have been meeting with for the last couple of months, has four new believers who are reaching out to their unchurched friends. Three of them are starting at least one house church in the next month. These include a former gang leader and other another gang member. Several new believers are beginning house churches from Dan Thoemke’s network. A YWAM student (Youth With A Mission) will be coaching these new believers as he is seeking to start a church in Idaho Springs.

Not only are new churches being started with new believers. We are also discovering existing networks in different places that have the same vision. Just this week we connected with a network of house churches in Boulder. We all came away pumped. With our vision already expanding for Denver, we were blown way at all that God was doing in Boulder already.

Jan

This is a brief note that Michael Tummillo sent to all the folks on his mailing list and it is very simple yet very powerful, so I thought I would share it:

Last Saturday, I drove 3 hours to a small Texas town where a man had asked me to come and explain the Simple Church/House Church concept to him and some others at his home. We had a wonderful 2 hour meeting and I left by laying hands upon them and releasing them into this new ministry.

Yesterday, that same man wrote with the questions: “How do we begin the meeting? What atmosphere do we try to create?”

As I responded I wondered how many others might have similar concerns. So, I am sending the response I sent him to you, too!

Here it is:

1 Cor 14:26 says, “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”

I’ve stopped inviting people to “church” or even “Home Church,” “House Church” or “Simple Church.” This whole thing is to happen organically. Since everyone we know EATS, I simply invite people to dinner! During the course of the evening, we may wind up counseling, praying for people the way I prayed for you guys on Saturday. We have even piled in the van and gone places to minister to others. At times, we’ve wound up playing games. The #1 goal: become a family! Think “family reunion.” We share our lives, not merely an hour. Someone with a guitar may lead us in a few songs but it’s not something we do every time. Worship, after all, is a lifestyle. Even our work is actually a form of worship. Before anybody leaves, we ALWAYS ask if we can pray for them. Most times, that winds up with laying on hands, anointing with oil, tears and even deliverance!

At the proper time, you will be given the opportunity to share that this IS as much church as anything we Christians do on Sundays in a building. The BEST part of House Church is the meetings AFTER the meetings…the lunches, the movies, the phone calls and emails, the walks in the park with people who feel loved enough to open up and seek counsel and prayer.

Resist the urge to get “churchy” and just be brothers in Christ. Don’t argue doctrine. Don’t preach. If teaching is done, try and teach the Doctrine of Christ (just ask and Ill give you my “Jesus Said It” study). Focus on the many “One another” verses in Scripture. People are lonely, hurting, feel unaccepted, judged…people listened to Jesus because He sounded different among the religious voices of the day. So, love them, accept them, make them feel special and remind them of their worthiness before God.

Does that help?

In time, you’ll get to know more people who are into meeting this way and you’ll fellowship with them. On occasion, a traveling minister will pass through town and you will all gather your church families and eat and love and laugh and listen as The Church did when Paul was in Troas. I’ll keep you abreast of regional things you can tap into.

Some of your people may still wish to attend traditional church. Fine! They’re family, too! Let your people know that it’s Ok. The most important thing is to be led by the Spirit and do as He says.

October 20th is the date for the upcoming Denver Gathering of house churches! For this first gathering we will be joining a network of house churches in Golden, CO who have been holding these types of gatherings for many moons now. We have perhaps a dozen different house churches in different locations around Denver (and along the front range) who are planning on representing that we know of (probably many more than that).

The meeting is for networking, worship, sharing, and fellowship among all the house churches who would like to participate. Please invite ANY and ALL who would like to join us there!! A few details about the upcoming evening:

-Childcare will be provided for young children

-Anyone who can is invited to bring a dessert to share (desserts only this time to keep it simple, so eat dinner before you come)

-ANYONE who would like to help with worship during the gathering (if you play an instrument, or sing, or just like to pretend to do either one please come early at 4:30pm to practice. Anyone welcome!

-The forum will be a time of fellowshipping, a time of worshipping together, a time of sharing (different folks will be sharing their stories, or their visions for what God wants to do in Colorado)…

-WHERE will it be? *** Hillside Community Church, 103 N Ford St, Golden, CO, @6:00PM ***

I am convinced that this gathering will be a huge blessing to all in attendance, so please join us in prayer that the Lord’s will be done!

***********************************************************

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 training in this.

Some retraining is in order. One of the best passages to help us do this is Heb. 10:24-25:

“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. “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 lillies.” (Lk. 12:24-27) This is work that we must do ahead of time. This is preparation done in prayer before we meet.

2. NIV says “Let us consider how …”. The Greek really says “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” 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”. Each one is unique. What works for one may not work for another. I must “think deeply” about each one.

3. “Let us consider how we may spur one another 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.”) Means “to stir up, incite, provoke, motivate”. Again, what motivates one will not motivate another. Every parent and every coach know this.

4. “Let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds” How do we know if our meeting has accomplished what God wanted? We know if people leave being highly motivated and spurred on to love (God and others) and to express that love in good works throughout the week. If this doesn’t happen then we have fallen short. This helps us understand 1 Cor. 14:26 – “Let everything be done for the strengthening (edification) of the church.”

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

I can describe my version of Simple Church in two words: eating and blessing. Both activities are designed to “spur one another to love and good deeds”. Both are designed to “strengthen/edify/encourage” the church.

1. Eating. The Lord’s Supper. Dinner with Jesus. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad (implies “exuberant joy”) and sincere (implies an “uncluttered simplicity”) hearts.” (Acts 2:46). Church takes place around the dinner table. The meal is the time to talk about what God is doing in your life. It’s the time to remember Jesus. (1 Cor. 11:24)

*Tell how He blessed you in the last week.
*Tell what you are learning from His word.
*Tell how He used a brother or sister to encourage you.
*Tell about God sightings.
*Tell Holy Ghost stories.

*”Forget none of his benefits” Ps. 103:1-2

This is participatory church. This requires preparation. Thought and prayer ahead of time. This kind of sharing is what “spurs the church on to love and good deeds”. “And they overcame him (the accuser of the brethern) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Rev. 12:11

2. Blessing. After dinner (or during dinner) spend time blessing one another. Speak to one another about their God given identity (who they are) and their destiny (what God has made them to do). Share how you see Jesus in their life. Strengthen one another.

*Husbands to wives. (In front of God and everyone!)
*Wives to husbands.
*Parents to children.
*Every believer to every other believer.

*Use passages of Scripture. (Col. 3:16)
*Use prayer.
*Use song. (Eph. 5:19)
*Use prophecy. (1 Cor. 14:3)
*Use the laying on of hands.

*All at the direction of the Spirit.

The goal? To spur/motivate one another to love and good deeds.

This requires preparation. katanoeo. Thinking deeply about each other. Listening to God on their behalf in order to bless/edify/encourage them. This is the stated New Testament purpose of church!

Very different from Spectator Church. We haven’t done it this way before! Retraining is in order. Leaders/parents: take the lead. Model how this is done week after week. Be patient with those who are learning a new way to do church. And when someone gets it right. When they actually prepare for church and come with a blessing from God or a blessing for another, then CELEBRATE! Make sure they know what it means to you and to your church.

And know that the Lord is delighted that you are doing church the way He intended it to be done. A family that blesses Him and each other.

John White
House Church Coach
Denver, CO

Every Christian a church planter.
Every home/family a church.
Every church building a training center.