START A CHURCH IN YOUR HOUSE
Romans 16:5
Give my greetings to the church that meets in their house.–The Apostle Paul
1 Corinthians 16:19
The churches here in the province of Asia greet you heartily in the Lord, along with Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.–The Apostle Paul
Colossians 4:15
Greet Nympha and the church that is in her house.–The Apostle Paul
Philemon 1:2
I am also writing to the church that meets in your house.–The Apostle Paul
Over the last decade, many have written to me to express their personal frustrations with the current state of their church. They see many compromising with the world, who’ve embraced the social justice mantra, or have gone soft on vital issues the Bible speaks loud and clear on. They’ve watched as church leaders cowardly caved into the unconstitutional COVID restrictions, instituted by corrupt government officials. They’ve watched as pastors deliberately avoid teaching on Biblical roles for men and women in marriage. They’ve witnessed pastor’s cowardly refusal to take a righteous stand, to speak out boldly on the significant moral and political issues of our times. They watched as Christian leaders enabled and empowered the wicked “MeToo mob.” They are sickened by the nominal Christianity they are surrounded by. Many have expressed their longing to fellowship with devout Christians who sincerely embrace the same Biblical values and practices that they do. They want to fellowship with families who are practicing the Biblical model God designed for husband and wife and the raising and training of children, which I wrote about in last week’s article: The Cost of Defying God’s Design, and have written about so many times in previous Thoughts Provoking articles. They want to meet with Christians who are daily in the Word of God, striving to actually obey it, and live it out. So many are longing for real, authentic Christianity.
Instead, they’re witnessing with their own eyes what I’ve seen happen in the evangelical church over the last 30 years, things books have been written about. The Christian Church, by and large, is failing to produce genuine, committed disciples of Jesus Christ. It has become a consumer-driven institution. A programmatic, entertainment saturated, spectator event, often with a celebrity-pastor. Most participants are shallow, nominal, and lukewarm. That is not just my observation, but the hard facts of extensive research done on this subject.
So let me suggest something to you, something radically Biblical, something any of you reading this can do if you want to. Start your own house church. Invite some of your friends who genuinely desire to live out and practice their faith with their families — those who share your Biblical values regarding the roles of mom and dad, of training and homeschooling their children, of reaching others for Christ, who desire to honor God with their lives, and are devoted to reading the Word of God and to prayer. Then simply gather these few in your own home each week, and share a simple meal, take the Lord’s Supper together, worship and pray together, and read some scripture. You don’t have to have fancy teaching. Simply focus on these simple faith practices, and fellowship and encourage each other in your faith. Meet on a Sunday morning at a time that is convenient for you, or late Sunday afternoon, if that works better.
Love one another. Walk humbly with one another. Make Jesus Christ the center of your attention and devotion, and exalt His Word. Practice living in obedience to the Word of God. Fan in to flame each other’s faith. Encourage each other. Care for one another. Seek the Lord and pray together. Don’t put on airs, just live honestly with one another.
Remember–when 2 or 3 are gathered together, Jesus is in your midst.
I began this article sharing four passages of Scripture that make it crystal clear, this was the practice of the early Apostolic church. They had house churches. This was one significant reason for the success of Christianity in the first century. It’s easy to do, accessible, and doesn’t involve million dollar budgets. It’s hard to be fake in a small group of people in a home, and it is much easier to keep everyone on the same page. And it is meaningful and relational, providing real, genuine fellowship.
With young children involved, as many of you have larger families, be sure not to drag the meetings on and on. You will bore the children and make it hard for them to concentrate for a longer time. Have a specific start time and end time.
House churches were a vital, strategic part of my Rock Church for years, with many young children attending with their parents. It was powerful for molding and shaping lives, for inculcating them in a Biblical way of life, for planning micro-mission trips together, for encouraging each other, and providing wonderful, spiritual, emotional camaraderie for all my families who were homeschooling and practicing the Biblical model of family and training children.
My wife and I do house church each week around our dining table and we love it. It is a blessing to us each week. I read scripture, we pray, and we take the Lord’s Supper together. We will continue it the rest of our lives.
Don’t be afraid to “break out of the box” of old ways of doing things. I believe “back to the future” is a wonderful, powerful way to live authentic, meaningful, Biblical Christianity in the corrupt, compromising, desperate times we live in.
Practical tips for doing house church.
Start on time. End on time. Then if people want to hang out a bit to fellowship afterwards, great, it’s up to them. I suggest going no longer than an hour and fifteen minutes. If you decide to have a meal afterwards, which can be a tremendous tool for fellowship, then obviously your overall time will go longer.
Have a pot of coffee ready, and homemade cinnamon rolls to facilitate a warm, communal experience. Also, I suggest offering some gluten free ones as well, for any adults or children who may be dealing with health issues.
Have to-go coffee cups with the lids you can sip from, like you get at coffee shops, for ease of use for those attending.
Once a month, have an additional time for wives to get together to fellowship and share with each other, to strengthen them as wives and mothers, while the dads babysit the kids at home. Once a month, have an additional time for the dads to gather to fellowship and strengthen them as husbands and fathers, while the wives watch the kids.
Occasionally, you can have your house church in your backyard around a campfire, or sitting in a circle in your back yard.
Always have a room available where a nursing mom can take a child to nurse, or a place where mom could take a child who may be struggling with fussiness or crying. Have an adequate chair or rocker there for mom to sit comfortably to nurse her child.
Meet in the same home each week, and at the same time, so people know exactly when and where they are going to be meeting.
I suggest using the same version of the Bible, so if people follow along with the scripture reading they are all seeing the same thing. I suggest the New Living Translation as it is the easiest to understand for all ages.
If you have someone who can skillfully play the guitar and sing, certainly you can have a time for singing commonly known worship songs together. We did this in my Rock house churches for years. But, if you don’t have a worship song time, do not feel bad, or let that keep you from having your own house church.
For those of you who really want to have teaching as part of your house church, feel free to use one of the hundreds of messages or series from my Strong Disciple website. They will build you up in your faith, challenge you, inspire you, and impart sound, wise Biblical truth to your participants. I know a man in ministry who regularly gathers Christians in his home to listen to my Strong Disciple messages together, and he has told me it has been a very impactful experience for them. One other thing to know, over the years I have had countless parents come up to me and say, “Pastor Mark, my kids love listening to you preach. They can understand you and you keep their attention.” Here is a link to simply review all the series and messages available. I would also be very happy to personally recommend any particular one if you want to email me and ask for suggestions. https://strongdisciple.com/
Also, there is no absolute Biblical requirement stating that each house church must have its own recognized pastor or elder or you cannot have a house church.
And no, I do not believe “house church” is the only legitimate way to do church.
If I can be of any assistance to any of you in starting your own house church, please email me. Then we can visit over the phone if you would like to. I have a lot of experience doing house church in real life. I started my faith journey in a house church in 1975. I did them for 10 years in Ames, Iowa. I’ve even written a booklet about it, which can be modified for your purposes.
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
