What Is Simple Church?

House Church Defined

"I have described a house church as the pursuit of God in the company of friends, and so it is. At the end of the day, house church isn't about evangelism or any other activity. House church is the pursuit of God in the company of other 'children of the burning heart' whose greatest desire is intimacy and fellowship with God and one another.

"Like the house church at Antioch in Acts 13:1-3, house church is about 'ministering to the Lord and fasting' in the firm belief and expectation that as we do the Holy Spirit will speak and tell us what to do next. Paul's first missionary journey began not with a missions conference, but with a worshipping church which was 'ministering to the Lord and fasting'."

Maurice Smith
Parousia Newsletter
Newsletter @paropusianetwork.org

What Is Simple Church?

We all recognize that it would be ludicrous to think nailing a steeple to the roof of a house would make it a house church. Simple church is about a change in the way we do church.

FOOD

When you get together, eat! It provides a great atmosphere for people to have honest, open communication with each other.

OPEN PARTICIPATION

"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 Corinthians 14:26. The key is "everyone has..." Everybody should also be able to participate.

BIBLE STUDY

Keep it simple and interactive. A great technique is to look over a few verses together and then share what each person has learned.

PRAYER

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42 Find out what is happening in each other's lives and take time to pray for each other. Expect God to move powerfully and to speak to the group as you pray.

SIMPLICITY

Make sure that whatever you do can be duplicated. If the church is going to multiply rapidly, it must be kept simple.

Church is not about a weekly gathering, it's about a different way of life. "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

Copied from House2House Magazine, issue 10—used by permission