Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Home Church Movement In America
As many Churches are closing their doors or not opening the doors as often as they use to due to the economic crisis. Some Churches even facing foreclosure and filing for bankruptcy in America. "House Churches" are popping up across the U.S.
Watching the report you get a strange feeling like you are watching a video from North Korea or other communist countries where believers have to have church in homes and in the "underground" in fear of persecution, imprisonment and even death.
To see the church in America doing this despite the fact we have freedom to worship in the open, yet desire a closer relationship with one another through the House Church. Shows that a big building, big lights, big screens, big bands and a big show is clearly NOT what worshiping God is all about.
When Jesus and the disciples had church most of the time they had church it was not in a church building per say. Their church was the open air meetings on a hill, in a field, or in someones home sharing a meal with one another and having fellowship and sharing the word of God and worshiping him.
Just as James 5:16 says
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
That is what we are suppose to be doing. Some churches today do not even have alters or even give an invitation for people to come forward and be prayed for by those in the church! They have an hour to hour and a half service where they sing a few songs, share a message ask you to give your tithe and offering and that's it, for the whole week.
The church needs desperately to get back to it's roots and stop all this nonsense. If we do not care for one another and have fellowship with each other how are we suppose to have a church? We won't have a church if we don't get out of our comfort zones and actually live what we say we believe. We must walk the walk and talk the talk.
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1 comment:
Thanks for your article on House Churches. I am a Canadian who has been serving in China the last 12 years. During most of that time my family and I have attended a House Church and love it. Without going into a theological discourse I will say this about what I have experienced:
The form of the Church meeting in homes, in smaller groups facilitates the function that Jesus Christ intended for us as His many-member body. To me it does this more fully and efficiently than the mega church form. I have attended two fairly large churches during my time in Canada. I see some strengths in gathering a large group together, but many more weaknesses. I firmly believe that the Head of the Church is Jesus Christ and that we as believers are parts of His body. The home church, to me, has the most potential in allowing the whole body to function, support and build up the other members. The shear size of mega churches is problematic to this.
We need to study the New Testament, write down all that the Lord desired for the Church in function and then adjust the form or structure to fulfill that function. I personally don't think that large church buildings, with professional ministers, departments, and so on are successfully fulfilling God's intended purpose for the Church.
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