Churches in the New Testament era were indeed small assemblies that met in homes (Acts 2:46; 20:20). So, the practice of attending a home church, or house church, is biblical. There are other good reasons to have house churches as opposed to large gatherings: greater intimacy, stronger relationships, single-mindedness, prevents spiritual stagnancy, encourages your group to be active instead of lazy. The fact that large churches usually have their own small groups that meet in homes speaks to the value of the house church model.
Having Church At Home is Easy And Rewarding
Ive been keeping Church At Home for over 40 years, Ive made a few observations about it…
Here are some SUGGESTIONS:
- Everyone could bring a potluck.
Whatever you bring, bring enough for your family and one other person… its good to have left overs, because that means everyone had their fill, and you can always finish it off later during the week. - The Man of the House is the leader of the Assembly. He will deliberate when and who will to pray, keep the bible reading on schedule, and any other normal duties a host would provide for his guests.
TURN THAT STUPID TELEVISION OFF - *Open with prayer
*Visit a little bit, 30 min or so - Pray for each other
We will often ask for who wants prayer or if anyone has a Praise Report.
(When you ask people to pray for you, its important you bring them any news about how God is answering)
This is also the time to anoint people with oil, or Pray-Through any particularly besetting troubles - ****Do the Bible Reading.***
(Pray over the Reading) We begin in Matthew 1:1 and read a good 5 chapters, then next week we pick up where we left off. It will take 7 years of direct reading to read the whole bible from cover to cover.
Normally we will gather in a circle with everyone facing each other, children will sit in the middle on the floor.
Whoever is reading, DONT comment, and DONT interrupt the reader. Children who can read, often do and should read, give them half chapters (So, the child will read half then another child and perhaps a mother will finish). At the end of each chapter take time to ask questions and bring commentary to the table. (Its okay to help with hard words, or misread verses)… The discussion after the chapter should be DIRECTLY related to the Scripture.
DONT watch preachers unless its a special viewing…. everything should come from the efforts of the worshipers
*We often eat first thing but you can eat after the reading, it YOUR group.
*If you have someone who can sing or play an instrument is always a blessing, or you all may want to sing as a group (My group rarely has music or sings, and I like that too) - After the reading,
people usually hang out and discuss Christian Issues, many groups last all day, from about 9am till Sunset, but that may be too much for beginners. The outline in this summary will last a couple of hours.
*At the end, have a closing Prayer
When we assemble, EVERYONE should bring something to the table… a song, a good report, a treasure from the Word, an edification, a prayer, a story of how the Almighty is working in their own life…
As you start doing this you will discover MANY Christians meet at home, and there are probably one or more groups in your area. This is usually discovered through moms that Home School their children. Its always nice to visit other groups and have groups visit you. But when a group gets about 10 or so adults its probably time to make 2 smaller groups.
Just as each man is a minister, and needs to be ministering the Word, so also is each group is Autonomous, we have NO AUTHORITARIAN LEADER except for Jesus Christ. Each member has special anointings, gifts to the church, and the whole body of Christ works together.
Meet on a weekly basis, and let your children grow up with their children, and their children with your children, and over time you will know these people like family. Because we ARE family, we are the Church of Almighty YAH in Jesus Christ.
You probably don’t allow your children in public schools… Home School your kids
https://blog.sonlight.com/best-christian-homeschool-programs-and-curriculum.html
Do you know about the 119 Ministries Fellowship Finder? These Home Groups are Christian Roots, they keep the Biblical Sabbath. To learn more about the Biblical Sabbath, here is a whole website devoted to the topic, and here is a video you could watch.
https://www.119ministries.com/resources/fellowship-finder
RESOURCES:
1. https://biblicisminstitute.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/church-services-are-not-biblical/
2. https://www.churchathome.org/video/restoring-original-christianity.html