Some are called TO you.Some are called THROUGH you.

That’s a pretty good description of the Christian life. Therefore, since
you ARE The Church, it stands to reason that this would also describe
the typical House or Simple Church.WHY ISN’T OUR CHURCH GROWING?

Sure, a living thing’s a growing thing but where The Church is
concerned, it’s simply NOT about the numbers within any one group.

For starters, who’s keeping score? Surely not God. The typical House
Church might run from 10 to 12 people. In other cases, you might run 5
or 6 folks yet find yourselves regularly ministering to others who pass
through in need of ministry.

I have been on both the giving and receiving end of this example. In
December of 2000, a man invited me to attend a Christmas party that
his House Church group was having at his home. I felt compelled to go.
So, I hobbled over on my cane. Before the night was over, I was being
prayed for and prophesied over. As Paul instructed Timothy, over the
next few years, I did warfare with the prophesies I had received that
night from a room full of total strangers, listening over and over to the
prophesies that had been recorded that night and marveling as the
prophetic became reality in my life. Incredible!

I am also part of a House Church that has seen many individuals pass in
and out over the years. Some received healing. Others received
prophecies and words of knowledge. They come and go. We feed them
physically and spiritually. Some gather with us for a while or an evening.
Still others come and go at irregular intervals. Ultimately, only a small
core group attend consistently.

Yes, some are called TO you. Some are called THROUGH you.

CHURCH MULTIPLICATION CONCEPT

At its heart, The Church has always been missional. From the
adventures of Paul and Silas to the old time Methodist Circuit Riders to
today’s Itinerant Ministers, The Church has always needed help from
others where training and equipping is concerned. These days, I’m
finding that encouragement is greatly needed and pursued as gatherings
of Institutional Church refugees are hunkered down, looking for
confirmation to see if what they do is, well…acceptable. Some House
Churchers are made to feel they are border-line heretics or that they’re
in rebellion. They have in common those awkward moments when they’re
asked where they attend church, stuttering through some semblance of
an explanation only to receive strange looks in return.

We must train our people that it’s acceptable to establish churches in
their homes. It seems perfectly acceptable in the other 80% of the
world’s Christendom. It’s working among our brethren in developing
nations where Christian resources are scarce. But it will take great courage
to launch out into the deep in the West for the House Church concept is
foreign. Who will dare to depart from the norm and begin to live a more
New Testament style of Christianity?

Fear is the greatest deterrent to starting a House or Simple Church. One
man tells himself, I’m no theologian.” Another says, “No one will come.”
The house is too small. They live too far away. The people will talk.
Blah, blah, blah. The enemy would love for us all to get comfortable
with our living room liturgies, exchange our place on the church pew for
a place on somebody’s couch and experience little or no changes in form
or function.

We can come up with a million excuses why we shouldn’t do it. The best
reason why we SHOULD is that God is telling us to do so.

If one is unskilled, ask for help. God is raising up traveling ministers who
will gladly come to your aid. If nothing else, seek assistance online.
There’s plenty to read regarding every conceivable aspect of house church;
no need to reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of books on the subject as
well. Google them! Twenty years ago, I met a woman whose sons were
playing soccer. There had been no soccer leagues in their small town. In
fact, no one even knew how to play the game. Football and baseball, yes.

Soccer?

In Texas?

Forget it.

So, they started reading books. In time, the community learned the rules
of the game, attended clinics, asked questions and learned how to coach
and how to play.

Get the analogy?

BESIDES ALL THAT…

The statistics reveal that MOST who attend House Church are also
affiliated with an Institutional Church. Some within the House Church
Movement see that as “selling out” and treating House Church as some
sort of “Church Alternative,” forgetting that WE are The Church, all
the time, regardless of what building we meet in from cathedrals to
condos to conference rooms.

The worst thing Christians can do - whether they’re involved in a House
Church or an Institutional Church - is to develop an “Us vs. Them”
attitude and invite a Spirit of Division. Unity attracts power; let’s not
settle for anything less.

So, if the House Church concept intrigues you, go for it! Then, on Sunday,
go back to the place where you have your Membership if you must.

But beware! The advantages of House Church include not only intimate
fellowship - something that, believe it or not, many people prefer NOT
to subject themselves to, preferring to hide in the crowd as they submit
to the friendly confines of that which is familiar - but an opportunity to
develop their own spiritual gifts. According the Barna Research Group,
of the 43% of Americans who say they attend church, 74 percent attend
ONLY a traditional church, 19 percent attend both a traditional AND a
House Church, and 5 percent are House Church adherents ONLY…about
43 MILLION per month, NOT including cell groups.

Though a significant number of people appear to be leaving the
traditional church, many appear to be opting for a more informal pursuit
of the Christian life through House Churches. In the last decade alone,
according to Barna, the percentage of adults who attend a House Church
during a typical week grew from just 1% to 9%. If monthly attendance is
considered, Barna said “one out of five adults attends a house church at
least once a month.”

With about a 5% annual growth in House Church participation, such
phenomenal growth tell us that (A) people are liking what they find
there and (B) the desire to actually participate and develop our giftings
is rampant.

There.

You’ve been warned.

Let me know if I can help you with any aspect of House Church. If I cannot,
I’m sure I can direct you appropriately.

Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
A servant of God