Although the House Church is the only church model described in the Bible, it fell into relative obscurity in Western culture.
House Churches flourish in much of the rest of the world and while the institutional American church is losing millions of people per year, in Africa, Asia, India, and China, the House Church is growing rapidly.
What is a House Church?
Simply put, a House Church is a smaller group of people (typically 6-12 people) who regularly gather for worship in a private home or other smaller space, even outdoors, that is not typical of a larger church building.
My wife and I have been a part of many different churches over the last 25 years. Some mega-churches, some smaller churches, and a House Church.
We have seen many unbiblical things in the institutional churches we have been part of. Much of the Americanized church has very pagan origins.
The intent here is not to bash these churches, but if you would like to learn more about that I would recommend a book by Frank Viola and George Barna called Pagan Christianity.
Here we will be discussing the benefits of a House Church and in a future post we will discuss some of the possible drawbacks of a House Church.
What are the 8 benefits of a House Church?
1.) The House Church is more focused on God than on entertaining.
Many of the things we saw in our mega-church where we basically grew up spiritually were geared more toward entertainment than God’s word.
We saw people twirling from the ceiling, the pastor riding his Harley into church, lots of smoke, and much more but after attending 7 years someone asked me what my view was on the Tribulation, pre or post, and I had no idea what they were talking about.
In our small House Church we read directly out of the Bible and discuss, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, what we read. We learn how to apply it to our lives and much of the context and history behind it.
I can honestly say I have never grown closer to God and learned more about His word than I have in our little House Church.
“And Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house.” Philemon 1:2.
2.) Expenses are greatly reduced so donations can actually be used to help those in need and to fund evangelism and global missions.
We have our House Church at our God 411 store front just because it is centrally located, easy to access, and a small comfortable location.
Even though it is not technically at a house, it still is run as a House Church. Very few expenses (rent for the location is already paid by God 411).
We also have a donation box for The Jesus Film Project that anyone, as they are led, can donate to. Every 83 cents donated to the Jesus Film Project saves a soul somewhere in the world for all eternity.
Expenses for our House Church are so low that we can match any donation to the Jesus Film Project. Since the spring of 2021 through donations to the Jesus Film Project we have been able to save over 5,100 souls.
A local church had to pay $250,000 to make a turn out on the street for people to access their church without impeding the flow of traffic.
$250,000 donated to the Jesus Film Project could save over 300,000 souls for all eternity.
Obviously, there are expenses that churches must have to remain open, but House Churches can do pretty much all of the same things on a much smaller budget.
“The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 16:19
3.) The fellowship you have in a House Church will rarely happen at the same level in the institutional American church.
In the mega church we were part of, as soon as the service ended people almost sprinted toward their cars to beat the traffic.
And when we would hang around to fellowship, there were even times they shut the lights off on us.
After two and a half years in a House Church we have become best friends with those that we fellowship with.
We have been to movies together, we have been out to dinner together, we have shared things with each other, we have taken medicine to each other. Basically do life together.
We laugh, fellowship, pray, worship, do in-depth Bible studies, break bread, build relationships all while becoming fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20.
4.) In a world of shutdowns and restrictions due to a virus or for whatever reason they decide next, the House Church will remain intact.
Many many churches, even in our little mountain town shut down during the pandemic because the government told them.
While these churches were shutting down, our House Church remained open, and we had others join our group during the time of the shut downs.
We even saw our old mega church go woke.
We never know what may happen within our government, but our current freedoms may not always remain what they are supposed to be now.
“Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house.” Colossians 4:15
5.) At our House Church through God 411 we study directly out of the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit, so we do not run into any issues of denominational reasoning.
There are none of the countless departures from scripture that have happened over the years. We study God’s Word and God’s Word alone.
We are able to discuss the Bible freely and come to conclusions on what is being said and how to apply it to our daily lives.
Unfortunately, we have been to many churches where the pastor’s teaching and the Bible did not agree whatsoever.
At our House Church, we are Christians, not Baptists, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or whatever. Our goal is to promote an environment that is lead by the Holy Spirit, not traditions of men.
We do take communion every time we meet and sing hymns as Jesus and His disciples did in Matthew 26:26-30.
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
We have been to other churches where they would do communion only once a month because they thought it would make it more special. Which is like saying well maybe I will only attend church on Christmas and Easter because it will make it more special.
Again, we stick to the Bible.
6.) At our House Church we are not confined to a strict program order. For the first half hour or so we fellowship (or as one of our members calls it “talk story”) and catch up with each other what has been happening since the last time we met.
Then we typically take communion and sing a couple hymns before we get into the Word, but that is not set in stone.
If we have a low turnout on any given week for whatever reason, we may not sing a hymn or we may sing an extra one.
Or our “talk story” time may last for 45 minutes or so or our study may go over a half hour longer than normal.
Sometimes we may have a special teacher or go to a Christian movie. Of course, we always have prayer before and after our study.
“How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house.” Acts 20:20
7.) A smaller group allows everyone to participate.
Have you ever been sitting in a church service and either you missed what the pastor said, or you weren’t quite sure what it meant or how to apply it to your life?
You cannot raise your hand and ask the pastor to repeat himself or what it meant. Well, I guess you could, but it would probably be frowned upon.
I have been a Christian for 25 years and am fairly well versed in the Bible after reading studying, and teaching the Bible for much of that time (with much room to grow yet).
I have learned more during the time in our House Church due to the discussion that happens and the guidance of the Holy Spirit than I have in most of our years at larger churches with pastors.
People grow in the House Church environment.
Most members of our House Church contribute in some way. We have experts on Greek and Hebrew, we have political experts that keep us updated on local politics, we have a wonderful lady who is in the local choir to guide us in our hymns, we have new believers that ask great questions, we have experienced believers that ask deep theological questions.
“And suddenly there came from Heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” Acts 2:2
8.) As mentioned earlier, it is the only church model described in the Bible.
Taking a look at the Bible verses listed in this blog, you can surely see the House Church is how the first Christians fellowshipped and worshipped.
And, again, there are no examples of the first churches owning buildings.
“Greet also the church that meets at their house.” Romans 16:5
If you truly want to participate in an authentic Christian experience like the very first Christians did, try forming a House Church of your very own.
You will never look at Church the same way.
Next time we will talk about some of the potential pitfalls and things to watch out for in a House Church. As with anything when human beings are involved, it will not be perfect.
If you have any questions about starting your own House Church, please contact me at bob@vtaaz.com. I will do my best to help you.
W
Interesting too that in China, the former Soviet Union, and other countries that restrict the Gospel, the house church is the best way to meet together mainly for the sake of safety. I've also heard accounts where they could not notify other Believers about the date and location of the church meeting due to persecution, YET by Holy Spirit power, many were given the information supernaturally and so they showed up to the "underground/secret" church meeting. HalleluYah, our God is also the God of miracles!!
Nicely done. Informative.