One of the questions that comes up when people consider being a Simple Church is “Do I stop going to meet with other Christians in a larger group?” In other words, what about the more traditional practice of gathering for church in a conventional setting like a sanctuary or auditorium with a worship team and a preacher? The wonderful example that we have from the Book of Acts is that there is a place for both the small gathering of church in a home as well as the larger gathering of church in a more public place.
We know that the Christians in Jerusalem met both in the Temple Court as a very large group and that they also met in homes. In Ephesus there was period of a couple of years where Paul taught daily to the large group in the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus and that the followers of Jesus also met in their homes on a regular basis.
Part of the reason for having these different meetings is that certain size groups are better for some things that for others. A family sized group of a dozen or more is a perfect place for people to be discipled and be connected in solid fellowship. That is hard to do in a group of 500 or 1,000. What you can do in those groups is get great teaching and have a place to heal. Jesus did just that with large crowds.
As a result of understanding the value of church meeting in homes and church meeting in the large sanctuary, some conventional churches are moving to support networks of House/Simple churches. Three large churches who are all doing this, though in their own unique ways, are:
Apex Church in Dayton Ohio, http://www.apexcommunity.net/
Austin Stone Church in Austin Texas, http://www.austinstone.org/ and
Northland: A Church Distributed in Orlando http://www.northlandchurch.net/
.
So as you consider having church meet in your home, it does not mean that you must give up the larger gathering. In fact, if you only do one or the other, you will be missing out on an important part of the Christian life.
Temple Court and House to House
One of the questions that comes up when people consider being a Simple Church is “Do I stop going to meet with other Christians in a larger group?” In other words, what about the more traditional practice of gathering for church in a conventional setting like a sanctuary or auditorium with a worship team and a preacher? The wonderful example that we have from the Book of Acts is that there is a place for both the small gathering of church in a home as well as the larger gathering of church in a more public place.
We know that the Christians in Jerusalem met both in the Temple Court as a very large group and that they also met in homes. In Ephesus there was period of a couple of years where Paul taught daily to the large group in the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus and that the followers of Jesus also met in their homes on a regular basis.
Part of the reason for having these different meetings is that certain size groups are better for some things that for others. A family sized group of a dozen or more is a perfect place for people to be discipled and be connected in solid fellowship. That is hard to do in a group of 500 or 1,000. What you can do in those groups is get great teaching and have a place to heal. Jesus did just that with large crowds.
As a result of understanding the value of church meeting in homes and church meeting in the large sanctuary, some conventional churches are moving to support networks of House/Simple churches. Three large churches who are all doing this, though in their own unique ways, are:
Apex Church in Dayton Ohio, http://www.apexcommunity.net/
Austin Stone Church in Austin Texas, http://www.austinstone.org/ and
Northland: A Church Distributed in Orlando http://www.northlandchurch.net/
.
So as you consider having church meet in your home, it does not mean that you must give up the larger gathering. In fact, if you only do one or the other, you will be missing out on an important part of the Christian life.