HOUSE CHURCH

HOUSE CHURCH,   “WORTH CONSIDERING” 3/6/20   by Ken Smith<><

Today’s Scripture   ( In my email this morning.)
“…I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you…”  (Psalm 32:8, NIV)

Listen Closely and Follow
Many times we don’t realize that God is speaking to us. We feel an impression on the inside, a prompting to be good to someone. That’s not random. That’s God talking to us. Or, maybe you’re in a situation where you feel an uneasiness. Something says, “It’s not right. Stay away.” That’s not just your nerves. It’s God protecting you. Don’t ignore it, don’t talk yourself out of it; just obey. If you’ll follow that still, small voice, God says He will guide you along the best path for your life. If we’re listening to His still, small voice—the promptings, the suggestions, the alarms—He will save us from heartache and pain. He’ll lead us into promotion and favor. Too often we feel these impressions on the inside, but we dismiss them as not making sense, or override or overanalyze them. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Just obey. Anytime you obey, a blessing will always follow.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for loving me and for speaking to my heart. Thank You for giving me an inner ear to know right from wrong. Help me to be sensitive to Your still, small voice and hear it with clarity, to hear any alarms, promptings, and suggestions, and to be quick to obey. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Ken’s Thoughts,
So much of what is done on Sunday mornings today for church is traditional.  We need to head back into the New Testament to find out what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us.  For example there is not one word in the New Testament supporting tithing or building a church building.  All gifts & offerings were to be from the heart and for evangelism and to help the poor.

In the New Testament we find house churches for ministry to the saved and outdoor evangelism for the lost and personal evangelism in between.  And it appears that the Elders were always mentoring a disciple to help them learn to do what they were doing.  That we should be making disciples that can reproduce disciples that can reproduce disciples and so on.  Jesus noted that in John 17:20  “I do not pray for these alone [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for [all] those who [will ever] believe and trust in Me through their message,…” AMP

We will never see the Glory and Power of God in the New Testament Church until we learn to become 24/7 Christians who have a deep loving concern for the lost and learn how to help them find Jesus in the Holy Spirit.  It is the ministry of the sheep to bear the lambs.  It is the ministry of the shepherd to feed and protect the sheep, especially the lambs.

Most large ministries of the Holy Spirit come to a point in their existence of being too large to gather together and must either find larger facilities or build them or to begin to split up.  This is a critical stage as dividing into house churches and trying out a steward pastor would keep the intimacy of the forum rather than making the transition to a theater with a Sr. Pastor….  The smaller groups would have a lot more flexibility and the energy would go towards evangelism rather than boards and carpets.  The young stewards would gather with the Elders with a deep hunger to learn better how to help their little flocks and be mentored.  The growth would become exponential as was used by our LORD.   With the Elders gathering to keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace each week we would see only the one Church of Christ Jesus and eliminate the idea that it is OK to agree to disagree.   God does not have two truths on a given subject.  We, in love, need to have the patience on a subject to bring the scriptures together until they all fit together and we see the lovely picture of the  puzzle completed.  There is no room for denominational differences, it only confuses the sheep and GOD is never the author of confusion.

So go start a house church and keep working on it until it comes together through immersion in the New Testament.  You may not end up being the leader selected by the Holy Spirit.  But make your home a house of prayer and a place of God’s Truth.  The Early Church began on Sat. evening as the Jewish 1st day of the week.  But latter you could find a House Church gathering on every night of the week.   And I am sure the Elders found time to come together to help the Stewards learn to become Deacons to also learn to become Elders as per Eph.4:11-16.   “And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], 12 [and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church]; 13 until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity]. 14 So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit]. 15 But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ. 16 From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up [a]in [unselfish] love”   AMP

Yours in HIS great love and wonderful grace and mercy,    Ken   www.Trinity-Aloha.org
There is much more on this subject if interested find the link “Keys…” on our home page.

Today!
The novel coronavirus spreading across the world is already at a ‘pandemic’ stage, a top Israeli health official said Thursday, though world health authorities have held off from declaring a global outbreak.  The U.S. Senate voted near unanimously Thursday to approve $8.3 billion in new spending on the U.S. government’s efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

One commentary said the virus does not kill the children or the healthy,  but only the old that cumber the system and take up needed resources.  “Though old, I never felt that way before???”