These are my rough notes from the one day conference on the subject of House Church / Simple Church held on 7 November 2009 by the Rhein Maas Church network of churches.
This page of notes relate to this blogpost.
Contents
1.Speakers
2. Agenda
What is church
Make Disciples, Train Leaders, Multiplication
Fellowship
3. Notes
4. Questions
5. Summary
..
1 Speakers
Marc van der Woude of Joel News joelnews.org
Jonathan Fokker, Church Planter jonathanchristina.typepad.com
Steve Hill of Harvest Now Harvest -Now
2. Agenda
2.1 1 What is churchSteve
We need a different view on establishing church not the corporate approach of establishing an organization.
Jesus said 'go into the harvest' 'the fields are white'
BUT we say 'come to us'
because then we are in control
but Jesus did not say they would come, so they will not come
Jesus says go without bag, culture, money, sandals
go as person of peace
sit and eat and drink with them
in their culture not yours
so you accept their culture
you serve them
you teach them to be the pastor of their friends
you are a servant to the host of the house
so what is the church that Jesus builds?
Paul says, I lay a foundation
the people are responsible for building through Jesus
Jesus says don't make proselytes
converts to a religion or doctrine
rather, heal the sick, announce the Kingdom of God
Most church groups have as the first question
authority - who is in charge?
but in Jesus' way the servant planter moves on, he does not take charge
Jesus then builds his church
this is very simple
but we have a lot of complex history
the people want elders
Titus is supposed to find men whose families are in order, etc., but he finds people who are not in order
See link: Titus 1:4-6
What does an elder do?
Ephesians
I know wolves will arise don't let it happen
talented people with "their" house church should move on and plant a new church but instead of being servants they operate as kings
gifted people should move on and leave the authority in the family of the house of peace
He calls the 12 "friends"
He who has all authority made the hierarchy completely flat
the reality is we are all priests, Jesus is our head and glory, we are all friends
Jesus is talking about going away and the disciples are distressed
how could it be better if he goes?
because I am going to send the Holy Spirit
He will be in you
this is better than the physical presence of Jesus
Leadership Jesus way
be first to suffer
be first to forgive
be first to admit that I am wrong
Jesus says it is better for you to have the Holy Spirit than to have me
be like Jesus and press them into the Holy Spirit
So the question is - what is church?
I come to your house and lay a foundation of Holy Spirit
then I leave for the Holy Spirit to build - how that works is different per culture
Paul lays a foundation of Christ
tells them to build on it and then leaves
Corinthians:
they had questions about all sorts of details
Paul trusted the foundation of the Holy Spirit in the people
On the question of eating meat that had been offered to idols in the pagan temples
Paul said I don't care what meat you eat
just don't hurt anyone
A demonstration of his trust in the Holy Spirit
Luke 10
There
is a natural authority in a house. The master of the house protects and
cares for the household. And has the respect of the household.
There are places where the house of peace is the Mosque
the man of peace is the leader of the mosque
Steve is not afraid of syncretism in such circumstances
He is more afraid of syncretism in the western church
but the point is
lay a foundation of Christ
leave and allow the Holy Spirit to build
2.2 2
Make disciples
Train leaders
Multiplication
2.3 3
Fellowship
.
3 Notes
3.1 Steve Hill
working in central Asia
small scale
no big organisation
no buildings
started in Jesus People
sitting on the floor talking about Jesus
finished in Asia
sitting on the floor talking about Jesus
keep it simple
it's about Jesus
keep it simple
3.2 Jonathan (27)
started with a group praying for his village
simple church, making disciples
Floyd McClung training
keep it simple, worked in USA and Cambodia
See link: simplechurch.eu
passion for making disciples who go into the world to make more in small communities
3.3 Mark
Utrecht
two kids
Overvecht Netwerk
simple church group, doing a social program in a deprived neighbourhood
30 people
long term involvement with house church
had an experience years ago with a group of theological students who suddenly experienced Holy Spirit
this led to a house group
then led to a discussion - are we a church congregation. It was difficult to fit this in their theology and ecclesiology.
so seeking to experience the essentials of church community centered on Jesus
working to establish links between networks of simple church across Europe
three sorts of network
1. people who have come out of Institutional Church
with feeling that church has to be different from what they have experience so far
2. people looking to form missional church
yet they have almost no contact with non church people
they find such contact difficult
such groups have a lot of church background
3. groups established in specific cultural groups
e.g. Philippinos
e.g. Heavy Metal scene
such groups may have no church background
3.4 look for the houses of peace
many will slam the door but 20% are open
4 Questions
What
does Steve's approach mean? It seems the place from which we originate
is difficult hard ground to sow the Gospel. The rest of the world is
easier,
Consider what is the gospel and why should it be interesting for anyone. How are you to bring it in an interesting way?
When is it time to leave and move on?
a disciple is some one who actually follows Jesus
baptise
fill with the Holy Spirit
teach the breaking of bread
teach Bible reading
leaders tend to want to do too much
but creates a dependency
in Cambodia Jonathan let kids lead Bible studies
plan for multiplication from the beginning
get yourself in the background as quick as possible
Invest a lot in training of leaders so that the planter can move on
Everyone is called to be a disciple and witness
but within their capabilities
within their own authenticity
not everyone is an apostle or ...
Metaphors that Jesus used
lots of them had to do with multiplication creatures that do not multiply - die out
Your local area
seems like hard ground
if you go to some strange place it seems easier
look at the potential for fruitfulness
the scouts who were sent into the promised land
two had a different view from the others, those two saw the promised abundance, the others saw the threats and problems
Cambodia example
temples and altars to demons
alcohol problems
prostitution
nevertheless when approaching with the eyes of God
then it is possible
4.1 hospitality
often Jesus invited himself to peoples houses
an important strategy
everyone sees what happens
much more effective than if you take them away to some "church" place
the example of the BNN tv program testing the hospitality of Dutch homes
they came in every where
4.2 Steve example
in a church where they pastored
did not pull kids out of their culture
invited them to a salvation party
told them to introduce their old friends to their new Christian friends
but sometimes the kids warned that the leaders would like not like the old friends in the party
so went to meet the old friends on their own ground
one example
the leader of a motorbike club "Satan's Choice" became Christian
he would not leave the club until he had spoken individually to every member and explained why he was leaving
then he left the club
now, when they are in trouble they come to him
because he had not rejected them
every situation is different
but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit there is always a way
prayer for conversion of the nations is waste of time
Jesus said pray for the labourers
the fields are white ready to harvest
the harvesters need vision
the example of the Swedish radio station broadcasting to Saudi Arabia
4.3 Steve on quality of fellowship
Jesus immediately brought his disciples down the street into the lives of others
follow me I will make you fishers of men
we tend to have the Greek model of training and information delivery before considering going into action
Jesus dealt with the character issues while they were on the way to the next encounter
then he would take them aside for a weekend of teaching
then go again
Jesus' way was was based on friendship and quality of relationship
men develop friendship by doing things together
you are my friends if you do what I have asked
saying it as shockingly as I can:
no mission = no relationships
we think that we need to build the relationships and then go on mission
there is some truth in this
but Jesus did it on the way to the next village
how does this work in our lives?
we have reversed things
should be mission first
then relationship
NT has statements that we do not like to follow
We are people of mission and destiny
we cannot follow him without being on mission
we can only have deep fellowship with those on the same mission
if we are only trying to build fellowship then we have lots of small conflicts
if we are on the mission together
then we are joined and committed together
I am stuck in a Christian subculture
how do I get out of it into mission?
Jesus called his disciples out of their safe environment
so long as we stay in our comfort zone it is difficult for Jesus to reach us
it does take some time to get the church subculture out of your life
Example of a brother who came from Vladivostok to Tadjikistan to plant a church
he did hang gliding he invited the young guys to come hang gliding
they were surprised to find that he was a Christian
Cliché that the people in the church are good and clean and those outside are sinful and dirty
Jesus went to the sinners out of love
active process of love for all people to work out the Christian subculture
Example of a woman stuck in the Christian ghetto
what will I do Lord?
He answered "go to the pub" which was quite a shocking answer for this lady who had never been in a pub
But
she obeyed and in the pub God provided a mission field in the form of a
group of women who were seeking spiritual experience in all kinds of
new age and occult ways.
the examples
the pub
the cricket club
the Holy Spirit is the most creative person in the universe
what is he putting in your heart?
I don't feel ready to get out of the ghetto
we will never be ready
yet, we must go now
as soon as people are Christian they should be out on mission
the longer you stay in your traditional situation the more ineffective you become
The problem of small churches that go bad
three points
exposure to five fold ministry
The only Bible passage that says how to do church is 1 Cor 14:26
so the normal Christian meeting is one where everyone has input, so control and domination by a few is avoided
alas there are sectarian groups - maybe 25%
we can't solve this, it is a general problem in the church
we are trying to ensure that healthy groups are formed
Jesus said
whatever you do/for to the poor - you do to/for Him
serving the poor is a protection against sectarianism
relations with a network of (house)churches is a protection against sectarianism
accountability through relationships
the apostle overseer function
4.4 summary
go to the people in their circumstances
don't pull them into church ghetto
the requirement for the church is to go on mission
learn on the way
the role of the planter / overseer
an important role, but he must prepare the ground, sow and then move on
