THE SUBTLE HERESY

“It’s a church without a name, without a building, without a pastor, without a program, without even an address… being more like Jesus does not mean being a super- involved church member… “It’s a church without a name, without a building, without a pastor, without a program, without even an address… being more like Jesus does not mean being a super- involved church member… THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

“Before real progress can be made, we will have to undergo a pivotal paradigm shift in the way we perceive even the notion of “church” itself…Our concept of the church typically tends to suggest organization, complete with hierarchy and dogma. By contrast, the early church…was far closer to being an organism—less dependent upon formal structure and more spontaneous in action” THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

✓ Believe that smaller groups are essential for true worship and fellowship THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT ✓ Stress that “house churches” are the pattern of the New Testament ✓ Define essential size as limited by the number who can eat a common meal together ✓ Incorporate “communion” into those common meals

✓ Accept and welcome a broad range of doctrinal diversity and religious practice THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT ✓ See the “house church” as necessary for evangelism ✓ Advocate a less formal atmosphere (clothing, behavior, teaching) ✓ Reject the notion of Located Preachers ✓ Reject weekly contribution

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “HCC is non-denominational and an effort is made to accommodate Christians of many backgrounds. The house church movement is an attempt to get away from the institutional church, seeking instead to return to the small gatherings of peoples that constituted all of the churches of the New Testament era.”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Authority. House church advocates reject any human authority other than the very real and present rule of Christ, who was inaugurated the king of his church at the first Pentecost (Acts 2). The house church assembles to know the will of its king through the Holy Spirit and to be obedient to that will...”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Heresy. Others argue that house churches, due to their lack of seminary trained clergy, might follow the examples of Jonestown and Waco. In this they have a point, as the New Testament is full of epistles that attempt to correct a legion of heresies in various churches--and all of the New Testament churches were, in fact, house churches...”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “One might say that the relationships in the institutional church excel in quantity and the house church provides a chance for better quality. But when Jesus said "the two or three gathered together" (Mt. 18:20), it seems that he had the house church in mind. One can hide in a large church--going week after week and never really building a relationship with anyone..”.

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Infant baptism was a hot button for the historical anabaptists and baptists. It was seen as the very symbol of church-state collaboration, and many of the early confessions anathematize the practice without mincing any words. Modern house church theologians, however, are not nearly as dogmatic on this issue--some are, and some are not...”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Are the Bible and the Word of God really the same? Most evangelicals today will usually answer "Yes" to this question, but one must ask whether such an answer is really biblical. The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 was struggling to understand Isa. 53 and was making no headway. He was reading the Scripture, but he was not getting the Word of God...”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Along came Philip, who was sensitive to what God was doing and who "preached" to him. Suddenly the Eunuch understood the Word of God with clarity and was baptized on confession of faith. Put another way, the Eunuch actually come to know God because he had encountered the transforming power of the Word of God. This example tells us that the "Word of God" was not the Isaiah text itself...”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “Yes, the Scripture was the center of the narrative, but the presence and work of the evangelist (Philip) and the Holy Spirit (who appears repeatedly in this passage) were also necessary for the Eunuch to appropriate the Word of God in this case.”

THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT “...comfortable...” “...uncomplicated environment...” “...diverse...” “...casual...”

The New Social Gospel “What Makes a Good Church?So, what do you think makes a good church? Although many answers could be given, several things come to mind. First, it needs to be one that uses the Bible for all its decisions (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If you were given instructions on how to bake a cake would you skip any steps? In the same way, a good church follows the “recipe” very closely. In the Bible, a church in Berea searched the Bible daily to find the truth about Jesus and His church (Acts 17:11). A good church would do exactly the same today.”

The New Social Gospel “Second, a good church is one that is safe to ask questions (Acts 2:37)... Asking questions is a great way to get answers and to feel a part of the group. As a by-product, diverse answers are OK too. Although every church usually has a particular answer for most questions, a good church realizes we are all still growing in knowledge and maturity in God’s Word. A good church recognizes the value in diversity and thrives on it.”

The New Social Gospel “Lastly, a good church loves people (1 John 4:7). Since the church is described like a family we should love one another as if we were actually related. That means helping, calling, hugging, talking, giving and sacrificing. Loving people also means we get into the community and volunteer our time, effort and talents. Loving people doesn’t just mean loving the lovable. It means loving all people regardless of race, color, gender, past sins, current sins or anything else that we aren’t proud of. A good church gladly invites everyone everywhere to come be a part of God’s family.”

The New Social Gospel Our prayer is that you believe this church is a good church. Our leadership believes our church VISION & GOAL help keep us focused on our task on hand as a church; to glorify God and help people get to heaven. Being a good church doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedicated people willing to give whatever is needed to improve the group. If YOU want a good church YOU need to be a good church.

The New Social Gospel ✓ Not about the misuse of the church treasury ✓ About the focus of the teaching, preaching and leadership ✓ About man centered, casual, comfortable religion