Greetings in Christ’s name,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits.
As we enter this new year, I sense that the body of Christ will need to examine the "wineskins" of church structure. Over 450 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the Whittenburg church door because he no longer felt the church was the church of the Bible. Although he and the other reformers were accused of heresy, their efforts restored the truths we take for granted today.
Today, with declining church attendance in most denominations, we again need to examine whether the church today is the church of God’s word. We must also ask ourselves if we will have the courage to "reform" the structure to allow it to be a New Testament church.
The cell / homechurch concept is the one that I believe is the NT pattern. If you look in the Bible, especially the book of Acts as well as the epistles of St. Paul, you will see the following facts:
1) The early church had no church buildings. These came in the 2nd century. All worship was in houses of the Christian or in open fields or caves
2) There is no mention of the separation between clergy and laity. The Bible speaks of equal brotherhood with different callings and ministries.
3) The Bible speaks of equipping the Christian for service, but today we train ministers in seminary and equip the rest to be spectators on Sunday morning. Your gift must fit their need or there is no room in their religious inn for your ministry!
There are many more examples I could give, so I have enclosed some study information at this web site so you can determine for yourselves what is the pattern Jesus and his Apostles set up. Study and then pray and ask God whether new wine can be put in old wineskins?
The cell concept works because disclipleship takes place by placing a person in a caring, small group setting where development can be total, not in a large meeting where people of different maturity levels are all carried along at the same speed as mature Christians.
We need to ask ourselves if our church experience is meeting our spiritual needs? If we feel a calling to ministry, will we be apprenticed in it, or will we be told that God can use us to teach Sunday school or to staff the nursery but there are already enough pulpit ministers in the church. In the cell concept, all those who feel called to teach, preach, prophesy, or to shepherd will be able to do so. As long as there are homes to expand into, opportunities for ministries will always be present.
I realize that "without a vision, the people perish". This scripture reminds us that no plan can be successful without God birthing the vision in the hearts of the people. Jesus said "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21) and each of us must realize that we will only be a New Testament church if we catch the vision the early church had when they spread the gospel to their known world in the midst of Roman oppression and persecution.
Only a cell / home church working underground could accomplish that then, and in this skeptical world today with apathy to churches and their programs, it will work today.
We hope to see you at one of our home meetings, and hope you will become a part of our family. You won’t be coming to church; you will become the church in practice! If church as usual has you frustrated, try something different. Remember, it’s your spiritual life, what do you have to lose?
In Christ’s service always,
Jeff & Mary Henning / Break Bread Ministries