A DESCRIPTION OF A HOUSE CHURCH MEETING

(For details of Robert Fitts' ministry and further articles)

(taken from The Church in the House, a Return to Simplicity) Order The Church in the House  

THE CHURCH THAT MEETS IN THE HOUSE OF

John and Susan is a community church that meets at 1504 Goleta Street in Colena, Texas at 7 p.m. every Tuesday. We have open meetings with everyone participating. We sing praises to Jesus and seek to build up one another in love. Everyone is important. We read the Bible together, and discuss it in an informal way. Anyone who wants to participate joins in the reading and the discussion. All things are done for encouragement.

The group prays for each other, for other churches, for families, relatives, friends and neighbors; we pray for our president and our country. We minister to one another through prayer, prophetic words, the gifts of the Spirit, and through material aid as the Lord leads. We often have a meal together and celebrate the Lord's supper.

There is no membership list. Those who belong to the Lord are all members one of another. All seek to follow the instructions of the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:26 about how to meet . . . "When you come together everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church."

We believe that God's provision for church leadership is through self-supporting elders trained right in the local church as servant leaders. We love one another, are fully accountable to one another, help one another, and are willing to pour out our lives for each other.

The church is a people and not a building, an organization, a business, or an institution. We are the people of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.

When we grow to 15 or 20 people, we will start another church in another house. The church that meets at John and Susan's was "born pregnant." It was born with a vision to give birth to another church. We fully expect that every church birthed out of this one will also be "born pregnant!" Our prayer is for THE RAPID MULTIPLICATION OF HOUSE CHURCH NETWORKS.

We have a deep desire to see the Bride of Christ grow in purity and effectiveness. We are learning, and sharing as we learn; and we are asking some difficult questions. We need your prayers and your kind input as we follow the leading of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We seek to relate to the whole body of Christ within our locality and not just to those who attend our fellowship or meet in homes. Since we are all members of one another, we encourage all who come to this gathering to attend other meetings of the Body of Christ as the Holy Spirit directs. We believe "cross pollination within the city-wide church is a good thing and to be recommended.

We are submitted to spiritual authority wherever it crosses our path. We do not believe in "selective submission" which says, in essence, "I am submitted to this group or that Leader and to no other." We do not say "My pastor" or "My Prophet" or "My Apostle or "My Teacher" or "My Evangelist." We seek to remain open to any Pastor, Prophet, Apostle, Teacher, or Evangelist wherever and whenever their ministry or council touches our lives. All the "one another" verses in the writings of Paul were addressed to the citywide church and not to a local congregation, therefore we submit to all the saints and all the elders within the citywide church. We are responsible to God and to one another to fulfill all our commitments with regard to service within the body of Christ.

We often speak out loud together the following Declaration of Unity:

I BELONG TO EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO JESUS AND EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO JESUS BELONGS TO ME. IT IS NOT "US AND THEM" IT IS JUST US, FOR THERE IS ONLY ONE BODY OF CHRIST. THE PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH, THE WHOLE CHURCH, ARE OUR PROBLEMS FOR WE ARE THE CHURCH AND WE CAN DO MORE TOGETHER THAN WE CAN DO ALONE.

The House Church Movement is a vision to plant churches everywhere for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission through evangelism, discipleship, and world mission. The house church is an effective tool to evangelize and disciple the city and a vehicle to reach out to all nations. We invite you to "come over and help us!"

JESUS IS LORD!

Robert Fitts
Outreach Fellowship International
26616 Mission St.
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Phone 949-489-9449
Cell 808-371-6338