READ: PHILEMON 1-6
“The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and
Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” (1 Corinthians 16:19).
A common feature in the early church was the presence of home churches or house fellowship in the residences of believers. No matter how highly placed you were or what office you occupied in the main church, you either belonged to a home church or had a thriving one in your house. Even Apostle Peter belonged to one (Acts 12:11-17). It was not a popular thing to be a Christian then. But what usually happen was that each vibrant home church grew to the point of becoming a local assembly. The home cells fed the main church and that became a major strategy for church growth.
Some Christians will easily give it away as a trend that terminated with the Early Church but some churches especially that under Pastor Yongi Cho revived the home cell system that has helped to produce and sustain the world’s largest single church. Many home fellowships have turned into full-fledged churches. And it is still so today. When we started the Digging Deep, we were only four. Several large churches started in the living rooms of the founders. A church can equally take off in your own house starting with your family and within a year you can have up to 100 souls. That is the idea behind house fellowship.
A home church started in the house of Cornelius with his family, kinsmen and close friends (Acts 10:24). There was a home church in the house of Philemon (Philemon 1-2). In Acts 16:40, after being officially released from prison custody Paul and Silas’ first point of call was the house fellowship in the house of Lydia. They exhorted and comforted them before they left. Earlier, after her conversion and water baptism, Lydia invited Paul and Silas to lodge in her house. This was how the home fellowship started. It is our prayer that Jesus would make our home His home. You too can start a home church in your house. People of other faiths may refuse to come to church but as neighbours they would happily come into your house. Have you already started one in your home? Congratulations. How are you working to see that it grows beyond your immediate family, to embrace other families in your neighbourhood? There is great reward for making your home His dwelling place.
A common feature in the early church was the presence of home churches or house fellowship in the residences of believers. No matter how highly placed you were or what office you occupied in the main church, you either belonged to a home church or had a thriving one in your house. Even Apostle Peter belonged to one (Acts 12:11-17). It was not a popular thing to be a Christian then. But what usually happen was that each vibrant home church grew to the point of becoming a local assembly. The home cells fed the main church and that became a major strategy for church growth.
Some Christians will easily give it away as a trend that terminated with the Early Church but some churches especially that under Pastor Yongi Cho revived the home cell system that has helped to produce and sustain the world’s largest single church. Many home fellowships have turned into full-fledged churches. And it is still so today. When we started the Digging Deep, we were only four. Several large churches started in the living rooms of the founders. A church can equally take off in your own house starting with your family and within a year you can have up to 100 souls. That is the idea behind house fellowship.
A home church started in the house of Cornelius with his family, kinsmen and close friends (Acts 10:24). There was a home church in the house of Philemon (Philemon 1-2). In Acts 16:40, after being officially released from prison custody Paul and Silas’ first point of call was the house fellowship in the house of Lydia. They exhorted and comforted them before they left. Earlier, after her conversion and water baptism, Lydia invited Paul and Silas to lodge in her house. This was how the home fellowship started. It is our prayer that Jesus would make our home His home. You too can start a home church in your house. People of other faiths may refuse to come to church but as neighbours they would happily come into your house. Have you already started one in your home? Congratulations. How are you working to see that it grows beyond your immediate family, to embrace other families in your neighbourhood? There is great reward for making your home His dwelling place.
MEMORIZE: 1
CORINTHIANS 16:19 –The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute
you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
