As believers we are all brothers and sisters in God’s family having the same Father. We are all disciples of the same Master, Teacher, Leader and Lord – Jesus Christ. We all have been given the same Holy Spirit from God to guide, teach and help us. We have all been given Spiritual and ministry gifts by the Holy Spirit to minister into each other’s lives and build one another up. God has enabled believers to participate when gathering together, with the Lord Jesus among them as the Head and Leader of His church body.

How does this work out in Practice?

Firstly everyone needs to understand that the meeting is open for all believers to participate and that Jesus is the Head and Leader of the meeting.

Secondly someone can facilitate the meeting to help keep it moving along and on track but must allow the Lord Jesus to lead through everyone participating, without running the show or controlling the meeting. This could be the host of the home or the one who has brought everyone together but everyone should learn to facilitate a meeting, which is a part of the disciple making process. Another task for the facilitator is to help watch out for potential problems creeping into the meeting.

Some of the things for the facilitator and everyone to watch out for or avoid in a meeting:

1. Someone trying to control or run the meeting as the leader. If someone begins to do this then they need to understand the principles of the New Testament church where Jesus is the leader and every believer is a participant.
2. Those who love to share and share too much or those who are timid and don’t share at all. To avoid this, encourage those who are shy to share and those who love to talk to hold back. A time limit like 5 minutes can be applied for each person participating so there’s time for everyone.
3. People sharing non-personal stuff, stuff about someone else, or non-current stuff. Avoid small talk and make it a time for personal sharing and growing together. Encourage everyone to share current stuff about what is affecting them personally either good or bad. Encourage people to be aware of what God is doing in them and through them during the week, to write it down and bring to the next meeting to share.
4. Rabbit trails and going off track. The focus should stay on Jesus Christ living in and through us – what we’re learning, testimonies of God’s goodness and answered prayers, an encouraging event, idea, song, or revelation from the bible, and our struggles needing prayer support and encouragement.
5. Not responding to others appropriately. When people share everyone should respond with genuine interest, appreciation, rejoicing or concern. If they are sharing a need then caring prayer and practical support should be offered right there and then.
6. Too much idle time. There will be times of quiet reflection, enjoying the presence of Jesus, or waiting upon God for a moment but too long a period of idle time will cause boredom and lose focus. To overcome this have a loose flexible agenda to follow to keep things moving when there is too much dead air time.

Some things that people can bring to share at a meeting:

1. Testimonies of God’s goodness and answers to prayers during the week
2. Positive ideas and strong impressions God has given during the week
3. A revelation from the bible during the week
4. A five minute bible study on a topic or principle of God
5. A song to play or sing that you wrote or impacted you during the week.
6. A personal need for prayer or practical help
7. A confession of repentance if God strongly directs or sharing God’s dealings in your life that has brought repentance.
8. A personal Testimony of how you found the Lord and the difference it has made in your life
9. What if we feel we have nothing to bring? Come expecting to spontaneously participate as Jesus leads you

As these things are shared along with an interactive spontaneous encouraging response, Jesus will be able to guide and orchestrate the meeting by the Holy Spirit. Every meeting will be refreshing and different

Ideas/Approaches to the meeting agenda:

1. Open with interactive prayer to thank Jesus (remember him) and invite him to come and join us in a tangible way
2. A meal time together for family fellowship
3. A time for testimonies and sharing
4. A time for praise and worship with songs
5. A time for interactive prayer for personal needs and offering of practical help
6. A time for interactive prayer for governing leaders and community
7. One on one personal ministry for healing and freedom after the meeting

These things can be separated or interspersed in the meeting and arranged in any order for a change.

Ideas for Worshipping with songs:

1. Can be lead by an instrument
2. Can be lead by a Cassette tape or CD
3. Can be lead just by voice (no instruments)
4. Have printed words for songs.

Ideas for prayer:

1. Make prayer conversational, each person taking a turn praying short prayers
2. Hold hands as a sign of unity

For more articles about the New Testament Church you can visit http://www.edmontonhousechurches.com/ARTICLES.html.