Workshops
Upcoming Workshops & Conferences
Conway, Arkansas House Church Workshop
Saturday, September 6, 2008.
Questions? Contact Phillip Fletcher at or call (501) 499-1042
www.freewebs.com/conwayhouseconference/
www.christgloryalone.blogspot.com
Bangor, Maine Wineskin Weekend
Saturday, September 27, 2008
This Saturday house church workshop will explore the "Big Four" Church like topics:
- The impact that the practice of the early church should have on churches today
- The benefits of celebrating the Lord's Supper as a true Holy Meal every week
- The evidence for and mechanics of participatory meetings
- Elder-led congregational consensus as the Lord's ideal for church government.
To register, please contact . Phone 207-794-8071.
New England House Church Conference (Putnam, Connecticut)
October 3-4, 2008.
Primary Track: Steve Atkerson (apostolic traditions, Lord's Supper as a actual meal, participatory meetings, elder-led congregational consensus).
Secondard Track: Topic and leader(s) to be announced!
To register, contact Matt Durning (860) 928-7658 Email: .
House Church Workshops
To schedule a workshop in your area, email us from our contact page.
Weekend Workshops
Would you like to experience the joy and fellowship that comes from having church the way that the apostles taught us to do it? Then come to one of our weekend workshops to learn how! If we don't have one scheduled near you, call or write us about doing one in your neighborhood! Here's what we cover in our workshops:
NT Church Patterns
Suppose a new church in first century Alexandria, Egypt, wrote asking the apostle Peter for direction concerning the proper way to organize their fledging congregation. How would Peter have responded? Could a church legitimately deviate from the apostolic example? Or, were all NT churches to obey the commands of Jesus as delivered through His apostles?
Some 2,000 years later, how are we to view the way the apostles did things?Is the NT way of doing things merely interesting history, or did God intend for it to be normative for all churches in every age? This session will examine the various Biblical commendations and commands to churches with respect to the “tradition” of the apostles.
We conclude that the question is not, “Do we have to do things the way they did?” Rather, the question to be asked is, “Why would you want to do things any other way?!” Respect for our Lord who hand picked the apostles and for the Holy Spirit who led them should induce us to prefer their way of doing things to whatever our inferior wisdom might suggest.
The Lord’s Supper: Feast or Famine?
Considering the way the Lord’s Supper is observed today, is it really fair to describe it as a “supper”? Would it not be better to call it what it actually has become: an appetizer or sample? Did our Lord truly intend to launch a memorial snack?
In this session we will explore how the NT church observed the Lord’s Supper, how often they observed it, and why they observed it. Is the Lord’s Supper to be forward-looking or past-looking? Is there to be a funeral or a wedding atmosphere? What function do having one cup and one loaf serve? How does the Lord’s Supper fit in with the purpose of a church meeting?
Many people have expressed that they feel this is the most important session of the entire weekend!
Leaders Without Authority?
Did Jesus really mean that “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves” (Lk 22:26)? The youngest children and those who wait upon tables typify those in society who don’t have any authority. And if church leaders are supposed to exercise authority over the church, the NT never expressly says so!
We will discuss the relationship that ought to exist between a church and its leaders. Exactly where does the “power” lie? Who has authority over whom?What is the role of an elder or overseer? You’ll be surprised at what the Bible does (and does not) say concerning church leaders.
Interactive Church Meetings
We are all familiar with the typical Sunday morning “worship service. ”Amazingly though, if one compares a New Testament church meeting (1Co 14) to what goes on today, very little resemblance will be seen between the two.
Inter-active, participatory church meetings are not only the NT pattern, but are expressly prescribed! Related to how we conduct our meetings, Paul wrote, “If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored” (1Co 14:37-38). Obviously, what we do when we assemble is very important!
Is worship really the purpose for a church service? What kinds of things are to go on in such a meeting? Who is allowed to speak? Who can teach? How many different people can address the church? What about the kids: are they to be in children’s church or with their parents? What size meeting was typical in the NT? Come and find out in this eye-opening study.
Why Home Church?
There is no doubt that the NT church met in the homes of its members. What many people do not realize is that the early church continued to meet in houses for the next 300 years, longer than America has been a nation! And, it was through the house church model that the early church “turned the world upside down.”
Most believers build church buildings in order to hold more people in the “worship service.” Is it possible that having too many people present could defeat the purpose for having a meeting in the first place? Form follows function. Whatever function the apostles designed for the church was best carried out in churches that were living-room sized. Or, was it all just because of persecution?
If human beings were airy wraiths who floated through life unaffected by their surroundings, perhaps it wouldn’t matter where we meet. What impact do various church architectural styles have on our psyche? In this topic we will see why the apostles might have laid down a purposeful pattern of meeting in homes.
Church Reality Check
This practical session deals with the nitty gritty of house churches. Discussed will be such issues as how to best accommodate the kids during the meeting, what to do when the church grows too big to fit into a living room, conflict resolution, wear and tear on your furniture, maintaining orthodoxy, keeping on after the glamour wears off, giving, handling rebels and typical problems you can expect to encounter. This is your big chance to play “stump the dummies” and ask the teachers any type of questions you can think of!
Christian Restoration (Church Discipline)
Most familiar are the words of Jesus that “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Not so familiar is the context in which He spoke those words: church discipline (Mt 18).
Why is it that so few churches today ever dis-fellowship someone? Is it because all their members are so holy? Not! Actually, dis-fellowship is the last step in a long process of interaction with wayward brothers. This process is ultimately designed to restore the erring brother, not get rid of him! Most Christian discipline will never make it to the whole church, because God will work in the process to resolve the problem and restore the “sinner” before it ever goes beyond the first two steps.
Those who fellowship together in a house church setting critically need to learn how to follow Jesus’ instructions in Mt 18. This is the surest way to avoid a house church crack-up!
Christ the Head
Jesus told the apostles it was to their advantage that He go away. But, how did Jesus expect them to know what to do without Him around? How did Peter expect the church to know right from wrong after he passed away? What did Paul expect to happen after his departure?
Christ is indisputably the head of His church. As head, how does He communicate His will to the church? An army without marching orders from its general is not much more than a mob! Exactly how are we to look to Jesus for guidance? Are we to look to modern apostles for direction? Is each assembly simply to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance on what to do?
Some people say that the Bible is just a “paper pope.” Is that right? Is God’s living Word really petrified in dead letters from two millennium ago?
In this session we will see how Christ the Head communicates His will to us. Don’t enter the new millennium without this knowledge!
Single Session Messages and Workshops
We also provide single session messages and workshops on subjects related to NT Church Life. Contact us if you are interested in having us bring a message at your church.
To schedule a workshop in your area, email us from our contact page.
