Tony,
I wanted to just give a quick response to you about your observation and comments on revival. Here is a statement on the about us page of the site you might have not read: https://www.sermonindex.net/about.php
SermonIndex is not just a website but really has become a movement of believers seeking the 'old paths' (Jeremiah 6:16). This journey of faith weaves through the current state of evangelical Christianity and the passionate preaching of many godly ministers in our day. Many are seeking authenticity, reality and sincerity in the Christian faith. In a day when popular preachers are telling lies (Jeremiah 5:30-31), there is a great renewed desire to find the real Jesus in the midst of the counterfeit. SermonIndex has been able to archive many of the best preaching messages given in the last 50 years in audio mp3 form, as well as digging into the history of the Church and archiving many of the encouraging text messages given.
No matter what Christian background, we are able to find the common ground of being true disciples of Jesus Christ by picking up the cross and following Him (Luke 9:23). SermonIndex did not begin with any ambitions of ministry succcess but rather the Holy Spirit leading to its inception (Zechariah 4:6). Revival speaks to us of the very worship of God and His presence, meeting with and experiencing Jesus Christ. We see a picture of this genuine presence of God in, Isaiah 6, where God is seen 'high and exalted.' Another picture of this we see in Revelation 5 where there is 'a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain.' Revival is about experiencing and knowing this very Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
As it seems in our day the insincere and irreverent prevails in Christendom we pray and trust that you will find something of reality on SermonIndex to help you along in this Christian Journey.
Soon we will be before the wonderful slain Lamb in heaven worshipping forever, let us prepare now for that time, living eternally minded now on earth.
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I wrote a short ebook on: "Starting a House Church" you can download and read it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/701703.
Here is the first chapter I think is applicable to this conversation and questions you are raising about the need for the structure of the church.
CHAPTER ONE
Historic Roots
The Church is not a new thing in the earth. We are actually a part of a body of believers that is over 2000 years old! Imagine it. For over 50 generations, the Church has been passed on to each subsequent group of believers and leaders. The Holy Scriptures have also been copied and passed on, and we still have them today. So when starting something new, like a house Church, it is a comfort to realize we are entering into something with great historical weight.
One of the accusations towards people starting house churches is that they are doing something new and innovative, with new doctrines. This can be true if someone is starting a church on their own ideas and basis, and if it does not historically line up with other believers throughout Church history and the Scriptures.
In other cases, some believers have not been able to submit to any Christian authority in their lives, always thinking they are right and others are wrong. In some cases also, believers starting house churches have been greatly hurt by other Christians or Christian leaders and, therefore, are seeking to protect themselves.
Christianity has, for 2000 years, gone through many periods of disagreements and divisions, but each successive generation seems aimed at repeating past mistakes, disagreeing with each other, and, in the end, separating to "do their own thing.” The current amount of division in the body of Christ speaks of this problem of not being able to agree on the common elements of the faith.
First Century Apostasy?
The main driving force of some people to start house churches is the strong belief that the entire Church, by and large, apostatized shortly after or during the life of the Apostle John. This means that the truth was lost, and the Church began to depart from God’s intention and direction. Therefore, there is a distrust of all of Church history and now some current house church movements are looked at as the restoring of the original Book of Acts Church.
What this also means is that there was always just a very small minority of those who somehow held to the truth, and the majority was always wrong. Does this type of thinking seem familiar?
I took a phone call once from a man who stated that he could not find others who believed his gospel. My first assumption was that, after he left the pastorate, he was simply having a hard time finding other fellow believers who would hold to similar convictions. After two hours on the phone with this man, I realized he was preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:8). His argument was that, after the death of the apostles, the truth died and only now, in the twenty-first century, it had been revived and he was the messenger. If someone attended a church of any kind, he stated, they were believing a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11) and lost! When he asked me what my gospel was, I shared with him the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. His reaction was curse words!
One term for this type of thinking is Restorationism, which means the truth was lost with the apostles and now in our modern day is being restored. Such thinking is the seed-bed of many denominations and especially cults. Also this thinking is usually very exclusive, meaning that we have the truth that is restored and others do not. Even other restoration type groups fight amongst each other over who really is the group that the Lord is with. If Jesus came back, we could see the picture of all the leaders of these groups asking the Lord to verify their own church as the true and only church.
How do we know if our actions and words today are following in the same spirit of some of the opposers of the Gospel in the beginning of the Church? One test we can take is to ask ourselves: Do we consider God's Church sacred? (1 Corinthians 3:17). Or do we speak and treat other believers with little care, speaking our mind strongly and seeking to prove what we feel is right at any cost?
I have heard some people in our modern day speak without blushing that the entire Church has been wrong throughout history, and they now understand the true way. Most of the people I have heard espouse these new ideas do not fellowship in any church and also have moral laxity in their lives. In free thinking societies with complete religious freedom, we should have a great fear of God that we do not speak and teach in ways that are departing from "the faith once given to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
Being a Part of the Historic Church
Some believe that Church history began with Martin Luther in AD 1500, and to consider anything before that time is not worthwhile. Such thinking also has created a narrowed vision of the Church Jesus has established.
Perhaps we can consider another way of thinking. We can consider that the Lord has always had His Church (Matthew 16:18). It has not been perfect, has failed and, at times, has needed to be reformed and restored. There has always been a continuation in the work of God, and we are not called to start something new but rather continue something that is old. This does allow for new denominations but these groups should be helping to reform and build upon the 2000-year-old Church we are all a part of.
Individualistic evangelicalism has been leading to what today is over 42,000 denominations worldwide. God has called some of these groups to stand for a truth, yet not apart from the larger testimony of the Church throughout the ages. The Corinthians were of this individual carnal thinking, everyone doing what was right in their own eyes (1 Corinthians 3:4, Judges 21:25). It is a humbling reality that the Church did not begin with us and might not even end with us. We are just a part of God’s plan through the ages. Instead of trying to deconstruct what the Church is today, we should be seeking join with God’s testimony and possibly help reform it. What is exciting is that we can actually be a part of the Church Jesus is building in our day (Matthew 16:18). Being involved in a house church meeting can be very much the will of God and his leading.
Some things that keep us in line and with the historic Church is agreeance with statements of faith that ancient believers held to.
Along with common practices such as communion and water baptism, we can ensure we are a part of the Lord’s work by not being apart from other believers, or being so exclusive that we do not agree with any other believers in Church history.
Starting a house church can be a very simple thing to do but we must carry with it the solemn sense of carrying on what Jesus and the early apostles did.
Where is Jesus?
Some have asked: "Where is Jesus in the midst of so many denominations in Christianity today?” This is a good question, as the original intention of the Lord was surely not for so many churches to exist and compete against each other. One answer we can give: He is walking in the midst of all these groups and different churches. He is acknowledging those who are his, part of his one Church (Ephesians 4:5), those who are "in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In the book of Revelation, we see the picture of Jesus in the midst of the early churches: "And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.” (Revelation 1:13). What a wonderful picture to meditate on.
What will set our hearts in the same mind of the Lord is to also seek to be unified with all brothers and sisters in the Lord no matter what name of church or doctrinal emphasis or preference. Of course, that does not mean we unify with what is heretical or wrong. But it does mean we are filled with grace towards others and we realize that we only see "in part” (1 Corinthians 13:12) until the day we are before the Lord in heaven.
As you seek to follow the living Christ in exploring starting a house church, start with this prayer:
Lord, I am prone to see so earth-bound, the outward and what I have grown up in. Please give me a vision to see your Church as You see it. Allow me to be a part of Your work in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Revival what? The people of God to be brought back to what God wants of the Church, and for the believer to be brought back to the authentic personal daily walks with Jesus Christ in discipleship and obedience.
