Rather than growing your one congregation bigger and bigger, make it your goal to start new small churches that start other small churches. How do you feel about this? He was successful because he was faithful to what God wanted him to do. How do you feel about this? Examining the architectural remains of that house adds color to our understanding of Paul’s criticism of the manner in which the Corinthians were attempting to celebrate the Eucharist. They will grow spiritually. But the network of tiny house churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire did experience their oneness in Christ so vividly that they were able to defy and eventually conquer a powerful, pagan civilization. The problem with this is the corrupting influence children have on each other: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” It is also felt that putting children in Sunday School or a youth group takes the pressure off the parents to fulfill their God-given roles of training their own children. . . Many thriving small churches focus on reaching home-school families. 3. When one rejoiced, they all rejoiced (1 Cor. 6:1-3). Resource Allocation: Charles Price, late Director of Missions for the San Antonio Baptist Association, lamented that the typical cost to start a new church in North America is an astounding two million dollars. It was right and natural, they argue, for each church to grow beyond the confines of a home, building larger and larger places to meet. Gaius, a man with the means to generously support missionaries (3Jn 1-5), had a home big enough to host the sizable Corinthian congregation (Ro 16:23). Achieving congregational consensus is easier when everyone knows everyone else and open lines of communication genuinely exist with one another. In short, involvement with a smaller church can be a wonderful blessing with strategic, divinely-designed advantages. What constitutes a successful ministry anyway? Since New Testament churches met almost exclusively in private homes, the typical congregation was relatively small. House Church and Mission will stand as one of the most important studies on the First Century church. As already seen, Scripture indicates the early church met in the homes of its wealthier members. “Small Churches Struggle to Grow Because of the People They Attract,” Barna.org, accessed September 01, 2016. An examination of floor plans in Pompeii shows typical atriums measuring 20’ x 28’. They are called brothers and sisters (Phm 2, Ro 16:2). As public speaking is a great fear, participatory meetings are best suited to smaller gatherings composed of people who all know each other and are true friends. Why might the apostles have laid down a purposeful pattern of small churches? The pastors become inaccessible. The Matthew 18 restoration process detailed by Jesus clearly assumes more than just “us four and no more.” There was a single congregation meeting in Corinth at the time Paul wrote; counting the various people using their spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14 adds up to a healthy number of believers. If you lead your small church to adopt early church practice, it will be a blessing to people. According to Yale University archaeologists, “The first Christian congregations worshiped in private houses, meeting at the homes of wealthier members on a rotating basis . Was Jesus’ ministry a failure? The Ancient Mass in the”House Churches”was not as Informal as Many Think As you may know, the Catholic Faith was illegal in the Roman Empire prior to 313 AD, when the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan permitting the Christian Faith to flourish publicly. A loving, family-like atmosphere is more easily developed. J. D. Douglas, ed. Gehring's research is invaluable in explaining the context of the house church to the worship and spread of the Christian faith in it's first years. The first church began in a home on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In this final article in the series, we explore not one set place, but the myriad locales in which the passion and resurrection of our Lord became the focus of Christian worship. Forty may be a safer guess. What practical advantages and disadvantages would meeting in a home have? Large crowds are great for special praise concerts, seminars or evangelism, but the weekly church gathering is to be about something more—mutual edification, accountability, encouraging one another, the fellowship of the Holy Meal, strengthening relationships, building consensus, etc. The apostles’ belief concerning the function of the church was naturally expressed in the form the church took on in the first century, and this would certainly include size considerations. A helpful resource is Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide by Wilson & Ferguson (Exponential Resources, 2015). Profit        Smaller settings foster the intimacy, unity, love and accountability that characterized the early church. When a person or church experienced economic trouble, the others shared without reservation. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor measured six homes in Pompeii and Ephesus and found the average atrium size to be 797 square feet. Rather than in a funeral-like atmosphere, the Lord’s Supper was reverently celebrated in anticipation of the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb. These were the first churches in the world and these house churches appeared in the ancient cities of the Roman Empire around the 3rd century – early 4th century. We need to think small in a really big way! Perhaps some congregations were large and therefore met in big buildings, but this is an argument from silence. Out of the theological truth that God’s children are family arises many church practice issues, such as the size of a congregation that best facilities our functioning as God’s family. Jesus went from 5000 down to 12 in one sermon. Church hostess Lydia was a prosperous businesswoman who sold expensive purple fabric and could afford servants (Ac 16:14). Once leadership is in place, send out a sizable portion of the original church to jump start a new small church. 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