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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We trust and pray that you are rejoicing in the hope that you have in Christ. You are receiving this letter because over the last eight years you have taken part in a simple church conference or training event or you have been a visitor to the simple church website.

Certainly there is a wide array of people who will read this letter. Some of you have a strong interest in what is happening and what is planned among simple churches. Others of you may have little to no interest. Regardless we greet you with the love, grace, peace, and hope that we share in Christ.From the time we started the website, offered our first training event, and published our first book there has been an underlying desire to stay true to what Paul expressed so clearly to the church in Phillipi:

1. Jesus told us to look for the good soil (parable of the soil, sower and seed) - he didn't say not to love hard, rocky or thorny ground, but he did put an emphasis on attending to those who are responsive to the good news as a priority over those who are not ready to obey him. We shouldn't choose between the "good soil" folks and others, but give the greatest attention to those who obey Jesus in contrast to those who don't. Keep loving the others, but invest most of our time in those who are prepared to obey...

2. It is not an issue of numbers, but of obedience - Jesus emphasized over and over again the necessity of obedience as a prerequisite for being one of his disciples...far too much of our time is spent catering to religious folks who are disobedient instead of investing in the non-religious who are desperate and responsive. Jesus loved the multitudes, challenged seekers and followers, but discipled the ones who would obey him.

The miracle we need most right now is one that the Lord has freely given us already. It is the power of a changed life. The world is poised and ready to see the relevance and power of our message if only we would let them see it firsthand.

There is no power on earth more potent than the gospel in a heart of belief (Romans 1:16). Ed Silvoso puts it like this, in his book That None Should Perish, “The church has been entrusted with something that every politician on earth would give an arm and a leg to have: the power to see hearts changed.” We have been given this power, though we generally leave it unused. Our pews are full of “Christians” whose lives show little difference from those who are in the world.

We already saw in Chapter 1 that Jesus valued the power of a changed life when He called Matthew and immediately put him into service. The New Testament has many examples of people who have only just met Jesus, have little knowledge of His person or work and yet are already able to effectively stand up to others with a bold witness. They do so all on the irrefutable persuasion of a changed life. My favorite such story is found in the ninth chapter of John.

Jesus said that new wine needs new wineskins (Luke 5:36-40). A new wineskin is only needed if there is new wine. If simple/organic church is like a new wineskin, what is the new wine? Is there something about the life we have together in Christ that needs a new container, that would burst an old wineskin?
This is part of a series on how to start simple/organic/house churches.  Changing the structure of church gains nothing unless it is a response to something that Jesus is doing which wouldn't be easy to contain within the old structures. (If you read the story in Luke 5 carefully, it is obvious that Jesus cares about the old structures and the old wine too.) There's no point in doing church as we've always known it within the four walls of our homes rather than in a special building.
Many people take Matthew 18:18-20 as the basic building block of church.

Scripture tells us that on the day of Pentecost three thousand people were added to the church. As they began to learn what it meant to be God’s people, some things about their lives changed, while other things remained the same. They continued to eat normal food; but the context of those meals changed:

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts… (Acts 2:46  )

Every day, or at least regularly, the believers met together in their homes to share their food with other people. Family meals were very normal. The meal itself had not changed. But, the family was now completely different.

Of course, this relationship change had be described earlier by Jesus. His disciples were simply following his lead:

If we think that a model of church is our solution to reaching the world we are already in a bad place, whether that model is a mega church or a micro church.

There is a vast difference, however, between an attractional posture and an incarnational/missional understanding of church. The difference is not in the organization, but in the release and flow of God's kingdom. The church is not meant to be sedentary but sent-"one holy, apostolic (sent) church."

Today we expect the lost to come to us. In the Bible, God is always the Seeker going after those who are lost. He pursued Adam in a garden and Moses in a desert. He found Jonah at the bottom of the sea and Peter on top. Jesus found Matthew in an office and Paul out on the road.

God became a man and entered the world through a birth canal just like the rest of us. He chose to come to us on our turf, rather then expecting us to rise to His. Jesus preached everywhere that the kingdom of God has come near. He came to seek and to save the lost, and He now invites us to join Him.

God is not mute: the Word spoke, not out of a whirlwind, but out of the human larynx of a Palestinian Jew. 

Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

Can you imagine what it must have been like for Jesus the first moment he sat around with the circle of his disciples after they had finally become friends?

We all know what it is to get acquainted with new people, the awkward pauses and measured words as people get to know each other. Certainly the disciples went through that with Jesus. Just who was this Teacher and Miracle-worker and who were these other men who decided to follow him?

It might have happened during a conversation after a meal, or walking together on a road, but at some point they found themselves safe enough with him and each other to let down their guard. No longer measuring words or trying to impress each other, they slipped into the fruits of their burgeoning friendship—the freedom to be honest, to laugh, to ask the seem­ingly stupid question, and to relax in each other’s presence.

By Brian Anderson

The traditional Protestant worship service today strongly resembles a show business performance. In both we find ushers, programs, music, costumes, lighting, a chorus, a stage, a script, an audience, and a master of ceremonies. (Christian Smith, Going To The Root, Herald Press, p.88.) The congregation sits passively as the audience while the pastor performs. When the congregation is permitted to participate in the meeting, they are restricted to singing in unison, antiphonal readings, dropping money into the offering plate, and taking notes during the sermon. The ordained clergy are expected to perform all significant ministry. Meanwhile, ninety-nine percent of God's people attend worship services Sunday after Sunday for years on end, without ever contributing any true spiritual ministry to the body of gathered believers.

Editors Note: Around the world, people are using this very simple approach to studying the Bible with unbelievers and believers alike. It is proving to be very fruitful because it helps people see how God can open their heart and help them discover truth, it does not depend on a gifted teacher, it highlights the importance of obedience, and it is simple and reproducible. If you would like a more in-depth understanding of how this approach can be used, check out this link- //simplechurch.com.ua/en/resursy/e-books-and-other-written-material/325-gruppy-posika-iisusa.html
3 question study

One of the best ways to help people discover and respond to God is

Every day new visitors are coming to our site. In order to expose them to some of our best articles, and to create fresh discussion among those of us who have been active on the site a long time, we will from time to time repost an past article like this one. This article has been a favorite of many people. We invite you to read it for the first time or read it again. Take a moment to add your thoughts and commentary and let's learn together how we can honor and magnify Jesus and join Him in building His kingdom.