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To TopAccording to the Pattern
A Manual for Church Planting by
Edwin Stube
CONTENTS
7. Forming FellowshipsWhen several people in a given place have been born again of water and the Spirit, we can begin to gather them together for informal Christian fellowship. At first we will need to give them much teaching in the fundamentals of Christian faith ? praying, walking in the Spirit, maintaining sanctification, and doing ministry. New-born babies need lots of attention and frequent doses of milk.
But even from the beginning, we can encourage them to ask questions, discuss their experiences, and lead prayer in the fellowship, even if only a short sentence or two. Soon they will be able to prophesy and deliver other manifestations of the Spirit. We should encourage them to study the Bible together by discussion method.
Most people, when they want to form a new congregation, think first of a church building, a weekly schedule of services, and a salaried clergyman. But these three things are exactly what the early Church avoided in the initial stages.
Three thousand members were added to the congregation in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. But nobody thought of building a church or scheduling a service. They met in the temple to praise God together, and then they gathered in homes all over the city to pray and study together as God's family, in close fellowship with Him and with one another.
Luke tells us, “They continued in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in breaking of bread and prayer” (Acts 2:42). Let us look at these four elements of their life and worship.
1. Teaching. Jesus had called a small band of men to be with him and to be taught in the closest kind of daily fellowship. They ate, slept and worked together. The disciples saw Jesus' miracles and His way of dealing with all kinds of people. When there was time, they sat down wherever they might be and talked over what they had experienced together. But, most of all, they learned from observing Jesus' lifestyle. His love flowed out to them and changed their lives.
These disciples became the leaders or teachers in the first Christian congregation in Jerusalem. They taught the new converts, as they had been taught, in small informal fellowships, on the streets, in people's homes, or wherever they happened to be.
2. Fellowship. Teaching and fellowship could not be separated in Jesus' ministry. So it is not surprising that the early Church was characterized by very close fellowship groups, built around the Apostles. The people gathered daily in homes, sharing table fellowship, ministering to one another, caring for one another, and even selling their possessions to supply one another's needs. They lived continually in God's presence and in loving fellowship with all His children.
3. Breaking of Bread. Jesus had told the people that those who eat His Body and drink His Blood would maintain close fellowship with Him. “Remain in Me and I in you”, He said (John 15:4). On the night of His betrayal Jesus took bread and wine, explaining, “This is My Body . . .” and “This is My Blood” (Mark 14:22-24). Then He told His disciples, “Do this, that I may always be remembered” (Luke 22:19).
After His resurrection, Jesus was known to His disciples in the breaking of bread, startlingly revealed to them at that moment of remembrance. In order that they might continually know His presence, remember His sacrifice, and receive the food of eternal life, the early church broke bread together in their homes, united together in one Body with Him and with each other, praising God with glad hearts, being built up in Him.
4. Prayer. As they prayed together and opened their hearts to God, God spoke to them by His Spirit. There was an interchange in which all took part.“When you come together,” Paul said, “everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:26). No one person monopolized the worship. Everyone took part as the Spirit led. The Spirit of the living God met with men and spoke to them of God's love, giving encouragement and teaching and strength.
On his missionary journeys the Apostle Paul gathered new converts into local congregations. His aim was to form fellowships that could quickly become independent. For this reason, he began as quickly as possible to encourage all of them to take part.
If we gather new converts who are dependent only on a traditional church service, the new converts will listen politely, and then go out about their business as usual until the next service. Their knowledge of the Gospel may increase a bit, but it is a passive knowledge. Their dependence is on the service and leadership rather than on the Lord.
In a traditional church service, the people can have intimate fellowship with God, as they celebrate the Liturgy together and offer their corporate praise and thanksgiving to God. But they have quite limited fellowship with each other; so in addition to worship in the church, we must have opportunity for small group fellowship. The early church in Jerusalem praised God together in the temple, but the intimate Christian fellowship was in their homes.
In the informal family atmosphere in a home, we can truly know one another in the Spirit. Everybody can give attention to all the brethren, and pray for them one by one. All can talk together about the Lord and discuss His Word together. They can minister the love of Christ to each other. If one is sick, the others can pray for him. If one is sad, someone can minister to him with a word of revelation from the Spirit. We can all be taught by God's Spirit.
The order of worship for this type of fellowship meeting is not determined by men, but by the Spirit of God. If it is led by the Spirit, it will have endless variety. All share in the love of Jesus and in ministering one to another.
In this way the people grow spiritually, since everything they learn is put into practice and becomes a reality in their lives. They learn to pray, to read and understand their Bibles, to hear God's voice, to minister to each other, and to trust God to overcome problems and persecutions.
Learn by Doing
If we give lectures on the Bible, people will learn a little bit. But they will get the impression that the Bible has to be explained by experts, and that its contents are mostly theoretical. If we study the Bible together in informal discussions, the members of the group will realize that they themselves can read and understand. Before long they will be teaching their friends and neighbors, and the Word will spread.Many people think that praying is just for experts, because in church the prayers are read by an ordained clergyman. But if, from the outset, we encourage people to pray together, they will do so naturally anywhere and at any time.
The Spirit Manifest in our Worship
In the small group fellowship, God can be given opportunity to speak and minister directly to us through the gifts or manifestations of the Spirit, and through inspired singing and teaching. “Seek all the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy,” said Paul (1 Corinthians 14:1).If people hear God speak to them in the meeting, they will be encouraged to hear His voice in their private prayers at home and everywhere. They can also expect God to speak through them in ministry, both within the meeting, and also outside to their friends and neighbors.
So when we have gathered together a little group of people who have begun to walk in the Spirit, we encourage them all to begin delivering the manifestations of the Spirit in the fellowship. Paul says, if you can speak in tongues, begin praying for the interpretation. He also says all can prophesy. Therefore, we should encourage all the members of the group to yield themselves to the Spirit, letting Him use them to minister to one another. In this way, we will not be limited by man's understanding or wisdom, but God Himself will speak through us for the building up of faith in the whole group, and, through them, in the whole Body of Christ.
We do not need to be overly concerned if the manifestations of the Spirit are imperfect at first. Paul Himself said, “We know in part and prophesy in part.” The Lord will occasionally even allow people to give manifestations which are not of His Spirit, so that the group can learn to distinguish. As people learn to yield more perfectly to the Spirit, the manifestations will be more and more reliable. We need to encourage and correct one another in love. Often correction will best be done through personal counsel outside the meeting, but sometimes the Spirit Himself will bring correction in the meeting in a beautiful, loving way. Anything that happens can be a part of our learning and developing in the Spirit, if we keep looking to Him and trusting Him.
The Scriptural criterion for all ministry in the Christian fellowship is that it should “edify” or build faith. As we learn to yield to the moving of God's Spirit, we will find that God brings all the elements of our worship into a wonderful order, leading us to new depths of understanding and new heights of glory and worship.
All ministry which draws attention to human wisdom, knowledge, or position must be rejected. All prophecy which arises from sentiment, emotion, or natural knowledge is also rejected, as well as prophecies which bring accusation or discourage people. The Spirit of Jesus always ministers in love and grace, building up and strengthening faith and love in the fellowship (1 Corinthians 13:9).
Elements of Worship
As we begin to grow in our experience of the working of the Spirit, and in our unity with one another, we will become increasingly sensitive to the Spirit's purpose in the prayer meeting. We will find that He usually has one particular objective or direction for any given meeting. This objective will unfold as everyone is obedient to His leading. We will find that all the teachings, prophecies, and even the songs we have sung are united and directed towards that one purpose.Within this framework there will be different periods of time when the Spirit will work in particular ways — times of praise and worship, times of repentance, times of teaching. There will be a balance between different elements in the worship — between sacramental and charismatic, between teaching and prayer, between spontaneous praise and quiet waiting upon God. All participants need to become sensitive to what the Spirit wants us to be doing at any given time. When it is time to sing and worship in the Spirit, let us not interrupt with teaching or prophecy, and vice versa.
The Holy Spirit always has a definite plan and order for the worship, which we can usually see more easily in retrospect than beforehand. This order of the Spirit may be very different in different meetings, so we need to learn to be very sensitive and obedient to Him moment by moment. In spiritual worship we empty ourselves of human thoughts, emotions, plans, and effort, and yield ourselves fully into His hands, that His glory may be revealed in us and through us.
There will surely be a time of praise and singing in the Spirit. The Lord will give us some new psalms, and raise us to new realms of worship in the Spirit. He puts a new song in our hearts and on our lips. Sometimes as we pray and praise in the Spirit, we will sense the doors of heaven opening, and all the angels singing and praising around the throne of God's glory. At that moment, our song in the Spirit will become one with them. This is good practice for that day when He will come and lift us up to live continually in that heavenly realm.
There are times in our worship when we are so caught up in Him that there is no longer any sound of singing, even of singing in the Spirit. We stand before the presence of His majesty in awe and wonder, and there is no sound or movement — nothing at all but Him, in the silence of eternity. When this happens we will never be the same again. Our lives, our thoughts, our ministry, all are transformed. We learn again a new and deeper meaning of Paul's words: “It is no longer I . . . but Christ” (Galatians 2:20).
There is always a time for us to sit quietly as the Lord borrows several mouths to speak His words to us in prophecy. He may also use several to teach as His Spirit inspires. This prophesying and teaching is not limited to clever people or those with theological degrees, for the Spirit of God can occasionally speak through a new convert, a little child, or the most untrained person in the fellowship. The most necessary requirement for spiritual ministry and teaching is a yieldedness to the leading of the Spirit and an openness to receive revelation from Him.
Unyielded natural ability or understanding can actually hinder our receiving new truth from God's Spirit. Brilliant, highly trained people can be wonderfully used by God, if they will bring their abilities and education to the foot of the Cross and subject it to the higher wisdom of the mind of Christ.
There is always a time for praying for one another. We show our love for one another by ministering to each other's needs. We do not just “say a prayer” for them. The members of the Body minister to one another in the love of Christ, imparting His love. All can take part as the Spirit leads in ministering to one another. We may let the Spirit lead one to deliver a word of knowledge or wisdom. Then the Lord may choose one or two people to pray for the person's needs. “Let all things be for edification” (Romans 15:2). In Christ's love, we have an openness with each other that allows sharing the burdens and secrets of the heart.
We can take time also to pray for our ministry and outreach, and for any other burdens and concerns we may have. Let us pray for these things one by one, giving time for God's Spirit to guide our praying. We do not need many fancy words, but we do need His direction and anointing.
In any gathering of Christians, there is a time for the Holy Communion or Breaking of Bread together. This was the liturgical act which was instituted by Jesus Himself. The word “liturgy” means the work of the people. It should be central in all our worship and fellowship. The parish Eucharist is the center of corporate life for the whole Body of Christ in churches; but it is also very appropriate in small group worship in homes. The early Church worshiped God daily in the Temple, and also broke bread in their homes. The Lord filled them with His joy and added daily to their numbers.
Prayer Issues in Ministry
Our ministry on the outside and the new fellowships we form will not rise above our level of worship and living together. If the revelation of God and the love of Christ flows in our fellowship, we can expect similar results in the fellowships to which we minister on the outside.Much of our ministry in East Java has been amongst villages where the Gospel is being heard for the first time. When we moved to the city of Lawang in 1971 there were fifteen churches in the city, but two miles out of the city almost no one had ever heard the Name of Jesus. Through a large healing campaign, the Name of Jesus began to be known, and many saw a demonstration of His power. At first we tried visiting the new converts in their villages once a week and holding a service in the usual church sense. The results led rapidly in the direction of disaster. We came back to 1 Corinthians 14. We also learned from Acts that Paul always formed fellowships with local participation and eventually local leadership. He quickly taught them to be self-sufficient, depending on God alone, and to minister to each other.
Now we simply gather new converts together in a home and begin to talk with them, explaining the fundamentals of the faith and answering their questions. Soon problems and persecution arise and have to be faced. In an informal atmosphere they can discuss what is happening in their lives. One shares a problem, another tells how God has helped him with a similar problem. They build up each other's faith and pray for each other. Eventually there are times of praise and worship and singing together in the Spirit. There is Bible study together and praying one for another, and they begin to deliver the manifestations of the Spirit in the meetings. God takes over more and more as they learn to yield to His guidance. As their understanding grows, there is celebration of the Holy Communion.
They learn quickly how to minister to each other. If, for some reason, we cannot come to lead the meeting, it doesn't matter. They can meet anyway, because their dependence is on God, not on us. Eventually we can leave them on their own. When they have begun to learn to minister to each other in the fellowship, they begin, almost automatically, to minister the Gospel to their friends and neighbors, and even to go out to the surrounding towns and villages. Soon other fellowships begin in other places through their ministry. Worship in the Spirit issues in ministry in the Spirit.
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