New SI Feature: Find Fellowship Section

Dear Saints,

This has been a burden personally of mine for many years to see many of the brothers and sisters not only on this website better connected together. I have personally been in many house churches and simply homes of families of believers that cannot find good local fellowship in their area at any church.

So we have started a section on the website to allow networking to happen more and for like-minded believers to meet weekly for fellowship under the Lordship of Christ. The reason we have labelled this "house churches" is that were 2 or 3+ more believers are gathering in the Name of Christ, that is essentially the church in the new testament. We thank God for larger assemblies of believers but many do not feel free to meet on their own. But God does accept this.

You can read more here: https://www.sermonindex.net/fellowships/

The Lord has given me the name: "Gospel Fellowships" as a name for these meetings but that naming convention is not required to be kept for the groups. It is just a way to associate what God is doing in these groups and those that join them. We believe this will be much bigger than just SermonIndex, so we have decided not to call them "SermonIndex fellowships" etc!

We are co-laboring with other ministries and brothers and sisters to see this be a networking tool not just for some here on SI but across other ministries also.

May God unite and join His body in these days that Jesus Christ may be glorified and the church strengthened.

You can read more of this vision and network here and get involved: https://www.sermonindex.net/fellowships/

Dear Brother Rich,

I will try and be in contact with you tonight and call.

Awesome brother, this is going to be strategic as we move forward..............bro Frank

This is good. Some brothers and sisters in Christ and I have been meeting for 3 years strong in different places each week. Mostly in a house though. I have spoken with another member and we are going to begin praying about it. May the Lord use this for His glory.

Thank would be great dear brother, I believe there are many pre-existing house church groups that have been meeting but are not connected with other like-minded believers across North America, may this be one means God uses to connect some of them in a like faith!

If I can be of any help let me know and it might be great to talk with you or one of the brothers on the phone to have fellowship at some point.

but I wonder if as you develope this, is there a way to better conceal the meeting places of the brethren yet at the same time accomplish the goal? Just something we should all commit to prayer and see how the Lord would have this to move forward.

Dear Brother, that is a great point. We are just listing the phone number and email of a brother and sister that want to represent an area or a home church. Sometimes one of those brothers could represent multiple home churches in his area that he is in fellowship with and will connect people accordingly. We are NOT going to list any addresses or a list of addresses to anyone. I believe in this way it is the best method to connect brothers and sisters.

Is there any plans for starting house churches in the UK also?

Dear Sister, At this point our burden is specifically North America. I really cannot imagine it being beyond that at this point. From my knowledge there are quite a few networks of home churches in the UK, whether their spiritual tempature is high I cannot say.

I preached in a home church meeting in Wales a few years ago.

I hope many are able to view the new fellowship finder page: https://www.sermonindex.net/fellowships/

As you can notice we are starting to slowly list fellowships and small groups of brothers and sisters, once we finish the Guiding Principles booklet we will be able to add more fellowships that fully agree with the principles in the booklet.

But we are adding some fellowships already that I know have the same burden and vision. Simply we do not want to encourage the meeting of home churches that are anti-church buildings that that is the reason they meet, or anti-leadership or anti other things. We want groups to meet that realize yes it is more wise and biblical to meet in houses but more imporantly they have a burden to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ, have Him as the head of their meeting and be disciplined in prayer, bible reading, and other important areas.

We do also want to encourage the meeting of home fellowships that are growing, evangelizing and passionate to bring the lost to Jesus Christ.

I'm just saying that I hope it doesn't become too "organized." Let it be just what is stated above-- simply a means of networking. A means by which believers might be able to find a local home fellowship. If it becomes much more than that... sadly it will end up becoming just another organized denomination.

We fully agree brother, We simply want to lay out basic principles to ensure the fellowships that connect together are of like-mind, biblical and growing in the Lord. We do not endorse or want to connect with "all" of the current house churches in North America for there is a great lukewarmness in many of them just as in denominational churches.

I agree fully that we are not to control but to give resources, helps and encouraging the networking together as the Holy Spirit leads. This is key every step must be led of the Spirit. thank you for your encouragement and prayers for this.

Dear Brother,

yes lets connect it would be great to have a time of fellowship.

I had a chance to read through the "Guiding Principles" booklet. I found it to be very well written and generalized in statements of faith. I feel my group will be very welcoming to the idea. We will meet this Saturday as normal, and I will bring it up then. I am going on mission soon, so I will be out of touch for the next two or three weeks or so. I will be back on here within a month and should have a proposal for the moderators. This is a wonderful website and I feel God has used it for my sanctification. He will be glorified through this resource!

That sounds wonderful brother.

On another note. If you are a pastor of an established denominational church one idea is to organize your church into small meetings that could allowed to be interdenominational during the week and these could be listed as Gospel Fellowships. I have been strongly encouraging pastors to do this for over 5 years now. If you are interested in this please send me an email: sermonindex@gmail.com and your phone number.

Would it be worth, although not part of the burden, to have a forum post or section for groups such as these where people can announce, locate and source home churches outside of the US?

Dear Brother,

We will have to pray over this more. I do know there are many house church networks in the UK but I am again not sure of their spiritual state. All house churches start with the genesis of faith to believe God to direct you to at least 1-2 other sincere believers in your area and then cleave together weekly in a gathering together towards Jesus Christ.

Dear brother,

Great idea about a social network. At this point we are trying to keep it as simple as possible, sometimes a social network tool really is about pre-emince of wanting people to read my post, my ideas, my new article, etc.

What we want to do is connect brothers and sisters and to let them focus and be fruitful in their local areas. And network with like-minded believers locally at first. I will consider your idea prayerfully though.

I encourage anyone that is praying about being a part of this that is alone or just 2 people meeting to pray about committing to meet weekly or more for like-minded fellowship, that is a "house church" in its genesis (beginning).

housechurch.org apears to be more of a "registry", whereas (God willing) this will be more of a movement:) That's the main difference I see as I read and get to know brother Greg.

I truly believe that the "Gospel Felloship" network is God birthed and will grow and be a powerful Kingdom force as brothers and sisters of kindred spirit link shoulders. I believe that being part of a house church movement, means that we have to have a whole lot more in common with each other the mere fact that we "we meet in homes" Christ must be central, Christ and His call on our lives must be our focus. There is little to no passion in the house church "streams" that I have been a part of to actually preach the unadulterated gospel and to make disciples.

There is nothing wrong with other house church networks, movements etc, but brother Greg and others have seen a NEED for a NEW THING to rise up.

Dear Brother,

We are using right now this map technology to list brothers and fellowships that agree with the statement of faith and burden with the booklet: http://housechurchesalabama.blogspot.ca/p/find-fellowship.html

I believe this is important because it ensures there is "common faith" and the quality of the meetings. Also we are basing this more on personal relationships to ensure brothers and sisters can get to know each other.

Greg,
I have been praying about starting up a regular "meeting," for many months. I spoke to my Pastor and an elder about some of the details.

I would like to ask your opinion on a few things via email - do you have a work email I could contact you at?

I would like to ask your opinion on a few things via email - do you have a work email I could contact you at?

Dear brother, it might be easiest to connect via phone. I just send you a personal email.

There is nothing wrong with other house church networks, movements etc, but brother Greg and others have seen a NEED for a NEW THING to rise up.

Amen. May God be glorified as it is not just myself but "so many" who have had the same burdens and heart for the church in North America. I believe God is doing all of this and it is His work, we are simply networking many brothers of like-mind.

I truly believe that the "Gospel Felloship" network is God birthed and will grow and be a powerful Kingdom force as brothers and sisters of kindred spirit link shoulders. I believe that being part of a house church movement, means that we have to have a whole lot more in common with each other the mere fact that we "we meet in homes" Christ must be central, Christ and His call on our lives must be our focus. There is little to no passion in the house church "streams" that I have been a part of to actually preach the unadulterated gospel and to make disciples. Awakened.

The mere fact that we meet in homes is no guarantee of anything. It needs to be remembered that the” house” is synonymous with the “household”. The cult of family is a root of destruction to the true meaning of “the body.” It is one thing to speak of the church in a particular house, but it is another to join in with a family only to realise that the basis of meeting together whilst stated and intended to be the Lord Jesus Himself, turns out to be on the basis of heads of households and not the Lordship of Christ. If what we intend is to flee away from the “church edifice” of buildings with all of the implications that these things have on the body, both financial as well as governmentally, we will be in for a terrible reality check if heads of households begin to direct things. Spiritual abuse is precisely getting the foundation wrong. It will lead to every kind of perversity if those who do move into this simplicity of meeting in houses do not take account of the reality that in those houses are heads of households. If the desire to network has more to do with “somewhere” to go when the mainstream church finally shows its hand in such a way that those who really want to serve God faithfully and with a good conscience, are driven out, then this is no doubt something attending to what is already discerned by many.

It isn’t difficult to see where this is going. What is impossible to know is where it will end. Yes and in that alone we must trust in the Lord Jesus to keep us from abuse and do a good work in us.

Amrkelly,

I have been considering and praying about a home church for the past six months, so I spoke with Greg on the phone last night, and your concern regarding the head of the household holding all the cards is not a part of the home church mission. In fact, in many instances it is to avoid the perversity that is present in the structural churches, the false doctrines, and milk toast messages.

If I understood Greg's heart, he envisions each saint contributing equally, and not one person high-jacking the meeting (which will be a challenge for some if the threads are indicative of the types of people), resulting in a cult-like atmosphere. Further, those groups will be men approved and in good standing.

I was blessed to be under Pastor Robert B. Thompson for 30 years (his messages are featured on this site), but had to move to another state take care of my Mom. I've attended about 10 different churches here and they range from a Circus du Soleil performances, to dry, twisted scriptures, and finally, weak ineffective messages.

I agree with you - if you have found a godly church, rooted in Christ with the structure that God has ordained and blessed - by all means stay. But the end times are upon us, and we need to realize that soon it may be against the law to have non-government sanctioned church gathering. God is on the move, and we need to be in prayer to understand what the end time church will look like. Elijah felt he was the only Christian left, and God reminded him that there were 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal. This move is simply to connect the 7.000 (a figurative number) in a cloaked fashion, a figurative catacomb if you will.

As Godly Pastors continue to be arrested for preaching against homosexuality and other Biblical topics, they will face jail time and the shutting down of their church. This move is simply a plan for Godly meetings or for those whose churches have watered down their messages to appease the masses and boost the offerings.

Finally, I am gifted with discernment. If I believe that the group is "off" in some way, I would not continue to attend. If they are not rock-solid, they may be part of the problem rather than solution and when the going gets tough, turn our names in to the authorities. Our own personal walk with the Lord needs to be paramount, so that we are sensitive to the leading of the Spirit.

Thanks for pointing out some of the pitfalls that will need to be addressed to launch this vision successfully.

Blessings.

If I understood Greg's heart, he envisions each saint contributing equally, and not one person high-jacking the meeting (which will be a challenge for some if the threads are indicative of the types of people), resulting in a cult-like atmosphere. Further, those groups will be men approved and in good standing.

Just to clarify what the sister is sharing, we do believe strongly in the need for leadership but not just one leader but hundreds, so therefore each meeting is not looking towards one man but rather the Lord Jesus Christ. there will be those more gifted in each body but their role will be to servant and get below the others to encourage them to share and grow as disciples.

In each meeting brothers and sisters should be encouraged to share and prophesy as Corinthians says yet there can be someone gifted with teaching who will want to exercise that gifting. That does not have to happen every meeting but can.

In the end we want to see the entire body active, growing and fulfilling their role. Thus the true Shepherd is Jesus Christ, yet God will raise up shepherd's after his own heart in these groups also we believe.

God is on the move, and we need to be in prayer to understand what the end time church will look like. Elijah felt he was the only Christian left, and God reminded him that there were 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal. This move is simply to connect the 7.000 (a figurative number) in a cloaked fashion, a figurative catacomb if you will.

Amen sister!

If other brothers are feeling a burden to step out to start home meetings in their areas even if there are no others meeting with them right now do contact me: sermonindex@gmail.com

We are asking brothers and sisters to review this small booklet (that is still being written) to share feedback and ideas:

Guiding Principles
Unifying Disciplines for the Gospel
Fellowships - House Church Network
https://img.sermonindex.net/fellowships/guidingprinciples.pdf

Our desire is that the network of house churches and small meetings starting as house churches would all contribute and be a part of this and it is not an idea of one person.

Thus there is unity and growth in what God is doing.

Dear Saints,

we have re-done the Find Fellowship page to make the intentions more clear and helpful for those who feel led to consider being involved: https://www.sermonindex.net/fellowships/

Also you can read the same information on www.gospelfellowships.net

Dear Saints,

Through the counsel of some brothers and considering it more before the Lord I have decided to take down the Fellowship Finder link at this time. There are some reasons for this.

1. The burden the Lord has laid on my heart and other brothers for more home churches is something that not everyone on sermonindex would agree with.

2. I do not want to use the website for a personal platform even for some steps of faith I take in my personal walk with the Lord and towards future ministry.

3. We do not want to "only" recommend these meetings called "Gospel Fellowships" we want to be able to recommend other churches too on sermonindex that are biblical and teaching the word.

4. We are in the beginning stages of this burden and perhaps if ever it would be setup within sermonindex this would have to prayed over much more and considered more greatly because of implications.

we encourage saints on the forums here to consider reading the book we have put together to consider involvement personally, whether that is connecting other others in your local area or listing your home fellowship / gathering meeting.

The book is still in a rough draft but much more closer to completion here: http://www.gospelfellowships.net

We are exciting to see already over 5 house churches involved and some other smaller groups. May the Lord Himself continue to guide and be who we all look to for direction.

Dear Brother,

At this point through counsel and prayer we have decided not to have an official fellowship finder on the site because of the lack of time to vet and ensure the fellowships we would send people to are legitimate.

We have though in the same spirit of this launched: www.gospelfellowships.net where we are offering a free ebook (still being worked on) and our encouragement to try and find others in your local area to have fellowship with.

We are going to allow this to come together of the Lord and not try and connect people on the site through a "finder' in the future there could be the possibility of some regional small gatherings to simply encourage saints in that area and to encourage them to meet together under the headship of Jesus Christ encouraging each other in their walks with the Lord.

Thanks for your interest brother.

Thank you brother.

We are going to lock this thread to prevent further confusion. And trust the growing resource at: http://www.gospelfellowships.net will be a help for some to encourage them to meet with saints in their areas.

this thread is locked.