No Longer Church As Usual: Restoring First Century Values and Structure to the 21st Century Church

By Tim Kurtz

The church is not a brick an mortar building. The church is not choirs, ushers or dynamic preachers. The church is not programs, events, or fundraisers for noble causes. The church is more than just a weekly get-together in a house or dedicated building. The church is life with purpose. It is life lived among believers who understand that they a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kingdom Word Publications
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780971291607

Book preview

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What does it look like? Whatever revelation you have must be articulated in a language that can be visualized by those who hear it. Habakkuk wrote that ‘ the vision must be written and made plain ’ so the ‘the reader can ‘ run with it ’ (Habakkuk 2:2).

No Longer Church As Usual explores church structure as seen in the New Testament. This is a book revealing how the expression of first century values, principles and practices can look in the twenty-first century. This is the purpose of this chapter. It is a simple story revealing a twenty-first century church in action. It is a story that that demonstrates values, principles, and practices of the first century church. It is this story that will set the stage for the remainder of this book.

It’s about six forty five Thursday evening

Bill and Marci arrive a few moments early at the home of Brett and Carolyn. Marci is toting one of her locally famous punch bowl cakes. A few moments later Janet, a single mother of three arrives with her children with a fresh tossed salad. By seven fifteen several others have arrived, some with children and each with a dish to pass. The last one to arrive is Jack and Cindy. Jack’s friend, Doug, came with them. He had been invited by Jack to join them that evening.

The dinner was delicious. Doug noted the large loaf of bread in the center of the dining room table next to a large goblet of what appeared to be grape juice. He specifically noted that during the meal no one ate any of the bread or took any of the contents of the cup. He also noted that everyone had a great time of fellowship during the meal.

Shortly after eight P.M., Brett slipped into the living room and started playing a CD of worship music. One by one every one filed into the living room and begins to worship along with the music. It doesn’t take long for everyone to become totally immersed in the praise and worship. Doug, Jack’s guest, appears a little uncomfortable with the situation, and at the same time intrigued by the obvious sincerity of everyone in the room – including the children.

As the praise comes to a beautiful conclusion, Sam offers a prayer of thanksgiving and gives a word of encouragement to the group. There is an additional time of worship as different ones in the group began singing and the others join in. Then sporadically, others in the group share encouraging words and insights from the bible. When it ends, Hanna, one of the wives in the group gathers the children and they go back into another room in the house. Throughout the evening, they can be heard intermittently laughing and singing.

One by one, they shared the ministry opportunities they encountered throughout the previous week. As they encouraged and gave each other advice, Jack introduced his friend, Doug.

Doug had confided in Jack about problems he was having in his marriage. He had asked Jack to pray for him. When Jack invited him to worship with him, he accepted the invitation expecting to meet him at a local church building (the kind with steeples and pews). The house setting was foreign to him but the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed. It didn’t take Doug long to open up and tell the group his problems.

Various members of the group gave Doug words of wisdom and encouragement from various scriptures and personal testimonies. Some invited Doug to bring his wife to their home for dinner, and committed to help them navigate through their difficulties. Doug was obviously moved by the love and empathy he received from the group.

By nine thirty, the fellowship began to wind down and the group members began praying for each other. Doug wasn’t singled out as the sole object of prayer; instead he shadowed Jack as he prayed for others in the group and as they in turn, prayed for him.

In the midst of this prayer time, Hanna and the children rejoined the group. Brett then announced that Hanna and her husband Bill had been praying about starting a gathering in their home. They had recently attended an orientation sponsored by the local elders specifically for those who were considering house church leadership. There was a mixture of applause and hugs. The entire group encircled Bill and Hanna and laid hands on them, praying that God would guide them as they planted a new church gathering. Bill and Hanna thanked the group for their commitment to support their efforts.

Brett shared some information regarding the upcoming whole church meeting he had received from the elders. He then took the large loaf of bread that had remained on the dining room table and began breaking pieces and sharing it with the group. He prayed and thanked God for the presence of Christ in their midst. Bill joined in with a prayer, thanking God for each person in the group, and for how much they contributed to each other.

Bill then took a small drink from the goblet that was on the table, and one by one, it was passed around the entire group. Doug was taken aback by this activity, yet when the goblet was handed to him, he felt compelled to partake. He later remarked to Jack that he really felt like a part of the group when he did. As they were leaving, a couple of the guys invited Doug to join them for a round of golf on Saturday. Doug also overheard one of the ladies thank another one for filling in as a chaperone for her children’s upcoming field trip at school because she could not miss work. It seemed to Doug that the gathering that evening was a segue to a week of ‘family like’ activities among those present.

Similar scenarios took place all over town that night and throughout the week. Believers gathered in homes in the region and fellowshipped with each other, ministered to each other, encouraged each other, exhorted each other, broke bread and found ways to meet each other’s needs.

Fast forward three weeks…

On Friday evening, elders and their wives from around the area met for their monthly fellowship dinner. Arthur, one of the elders previously selected to moderate the group gave an outline of the agenda and schedule for the next day. It was obviously going to be a full day.

The elders were joined Saturday morning at breakfast by prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who regularly ministered throughout the churches and taught classes for developing leaders. Nearly every church leader was present and a few itinerant ministers attended. After breakfast, they had a powerful time of prayer. It was clear the Holy Spirit was present.

At ten or so, Arthur signaled for the meeting to begin.

The group first tackled some doctrinal issues. After some lively discussion, they reached a consensus, and their decisions were put in writing to be shared with all the church leaders.

The elders and ministers then focused on publicly recognizing several new leaders who would be planting churches in their homes. A few of the prophets and teachers each gave testimony of their interaction with these new leaders. It was satisfying to the elders and everybody present to see the churches multiply so effectively. They agreed that the new leaders would be publicly recognized during the whole church gathering that weekend.

A schedule of training sessions that would be held during the coming month was reviewed. Several new classes were being added to the schedule geared towards developing a deeper understanding of biblical doctrine. Everyone was pleased with these additions.

Finally, the elders reviewed the financial reports submitted by the deacons. They shared how the Holy Spirit had miraculously leveraged their resources to meet many needs among the people. After some minor adjustments, the elders approved a budget for the deacons to cover the next thirty days. The elders, along with the entire group present agreed to send financial support to the apostle who had established them in order to assist him in his work in other regions. The group then dispersed until the evening service.

Saturday evening was electrifying. Several dozen churches throughout the region gathered for a time of corporate celebration. Musicians, youth and adult dance ministries and drama teams ministered to this gathering. Sixteen individuals who had been prayerfully recognized by the elders were brought before the whole church and had hands laid on them publicly to recognize them as the leaders of new church plants. After a musical selection by a youth group, two of the ministers delivered powerful messages and several people were ministered to at the