Cicero Christian Church - reach, teach and serve for the cause of Christ

Who Should Be in Our Home Fellowship?

That is not an easy question to answer. The best mix of people in a Home Fellowship is to have as many generations as possible. This helps younger couples and children learn from those who are wiser and more experienced in the Christian life, and it gives those who are older the joy of serving those who are younger and knowing they are still important.

However, we know this is not always possible and many Home Fellowships will be made up of people in the same stage of life. What’s most important is that they relate well together and truly come to care for and serve each other and grow closer to God together.

Another important consideration in creating a Home Fellowship is that everyone live as close to each other as possible. This makes it much easier to get together not only in their weekly meeting but throughout the week as they get to know one another, serve one another and have fun together like any family should.

After prayer and discussion the people we would like to invite into our Home Fellowship are:
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When Should Our Home Fellowship Meet?

It’s important to meet at a time when everyone is not rushed. If people need to get up early for work, if children need to finish homework, etc. it makes the meeting rushed. Therefore if at all possible we encourage you to meet on Friday or Saturday evening or Sunday afternoons or early evenings. However if this is not possible you should meet when it is best for those in your group to meet.

Our Home Fellowship will meet on ______________ at ____________.

Where Should Our Home Fellowship Meet?

We strongly encourage every Home Fellowship to meet in a home so that they can be in a family atmosphere. The group can choose one home or use all homes that are big enough and whose owners are comfortable acting as hosts.
Our Home Fellowship will meet in the following homes.
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How Often Should Our Home Fellowship Meet?

We encourage all Home Fellowships to develop the habit and commitment to meet weekly. There are a number of good reasons for this:

Weekly meetings develop the habit of meeting regularly.
Weekly meetings help develop deeper relationships.
The Bible tells us to meet weekly and even more often (Acts 2:42-47 & 20:7; Hebrews 3:13 & 10:24-25)

What are Some of the Goals of a Home Fellowship?

Spiritual Formation – Becoming a mature Christian should be the goal of all Christians. Therefore, each Home Fellowship will use some of the many suggestions we have for spiritual formation.

Evangelism – Each Home Fellowship is encouraged to pray for family members, friends and neighbors who are not Christians and seek ways to reach out to them.

Reproduction- Each Home Fellowship is encouraged to welcome new members and have at least one leader in training so a new group can begin when the Lord adds members to their group.

Volunteerism – Each Home Fellowship recognizes their responsibility to their local church and seeks to serve where they have a passion and there is a need.

International/National Missions – As an expression of the desire to share Jesus Christ with the rest of the world, each Home Fellowship will look for ways to intentionally support at least one national or overseas mission through prayer, financial commitment and hands-on involvement.

Care – A true Christian Community is committed to care for one another. On a regular basis each Home Fellowship will purposely look for ways to help those in need.

Extending Compassion – Each Home Fellowship is encouraged to participate in at least one or two on-site compassion projects a year.

What About Our Children?

This is an important question and here are some possible answers, with the first being our recommendation but certainly not a requirement.

Children stay for the entire meeting. Older children can fully participate, and the younger ones can color or read picture books. This requires that your meetings offer something for all age levels. Many web sites have great ideas and resources for helping children grow spiritually in creative and fun ways. Some of those sites are:

christianitytoday.com

Hire a baby-sitter for the entire group. She can keep the children in another room or at a nearby house. The entire group chips in to pay her. She could baby-sit or provide spiritually nurturing activities for the children.

Ask group members to rotate as baby-sitters. This will only work if everyone commits to take a turn. The advantage is that all the adults build relationships with all the children. The disadvantage is missing the meeting.

Children participate for part of the meeting. They could join in for singing or icebreakers. For the rest of the time, they might watch a video in another room with an adult or teen supervising.

We will begin with the following plan for the children in our Home Fellowship:
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What Happens in a Home Fellowship?

In our Home Fellowships we seek to follow the format given in the Bible in First Corinthians. The format of a Home Fellowship would look something like this:

A meal that is begun with prayer and an informal taking of communion. This is simply a normal meal where everyone brings a prepared dish and after prayer is offered everyone gets their food and takes communion. Then simply eat and visit like you would at any family meal. This can last half an hour to an hour depending on when everyone seems to be finished.

The meeting. This part of the meeting may last one hour or it could be longer depending on how the evening flows and the needs of those present.
This meeting is conducted as an informal time of sharing based on the Scripture assigned for the week (usually less than one chapter based on the sermon text for the week). Each person is expected to read and meditate on the Scripture during the week and come to share, ask questions and discuss what it means and how it can be applied to their lives. In the near future our web site will include daily study guides and a guide for use in your Home Fellowship.

Discussion of the Scripture will often lead to other topics and Scriptures as the Spirit of God directs.

Each Home Fellowship will have a leader or two who will keep the discussion on track but also be wise enough to allow God to guide the discussion.

This time of the meeting can also include worship if someone has a song they would like sung or you have a regular song leader.

Near the end of the meeting prayer requests and praises can be shared and a time of prayer held.

How Can I Belong to a Home Fellowship?

If you would like to be part of a LIFE Home Fellowship call Pastor Ben Radant or Chad Allen. He will help you find others who desire to be in a Home Fellowship or help you join an existing Home Fellowship.

What Training is Offered for Home Fellowship Leaders?

A few times each year training is held for new leaders where a manual, this guide and a Home Fellowship Start-Up Kit is received. If necessary, Ben or Chad will meet with you at anytime for training so you can start a group.

When new groups start he will join you for a few meetings to help you and is always available for questions and help.

Pastor Ben Radant
LIFE Home Fellowship Coach

www.cicerochristianchurch.org