Reading: House To House (Introductory Materials)

House To House

Growing Healthy Small Groups and House Churches in the 21st Century

Larry Kreider

Dedication

 

"I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:20-21).

 

House to House is dedicated to my wife LaVerne, to our children, Katrina, Charita, Joshua and Leticia, and to the hundreds of faithful small group leaders and house church leaders with whom we have had the privilege of serving during the past three decades.

Many of the spiritual principles outlined in this book were learned through the School of the Holy Spirit. And we are still learning with each step of faith. Many believers have given of themselves to serve our Lord Jesus in the building of the "underground church” throughout the world. To them this book is also dedicated.

But most importantly of all, this book is dedicated to the One who has promised us that He will build His Church . . . our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Acknowledgments

 

Special thanks to Karen Ruiz for her overall editorial assistance, Sarah Sauder for her oversight on this project, Hank Rogers for his assistance, Jackie Bowser for writing the thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, Steve Prokopchak and Brian Sauder for helping me clearly communicate what the Lord has placed on my heart, Lee Grady for his editorial help, Ron Myer for "covering my tracks” to give me the time needed to write, and many others who proofread this book. To the dozens of people who read the manuscript and offered valuable insights every step of the way, thank you.

And a very special thanks to those with whom we have been privileged to labor--the entire team, both at home and abroad, who have been so encouraging and supportive of my spending the time writing and rewriting this book.

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Foreword by Chuck Pierce

Foreword by Ralph Neighbour

Introduction

Part I

Back to the Basics of New Testament Christianity

Chapter 1 What Is an Underground Church?

Chapter 2 Learning the Hard Way

Chapter 3 God's Priorities

Chapter 4 A Biblical Vision for Small Groups and House Churches

Chapter 5 Spiritual Parenting

Chapter 6 Spiritual Families

Chapter 7 Reaching Out Beyond Ourselves

Part II

Grassroots Leadership Development

Chapter 8 Leading Through Servanthood

Chapter 9 Am I Qualified to Be a Leader?

Chapter 10 The Responsibilities of Leaders

Chapter 11 The Meetings

Chapter 12 Skills for Leading

Chapter 13 Help! I'm a Leader

Chapter 14 A Leader's Commitment

Part III

God Positions Us for the Future

Chapter 15. New Testament Church Leadership Roles

Chapter 16 Two Myths--Holy Men and Holy Buildings

Chapter 17 Let's Dream Together

 

Appendix A Practical Application in the DOVE Family

Appendix B DOVE's Vision, Mission, and Values

Appendix C Types of Apostles

Endnotes

 

 

 

Foreword

 

 

I am privileged to read several manuscripts each year before they are released to the public. I have the opportunity to give my opinions to the author and endorse the work for all of those who will read its pages. I usually read each manuscript by skimming through the pages to get the overall context, looking at each major heading, and then reading the key themes of each chapter. I also look forward to rereading the book after the publisher makes it available to the entire Body of Christ. However, this book by Larry Kreider was different. I found myself reading each word, and my spirit man leapt as I read each page. Even on the two plane rides when I was reading House to House, I heard myself say, "Oh God, I love this! Oh Lord, this is right and is the 'it' to capture this moment for where we, the Church, are going!”

House to House is the revolutionary book we need to change the course of the Church again. This book is a must for any grassroots movement. What is written here will help us produce the necessary changes for the Kingdom to advance in the future. This book is visionary! Larry communicates his vision, heart, and "come to Jesus meeting at the creek”! This book is apostolic in that the order that manages this vision looks like Ephesians 4 in the Bible! This book is theological because it traces the Church's development and success from a biblical standpoint! This book is futuristic and combines the history of the past with the future call to the Church to overcome! This book is filled with methodology! Larry shares failed approaches, as well as operational methods that work!

In the Hebrew Year 5769 and Roman Year 2009, the Triumphant Reserve began to reform and transform society in the midst of this chaotic, crisis-filled time! We have entered a season of the new wineskin. Like never before, we are in a season of divine alignment. God is setting in order His holy array! He is developing His order. He is pouring out His wine.

In the history of the Church, on the day of Pentecost, there was no sufficient structure for the "new thing” that happened. God used homes to develop the structure. I weathered the latter 1960s and early 1970s that were wild, unconventional, glorious, and devastating at times. There were few structures in the religious world that wanted the new converts that were finding the Lord during that time. The Jesus Movement was a true movement but had to move outside of the conventional church methodology; homes seemed to be the perfect solution.

The time has come again for a great new move of God to sweep the earth.

All of us who are called to minister to God's people are having to be creative as we develop His wineskin for the future. I had been involved in the cell movement when I was on the staff of a Baptist church during the 1970s and 1980s and had seen many of the pitfalls and benefits of cell ministry. After moving my family to Denton, Texas (where our ministry is located today), we connected with Robert Heidler. As he and I began moving forward together in ministry, we incorporated cell groups into our vision, knowing that small groups were key.

For us to see God's order, apostles must be first, prophets second, and then we can pastor and teach the sheep properly. This movement is much more than people finding Christ and needing each other. This is a movement with new order and authority. This is a movement that will see the world evangelized. We have begun to see a shift from scattered sheep to the triumphant reserve! We are seeing His family restored and becoming a viable, holy army in the earth. The works of Jesus are being done again, and with the ability to communicate around the world, I believe we are seeing the "greater works.” Each gift in the Body of Christ that is resident in all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ must come into the fullness of its God-designed destiny! The Kingdom of God is moving forward! To accomplish this requires all the ascension gifts to be aligned: apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors. A plan of dominion for "this age” has been released. I believe Larry has captured a portion of this plan for us.

This book, House to House, will be sent to everyone who is connected with us! The amazing practical guidelines in the book will free many to look at their main resource, their home or dwelling place, and see how this place can become a sanctuary for many. Larry Kreider has designed this book to help us stay on the edge. Revelation 12:10 is a central theme for those who understand the house-to-house concept. This is a day of covenant and reorganization of resources. If we can grab hold of the revelation here and unselfishly use our resources as God's gathering place, we could see the Body of Christ multiply 30-, 60- or even 100-fold!

 

Dr. Chuck D. Pierce,

Glory of Zion International President, Global Spheres, Inc

Watchman, Global Harvest Ministries.

 

 

Foreword

 

 

Larry Kreider has recently reorganized his book House to House,rewriting some of it to include house church ministry in the mix, along with cell group ministry. This update will make his last decade of experience impact the activity of church life for the next decade. The Holy Spirit is gently shifting the paradigms of God's people. It is astonishing to see the way old wineskins have started leaking and new ones have developed. More and more are realizing that the small group/cell group/house church is an expression of the literal Body of Christ on the earth today.

The real paradigm shift taking place in ecclesiology is the conviction that everything the people of God do is rooted exclusively in the life of the indwelling Christ. Another characteristic of the model expressed in this book is that it is a movement, not just a parish. Cell churches everywhere think globally, knowing that their ambassadors will all be "home grown” in the base church before being sent to plant new works.

Studies of people reveal that only 2.5 percent are innovators. Kreider is one of them. Innovators have the special capacity to see something as "real” when it is only theory and then to make it come to pass. It is painful to have to backtrack and try another direction. This book is the result of many of those cycles. It can save the reader much time in experimentation.

Larry's book joins the small collection of writings that can steer you on your journey and will be remembered as a pioneer's contribution to the family of God. Pick up a highlighter and begin to mark the pages that follow!

Dr. Ralph W. Neighbour Jr.,

Houston, Texas

 

Introduction

 

 

It has been more than forty years since the Lord called my wife LaVerne and me into Christian leadership. In 1971, we helped start a youth ministry reaching out to unchurched kids in our community. From these seeds planted, the house-to-house strategy of DOVE International sprouted several years later. This book was originally written from the perspective of our experience with the new wineskins of small groups in a cell-based church and our commitment to church planting throughout the nations.

I have since revised it to accommodate the advent of new wineskins that are continuing to emerge. Today, in addition to cell churches, new "house churches” and house church networks are growing throughout America and in the nations of the world. This new kind of wineskin especially appeals to the younger generation. Like cell churches, house churches are relational, and all members are liberated to serve as ministers. However, house churches are different in that each functions as a real church. Cell churches, while meeting in small groups during the week, are part of a larger unit--the local congregation that meets corporately each weekend.

I firmly believe that we need many kinds of churches to fulfill the Great Commission. From traditional churches to cell-based churches to new house church networks--the Lord will use all types to help bring in the harvest. The principles of small group ministry in this book apply to training leaders for house churches as well as for small groups in cell-based congregations. Although cell groups in local churches and house churches are instinctively different, there are many similarities, as you will see throughout this book.

Please note: some names used in this book have been changed to maintain privacy for the people mentioned. The personal illustrations and experiences that I share are (for obvious reasons) from my own personal viewpoint.

 

Use This Book as a Guide for Small
Group or House Church Ministry

Much of what you read throughout House to House may serve as a guidebook to which you can refer in the days ahead. No one book has all the answers, but if you are a small group or house church leader, an assistant leader, or a potential small group leader, you will find that this book will guide you as the Holy Spirit builds the Church of Jesus Christ through you. If you sense that the Lord is calling you to labor with Him to build His Church from house to house according to this underground pattern, my desire is that the Lord will use these scriptural principles and practical suggestions to spur you on.

Please note that throughout this book, I use several terms interchangeably when referring to small groups of believers experiencing community, including: home groups, house fellowships, small groups, life groups, cell groups, house churches, micro churches, and simple churches.

Also note: In order to facilitate easier reading of this book, I will generally use the masculine gender when referring to leaders in the church. For the record, we firmly believe that women today are given a spiritual mandate to lead just as women in the early church labored as leaders.

--Larry Kreider
May 2014

Introduction

1. For more about house churches, read:

Starting a House Church by Larry Kreider & Floyd McClung (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2007).

House Church Networks, a New Church for a New Generation by Larry Kreider (Lititz, PA: House to House Publications, 2001).