Firstly you must not cut yourself off from the rest of the Body of Christ. Jesus said that "I am the vine and you are the branches." So when you are joined into Him and His people you will thrive, but if you separate yourself you will not last. Also, as part of the Body of Christ, you need to be joined to the rest of the Body or you will cease to be part of the Body. You need to keep in contact with other believers and maintain love for your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Most importantly however, you need to place yourself in a position of sumbission and accountability and service within the Body of Christ. This does not mean that you have to join a denomination, but it does mean that you need to be under spiritual covering of a man of God or group of believers who will watch over your soul, pray for you and help you and through this relatioship, grace and blessings will flow.

Very often believers has a mistaken understanding of what covering is. The often think that it means being in a religious organisation or having an area supervisor. These kinds of covering are merely for administrative purposes only and very rarely does this provide any real covering at all. True covering is having a person....a human being....who God has appointed to keep watch over your soul and who you can submit to and serve. The Apostle Paul provided this role for a number of churches, including the believers in Corinth. In Corinthians he wrote, "There are ten thousand teachers, but very few fathers, and in Christ I became your father." Paul was watching over their soul, not in a domineering or controlling way, but like a father who cared for his children. You need to find someone like this who cares for you and will pray for you and keep watch over your souls. You also need to submit and serve that person and in doing so you will have spiritual covering over your people. An example of this is a wife, the bible says that wives must submit to their husbands, and that husbands are the covering of their wives. When a wife follows the biblical instruction, she finds spiritual covering, not in an organisation or system but in a person. No spiritual covering is perfect but as we submit and serve, it brings the blessing of God. Spiritual covering is not a liability, but is a spiritual asset. Jesus was under such covering and said "I do only what I see the Father doing."

You must find spiritual covering, because this will bring protection and grace to what you are wanting to do. It will help you and also provide mechanisms of accountability and blessing which you will not have on your own. If you are sincere in seeking God, He will open your eyes and show you the person that He has placed in your life for your good, and you should submit and serve that person. In the same way that God has placed pastors (shepherds) in the Body to watch over the sheep, so also the fellowships need to be watched over and cared for. Even pastors need a pastor. God will lead you to the covering that He wants for you.

The Bible also says that there are "Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers" in the Body of Christ and that their job is to "prepare God's people for works of service until they become mature." Ephesians 4:11 In other words if you are to become mature as a group of believers you will also need the ministry of these people in your midst. In fact very often spiritual coverng is provided by these types of people, especially Apostles, who by very nature are spiritual fathers. It is very important to find and relate to Apostles and Prophets in particular because these people will be a blessing to you and will help you to grow and become mature. A good book to read regarding this is "The Apostolic Revelation" which will help you understand that Apostles have been placed in the Body of Christ for an important purpose, and that it does affect the way you need to run your house church.

So basically, there is a great deal of freedom for you to start a house church and run it however you are led by the Holy Spirit, but you canot become a law unto yourself, and become unsubmitted and separated from God's people. For you to function effectively you need to be in proper communion with the Body of Christ and submitted to covering that He wants to place over you, not to restrict you, but to bless you. When you seek to be connected to the Body, God will help you find the right places and people to connect with.

There is also the issue of giving. Occasionally when people join a house church they cease to give to the work of God and think that they are no longer obliged to give. The Bible is quite clear however in stating that "God loves a cheerful giver" and "Give unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's and give to God that which is God's." A house church which incorporates giving into its worship will be a blessed group of believers. It is also important for the leader/s of a house church to set a good example in this and give themselves. For more information on this go here.

Finally, there are many people who have become offended with organised Christianity and have left in a huff or bad attitude to start their own house church. These people see that "they don't need anyone else," but it is a lie. We need each other in the Body of Christ. We should not let our bad attitudes and pride keep us from God's people because separation from the Body results in spiritual death. God said in 2 Peter that he was building a spiritual house and that we are the living stones being joined together to make this house. Our lives are the building blocks that God wants to place together, but if a group of these blocks go off in isolation, they are no longer part of the house God is building, but just a group of people being religious.

Basically, house church gives you freedom to be autonomous and at liberty, but not to be independant and lawless. If you are aware of this, you will do well and have the blessing of God. Therefore as you proceed to develop a group that meets in homes, remember to be a servant, remember the remainder of God's people and let them bless you and strive to bless them.