Take regular church for example, there are a variety of methods of running a church service, and God has used all of these methods at different times and in different ways. For example, a Lutheran Fellowship will use prepared prayers and sing hymns whereas a Pentecostal Fellowship will pray and sing spontaneously. A Quaker Fellowship will sit in silence and worship God that way while a Salvation Army Fellowship will "strike up the band." Each of these believers are using various methods to worship God...........the methodology is different, but the principle is the same; worship is a part of our faith.

So there are a variety of principles or basic activities which Christian believers do, and these ideas need to be incorporated into a house church too. As a group of believers in a home trusts God and lets the Holy Spirit guide them, they will find an effective way of doing the basic things that they need to do.

The Bible encourages believers to worship God, to read scriptures, to encourage and instruct one another, to give, to minister and serve one another, to pray and to share the Lord's Supper. So these basic ideas are the things which need to be incorporated into a house church. Let me list them again for you, not in any particular order:

• Worship
• Reading the Scriptures
• Encouragement
• Instruction
• Giving
• Ministering
• Prayer
• The Lord's Supper (Communion)

When you meet in a home you are free to function in anyway that you are comfortable and you are not under any obligation to follow any order of service or method of meeting. You can have a designated leader, or no leader at all. You can have Communion everytime you meet, or only sometimes. You can worship with singing, or with prayer, or with silence. You are free to make your home comfortable for people and open for the Holy Spirit to move. Don't put yourself under any legalism with this.

You can take turns reading scripture and discussing it, or one person can be the leader for a certain week and do that teaching that time. Or you can read the scriptures and have a "sermon" as well. There is no limit to what you can do or how you can do it, as long as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

So how will your house church work? Well, use the above principles and seek the Lord and ask Him what He would have you do and how you should do it. Use your time together to seek God, seek greater unity between the believers and seek to bring your unsaved friends to faith. Allow God to be in your midst.......and He will.