Twitter
RSS
Facebook
ClickBank1

Why I Like Serving Jesus in a UBF House church

Why I like serving God in a house church in the University Bible Fellowship ministry.

The following is a list of reasons why I serving as a house church in UBF is a “good fit” for my family. It is not just a list of reasons why I like house churches. (These can be found under the article, “Why House Church?” However some reasons may overlap.) This list is a reason why I like being in a house church in UBF in particular.

1. A person can be a leader, even a pastor, without going to theology school. This does not negate theological studies. We do have extensive Bible studies within our church.  We also have speakers come from outside our ministry. Theology classes are encouraged. Other churches also allow pastors without formal theological training.

2. Becoming a leader is based on a desire and a passion and demonstrated faithfulness to serving the congregation. It is not based on applying for a position.

3. Leadership is not based on charisma or skill, but on faith and love for Jesus. That means that a person can enter into a leadership role and mature in that position with the support of the congregation.  This is good news for me.

4. Children are fully included in ministry and can even find leadership roles in UBF.

My kids have been actively involved in aspects of the ministry since they were four years old, be it singing,  playing instruments, praying, sharing testimonials, etc. Now their leadership has poured over into the middle school and high school Christian clubs. They all go to public school but they appear to be strong spiritually.  All the kids have one to one Bible study with me and my wife. My prayer for them is to be Bible scholars. They don’t go to youth group. They are a youth group and they get great discipleship. They are not lonely and bitter. But they are very happy and have a sense of  ownership about what is going here.They see the work of God going on right before their eyes everyday and so preaching the gospel and raising disciples of Jesus is second nature to them. I really believe they could run a small church all by themselves if they had to. All this is possible in a house church setting in UBF.

5, The house church model is encouraged and supported in UBF. Sometimes in Christendom, house churches are formed out of protest. But in UBF house churches are formed as a means to propagate the gospel of Jesus. There is a lot of education dedicated to house churches. That is good because I believe in house churches.

6. Everyone can find a role to play in the ministry. Since a house church is usually small there are lots of places where leadership is required. If a person wants to, they can find a place.

7.  We are a not a fellowship of professionals. We are a fellowship of amateurs. Our goal is not perfection in carrying out ministry. Our goal is to include faith in all that we do and all that we do should be done through faith. This leaves lots of opportunities to try many different things.

8.  There is a low “over head”. Since we are small, there is a small operating budget. Most of our meetings are being held in our own home.  We have Sunday worship service in a room provided for by an area church.

9. There is a minimum of politics. Since we are small in number, decisions are made among each other very naturally.

10. It was a church model that was employed by the first century Christians. There is some satisfaction knowing that we are living the model set by the early church.

11. There is an opportunity to serve campus mission beyond the years that we are campus students. It would seem a little strange if I was part of a campus ministry in my middle age, without being on staff. But in UBF we can be involved in campus mission for our entire lifetimes without being officially “on staff.”

12. There is hope and vision for God to accomplish great things through a house church. This vision is supported by and prayed for by all members of UBF. We area small house church in DeKalb. But we have vision to be a network of house churches in the D.E.A.R. area, (DeKalb, Elgin, Aurora, and Rockford.) We have vision that disciples of Jesus may be raised up on the western suburbs of Chicago through us.

13, We are semi autonomous. There is a lot of freedom to choose the Bible passages that we study and the activities that we do. That does not mean that there is no accountability. I meet with 20 pastors every two weeks for Bible study and prayer and staff education.

14. There is a lot of flexibility. Because there are not that many members, it is easy to be flexible with the schedule. Having five kids, I like flexibility.

 

Interact with us using Facebook

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.