Restoration Ministries International Sharing the Hebraic Foundations of the Earliest Followers of Jesus Preparing Today's Followers of Jesus to Fulfill Their Part in His Kingdom |
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(Matthew 18:19,20)
Section 6 - Lesson 50
Fellowship In Homes — Extended Spiritual Family:
• A Journey Requires A Destination
and A First Step
Seize Your Neighborhood Then Your City For
Jesus:
1. Establish a Perimeter of Holiness.
2. Secure and Protect Your Perimeter.
3. Expand Your Perimeter.
4. Destroy Satan’s Perimeter.
Introduction
In this final lesson we want to summarize
some important concepts for you and your fellowship family.
Never lose sight of the fact that you are on a spiritual
journey together to a glorious destination, the throne room of God.
And along the way you are privileged to carry out a wonderful
assignment: to take the Gospel to
all people.
If you’re serving as an elder or
almost-elder, your focus must be fixed on the love and power of
Jesus in you to equip those in your care to fulfill this
purpose (Ephesians 4:11-13). All other body-life activities
must support His goal:
For Christ’s
love compels us, because we are
convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He
died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. All
this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: that God was
reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting
men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:
14,15,18, 19).
This earth will disappear, but what
matters is this:
Will you and your fellowship family and
all those He sends to you find joy at the judgment throne
by hearing
your names read from the Lamb’s Book of Life?
Your faith community is part of the larger
family of Jesus throughout the world. Your neighborhood is
ground to be seized for our King. If you keep this focus with a
compassionate burden for the lost, in time you will reach your
city for God’s purposes.
If you are enlisted by our Lord into His
service, there’s no way for you to bypass your enemy,
Satan. To share the Gospel means that you must fight the war
for souls. Your entry into that
battle calls you to fight, to win, and to hold on to what you
have conquered in the Name of Jesus.
This is your biblical responsibility as His beloved
bond-servant.
Elders who are serving the interests of
our Lord must equip the soldiers in their faith community to
“press the attack” in obedient love. Failure to do
this will result in believers who are like prisoners of war:
alive but ineffective in serving the King.
Fellowship In Homes Extended Spiritual Family: A Journey Requires A Destination and A First Step Seize Your Neighborhood, Then Your City, for Jesus!
“As you go throughout the world,
proclaim the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
Our Hebraic forefathers who first trusted
Jesus knew that He had died on behalf of all the world. This
truth is summed up in the beloved promise related by John: “For God so
loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever trusts in
Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (3:16).
Jesus died as the Atonement for all mankind,
and He intends for His followers to tell the world what He
did for them.
Jesus didn’t just scatter His
disciples willy-nilly to all the continents. He had a plan:
they would testify of Him as they moved
outward in bite-size
progression of encounter:
You will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth (Acts 1:8).
The disciples were given their immediate vicinity as
first priority, and then worked outward from there. If you and
those in your faith community have embraced the true Gospel,
then you have the spiritual power to live transformed lives.
With newness of His life in you, you’re called to act on
His behalf!
Several important Hebraic principles for
reaching your neighborhood with the Gospel were discovered by
evangelist Ed Silvoso as he and his team saw God move mightily
in Argentina. We’ve adapted some of his insights as
recommendations for those who desire to see spiritual inroads
made among their yet-to-believe families, workplaces and
neighborhoods.
1. Establish a perimeter of holiness in
each home of your faith community.
Remember, the primary reason to share as a
fellowship family in the personal environment of a home is to
uphold communal righteousness as you encourage each other to
press on in loving and trusting Jesus (1 John 3:7).
We’ve mentioned several times that
God answers the prayers of the righteous who walk in obedient
trust. In this light:
• Pray for our Father to raise up
Christ-followers in your neighborhood who are burdened to live
wholeheartedly in Jesus (Hebrews 10:38,39).
• Pray that the hearts of your
unbelieving neighbors would respond to the Spirit’s call
to turn from their sin and find forgiving reconciliation with
our Father (Acts 26:18).
• Keep on praying until our Lord
answers these petitions that accord with His will (1
Thessalonians 5:17)!
From our Father’s vantage point much
of Christendom today resembles disjointed, glorified POW camps
which pose no threat to Satan’s domain. When you establish a perimeter of righteousness
around the homes in your faith community, you put Satan on
guard. The enemy all too clearly
recognizes that through righteous, effective prayer our
Father’s will can be accomplished and His Kingdom
expanded.
Your homes become spiritual military
fortifications—light in the midst of the worldly darkness
in your neighborhood. Answered prayer is like artillery that
paves the way for the ground attack.
Let’s review why it’s so
important for perimeters of righteousness to be established
within the home of each follower of Jesus:
• Perimeters secure a sanctuary of
spiritual refuge and nurture in the home (Romans 15:13).
• Those within the perimeters experience peace and unity as they
forfeit their own sinful desires in order to please their Lord
(Colossians 1:10).
• By upholding communal righteousness
within the perimeters of a home prayers
will be answered (Hebrews 12:14).
It’s important that each home, that
is, each person or family, establish halakhahs of practical righteousness for their home. When the biblical parameters for
righteousness have been established, each household can then
scrutinize their homes for any unholy items or activities.
Remember, holiness is a heart matter—out of
your heart emanates the actions that appease your sin nature.
Make sure your heart is responsive to the Spirit, then launch
your housecleaning!
Sinful reading materials or Internet
offerings, offensive television programs, unholy music, even
pagan or occult souvenirs will hinder intimacy with God and the
effectiveness of prayer. So will alcohol or drug abuse, rage,
or self-indulgence in excess of any kind. Prayerfully examine
your attitudes and behavior toward each other in your family as
well.
Don’t underestimate how critical a
secure perimeter is for effective spiritual warfare. An elder
must encourage those he serves to walk in ongoing holiness,
forgiveness, and repentance, making sure he’s upright in
those arenas himself.
By example and word he should strongly
emphasize their need to cleanse their homes of unholy things
and practices. Wherever he detects tension or apprehension in
marriages and other relationships, he needs to come alongside
these believers to point them to Jesus and help them restore
intimacy before Satan can establish a foothold.
How vital it is for each fellowship family
member to be ever mindful of personal righteousness and the
power of prayer to release God’s intervention. If each
one is diligent and vigilant, then the faith community will
function from a position of strength. If there are weaknesses
and breaches, then those who are eldering need to confront and
undergird these family members in Jesus.
From the position of personal loving
obedient trust in Jesus, the perimeter will be secure.
Late one afternoon a family that had
recently come into our home fellowship were leaving after our
gathering. The children commented, “We like coming here;
your home is always full of light!” Hearing their
sadness, I [Mike] asked the father if I could meet with him
during the week. Due to his work schedule I was able to meet
him at his home mid-week while his family was away.
When I arrived at his home I discerned
that it was spiritually dark. Since “Jim” was on
the phone, I went into the bathroom and prayed, “In the
Name of the Lord Jesus I bind you spirits from interfering with
my time here.” Immediately I felt something around my
throat begin to choke me. A demonic voice growled, “You
have no right over us here. The man has invited us into his
home.” I gasped, “I’m here on my Lord’s
business, and I order you in the Name of Jesus to not
interfere.” Whatever was choking me let go.
Later, as I was talking with
“Jim” I told him what had happened in the bathroom
and the demon’s words. Dropping his head he admitted,
“That’s true. I never keep my children from the
DVD’s, CD’s, and TV programs that I know are
wrong.” He repented, and purposed to cleanse their home.
When the family came home later that day,
he shared with them about our meeting. They all repented and
removed the offensive material from their home. I returned to
visit a week later, and it was a home full of light!
Is your home a sanctuary and refuge of
love and peace for each family member and visitor? Yes or no?
If no, what do you need to change? How can your fellowship
family help?
What particular names is our Lord putting
on your heart to pray for them to be prepared to respond to
Him? Begin to pray individually and collectively for them.
2. Secure your perimeter and protect it
from infiltration.
Securing your perimeter calls for each
head of household to be vigilant against unclean infiltration,
and for each elder to help when needed. Those serving as elders
need to come alongside the families in their fellowship to help
them discern areas of sin in their home if there is relational
apprehension or ongoing unanswered prayer.
A home of righteousness is a weapon
against Satan. And the combined effects of a fellowship of
righteous homes is powerful. Be aware that the enemy will
continue to try to breach the walls of each household to keep
your faith family from being effective instruments in the lives
of yet-to-believe neighbors!
The Adversary often uses deception as well
as outright temptation to infiltrate the homes of those who
want to live uprightly. Three practices common even among
Christians are avenues by which demonic spirits are deluding
many:
(1) Misuse of
psychology
The practice of psychology in itself
isn’t wrong. It’s misused, however, when it deals
with sin as merely a problem to explore and examine rather than
confess and turn away from!
Psychological techniques that ignore
personal responsibility for sin ultimately end up imprisoning
the counseled in their past as perpetual victims. No matter
what was done to you, in the power of the Spirit you are called
to forgive from your heart. Through that same Spirit, you also
need to ask forgiveness for any attitudes to which you’ve
given way that have kept you from being fully available to
serve our Lord’s purposes in love.
The counseling that is so prevalent in
Christendom today focuses on the cause of your pain rather than on the healing the
Spirit can bring as you purpose to forgive from your heart. If
you demand a pound of flesh from the one who has hurt you,
you’ll keep yourself imprisoned in the past and thrust
away the grace that our Lord would give you if you chose to
cast down your wounded bitterness.
Bitterness and refusal to forgive are
self-inflicting weapons of unrighteousness. So often those who
counsel others to explore their bitter memories are themselves still prisoners of bitterness.
Weigh seriously Jesus’ warning:
“Woe to you, you make a person twice
as much a son of hell as you are” (Matthew 23:15).
We’ve personally found no fruit in
trying to help people who are enslaved to their past as victims
and have been counseled by others to relive their pain through
memory exploration. They insist that someone has to pay for
their hurt! Tragically, not only do they stay mired in
bitterness; they also try to recruit others through one-sided
slander to take up an offense on their behalf.
As we shared in Lesson 33, our Father uses
your suffering to develop the character of His Son Jesus in His
children. Our past hurts are altered by Him to transform us.
They are His personal “marks of ownership”,
the healed scars He can use as loving testimony to help others.
Those who can accept this truth have been shown the beauty that
is born out of their suffering, and the hope and patient
endurance that our Father brings about through the pain (see
Romans 5:3-5).
(2) False
prophets
Since Satan can impersonate an angel of
light (2 Corinthians 11:14), it’s no surprise that he can
manipulate prophetic words to try to deceive the righteous.
Those who prophesy false words as though
they have come from God manipulate forecasts of the future for
personal gain or recognition. Some claim special insight into
“end time” scenarios. Yet Jesus advises, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).
Other false prophets demand immediate
response to their proclamations without providing time for
those present to test what’s been spoken through the
confirmation of two or three. Paul understood the danger of
false prophecy (see 1 Thessalonians 2:2), and in two of his
letters warns the followers of Jesus to weigh and to test what
is shared:
• “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what
is said” (1 Corinthians
14:29).
• “Do
not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies
with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).
Please consider this:
• Mike: I’ve walked in
prophetic gifting for almost 30 years, and I know how it can be
used by God to help people stay within the boundaries of His
Word. Test everything, and reject only that which is false.
(3) Contrived
worship
Compromise has
become a byword of this generation. Since absolutes are
despised, unrighteousness that titillates the flesh has
filtered into worship experiences. The awesomeness of praising
our holy God has been sullied by Satan’s deception into a
man-centered forum for emotional highs and sensual
presentation.
How often collective worship has become a
worldly performance using the same sort of music and hype to
conjure a soulish mood as pagans use! We’ve experienced
firsthand congregational gatherings in which worship leaders
with “unclean hands and
impure hearts” practice
musical forms that please them but not the Father.
What kind of worship does please our
Father?
The exuberant and grateful expression that
emanates from a repentant heart!
Scripture is clear about the parameters by
which we can approach our God in worship. A pure and humble heart condition produces a spirit of living sacrifice that pleases Him:
Yet a time is coming and has now come when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23).
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I
would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise (Psalm
51:16,17).
Be careful that you don’t put feeling good about
your worship ahead of making sure it’s acceptable to our
Lord! This can easily happen if unrepentance is tolerated in
your midst.
Several years ago we did a seminar at a
large congregation. At one point we were addressing communal
righteousness. During a break the young man who had recently
been made “worship leader” a few months earlier
approached me [Mike]. He’d been beset by emotional
tension and his marriage had been losing warmth and peace.
I knew from the Holy Spirit that God was
allowing this to happen because the man was using his music to
conjure moods for a group whose lives smacked of
unrighteousness. I asked him, “If God won’t hear
the prayers of the unrepentant, do you think He accepts their worship?”
At that moment the leadership of the
congregation came up to us. I asked them the same question and
they emphatically replied, “No!” The worship leader
asked what he should do. I suggested, “Start the service
by making sure everyone has repented for their sins. Explain
why they must do this, and ask them to kneel. When
they’re clean before God they can stand. And when all are
standing, you can begin worship.”
It took almost an hour before everyone was
standing. Some just knelt and confessed their sins, while
others cried with deep sorrow in their heart, and still others
went to those present to ask forgiveness. When the worship
began, it was as though the sanctuary had shiny new lighting!
Please ask yourself:
• When you worship, do you keep
repeating the choruses as if God didn’t hear you the
first time? To our Father, mindless repetition is the same as
pagans repeating many words in the vain hope of being heard
(Matthew 6:7). Be careful you don’t try to conjure a
soulish mood for yourself!
3. Expand your perimeter.
In keeping with our Father’s goal to
be reconciled with the lost and share fellowship with the
redeemed, expand your perimeter. When you lift up righteous
prayer for your neighborhood, families, and workplace, our Lord
is going to intervene. He’ll break down demonic barriers
so their hearts will respond to Him!
Encourage each other within your faith
family to establish relationships with unbelievers. Those in your extended spiritual family should
be using their homes as the primary place to represent Jesus to
the world.
Inviting someone into your home is one of
the most affirming actions you can take. The relational connectedness you
develop as you befriend an unbeliever will be the foundation
for the connection needed when, as a follower of Jesus, that
person is welcomed into your faith community.
Inviting unbelievers into your fellowship family in hope that they might
“get saved” is not the biblical pattern
for spiritual
reproduction. Home fellowships that use their gatherings as outreach for unbelievers
ultimately destroy themselves.
Your relationship with an individual is the key for his eyes to be
opened to the holiness of God as he sees Jesus working in and
through you. Those personal times of having him in your
home and doing other things with him will prepare your curious
friend to become a sincere seeker.
When an unbelieving friend yields his life
to Jesus, the effort you’ve expended in his life will be
even more appreciated when you can share true spiritual
fellowship. People need to be
connected to other individuals, not to an impersonal group per se.
Do you remember the formation of relationships we
discussed in Lesson 49? A home fellowship is a formation of
connected relationships, and your friend will be connected to
the others in the formation family through you.
Because Christ died to redeem sinners, He calls
everyone who is known by His Name to share in His purpose.
Relation-ships with unbelievers enable you to establish
beachheads in enemy territory. To wage effective warfare,
evangelist Ed Silvoso offers some recommendations:
• Make a prayer list of the
unbelievers with whom each person in your faith community has
contact and is burdened for their salvation.
• As a fellowship family, intercede
for each unsaved person on a regular basis. Weaken the power of
the enemy through prayer for those people.
• As a follower of Jesus, you have
authority over the spirits that will try to interfere with the
salvation of the ones for whom you are praying. As you pray,
bind the spirits in the name of Jesus. You can experience the same
faith-filled confidence as our spiritual forefathers: “Lord, even the demons submit to us in
Your name” (Luke 10:17)!
• If you have the courage, ask those
in your faith community to put a sign in their homes indicating
that this is a house of prayer and that you’ll pray for
any of the needs in the neighborhood.
• Ask each fellowship family to keep
a prayer notebook with four columns in it: date, petitioner,
prayer request, date answered. Then have each one ask their
neighbors and co-workers for specific prayer needs that they
can note down and pray about. (They should urge the people
asking for prayer to let them know when and how the prayer was
answered so they can write that in the notebook!)
As you walk through your neighborhood,
intercede for these people and renounce the spirits that
interfere with our Father’s purposes. Consider the same
plan for your workplace.
As you seek to expand your perimeter your
different spiritual giftings can be helpful to each other. This
is why you need to be aware of your own gifts as well as
those in your family and extended spiritual family. When these
are combined and coordinated as “firepower” in your
faith community, you can make effective inroads into the
kingdom of darkness.
For example, your faith family may include
a predominance of believers gifted with mercy and helps. As you
look around your neighborhood you see a lot of latchkey
children returning to empty homes. With that kind of need at
your doorstep you might discern after a season of prayer that
the Spirit wants to coordinate a group of you to man an
after-school care center in someone’s garage. In this
safe haven the children can be helped with homework, learn
about Jesus and His Word, and experience His loving kindness
through you.
Or maybe you discover that many in your
faith community are gifted in evangelism. They just love to share the
Gospel on the job or wherever they go! The Lord may nudge your
extended spiritual family into sharing sandwiches with the
homeless and needy at a local park while presenting His truths
through song, mime and testimony. (Also, we mentioned in a
previous lesson how a certain congregation and evangelist were
each using Demolishing
Strongholds as a tool of
evangelism. Keep this in mind!)
The combination of the gifts of evangelism, service,
mercy, giving and administration gives strength to this
enactment of God’s love. Everyone in your faith family
has a spiritual niche to fill through the power of His Spirit
to accomplish a Kingdom mission.
[See our workbook, God’s Instruments for War: Discovering and Coordinating Spiritual Gifts as Weapons of Warfare (a free download) for further discussion of this topic.] 4. Destroy Satan’s perimeter by
multiplying your faith community.
Any goal that doesn’t include
provision for new home fellowships to be formed is an exercise
in futility. Success-ful
reproduction results in successors.
Plan ahead for new faith families that could disciple and love
new converts. Our Father, in the name of His Son Jesus, has
given you the power and authority to plant new faith
communities. Shepherds need to be purposely training successors
to protect, train, nurture, and equip the new flocks.
As your extended spiritual families
multiply, they can remain affiliated and coordinated through
the relationships of the elders and the friendships that exist
among the believers in the multiplied groups. Remember, in your
expansion you are developing extended
spiritual family or kinfolk. The
different fellowships can gather for any number of purposes, be
they social and/or spiritual, just as natural extended families
do.
A consideration for you:
Revisit and thoroughly discuss together as
often as you need to these four steps for reaching your
neighborhood and your town for Jesus:
• establish your perimeter,
• secure and protect it,
• expand the perimeter,
• destroy Satan’s perimeter.
Then you can be confident that those
within your extended spiritual family have the same
motivational commitment to the goals of our Lord.
Healthy Home Fellowship Indicators
Check out the spiritual health of your
faith community by considering the following six indicators:
1. Prayers are being answered. John sums
it up best: “You did not
choose me, but I chose you and
appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit
that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name” (John 15:
16). Your fellowship with our Father and with His Son Jesus
spurs you on in your hunger for righteousness. Answered prayer
displays our Father’s approval.
2. Those within your fellowship family are
using their discretionary time to bless one another and to
reach those who have yet to follow Jesus. Non-discretionary
time, such as work, sleep, and school, represents the
activities that take place on a regular basis. Discretionary time gives
you the freedom to choose what you want to do and with whom you
want to spend it.
Significant contact throughout the
week among extended spiritual family who use their
discretionary time on behalf of each other is a healthy sign.
Personal desire to choose fellowship with one another
strengthens the connectedness of the relationships and removes
pressure from the elder(s) to be the only ones who minister
God’s grace through one-anothering.
3. Another wholesome indicator is when the
children are comfortable with the adults, especially with the
men. If a stranger visited your gathering and couldn’t
figure out whose children were whose, the care and acceptance
being given to the children by the entire faith community would
get his attention. And folks whose children are grown relish
the idea of a little one to cuddle or read to or play with!
4. Evaluate every man by his wife’s
eyes. If he's fulfilling his role to love her and be
considerate of her, her face will reveal it. The Bible commands
a man to agape love both the Lord his God and his wife. The
love he claims to have for God should be readily apparent in
his actions toward his marriage partner.
If an elder doesn’t see
appreciation and love in a woman’s eyes when she speaks
with or about her husband, he should step in and gently
inquire. This wife might need to talk with another woman, and
her husband might benefit from the wise counsel of an older man
to renew the zest in their relationship.
5. People who love God thirst to know His
Word. They consistently search and apply the Scriptures in
their own home. Teaching within the extended spiritual family
gathering should center around application or clarification rather than just reviewing Bible content.
Each extended-family member will then have some spiritual
nugget or question to contribute so that no one individual will
be in a position to dominate the gathering with a lengthy
monologue.
6. Your are multiplying as new believers embrace the Covenant with our
Father. Our Lord Jesus made clear that “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few” (Matthew 9:37). If
you’re sincerely going about His work, your fellowship
family will eagerly look for opportunities to make Jesus known
wherever they go. Then you’ll multiply yourselves to the
glory of the Father.
Concluding Thoughts to Discussing How To Restore the Early Church
You’ve come a long way if
you’ve completed all 50 lessons! We trust that
you’re encouraged by what you’ve read and how you
individually and collectively have been changed.
Over the years we’ve received all
kinds of insights from people who’ve desired to restore
the Hebraic foundations to their lives. Several we’ve
included in this series. We encourage you to e-mail us or call
if you encounter specific situations that are overwhelming you
as you’re walking in the love-grounded obedient trust our
Father is restoring.
We won’t give you decisions or
directions, but we will refer you to the biblical processes our
forefathers used which others have found useful in their walk.
May these purposes be the hallmark of your
individual and collective walk:
• Focus on Jesus and be transformed in
His character as you love and serve Him;
• Remain repentant and immediately
obedient so you’ll be available for our Father’s
purpose;
• Pursue answered prayer that brings
testimony to our Father’s faithfulness;
• And in everything, do it for our
Father’s glory — everything!
Mike and Sue Dowgiewicz
(719) 573-4911
email: Mikedowg@aol.com • Suedowgie@aol.com
Recommended Further Reading |
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