Studying this issue I have discovered that the missionary movement in New Testament was an urban movement, it was expanding from one city to another and than to the countries around it.  We can see from the New Testament that the ancient church had an active evangelism. In Ancient Rome, for example, the city was characterized for habitations with a form such as the apartments we have today, and each unity  were almost so populated as New York or São Paulo are today.  Most of the 1, 6 million citizens of Rome lived in buildings from 5 to 6 floors, and the ancient church had evangelized efficiently all that area.

Wayne Meeks, which have studied about this theme, suggests that the apostle Paul was not the only Christian at the first century who lived principally in cities.  Before the conversion of Paul, believers of Jesus, the messiah, had carried the gospel to Jewish communities in many Greek and Roman cities. (Compare Acts 2:9-11 with 11:19-26 and 18:24-25). And this exit in evangelism was the reason that provoked Saul, the man who used to drag Christians out, to go to that city to commit them to prison.

Greenway, also a man that has studied about this theme, describes how the church in Antioquia was established when Saul was not named Paul yet. “The church in Antioquia was planted for laical people; people even not remember the men names. They were from Cyprus and Cyrene, and were forced to leave Jerusalem due to prosecution.  They have proclaimed Christ message when arrived in Antioquia and then a church was planted and became the mother of a movement among the gentiles.”

Paul was a typical man of the city. From the moment of his conversion in Damascus (Acts 9), until he was arrested in Rome (Acts 28:31) we can see a clear vision of a missionary who had concentrated his efforts in cities. He had entered in prosper Hellenistic cities and at this environment he had established powerful evangelistic growing churches at that time. Nowadays missionary strategies must concentrate in cities again.

For many times I have evangelized like Jehovah’s Witnesses do, they went to one house, ring the bell or clap the hands to pay someone’s attention, and than try to shove their doctrines down one’s throat. Displeasing, don’t it? I have already reached people using this method, but the context was very different from today’s São Paulo structure and time. In big cities people normally are suspicious and are not opened or interested in talk with an unknown person.  The structures of a condominium, for example, with high walls, security watch towers, and rules that usually prohibit any religious manifestations, defies church creativity and lead us to search for new alternatives to preach the gospel to every family.

I think that only by having, what I like to call, redemptive friendships; we can come near to people of big cities to share the gospel. Nobody is interested in stop to listen a hostilized message from an unknown person, and even less will open the heart to talk about privacy and issues related to faith.

Today we are exactly at this point in the process of planting the new church. My relationships in São Paulo were always with people from church, because I had arrived at São Paulo as pastor, now I have to open the way to reach people who do not know Jesus. In a manner we are getting out of our comfort zone and exposing ourselves to risks in a new adventure.  We had to adjust our way to talk to non Christian – and this is one of the most difficult things to learn – imagine that believer talking to a non Christian like we talk among us in church, it would be like that : “ The peace of God be with you man of God! The son of man clothed with a robe down to his feet is right here and wants to unroll things in your life because big is the mystery in it!”. Or if the believer use to talk in a prophetic manner could be like this: “Shalom Adonai! We are an apostolic and prophetic church and the bridegroom Yeshua Ha Mashiach wants to receive you as his bride!”

You have to prepare yourself to hear people using “base” language, this is an important issue. I do not see holiness as a bubble by which we are isolated from the rest of the world. I see Holiness as the image of a salt water fish, that, even though it is in there environment, its flesh did not became salted, but remains intact. That’s why the task of evangelization is a big test and challenge to our faith, because it put to the test our convictions.

Our plan is to plant a church based at homes (cells), a person has asked me: “But there are people who don’t like cells!” The answer is simple: if you don’t like cells you can go to a church where there are other people who don’t like cells!! Rick warren defends that we must focus on people we want to reach with the Gospel.  As there is a lot of kinds of people, so there is a lot of kinds of churches.

As I  understand  “congregate” is not just about going to church on Sundays, but to be a part of the church that come together in houses.  Somebody could go to our meetings just because likes our preaching our music, but to be connected, this person must frequent a cell.

Other people had also asked me if I don’t think that we can perturb the INSEJEC that already exists in this region. My answer is simple: São Paulo has more than 11 million people and in south zone more than 3 million. I think that it is a big cake, doesn’t it? Our intention is to join our power in favor or the Kingdom of God, and that includes to be joint with local churches to search who are lost.  Glory to God that I have good relationship with many people, and those people are part of Christ body in this region. In my opinion revival will not come through only one denomination, but through the Church of Christ in the city. Our interest is not in people from other churches, besides I discourage and don’t stimulate those who are from other churches when they came to talk to me and say that want to stay in our church. We are searching for those who are lost and were not found yet. Every person that wants to join us needs to have an experience about this question. This experience must came from God, as me and my wife had ours.

This week we will open two new cells, in Grajaú residential quarter, with Pastors Charles and Adriana Nascimento, and another one in my own house. One public school has also assigned a room to us and we will talk to the directress to know how we can develop a work in local community. We are praying and fasting, and crying out to God to open the doors, literally we need “open doors”!

Our desire is that Mark 1.33 comes true in our days; “And all the town had come together at the door [Peter´s house]”.   We desire many open doors, and families that will hear about Jesus. In the condominium where I live I had known two men and I want to share the good news of the Gospel with these families and lead them to Christ.

We are just at the beginning, but we had learned many things. How it is worth it to obey God!!

Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge, a cable-stayed bridge Next to the place we have been meeting at Sundays. Download the picture and use as paper wall.

Translated by Léia Santana – http://tradutoraeinterprete.blogspot.com/

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I believe that, at least to me, the phase of a normal ministry has ended. For some years I have been felling one kind of displeasure and I didn’t know why. I love to preach the Word of God, I love to be with my brothers and all that work we have in a church. But after I have meet the principles of a home church, deep inside of me started a real revolution, and this also happened in my wife. I went to services in great excitement, but deep inside there was a voice saying: “there is something more!”

For some time, oddly, I start to lost enthusiasm and became interested in know more and more about the bases of a genuine cell church. I praise God because I have a leader with vision, Valnice Milhomens, and she have been the instrumental used by God to awake the anointing in my life that I even know that I had, and develop myself. Her seminaries and books as “Adoração em Santidade” (Worship in Holiness), “O Plano Estratégico para a Redenção da Nação” (Strategic Plan to Nation’s Redemption), and in her thesis for Doctoral Degree in Religious Science she wrote about “The Church of Jesus Christ, an approach to its Nature, mission, structure and leadership”; all these material have been influenced my vision about what is a church.

I begin to realize that my minister as a local pastor was turning into a routine, though, in a paradox, I love what I do. I have let the pulpit isolate me from people’s reality. I even know histories about pastors that preach in a blinded glass shade, and I don’t want to reach this point! I begin to see my self as “provider of services at the temple” – I used do prepare sermons with zeal and to perfection because I felt that this was blessing so much people, I also used to visit and advise with much love my brothers; but inside of me that same whisper : “ There is something more!” So then we have felt (me and my wife Edilian) that we were in a critic point. We must take a decision: stand in the same stage or go on toward what we realized the Lord had prepared us to do in these 17 years as pastors. The reason was telling us that should be more prudent stay where we were, but the call was telling: “This is not all. Go on!” It does not mean that we should abandon the ministry as pastors, however “there is something more”!

Nowadays we are in a new beginning, trying to take away from us the inheritance from a church of programs, because it was the model where we born into. We have a small group in south region of São Paulo disposed to embrace and develop a church based in houses.

I remember that in January 16, 2010, at our second pray meeting with our team, while we where worshipping, I have heard God saying: “My church cannot be better than your house is”.  I understand that this is a very important fundament to establish a cell church, once they take place in houses. A house is not an extension of a church, it is the church it self.  We need to live with our families in an eternal service and adapt our time, routine and even the furniture in consideration of this fundamental principle. The sacerdotal authority must be restored inside our homes and each role must be done according to Ephesians 6. Paul, talking about Episcopal ministry, explained that this same principle must be used to deacons or bishops and that they must have to be the art to rule well their houses  to  take care of the church, that is, he must be a cell leader at his own home (1 Tim 3:4-5)

We are having meetings of discipleship in our apartment living room, trying to raze some wrong concepts and construct new ones. I have conclude that our main problem is not about a truth or revelation that we do not know yet, but about the wrong concepts we have assimilated and keep us from experiencing  something better.  I have said to my disciples that we have more to unlearn than to learn.

Last Saturday, at discipleship, we have watched a preaching from pastor Aluízio, he is from Igreja Videira (Vine Church), and he talks about the difference between “do things to God” and “generate things to God”. We can do many things at church: to sing, to play, to dance and even to preach, but if we are not generating spiritual children we will not be doing what God told us to do.

We still are “uprooting the trees” at this beginning. Many fast and pray.  Enter in houses with the gospel is a thing that the devil defies strongly, but Jesus said that “the doors of hell will not overcome the church” (Mathew 16:18). We are searching for a neutral place, where we can have our public meetings and do not threaten people who wants to visit, while the work at homes is developed , because  my living room  is not enough any more!

This week God opened the doors of a wonderful hotel (Estanplaza) where we already had a meeting and brought visitors. The hotel is situated at Berrini Avenue, in Brroklin, this region today is the main industrial polo of Latin America, and Berrini Avenue is considered one of the noblest areas of Sao Paulo. It is a forested place, with some of the most important commercial buildings and empresarial centers, with great hotels and the best shopping centers. I have studied about how to plant a church in great urban centers and I have learned that a city is not only a place, but also a specific manner of being with its complexities, pluralities and philosophies. One of the most dramatic changes that took place in xx century was the world urbanization. Before 1990, only 14 per cent of world wide population lived in urban areas. In 1990 this number jumps to 47 per cent. Between 50 and 70 per cent of world wide population was urbanized when xxi century started.  The church has a great challenge: reach the great urban centers. I intend to talk more about the challenges that the church has to face to reach great cities in next posts.

We don’t know yet how we will name the church: Insejec in Interlagos? Insejec in south area? Insejec Brooklin? Well, for where two or three are come together in the name of the Lord, in any way, we are the National Church of Lord Jesus Christ.

Translated by Léia Santana – http://tradutoraeinterprete.blogspot.com/

Read also in portuguese

In 2009 I and my wife had listen God calling us to plant a new church. That year was full of crisis, and before going on this journey, many fast and pray. One should understand crisis as a soul’s agony for a change of position. We were pastors in INSEJEC (Initials in Portuguese for National Church of the Lord Jesus Christ) in São Paulo; it was the mother church, a wonderful church with many people of great worth and so qualified! Apparently, change that position of “comfort” to an “uncertain” thing would be craziness. We decide, and we had our leadership support, to plant a new church in south region of São Paulo, a region with almost 3 million residents, and to human eyes, with impossible challenges.

Many things leaded us to this decision. God had worked in our lives and we even noticed that! We have being working for 17 years as full time pastors and God had lead us trough many different experiences and these have made in us a strength of mind and a ministerial identity. With 15 years of marriage we had moved 16 times (and I fell that it has not ended yet!); we were transferred to, at least, 6 churches in different states of our country. Every time we changed from one church to another we had many experiences, positive in one side and negative in the other. Then we look back and ponder. Pondering we had concluded some things:

• Our successors, most of them pastors indicated by the churches where we served, not only do not continued what we had started and toke years to construct, but also change the direction, and stopped, in this manner, the investment of our lives. We got frustrated with that, once there weren’t continuity, and that was normal, because they were pastors with a different formation from ours.
• Both people and we experienced great suffering in every separation. In each transfer, the experience is so traumatic to the church, that people lose identity, and also lose the sense of continuity and belonging. So we had concluded that a church do not need to be leaded by a “professional priest” (in the good sense of the word), but by a “spiritual father”. God had consolidated the principle of spiritual paternity in our ministry. We strongly believe that a church must be leaded by spiritual fathers and mothers which generate children and take care of them. The leadership of spiritual fathers and mothers is naturally recognized, assimilated and stamped in their disciples’ character.
• Our workers must be people that we generated and formed. Only this manner they will “know the shepherd’s voice” and follow his teaching and stile.

However, the main important point in all this change of course was the desire to see a genuine home church arising. Change from the traditional stile of church to home church is painful to people as it is to pastor. Many of them embrace the vision, but always remains a group which resist the vision, because their mind were molded to serve another structure of ministry. Not all are open to change. We can do some progress, but the church remains with that stamp of old times as a church of programs.

God has been leading us to a certainty in our heart about how a church must be. I will talk about that later. But one of these certainties is that a church has to start at home not in a building. To be a church we don’t need a place. Yet a place to join together is important. Nevertheless, the question is not about WHERE the church is, but WHO the church is. If there are saved people joined in the name of Jesus, there are the church.

Well, gradually we will have time to share everything. We had two discipleship meetings and, in January 31^st, we had our first meeting to worship Christ together and bring visits. We had 19 people in our living room; it was in our apartment, in Interlagos, São Paulo. It is nice, isn’t it?

Marcos Arrais

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Church of Programs and Home Church; what are the differences between them?

Nowadays there is a huge antagonism regarding to churches, for we can see two kinds of mentalities, one mentality focused in programs and other one focused in homes (mentality of Acts of the Apostles). These two different models or patterns are strongly opposed to each other.  The matter is not only about “different strategies”, but also different values.

1. A church of programs has its focal point in programs, as its name says. Every effort is directed to do some activity such as:  “special services”, commemorations, powerful campaigns, huge celebrations and events. But, after all nothing remains! Unfortunately, these programs just draw away believers from their mission on Earth.  And we just have a crowded auditorium of Christians from others denominations and illuded pastors satisfied with this result.

2. A home church has its focal point in the Great Commission. People in this kind of church know that their function is to pursue Jesus mission on Earth, that is, to search and save the lost. Anything out of this is just entertainment and lost of time! This church is conscious of its mission and has the DNA of its Founder’s call.

3. A church of programs is centered in buildings. If we have a building we feel safe and protected. This mentality limits the vision in Christ Church Expansion, because it centralizes people in only one geographic place and keeps them timid and accommodated.  Besides that these buildings are very expensive to maintain and most of times are used only in weekends.  I could see an example today, when I was passing by in front of a temple where half a dozen people was and the sound was deafening. What is the difficulty of sending this people to their homes?

4. A home church is centered in houses! This kind of church decentralizes people and makes every one an agent of transformation in the place where they are. When we understand that we won’t live in a dichotomy of a spiritual life that is contradictory and manifests a behavior at home and another one at the temple.

5. A church of programs is centered in “clergy”, that is, they are focused in “the man with the anointing”. If that man does not go to service it has no guts in it.  He gives the impression that just some people have the anointing and the others are merely audience that goes to service to see and receive something from the man with the anointing.

6. A home church emphasizes the universal priesthood of believers. It is a body in action.  Everybody holds its priestly office because the conscious that every one is a minister of the Gospel of Christ is there, and therefore, each one is called to reproduce Jesus character and mission.  Every one is a kind of power plant, which generates energy from haven where they are. Generate light became the role of each believer!

7. In a church of programs there is a centripetal force, there is, it draws people to the center. The growth of the church is measured for how many people attended the service.

8. In a home church there is a centrifugal force, that is, it pushes people away. So that church obey the GO of Jesus and spread believers in all directions taking them off from a “religious ghetto” and making them really function as salt and light.

9. In a church of programs the institutionalism is an unavoidable mark. Although the movement has started free and pure, little by little the structure becomes rigid and creates its own life, parasitizing all church and avoiding its growth. In this manner, people are enslaved and live just to maintain that structure.

10. A home church follows the move of the Spirit and is like new wineskins opened to receive the new wine. People are moved by a vision that produces passion.

11. In a church of programs people have no much emotional bonds. People know each other superficially and meet occasionally at the central passage of the temple (they jostle one another when going near to the wooden offering box), at parking, in the cafeteria, or when they are singing a communion song. I can remember one time when I was a pastor in a church and somebody complained saying that we did not have communion in our church because we did not always sing some communion song at services. I asked to that person if she was attending in any cell from our church and that person stopped to talk! Unfortunately, social scientists consider the church as a “secondary group”, the same classification to people that go to the cinema, or to the stadium to see a soccer game, or to the theater, or to an association, or to a political organization. And all what believers can call communion is nothing more than a slap on the back when singing a communion song!

12. A home church is founded on family.  I remember what God told me at the beginning: “My church cannot be what your family may not be!” Everything starts with the family. I used to think very strange the way Jesus had deal with his mother and brother, he apparently despised them when somebody called him and told that they were looking for him, at that time Jesus said: “And he said in answer, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking round at those who were seated about him, he said, See, my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s pleasure, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mark 3:33 -35). Nowadays, I am developing the mentality in my disciples that we are a church-family. Our family is those who accomplish God’s purpose with us. Those who were generated from us (spiritually) and are by our side whatever may happen!  Thinking this way we have a concept of paternity and we develop a sense of belonging to a family. When I was in the initial stage and a preparing myself to this new phase I asked God “how can I plant a church like that if my only experience is with programs churches that were already prepared? And God told me: “It is simple! Generate children and take care of them!”

13. In a church of programs the church growth is measured by the frequency of Attendance at services, even when there is no spiritual growth.

14. In a home church the growth is measured by Spiritual fruit (John 15; Gal. 5), one can see these fruits in evangelism and discipleship. In one of our reunions God had told us that the difference of our church is not how many people are joined at the temple, but how many places we can reach.

15. In a program church there is a complex structure that ends in a collapse and stops the growth. In his book Organic Church, Neil Cole says: “the conventional church has become so complicated and difficult to pull off that only a rare person who is a professional can do it every week. This results in passive churches whose members come and act more like spectators than empowered agents of God’s kingdom.”  Here, the emphasis is on structure.

16. In a home church there is a very simple structure, it is easy enough that everyone can assimilate and reproduce it. It is the “napkin theology.” In other words, if you can’t pass it on by writing it down on a napkin at a restaurant, then it isn’t worth writing down at all.  We have to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple. Here, the emphasis is on forming a disciple.

17. In a church of programs the cells are a part of the “growth program”. They are considered as a strategy to grow faster, it is just a tool.

18. In home churches the cells are considered the church itself where is the DNA of healthy church life and reproduction.

Translated by Léia Santana – http://tradutoraeinterprete.blogspot.com/

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