Teaching Ourselves

The great risk with house groups and house churches is that they become just a microcosm of the Sunday teaching service. A small group of people just meeting for worship and teaching has lost the plot.

Their first aim should be learning to move with the Spirit and experience his gifts. A small group is a safe place to learn about praying for the sick and receiving words of knowledge.

There second aim should be to reach into their world with the gospel. The gifts of the Spirit are gifts for the world, not for the enjoyment of Christians. They were not given so that we can minister to each other and enjoy the fun. Christians are to love each other, but we must not keep the gifts of the Spirit for our own benefit.

God gave the gifts of the Spirit to equip us to preach the gospel and serve the people of the world. If we keep the gifts to ourselves, the Holy Spirit will eventually get bored and leave us to go out into our world. If we do not go with him, we will find ourselves spiritually full, but bored.