What exactly is a Home Group?

How does it fit into church life?

What can I expect if I attend a Home Group?

These are great questions that we hope you find the answers to as you take some time to read through this.

First, a Home Group is simply a place outside the corporate setting of the church; it takes place in homes throughout the communities that we live in, and it provides a smaller atmosphere to connect with people on a more personal level.

But why do we have Home Groups, and secondly: How does it fit into church life?

It’s true that throughout the New Testament church, believers met to worship, to pray, and hear God’s Word being taught on a large scale in the temple; much like our Sunday morning services today. In addition to the large scale meeting, there was also another side to the Christian life in the New Testament church. They met in homes. All over Jerusalem and Judea, the early church would not only meet corporately as a large body, but would also meet house to house throughout the week. They came together in small groups, forged relationships, broke bread together, studied God’s Word, and exercised discipleship. In other words, their interaction with one another was not only limited to the corporate setting, but extended beyond the walls of the temple to the community where they lived out their lives. This is our desire for anyone who comes to B.C.F. That the corporate setting we call church would extend beyond the four walls of a sanctuary, and extend out to homes within our respective communities in which we live. In other words: We want to take Jesus home with us, and share that with others on a smaller and more personal scale.

At this point you may be saying to yourself, “Ok, I see the point you’re making, and I even see the need for it; if I go to a Home Group, what can I expect?” One word. Discipleship. Jesus commanded us to, “Go and make disciples.” How does that happen? It’s through the building of Christ centered relationships in which we can come together, pray together, eat together, share life together, and open the Word of God together and grow in Christ. And that’s exactly what we do in Home Groups. We come together at someone’s home in the community. We have a meal together. We pray together. We open up God’s Word together. We deal with sin together. Exercise forgiveness together, and the result is worship which is simply responding to God for who He is and what He’s done in ways that exalt and honor Him. The outcome is a faith that is built from the hearing of God’s Word, and as God’s people seek to be renewed by the washing of the water of the Word of God and prayer, we ultimately begin to reflect the love of Christ to our communities at large. We hope you’ll join us. There’s always a place for you!