Back to Basics 2Намуна

‘They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’ (Acts 2:46-47 NIV, emphasis added)

What are ‘Home Groups?’

Home groups, simply put, are groups of Christians that meet in one another’s homes to worship, discuss teaching and the Word of God (the Bible) and pray.

As Christians, we generally meet together to worship on a Sunday morning at Church. Home Groups are a smaller, broken-down version of the Church inasmuch as they are smaller gatherings of the Church body meeting in homes.

Many Churches choose a day in the middle of the week. They divide their congregation into appropriate groups, and an individual, couple or family will host the Home Group.

We are encouraged in the Bible to become a community, not just people who meet together on a Sunday morning once a week.

The Bible says earlier in Acts 2:42-46:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

The believers were together and had everything in common.

It’s pretty hard to have everything in common with people you don’t spend time with. The above verse suggests that the early church believers were enmeshed in each other's lives, sharing what they had with one another and ensuring that they remained connected.

Home groups in our modern Christian culture allow us to do just that – remain connected to one another as believers in Jesus.

Being together strengthens the bonds of our faith and allows us to be sharpened by each other. Home groups are environments where faith can grow and relationships amongst believers are nurtured.

Now that we have explored a little bit about what home groups are let’s look at what happens in a home group each time they meet.