Why Intentionally-Small Churches Are a Big Deal (An Early Church Strategy for Ministry)

Bigger is not better; better is better! Everything in the New Testament was written to a church that meet in someone's home. The ecclesiology it sets forth was designed for smaller settings; they turned the Roman world upside down. Jesus left the early church with a small-size strategy for effective ministry.

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00:00 - What Does It Matter That Early Churches Met in Homes?
04:48 - Small Churches Advantages
15:44 - Expert Testimony on Small Church Advantages
20:08 - The Meaning of “Church” (ekklésia)
22:26 - OT & NT “Temple” Theology
25:17 - Scriptural Evidence for Roman Villas
27:25 - What Size Were First-Century House Churches?
37:19 - Shortcomings of Modern Western House Churches
40:17 - Practical Ideas for Meeting Places
43:43 - Conclusion

NTRF.org presents concept ideas for church leaders, missionaries, and those renewing plateaued churches, drawn from strategies Jesus gave the early church that will result in love for the brethren, unity, community, edification, faith, good deeds, and holiness. We have actively lived out these strategies for over 30 years and can testify to their effectiveness.

Stephen E. Atkerson (M.Div., Mid-America Baptist Seminary) has worked with evangelists, missionaries, church planters, and pastors in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa to reform today's church with New Testament church practices. He is one of the pastors of a church he planted in 1991, and is President of NTRF.org (Early Church Practice Today)

https://ntrf.org