Many people have asked me how the strategy of developing home ministry centers fits with the church. My response is to go back to Genesis where God uses the tent (home) of Abraham as a model for the tabernacle, which became the pattern for the temple. Scripture calls the church the family of God, whose members are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly enough, the household of God is patterned after homes. We have God the Father, and God the Son giving us the pattern of how we are to relate one to another, through the power of God the Holy Spirit.

At the core of the strategy for developing homes into ministry centers is the belief that strong fathers makes strong families, strong families make a strong church, and when we have strong churches we will cause the nation to be strong.

When a father is trained to be the priest, king and prohet of his home, he will become the primary spiritual care-giver in his family. George Barna, in his book Revolution states that only 5% of fathers are considered the primary spiritual care-giver of their families. The rest have abdicated this responsibility to professionals, or simply left it vacant. We can see the effects of this today as many of our children have fallen from the faith. If we are to raise up the foundations of many Godly generations, then we will need to develop the seed bed of our homes in which we will be able to make disciples. Jesus stated in John 17:4, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do…I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” We as fathers are to manifest the Fatherhood of God to the children He has given us. This is to be done when we rise up, when we sit down, when we walk along the way and when we lie back down. Most of these actions happen when we are in and around the home. Fathers who focus on developing the full potential of their homes as ministry centers will be effective in discipling their children and raising up the foundations of many Godly generations.

When a family is led by a father who is the priest, prophet and king of his home, his family will become a testimony of God’s ways. As a result, men will grab his arm and say, “Let us go with you to your home and see what you do for we see that God is with you.” (See Zechariah 8:23) The man who knows His God, and the ways of God, will be strong in his influence and will do great exploits for the Kingdom of God. (See Daniel 11:32)

These men should be the elders of the church because they have developed the necessary qualities of ruling over the household of God, which are mentioned in Timothy and Titus. Each aspect of a ministry center prepares a man for greater responsibility in the household of God. When we are faithful with the little God gives us, He will make us responsible for much in the Kingdom of God.

Pastors who see the value of strengthening and discipling men will not fear the Godly influence of a strong family, but they will rejoice and find ways to broaden the impact of their life message. People are looking for real answers, the kind that will strengthen their marriages, make their children mighty in spirit, give them wisdom in handling their finances, and help them live healthy and fulfilled lives in Christ Jesus. They are looking for credible messengers who are living epistles of God’s ways.

Local churches can tap into the resources of the universal church of God and learn from the research and development that these families have been doing within their own homes by encouraging their families to take advantage of the resources that will be available through the Family Support Network. (Download a booklet (PDF) which explains the history and vision of the Family Support Network.)

Five Aspects of a Ministry Center

1. Worship Center: Turn the dining room table into a family altar for daily family devotions to hear God’s voice through His Word.
2. Learning Center: Begin to teach your children informally the principles and character of God as you go about your day. Remember, more is caught than taught as you model God’s way before them. Provide good reading material like biographies of great Christians and the Lamplighter series. My wife and I have disconnected the T.V. from any channels and use it only for educational purpose or for an occasional Godly movie. Use this time to teach your children the love of reading and learning on their own.
3. Health Center: Teach your children the importance of living according to God’s Word. Fill your home with pure water, pure food, pure thoughts, pure music, pure air, and purity of heart. Teach children how to prepare healthy meals and spend time preparing for meals at home. The one common denominator among valedictorians is that they ate meals with the family each night.
4. Hospitality Center: Learn how to refresh the saints, as the household of Stephanus did when they supplied what was lacking for Paul. (See 1 Corinthians 16:14-17) Make your home ministry ready by decluttering it and always being ready to offer a glass of water, tea or lemonade to those who would stop by for encouragement. One widow told me that when her husband died the family decided to continue to be hospitable and God has abundantly blessed her children with the male leadership necessary for a strong foundation through the fathers of families they invited to their home. One son told her, “We will either be victims, vulchers, or victors in Christ, and I choose to be a victor.”
5. Productivity Center: Help your children learn how to contribute to meeting the needs of others through productive service and work. Teach children to do chores. In a forty year study conducted by Harvard University, they found that the common denominator among successful Brooklyn boys was doing chores. Those boys who did chores, no matter their race, economic status, or education, were more successful and content in their marriages, family, jobs and overall satisfaction in life.

Posted by Chris Hogan on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 15:52 PM