What is Church?

• It is NOT about the building.
  – Acts 7:48 – 50 (God didn´t want us to build Temples)
  It is about Fellowship.
  – 1, 2, 3.   UP, IN, OUT
  God's presence in my life (Luk 6:12); Spiritual family (1 Cor 14:6); on mission (Mark 16:15-20)

• It is NOT about the building.
  - It is NOT about a program.
  - It is NOT about employees
  - It is NOT about budget
  ... in a Box.

• It's about Organic Church; Simple Church, the way it's portrayed in Acts 2:42-47.
  "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.".”

• Why do we do church?
  - To Build Up
  - To Learn
  - To Serve
  To have Fellowship
  - To share the Lords Supper (communion) together.
  1 Cor 14:26
  People want to be loved; failing that admired; failing that feared; failing that hated and despised. They want to evoke some sort of sentiment. The soul shudders before oblivion and seeks connection at any price.What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a
  revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up..”

• The Simple Church, is defined by that it is:
  1. Jesus centered - a church where Jesus is the beginning, the end, the purpose, the means and the goal. Everything is about
  making disciples of Christ and give Him the glory.
  2. Missional - a church with the goal to not to gather but to send. Jesus said "Go and make disciples
  of all nations!"
  3. Small - a church that intentionally is small, often with no more than 3-12 people.
  4. Anywhere - a church that can meet wherever people live their lives; in a home, in a cafe, in a
  restaurant, in a workplace, or some other place. When the Bible speak of a church it doesn´t speak of a
  building. A church is, according to the Bible, a gathering of believers, in which the believers meet and have
  fellowship together.
  5. Relational- a church whose foundation is close fellowships and fellowships instead of programs,
  collection talks and activities.
  6. Organic - a church that function as a living organism which is formed by it's DNA. The values and
  the foundational principles which are there from the beginning in the church are transferred to next generation (of
  disciples).
  7. Multiplicating - a church that grows through multiplication. When it grows too big to function
  as a spiritual family then people are sent out to start more churches.
  8. Everyone are Priests - a church where every believer is a priest and have something to offer. All believers have an ability
  to serve each other and other people. This includes to baptize new believers and share the Lords
  Meal (Communion) together.
  - Why are we all Priests?
  The Old Covenant - Only a few special people had a close encounter with God - pure hearts.
  The New Covenant - All people can hear from God, through the Holy Spirit, through the new heart
  you receive when you become born again.
  
  9. Serving leaders - a church with unpaid leaders that functions as spiritual parents in a spiritual
  family.
  Leadership is never a position but an important function in a simple church and works when
  we serve other people.
  10. Connected - a church that doesn't isolate itself from others but instead stays connected to other simple
  churches locally, regionally and nationally.

• A network of simple churches often functions like this:
  1. A group with its own identity (independent) - The different churches in a network are independent and
  self-functioning groups, but is also dependent on each other.
  2. Built on relations - A network built on personal relations between people in the different groups. 
  Without relations - no network.
  3. Non-hierarchical - A network of simple churches in different locations that strive for to be decentralized
  and non-hierarchical.
  4. Leadership - In a network there are different leadership functions. In the different groups there are non-salarized
  elders/church leaders who often work in pairs or in a team. In a network the teams often are arranged by leaders
  with an overall responsibility for the network. Some of the leaders function as apostles, prophets or
  evangelists, sent out to serve in different locations. Network leaders who are sent out in this way
  sometimes have economic support and backing and sometimes not.
  5. The network meets - The churches in the network sometimes meet. In many cases once a month or more often. When you meet the purpose is training, broader fellowship and the possibility to see the variety in the Kingdom of God in a way which sometimes is hard to do in a separate small group. - The churches in the network sometimes meet. Often once a month or more often.
  The agenda in these meeting is often training, broader fellowship and a chance to see the diversity in God's Kingdom in a
  way that is harder to do in a small group. 

Napkin presentation: