Up-Down-In-Out

Four Essentials: For a small group of Christians to be considered a legitimate Micro-Church or Missional Kingdom Family, we believe it is essential that four “directions” of God’s love be exchanged as a lifestyle among the members.

1. Down Love: First, each individual and the group as a whole must be constantly receiving into their hearts, their Father’s mercy, grace, love, glory, truth, power and life through Christ by the Holy Spirit. They must all be in regular communion with Christ who dwells in their hearts as Lord. Obedience to the Lordship of Christ is a supernaturally natural result of their faith and love for Him. The individuals and the group should enjoy the manifest presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Both the Word of God and the Spirit of God are the means by which Father’s life flows into the house church.
2. Up Love: Second, the members must be constantly reciprocating the love and glory they receive from God back to Him, in the form of praise, worship, and obedience. Bringing glory to God as a lifestyle and expanding His glory in the nations is their top value. The full expressions of praise and worship described in the Bible should be practiced when they gather.
3. In Love: Third, the family members must exchange Christ’s love, wisdom, and power between one another through covenantally connected hearts and minds. This includes an ongoing lifestyle of acceptance, encouragement, forgiveness, affection, affirmation, discipleship, correction, accountability, inner healing, personal prayer ministry, communion (Lord’s supper/agape meal), bearing one another’s burdens, helping meet each other’s needs especially during difficult times, and having lots of fun. The point is to help facilitate the formation of Christ within each other’s minds, hearts, and lifestyle. It is to help each member become like Christ.
4. Out Love: Fourth, a Missional Kingdom Family or Micro-Church is a small spiritual family, but it is also a spiritual army (platoon) which has a kingdom-advancing mission. God’s life and love must be flowing out through the group to those who haven’t experienced Father’s love through Christ. As the body of Christ, the group needs to be a corporate and tangible expression of Christ to those it is called to serve. Christ is alive in us and wants to do through us today what He did while he was a man 2,000 years ago. He wants to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, seek and save the lost, heal the sick, cast out demons, and bring compassion and practical help to those in need. The Missional Kingdom Family (Micro-Church) needs to be the voice and hands of Jesus. This most effectively occurs when each member discovers and selflessly shares their spiritual gifts, talents, time, money, and other resources. In addition, each Missional Kingdom Family should embrace the exciting opportunity of multiplying into other Missional Kingdom Family’s. Just as the children of a natural family are expected to mature and start their own families, so the members of the spiritual family should grow to the point they can reach others with Christ and start another Micro-Church. Growth and multiplication is the evidence that a Missional Kingdom Family has Christ as its Center and Source and is “organically” connected to the Body of Christ. We believe Micro-Churches are the best strategy for evangelism, pastoral care, discipleship, and kingdom-advancing missions.