{"id":17742,"date":"2020-09-15T06:27:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T13:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=17742"},"modified":"2020-09-15T06:28:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T13:28:02","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-before-starting-a-congregation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/15\/what-you-need-to-know-before-starting-a-congregation\/","title":{"rendered":"What YOU Need to Know Before Starting a Congregation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What follows is based on my personal experience of pastoring for more than 25 years 18 of which I was the head elder of the congregation my wife and I founded. I hope that you will find this information to be helpful. \u2014 Natan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the years, many people around the world have asked for my advice about starting a Hebraic home fellowship or congregation.<\/strong> I tell them all the same thing: I learned to pastor through the school of hard knocks with guidance from no one, although I sough it to no avail. Sadly, I had no one to mentor me. As a result, I made a lot of mistakes and learned by trial and error. Therefore, I\u2019m happy to advise people in any way I can, so that they don\u2019t make the same mistakes that I made. That is the purpose of the following article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife and I started and pastored a Hebraic congregation in 1998 that met in our home for more than two years. When we outgrew our home, we rented a church building for another 15 plus years until the fall of 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of our experience, dozens of folks have asked my help in mentoring them in starting Hebraic fellowships. To date, I have put nothing in writing on this subject until now. Perhaps some of the questions and suggestions below will be of value to those people daring enough to start a fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Word to Those Desiring to Start a Fellowship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before giving instructions to Timothy about the qualifications for being an elder, Paul had this to say about those desiring to serve as leaders in the congregation of the saints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. (1 Tim 3:1<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Desiring to start a fellowship is not a bad thing\u2014especially if the Spirit of Elohim is leading you to do it. If not, forget it. What\u2019s not of YHVH will fail. If  the Spirit is directing you, and you\u2019re not being led by the dictates of your own carnal heart, then there are some things you need to consider first before launching out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are You Willing to Pay the Price?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before starting a fellowship, one must ask oneself some hard questions. One must first count the costs; it\u2019s going to \u201ccost\u201d you more than you think. Are you willing to pay the price?, Yeshua taught his disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it\u2026 (Luke 14:28<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now let\u2019s read the full context of Yeshua\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it\u2014lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, \u2018This man began to build and was not able to finish.\u2019 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 12:27\u201333<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is true that Yeshua was specifically speaking about evangelizing the lost, and not leading a congregation, but many of these same instructions still apply for those in pastoral ministry. For example, one never knows whether that person who is walking into your congregation is even saved, whether they are demonized or are just plain troubled people or flat-out troublemakers. A pastor will have to deal with all of the above\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To his disciples, when he first commissioned them to go out two by two to preach the gospel, Yeshua additionally said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBehold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.\u2026Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name\u2019s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.\u2026 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! (Matt 10:16\u201317<\/a>, 24\u201325<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now you may want to start a fellowship that involves only your spouse, some family members and a few close friends with whom you already get along and agree, but what happens when other people want to join your group who you don\u2019t know? What happens when these new folks have different ideas of how a congregation should be run, have conflicting biblical understandings and doctrinal views and turn out to be vocal, complainers, contentious or outright wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing? What then? You\u2019re happy little group is no longer! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, we experienced this countless times, and over the past 20 years I have advised dozens of pastoral leaders who were going through the same trials. Don\u2019t think it won\u2019t happen to you; it will. You are not exempt from this trial by fire, for people are people. Yeshua experienced it, as did the apostles as well as the prophets before them all the way back to Moses in his struggles leading the children of Israel through the wilderness. This is because people are people, and the devil is working behind the scenes to steal, kill and destroy anything that is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more thing: are you willing to have even those of your own household turn against you? Yeshua declared that his disciples must be willing to give up all to serve him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to \u2018SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW\u2019; and \u2018A MAN\u2019S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.\u2019 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matt 10:34\u201338<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that nearly everyone thinks that they\u2019re an exception to the rule\u2014that what Yeshua predicted would happen to his disciples who choose to serve him won\u2019t happen to them. Before I started  pastoring, I didn\u2019t take Yeshua\u2019s warnings seriously. How could I? I didn\u2019t know what I didn\u2019t know! No one ever told me what to expect, except Yeshua, and, honestly, I thought that, for some strange reason, his warning wouldn\u2019t come to pass in my own life. I was sure mistaken! Moreover, I doubt seriously that few professors in Bible college teach this either. This is probably because they have little or no real world experience leading a congregation. That\u2019s why they know little about the real price that pastors and leaders have to pay to be true disciples of Yeshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider this. How did Yeshua\u2019s apostles view themselves after having served him for years? As his bondservants (or slaves; Rom 1:1<\/a>; 2 Cor 4:5<\/a>; Gal 1:10<\/a>; Eph 6:6<\/a>; Phil 1:1<\/a>; Col 4:12<\/a>; Tit 1:1<\/a>; Jas 1:1<\/a>; 1 Pet 2:16<\/a>; 2 Pet 1:1<\/a>; Jude 1:1<\/a>). Yes slaves! This is not a bad, but a good thing. Would you rather be a slave to the world, the flesh and the devil or to Yeshua? It\u2019s either one or the other; there\u2019s no middle ground in this game! There are great spiritual rewards for serving Yeshua, but most of them will be in the next life. The price is high, the cost is much, but the rewards are worth it to be a servant, yes, a slave, of the Master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Hard Questions to Ask Yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before starting a fellowship, ask yourself these hard questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n