At Gresham Household of Faith we celebrate our Lord’s Day each Sunday as a holiday for the family of God. The atmosphere of our gathering is like a wonderful family reunion, full of joy and loving concern for one another. Because this is our only “official service” each week, we make a day of it by taking our time to do several things right.
First, our gathering is “age-integrated.” That means all ages participate together in our worship, Bible teaching and fellowship. We unite the home and the church for the benefit of both.

Next, our worship is doctrinally sound and musically appealing to all ages. The style blends contemporary instrumentation with favorite hymns.
Likewise, our Bible teachers make every effort to feed the souls of all ages on sound topical expository preaching. That means we honor the Bible as God’s message to us.

Following our service we host a weekly Shared Meal. This is not a potluck. We all come prepared to show our love for God by the way we love and serve one another. (Visitors are always welcome as our guests!)

This extended Sunday morning and afternoon time together once each week accomplishes two important things: First, it allows our members time to really reconnect with one another. Second, it leaves ample time during the rest of the week for everyone to live the life, rather than just talk about it (James 1:22). Rather than multiply church meetings, we encourage our members to live a life-style of neighborly hospitality, hosting prayer meetings, Bible study groups and organizing “work-parties” to help others in practical ways.  In times of illness or crisis we are ready to flex our schedules and squeeze our finances to help one another. Some provide hot meals. Others watch the children. Together we help one another make it through. It’s called loving one another.

The Great Commission Life-style
All of this provides the backdrop for effective outreach. Our love for one another gives the Gospel credibility (Titus 2:10). But living this way of life is a family adventure, not a church program. In order to serve God effectively we must see ourselves as a team of ambassadors for Christ. As a local church our responsibility is to equip each family to serve God together as a team. Then every Christian home is an embassy of God’s kingdom, a place where others “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). What you will see when you visit is our weekly “support group for ambassadors.”

“Walking With the Wise”
“Those who walk with the wise become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20). Most families and churches today are losing their children to the secular world. This is because their children have never been truly converted to Christ in the first place. But by God’s grace, at our church, we are not losing our children. This is partly due to the fact that we equip and encourage our member parents to reach, teach and train their own children in the Christian life at home rather than try to do it for them in church programs.

That is why we do not offer a Sunday School or a Children’s Church. Instead, we put our efforts into making Sunday worship great for all ages and we help parents learn to include their children in their own lives. In our services, the children sing the same songs as their parents, hear the same teaching and feel the same awe as God moves in power among us. Our children are included in church as they are at home.

As a visitor, please don’t feel embarrassed if your children act like kids. It’s okay. Just help them understand what’s going on. Train them to enjoy being included in church. Coach them in worship.

This approach is not easy, but it is well worth the effort. Eventually your kids will engage in the church service for themselves and begin to trust in God from their own hearts.

Using Our “Open Microphone” to Move in the Gifts of the Spirit

God is still active today. That’s why when we come to church the Bible says, “Each one has a song, a teaching, a revelation…” (1 Cor. 14:26). During our worship the Holy Spirit sometimes prompts believers to build up one another by using their spiritual gifts. We call this “body ministry.” It is welcomed, provided it is offered in keeping with the guidelines laid down by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 14:12-19 & 26-35. As a visitor, you are encouraged to just watch and listen for a while until it all starts to
make sense to you. Then join in to do

Our Lord’s Supper
Communion is celebrated at the close of our gathering each week. Tables of bread and grape juice are set up around the room where we welcome the believing head of each household, (whether male or female), to serve our Lord’s Supper to the believing members of his or her family, as well as any guests. If you are a visitor, one of our member families will ask you to join them. Just watch how others do it. They may huddle together in the meeting hall or slip outside to a quieter place. We use this special time each week to draw closer to God and closer to one another. We examine ourselves and confess our sins to God and we renew right relationships with one another. Forgive. Embrace. Then partake together.

After this time, our pastors and deacons pray for any who may be sick or in any other kind of need. Then we dismiss for our Shared Meal. That’s it.