Congregations of the Church
The Kingdom of God is first established in the hearts of the free Congregation of the people who come together in fellowship and love seeking to know and do the will of the Father without coveting our neighbor's goods or exercising authority over them. The minister of a congregation is chosen and entrusted with an offering by the people through an election in consensus by the elders of each family unit.
That offering is evidence of our trust in the ways of charity, the spirit of hope, and the exercise of faith in the perfect law of liberty endowed by our God.
The precept of loving one another as Christ loved you is not limited within the congregation of a local Church. To share in the whole body of the Church it is essential that each congregation and Church care about other churches as much as they care about themselves.
“For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:” Isaiah 28:10
The change that comes from being Baptized in the spirit of Christ Jesus, receiving Him as Lord of your life, is only visible to those who have eyes to see. The world, not seeing these things of the spirit, needs evidence that is visible to the people of the world. Each member of a congregation and minister must define their ministry according to the spirit of the Father in their heart and mind.
Each member or family of a congregation is an altar of earth. The congregations of ministers are altars of stone. All operate together in a network of charity so that a nation of believers might remain a peculiar people.
God sees the heart and mind of mankind, but the world often requires something more tangible as a evidence in witness. His Holy Church offers a system for the edification and protection of the free Church and congregation which may assist in the maintenance and nurturing of a free people under God.
A congregation of record seeking other congregations and coming together in a network of people seeking the wholeness and holiness of a rightious government need to manifest that oneness with Christ and the Father both in Spirit and in truth so that may live in the world but not of it.
Making a record of a Church and congregation:
http://www.hisholychurch.org/ministries/church/index.html
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"Congregation. A congregation is a group acting in one accord.
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It is usually composed of groups of families which may be served by one minister.
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The minister is a member of the Church by appointment or anointing, the body of the "clergy".
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Each family’s spokesmen is its elder or their representative.
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Two or more elders form a congregation, ten families are generally thought to be ideal.
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Any gathering of congregations is also a congregation in assembly.
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The individual congregations should be linked in Spirit in both practical and real ways by the communion of their Ministers in a congregation within the Church with the help and service of the Bishops and Archbishops chosen by them."
Guidelines of His Church, Altars and Auxiliaries, Free Church Report
Terms like bishop and archbishop or liturgy are common terms in the modern Church, but in the first century Church they often had a very different meaning and purpose.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4
The government of God is one of service and the ministers of that government are truly public servants. The people are responsible for themselves in a network of faith, hope and charity working out their own salvation under the perfect law of liberty. When the people depended upon the offerings of charity rather than the compelled contributions of Egypt, Rome, Judea, or Babylon, etc. they must change. They have a new master they pray to who art in Heaven. That master rules by love and the people are to love one another as Christ loved us all. The Church is true government of public servants who operates a system based on love, not force.
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[1] "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But it shall not be so among you..."Luke 22:25, Matthew 20:25, Mark 10:42
John the Baptist and Jesus offered a different way than the world at that time. It is a different way than the world at this time. It is the Way of Christ.
Over the ages, the actual corporeal and incorporeal service of the church to the people became little more than superstitious religious ceremonies designed to give the people a feeling of being justified in the delusion that they were worshiping God. In truth they were actually sacrificing upon the altars of the Nicolaitans. this is the error of Balaam and the antithesis of Christ.
In the early centuries the people were dependent upon the network of the Church to sustain them in the hard times of Roman and Judaic collapse. Today, many Churches preach tithing, but send the people to benefactors who exercise authority one over the other, contrary to the precepts of Christ. His Holy Church has no authority to dictate a ‘unified liturgy’. That is to say, we cannot compel the manner of public service, like other governments do, or exercise authority over the choice and liberty of each other.
The church does have an obligation to care for the needs of the flock of Christ, the people hearing His voice and seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It has a mission to serve the people so that they need not pray to the benefactors of the world. This book is about that network used by Abraham, Moses, and Jesus Christ to edify the Kingdom of God which is within our reach.
Every man and woman must strive to follow the precepts of Christ in protecting one another as God's altars of living earth. The ministers of the Church---who set aside some of their their personal liberty to serve God by serving His people---are the living stones of His altar, performing an important function of representation. His Church must preach the kingdom of love and liberty. It is to facilitate the communion of the people in faith, hope, and charity so that they learn and live the gospel of the kingdom as free souls under God. We must all unlearn the ways and the practices of the world that are contrary to the ways of Christ and His Holy first century Church, which have crept into our thinking over the last two millennia.
We must reexamine the meaning of phrases like worship services, kingdom of God, first century Church, congregation, and pure religion. We must look at the particular directives of Christ and show true faith in the whole gospel of the Kingdom.
We are told that we should not be like the benefactors and public servants of the “world” who rule over the manner and means of the sacrifices of the people by ruling over the people and the people ruling over their neighbor, exercising authority in the provision of their own welfare. Such welfare has always been a snare and a stumbling block for the people, from David to Paul and even down unto this very day. Through covetousness, such systems make the people little more than human resources, slaves to serve the will of depots and tyrants.
The leaders of the Church are the antithesis of and alternative to institutions of men which exercise authority one over the other. They show their faith in Christ by their provision of good service.
“Blessed [are] those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” Luke 12:37
The people who seek the righteousness of Christ and His kingdom care for the welfare of each other through the bonds of love, in a network of charity ministered to by those living stones of God's altar of their choosing. Through a process of forgiveness and a communion of thanksgiving, the Holy Spirit shall write the liturgy of God on the minds and hearts of the whole body of Christ, providing salvation in this world and the next.
Footnotes:
Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Matthew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
Nicolaitans are the “conquered people” who have lost access to some God endowed right of choice. See Appendix 2. Free Church Report