Testify Church is a non-denominational house church network with locations in Reno and Sparks, Nevada, that exist to worship Jesus, love our neighbors, and share His gospel.
Worship. Love. Share. Repeat.
Testify Church is a non-denominational house church network with locations in Reno and Sparks, Nevada, that exist to worship Jesus, love our neighbors, and share His gospel.
Worship. Love. Share. Repeat.
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Why House Church?
House churches are a type of Christian gathering that takes place in private homes, as opposed to traditional church buildings. All Testify Church gatherings occur in private homes.
The house church concept dates back to early Christianity when Jesus’ followers would gather in their homes, and the gospel spread like wildfire.
God has always done big things with small gatherings of Christians worshiping, praying, serving, studying the Bible, and experiencing life together.
Consider this...
In every part of the world where believers primarily gather in home churches, tens of millions have been added to the faith in the last two decades. At the same time, in every part of the world where larger institutional gatherings are the norm, tens of millions have stopped attending church gatherings altogether.
We gather in homes because we believe it to be a means of worshiping Jesus, loving our neighbor, and sharing the gospel that is second to none.
Interested in starting or joining a house church?
As you’ve been praying and seeking the Lord’s direction in your life, perhaps you’ve felt led to join or start a house church. Speak to one of our pastors to see if Testify Church is a good fit for you.
Testify Church Mission, Values & Beliefs
Mission: We exist to worship Jesus, love our neighbor, and share His gospel.
One of the beauties of the Christian church is the diversity expressed through local congregations of believers globally. Testify Church is no different, but each of our local communities shares a set of common values and doctrinal beliefs. By God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, we aim to be believers that are:
Our Values
One Body
Unity within the Church matters to Christ. Tribalism is toxic. Even in the midst of ministry diversity, believers are called to seek the good welfare of one another and pull for others. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” To the extent that it depends upon us, we will pursue unity with all believers for His glory and the spread of the gospel. This is acting as One Body.
Word-Saturated
The Bible is truth and therefore has meaning for all of life. It is not just something to “know,” but something that should penetrate every aspect of our lives and ultimately change us to become more like Jesus. This is why we read, talk about, meditate on, obey, apply, and creatively express the Word of God, allowing it to rule over every area of our lives. We aim to be Word-Saturated in everything we are and everything we do.
Fearlessly Faithful
Great faith fuels our growth in Jesus. It all starts with our relationship with Him. The more we know Him, the more we are able to trust Him and exercise our faith. We testify to each other and ourselves about the gospel and how faithful Jesus is. We challenge and encourage each other to take big faith steps towards Christ and his mission for every believer in order to grow spiritually. For us, this is how we become Fearlessly Faithful.
Equipped for Mission
Every believer has first-hand experience with the wonderful works of the Living God. By God’s grace, He preserved us so that He could save us, and He completed that work in the person of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is real for us. Each of us has joined this movement of obedience to Jesus – for the good of our souls, our neighbors’ flourishing, and God’s glory. All of us are uniquely Equipped for Mission.
Extravagantly Generous
We have a saying: God owns it, and we stewart it. If that is true, then our role is to be a wise manager of what we’ve been given, which frees us to be generous and give freely. This applies equally to our finances, our time, and our gifts. As we follow Jesus, who gave it all for us, so we can give to others. And as we give with a servant’s heart, Jesus is glorified. Therefore, as a church, we are about being Extravagantly Generous.
Lovers of Prayer
In the tapestry of a Christian’s spiritual journey, prayer is the golden thread that weaves the fabric of divine connection. It is the celestial bridge that spans the chasm between humanity and God, beckoning us into His presence. Through prayer, we are able to enjoy an intimate conversation with the One who knows us intimately, embracing the privilege to pour out our hearts without reservation which is why we are Lovers of Prayer.
How Does Testify “Do” House Church?
More than a Bible study, small group, or community group, each Testify Church gathering is a fully functional church with believers at every stage of “Christian maturity,” including biblically qualified elders engaged in teaching and protecting sound doctrine (1 Timothy 3:1-6; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 5:1-3; James 5:14; Acts 14:23; Acts 20:28). We also perform baptisms and take communion as part of our regular rhythm.
Overall, our values inform our practices as a church.
Our Practices
Our typical gathering has 10-25 people meeting in a home. There is usually a “family meal,” and we always worship in song and prayer, take communion and dig deeply into the Scriptures. Biblically qualified pastors lead all of our home gatherings, and as a committed family of believers, we’re able to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42). Our gatherings include preaching and teaching from the Bible and pastor-led discussion of both the text and the teaching. We believe this approach creates an opportunity for deeper spiritual growth.
Every believer receives spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. With our focus on discipleship and close knit relationships with each believer gathering with us, we are more fully known. This makes it easier to identify spiritual gifts and our smaller Sunday gatherings provide a unique opportunity for personal growth and leveraging a communal approach to nurturing each believer’s unique spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14; Romans 12:4-8).
Read our “Speaking in Tongues Position Statement” and “The Role Of Men And Women In Church Leadership Position Statement.”
Up (worship Jesus)
We become more like whatever we think about the most. We worship with song and prayer and study the Bible when we gather. As a close-knit community of believers, we also stir one another up to worship throughout the week because we want to be a people with the heart of David. (Psalm 63:1-2)In (love our neighbor)
We spend time with each other throughout the week and encourage and celebrate with one another. Because we’re more nimble than traditional, larger churches, we can also step up and carry one another’s burdens more easily (Galatians 6:2).Out (share His gospel)
Jesus commands the church to “Go therefore and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), yet, most American churches pour 75-88% of all of their funds into buildings, staff compensation, and administrative and operational expenses. This doesn’t leave much for meeting the physical needs of our neighbors and the Great Commission. Testify aims for 95% of our financial resources to go out.We believe we live out our gospel identity when we live on mission. By functioning as a house church, resources are more readily available to care for those in need and to creatively reach our neighbors with the gospelThe founder and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2), and His apostles didn’t overcomplicate ministry, and neither do we.
Our ministry is very simple: We preach and teach sound doctrine. We worship God. We love one another as we do life together and stir one another up toward good works. Lastly, we step into the world of our non-believing neighbors to meet their needs and verbally share the gospel.
Have you ever attended a church gathering and noticed that more time was allocated for updates, announcements, and the pastor’s anecdotes than prayer? That’s not us.
Prayer anchors us. Prayer is our cry in distress and a song of gratitude in joy. It’s our time to tell God how much we adore Him. It keeps us connected to God, providing us with guidance, wisdom, and comfort. In every prayer, we find strength in the One who listens. We love to pray!
We don’t have a “prayer ministry.” Our entire church is the prayer ministry.
The reality is we can only fit so many people in a private home. With our commitment to the house church model, we have a clear plan for duplication without becoming disconnected from one another. Far from being a problem, this is precisely how the church has grown for 2,000 years.
This makes discipleship, empowering everyone to use their spiritual gifts and relying upon God to provide more leaders, very high priorities for us.
Our focus on discipleship and growing in Christian maturity glorifies God, is good for the saints, and fuels gospel sharing — it’s Up, In & Out in action.
As we grow and split, we’re intentional to come together regularly for worship and fellowship. This ensures we never lose sight of the fact that there is only One Body, regardless of how many Testify communities are planted.
Are you interested in visiting us?
Please get in touch with us, and one of our pastors will contact you so we can answer your questions. If Testify is a good fit for you, we’ll get you set up to visit one of our gatherings.
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