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About UsSozo Communities is a network of house churches, called Missional Action Groups, that exist to make Christ-centered disciples who live on mission with Jesus. We believe every disciple is a missionary and every church should plant churches. Currently we have 4 Missional Action Groups meeting in the Philadelphia area.
Sozo Penndel meets for dinner weekly on Wednesdays at 6:00pm. Contact Kevin & Angel Miller at kevinoffbase@gmail.com Sozo Philadelphia meets for breakfast on Sundays 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Contact Alex & Colleen Houser at colleennicole91@gmail.com. Sozo Feasterville meets for dinner weekly on Thursdays at 6:00pm. Contact Charlie & Judy Glover at hewm1@verizon.net. Sozo Bristol meets for dinner weekly on Thursdays at 6:30pm. Contact Greg & Cindy Reilly at cndrll7994@gmail.com. |
Affiliations |
Sozo Communities is part of the Converge Worldwide Association of Churches, The Narrow Road Missional Movement, and the CREO Collective. Click on the images below for more information about our associations.
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Our History |
Sozo Communities started when I, Jason Heim, started wondering if this was it. Was I living the radical life that Jesus had called me to or was there something more? Jesus expressed that radical calling in Matthew 10:38 when He said, “…anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” I quickly reassured myself thinking, “how much more radical can you get than full-time ministry?” and yet a growing discontentment continued to well up in my soul. I was intrigued by the stories of radical discipleship I heard from missionary friends. Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.” I realized that I had spent a good portion of 18 years of ministry so busy with church work that I didn’t have margin in my schedule for lost people. As a result of this growing discontentment, I came to realize that God has called each one of his disciples to be missionaries. Orienting my life around the mission of Jesus was the answer I was looking for. I left my established church ministry to start a network of house churches where I could spend less time in an office and more time training believers to make disciples and plant churches.
Satan must have been less than thrilled with our new commitment because one month after we started our 7-year-old daughter ended up contracting the H1N1 Swine Flu, which was similar to the Coronavirus. When her fever spiked at 104.9 and we couldn’t bring it down, we rushed her to the hospital. After a week on a ventilator, antibiotics and treatments my daughter was worse than when we arrived. We knew that this could be the end for our precious girl and we were really struggling. But we knew that even in the midst of the worst storm, God was good. We offered our little girl up to God and told Him that we would still follow Him even if He decided to take her. Through God’s blessing my daughter slowly recovered after spending almost a month in the hospital. My brother-in-law is a fire fighter and one of his colleges wrote a story about my daughter for their newsletter. The story picked up so much traction that our local Fox news station heard about it and asked us if they could run a story. They sent a news crew to interview us at the hospital. Then the local ABC news station asked to do a story. We found out later that the story was broadcast nationally and even featured in a London newspaper. When our local small town newspaper wrote a follow-up story, they told us that 60,000 people read it within 24 hours. Through this coverage, we connected with a lot of firefighters. When we finally came home from the hospital the firefighters organized a parade for us - 12 fire trucks, classic cars, motorcycles and a news crew. As we drove home, people lined the streets holding “welcome home” signs for our daughter. At our home we found a couple hundred people gathered to celebrate our return. Over 183,000 people watched the video of my daughter’s parade on YouTube. Because of this spotlight on our family, we connected with the group of firefighters that organized the parade. In Genesis 50:20 Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” That is exactly what God did through this situation. After returning home, we started our first Missional Action Group with those firefighters and within a few months the group grew from 5 to about 30 adults. We didn’t have room for everyone in our home. So we started a new group and a few of them joined the second group and then a third and a fourth. Finally, God gave us a building free of charge that we did not ask for or seek as the headquarters for our church planting network. Our hope is that God will continue to use our efforts to advance His kingdom through House Church ministry. Our network is committed to making disciples that make disciples and plant churches. |
Statement of Faith |
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1. The Word of God
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
2. The Trinity
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, that these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.
3. God the Father
We believe in God, the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of each person, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.
5. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide.
6. Regeneration
We believe that all people are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under
condemnation. We believe that those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
7. The Church
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.
8. Christian Conduct
We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God; that it is the goal of every Christian to grow in spiritual maturity, to welcome others by sharing God’s love to our neighbors, and to build up other believers “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:13)
9. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water into the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
10. Religious Liberty
We believe that every human being has direct relations with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
11. Church Cooperation
We believe that local churches can best promote the cause of Jesus Christ by cooperating with one another in a denominational organization. Such an organization, whether it is the Conference or a district conference, exists and functions by the will of the churches. Cooperation in a conference is voluntary and may be terminated at any time. Churches may likewise cooperate with interdenominational fellowships on a voluntary independent basis.
12. The Last Things
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the
establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the wicked.
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
2. The Trinity
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, that these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.
3. God the Father
We believe in God, the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of each person, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.
5. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide.
6. Regeneration
We believe that all people are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under
condemnation. We believe that those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
7. The Church
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.
8. Christian Conduct
We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God; that it is the goal of every Christian to grow in spiritual maturity, to welcome others by sharing God’s love to our neighbors, and to build up other believers “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:13)
9. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water into the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
10. Religious Liberty
We believe that every human being has direct relations with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
11. Church Cooperation
We believe that local churches can best promote the cause of Jesus Christ by cooperating with one another in a denominational organization. Such an organization, whether it is the Conference or a district conference, exists and functions by the will of the churches. Cooperation in a conference is voluntary and may be terminated at any time. Churches may likewise cooperate with interdenominational fellowships on a voluntary independent basis.
12. The Last Things
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the
establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the wicked.