Why does your church meet in a house?
Well, we don’t always meet in houses. We also meet in coffee shops, parks, outdoors, and other locations. We could gather in a more traditional church building but meeting in these other locations is actually strategic.
Biblical Precedence
In the early church, where there was a Christian home, its uses were numerous. The book of Acts illustrates these homes being used for prayer meetings, Christian fellowship, communion services, entire nights of prayer, worship and instruction, impromptu evangelistic gatherings, planned evangelistic meetings, following up with inquirers, and organized instruction (Acts 2:46, 5:42, I0:22, 12:12, 16:32, 18:26, 20:7, 2I:7).[1]
It is of course fine for churches to gather in a church building. It can be a great blessing to steward a building for Kingdom purposes. But the Bible clearly never says that the church gathering must take place in a building reserved for that purpose.[2] Far from it, early Christians utilized houses to a great extent.
| Acts 2:46 | “their homes” |
| Acts 5:42 | “House to house” |
| Acts 10 | Cornelias’ house |
| Acts 12:12 | Mary’s house |
| Acts 16:32 | Jailer’s house |
| Acts 16:40 | Lydia’s house |
| Acts 20:20 | “House to house” |
| Romans 16:5 | Prisca & Aquila’s house |
| 1 Corinthians 16:19 | Prisca & Aquila’s house |
| Colossians 4:15 | Nympha’s house |
| Philemon 1:2 | Philemon’s house |
In fact, it’s intentional for the church not to hide behind the four walls of a church building. Jesus has called us to be light in a land of darkness, how can we be that when all the light is huddled up where it is bright inside? Jesus has called us to be salt in a world of decay, how can we do that when we are all locked up together in the shaker?
The early Christians were out and about and mixing it up with nonbelievers. Paul had discussions at the Hall of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9) and evangelized outside among other places (Acts 16:13). It’s strategic for Christians to be amongst nonChristians.
I was meeting with two guys at a McDonald’s for some discipleship and a guy asked: “Are those Bibles?” We said, “Yep!” and invited him to join us. He did. And we shared the good news of Jesus with him and prayed over him with tears streaming down his cheeks. God worked through us that night. And God has worked through us in other ways as we are the church amongst and visibly mixing it up with our community.
Simplicity and Stewardship
One of our desires as a church and movement is that we would be simple so as to be easily replicable. Most people have access to some sort of location to gather as a church. So, meeting in homes is simple and allows for easy multiplication.
Meeting in homes and other simple locations also allows for the stewardship of resources. Church buildings cost a lot of money and can be a distraction and hindrance to the actual mission of the church. Church buildings are not necessary, faithful disciples who are willing to meet wherever are necessary.
Facilitates Hospitality
The Bible places a lot of value on hospitality. It even commands hospitality and hospitality is a qualification to be a pastor. I am convinced hospitality is really important and yet it is often not valued like it should be. I also think hospitality is a heavily untapped evangelistic tool. Meeting in different people’s homes breeds a culture of hospitality.
Facilitates Discipleship
Meeting in other places besides a traditional church building can help people have a healthy ecclesiology (theology of the church). It is a constant reminder that the church building is not the church, God’s people are the church. The church gathers to be built up and scatters to bless. God’s people are the Church seven days a week throughout the places we live.
Gathering as the church in the places where we work, live, and play also shows us that church is not disconnected from everyday life. There’s also just something about meeting together in certain spaces that facilitate relationships. I can’t say exactly what it is but there’s a special bond that’s made sitting in someone’s house sharing a meal.
Notes
[1] See Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, 218.
[2] God does not dwell in any type of building made with hands (Acts 7:48; 17:24) but rather dwells within His people (Eph. 2:22; 2 Cor. 3:16; 6:16).
Confession Before A Christian Meal
When our church gathers, we always share a meal together. Sharing a meal follows the pattern of the early church and helps us cultivate hospitality and relationships; both of which are sorely lacking in our American culture. Before we eat, we share a confession to remind ourselves of the special significance of eating together.[1] Here are some of our past confessions:
“Let us say what we believe…
#1: Being the apprentices of someone who is sinless and who died for the sins of a sinful world, never promised to be easy or to fit nicely into the life we carved out for ourselves. Jesus says, “If you lose your life you will find it.” He doesn’t say, “Find a place to fit Me in.” But the reason Jesus so wants to explode our lives and the way of living is not because He is some monster that wants to ruin the good thing we have going. No! Jesus wants us to walk in the way of abundant, full flourishing, and eternal life. Jesus, as the way, the truth, and the life, knows how we ought to live, and wants us to walk that straight and narrow, beautifully righteous, road.
One of the things Jesus shows He values is eating with others, eating with friends and soon-to-be friends. We take time to eat and talk because Jesus did. We take time to love because Jesus did. So, as we eat and talk and love today, let’s seek to take time this week to do the same. As followers of Jesus, let’s follow Jesus.
#2: Messiah Jesus has called us together to be a people of purity in a land littered with porn, He has called us to be light in a world of darkness, salt in a world of decay, a harbor of hope in a world of hopelessness. He has called us to be His people of radical love in a world of hate. So, as we gather, may God gift us and grow us to that end. May God build us up as we are gathered and use us to bless this broken world as we scatter.
#3: Jesus’ Kingdom is made up of people from Sierra and Senegal, Armenia and America, China and Chad, Portugal and Pakistan, Mexico and Malaysia, and many many more. The reality is, in Christ, we are all one. Division is dead. We are united. So, we are to live together in purposeful unity. It will not be easy, but Jesus’ blood was spilled to welcome us into union with Him and each other. We should not disregard Jesus’ great sacrifice for us, instead, we must “make every effort to keep the unity” (Eph. 1:3).
#4: As we eat even a meager meal together it is significant. We testify to the truth of our unity in Jesus. We remember the relationship with God and each other that Jesus has welcomed us into at great cost to Himself. We remember the various people that Jesus ate with while He walked the earth—prostitutes, Pharisees, and frauds. He welcomed them, He welcomes us, and we are to welcome others. We also remember that soon we will eat with Jesus and with people from every tribe, language, nation, and tongue.
#5: We eat remembering the fellowship and love of the Trinity and we share together in that fellowship. We eat as an act of rebellion against the ways of the world. We eat as a tangible reminder of all we share. So, while we eat, let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding (Rom. 14:19).
#6: God gives the gift of rain and crop, He gives the gift of life, and breathe, and everything. Often we as humans fight over everything. But in a meal we share and partake together. We give grace and we receive grace. A meal is a teacher and a uniter. God cares about meals. As we eat, we remember and we are thankful that we are not in the final analysis independent, we are dependent, dependent on God and upon one another.
#7: Jesus’ posture on the cross is His posture towards us; His arms are open wide. Jesus says to everyone who is thirsty, “Come. Quench your thirst.” To everyone who is sick, Jesus says, “Come. Be healed.” To everyone who is lonely, Jesus says, “Come. Be loved.” Jesus welcomes us, so we welcome one another, and we welcome others. And as we eat now, we remember and celebrate the fellowship Jesus welcomes us into.
#8: When the church comes together, it’s a political rally. We testify and celebrate the reality that Jesus is King. Jesus reigns in goodness, justice, and power. And though we may not see it with physical eyes, we are a powerful group of people, because we are the LORD’s people, we are the church of God (Gal. 1:13; 1 Cor. 10:32, 15:9). We all together are in Christ. Our identity is new in Him; we are not the old people we used to be (2 Cor. 5:17), we are people who radically love, who radically give. We are in Jesus’ Kingdom and under His powerful and eternal reign. We can’t be hurt by the second death because we are more than conquerors and will celebrate at the marriage supper of the Lamb. So, even as we eat now, we testify to these realities. We remember and we rejoice.
#9: It is no light or flippant thing to gather with God’s saints. We celebrate and rejoice that we get to share this meal and time together. As Hebrew 10:24 says, we want to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, we do not want to neglect meeting together, but instead intentionally encourage one another. So now, Father, may you build us up, and bless us so we can bless the broken world that needs to know the love of your Son, Jesus.
#10: We together give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever (Ps. 136:1). We give thanks because the LORD is the giver of every good gift (James 1:17), the giver of life, breath, and everything (Acts 17:25). Our Lord gives food and friends to eat with. Therefore, as we come to eat together, we come with thankful hearts. Together we acknowledge God’s abundant goodness. As we eat, may we remember and teach ourselves and one another, that God is a God of extravagance and abundance; God has more grace, more love, and more pleasure in store, so may we likewise be lavish in our love for others.
[1] During the singing portion of our gathering, we sometimes confess one of the historic confessions (the Nicene Creed or Apostle’s Creed). I’ve thought about us systematically working through a confession but we haven’t done that yet.
Photo by Jaco Pretorius
The Coronavirus and the Christian
How should Christians think about and respond to the coronavirus? Here are some initial thoughts…
Plague and the Problem of Evil
Christians see the world in a way that makes sense of the world. We have an understanding of why plagues and the problem of evil exist.
That leads us to acknowledge something else that’s super important to focus on: Jesus. Jesus did not leave us to our problems. He did not leave us to simply wallow in plagues. Instead, He Himself plunged headlong into our sorrow.
“The God of The Bible becomes completely human and hurts in every way that we do—from physical pain to social rejection, misunderstanding, hatred, violence, and death. He endures it all. And because he suffers all of this with us, he can empathize with our sorrow and pain. Even more amazingly, Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection are the avenues through which he overcomes all evil, pain, and misery and is able to offer us the promise that disappointment will give way to joy, brokenness to eternal healing, and evil to good. Because of Christ’s agony, death will die and life will live on forever.”[1]
Therefore, even in the midst of plague and the problem of evil we can point people to Jesus. We can point people to hope, no matter what happens. Therefore, Christian, continue to worship Christ as Lord and always be ready to tell everyone the reason you have hope even in the midst of the chaos of the curse and the coronavirus (1 Pet. 3:15).
in X 