11/01/2019
Have you ever attended church in a house? Is there a church that meets in your house? Over the millennia we have grown so accustomed to holding our services in buildings dedicated solely to our faith, that we seem to have forgotten that the early church typically met in someone's home. Even in times of persecution the modern church still retreats to the privacy of homes. Perhaps if we did this every so often it would take the feeling of formality, and place, out of our worship, and put the intensely personal sense of maintaining a close and loving relationship with God back into it. Inviting someone into your home is a very intimate gesture, and hosting Jesus, and God makes it Holy.
“Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:”
Philemon 1:1-2 ESV
I have been to homes where there was an altar, or a private chapel, but these are typically reserved for the use of an individual, or their own immediate family. What I am talking about today is a Sabbath, or some other church organized gathering of those who are members of your church. Opening our doors to God's family... our brothers and sisters in Christ, can be more than personal, it can be dangerous. In countries where Christians are harmed, or killed, it takes courage to host church in one's home.
“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”
Acts 5:41-42 ESV
When we read the scripture regarding two or three of us gathering together, what do we see in our minds? Do we see this as an impromptu prayer gathering? Well, in the early days the imagery this conjured was quite different, early Christians saw church, and nothing less. They didn't imagine a couple of saints praying on a street corner, or an informal bible study at someone's house... no, it was a church service in every sense of the word. It could mean that if they were found out they might be dragged to the Colosseum and fed to the lions, or even crucified; so in every since it was church. The Lord being with them was undoubtedly reassuring.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."”
Matthew 18:20 ESV
So when we gather together in one another's homes don't trivialize it. For that period of time when two or more of us are gathered together in a house to worship, praise, pray, or study scripture, that house ceases to be someone's home, and instantly becomes church; in this way, and by the presence of God, it becomes Holy... so kick off your shoes and come on in!
“Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Acts 7:33 ESV
Prayer:
Father thank you for church, and our gathering together, and thank you all the more for being there with us. We thank you Holy Father for the cathedrals and other formal buildings, but we also thank you for coming into the least of our homes and transforming them into sacred and holy ground where we can commune with you. Help us Lord to realize the manner in which your presence makes any place holy, and suitable for worshipping you... for our church. Even the mount on which Jesus stood to deliver the Beatitudes became a church, and the concentration camps took on your Holiness. Whether we are in the Temple, a Tabernacle, a Cathedral, a small church building, our home, or a barn, we thank you for being there with us in that place where you sanctify our church as it meets. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our Lord who walks forever in Holiness, and brings Heaven to wherever you go. Praised be your name in whatever place our church gathers, and great are you in transforming us, and those places where we are together. All glory is yours Father, and your grace finds us in even the most humble, or dank of places.
“And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”
Acts 5:42 ESV
Rich Forbes