Scripture
“The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.” 1 Corinthians 16:19
Observation
“Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.” Philemon 2, “[I write to] Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house.” It’s clear that, in the earliest days of the church, the church regularly met in homes. There’s at least 14 direct references to House Churches in the New Testament. It’s significant that Acts 5:42 says, “Every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” This makes it clear that there is a need for both larger and smaller gatherings. It’s not either/or but both/and.
Application
Last year at Easter we were sitting at home and watching services online. It felt weird but it was also wonderful! We were serving as campus pastors at New Hope Oahu and Easter was a massive production that often saw upwards of 10,000 people gathered with hundreds coming to Christ. It was such a stark contrast to be at home with my family and quietly celebrating His Resurrection. There were no parking problems, there were no crowds, no sound or tech issues, just us and Jesus. For a guy that loves crowds and feels that celebrating the Resurrection deserves the biggest party ever it was quite unnerving, but it was also beautiful. It was actually the closest to the first century celebration of Easter I had ever experienced. Though I am very excited to celebrate our first Good Friday and Easter Sunday with The Father’s House this weekend, I don’t want to forget the lesson of 2020. The Church is a people not a place! The Church isn’t just one place but every place. God’s hand wasn’t in the pandemic but His heart used it to take the 21st Century Church back to our First Century roots. The big is in the little. Jesus every day where we wake, work and worship. John Piper points out, “Whatever the limitations are culturally — it is pretty hard to get a space in downtown San Francisco, Vancouver, Manhattan, because you have to pay a million dollars for a tiny, little place. And, of course, I just read this morning as I was praying through Operation World that in Libya there is a law that forbids any religious gathering over six people. Well, that is pretty limiting, and you don’t have to obey that law since it is not biblical, but you might want to obey it and spread the gospel that way.”The Church is pandemic proof and persecution proof when we remember that God doesn’t need brick and mortar He just needs willing souls to carry His message of hope to the world and often… that starts in our homes!
Prayer
Lord, I thank You for this reminder this morning. I was just reading an article of how we are about to go into the orange tier here in San Diego and more and activities are opening up that have been closed down for a year. I’m very excited about this but I want to make sure we don’t forget the lesson of this year! The big is in the little. I pray that You would continue to restore the priesthood of the saints. I thank you for the 10 house churches we have right now at TFH and pray for double that this year!
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