|
If
you ask people to describe the word ‘church’, most answers will be the
same.
They
say: “It’s a building, usually with a tower and a cross upon it.
Inside there are chairs of benches, there is a choir with an organ and
room for singers. There’s also a pulpit or an altar for the priest.”
Still
church is something completely different.
In
Matthew 16:18 Jesus says: “And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
The
word that is translated as church
is the Greek word ekklēsia.
This word means ‘meeting, a group of people gathering together’.
It always speaks about people, never about a building. Likewise when you
talk about a football club, you don’t talk about the tribune, goal posts
or corner flag, but you will talk about the players, the team.
That
same Peter, who was appointed by Jesus to build His church tells us in 1
Peter 2: “Therefore,
laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil
speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may
grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming
to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and
precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture.
Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and who
believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
Jesus
never asked from us to build building to gather. He asked from us to build
a spiritual house, and that we are the living stones of that house.
People
can come together everywhere to praise the Lord. If you read the book of
Acts, you see that happens every time. People came together in houses,
because the synagogue and the temple were forbidden areas for the born
again Christians. The Pharisees didn’t allow them to enter any more.
The
Christians in the book of Acts never planned to build a new temple, and
this a very conscious thing. They couldn’t and didn’t want to be bound
to a building. Forced or not, they were moving and on the move all the
time. This was to benefit the Gospel, by moving and being on the run all
the time, they met a lot of new people. So it was easy to spread the
Gospel.
They
met with each other near the temple, in the houses, or simply in the
field. It was open, transparent, and easy for new people to join. That’s
the reason why the first church grew so big in a short period of time.
There were no costly evangelism campaigns; it was all very easy by
mouth-to-mouth advertisement. The living stones, on the move all the time,
were the ones who built the spiritual house. More and more stones were
added and Jesus was the cement. He had connected them and He kept them
bound to each other. Through all pressure, they only had one goal: To
preach the resurrected Jesus!
Many
people asked us where we meet. It’s simple: at home! What if the church
grows? We believe that there will be people who want to open up their
houses so that new people can be added. What if there will be a hundred
people? Praise the Lord! He only knows how many doors will be opened for
new people to be invited in the houses.
This
is the vision that the Lord gave us, and that we stick to.
We
go back to the book of Acts. That tells us that we need to take care for
the widows and orphans, and that we have to spread the good news of the
resurrected Jesus.
We
don’t have to worry how to pay the rent of the building. We don’t need
to ask for offerings to repair the roof or to buy a new sound system. The
offerings we receive will be used to help people in need. We will spend
our time helping people to draw closer to the Lord. We don’t ask for
tithes, if people want to give something, it should come from their hearts,
not from the yoke of the law. Please read the article about tithing on
this website.
We
want to come together with the house churches from time to time, so that
we can praise and worship Jesus together. There also will be meetings
about topics or studies about a certain theme, or to have a time of
praying together. We will be lead by the Holy Spirit and look forward
every week to have a wonderful time with Jesus and our brothers and
sisters!
It’s
great to be a living stone!
|
