There are no doubt many reasons for this development, including (1) it is the way church existed in the early centuries – and there is a strong desire to return to ‘original’ Christianity, (2) it is ‘simple’ – without the complexities of structure and the exhaustion of trying to keep a performance type church on track, (3) it is relational – and being built around a meal is very positive for families and their neighbors, (4) it brings church back to the community – where it is easy to invite unchurched friends to join, (5) it is family based – and young people who have disconnected from the church often find it easier to participate when church is in their homes, (6) it is participatory – with all involved according to their giftedness, and (7) it is inter-generational – with all anointed for ministry, exploring the Bible together, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and witness to the presence of God.
Great, I am hoping to add a sabbath in every home and then use Sunday Church simply to support the true home church. RC
I know it is a while ago that Gail wrote this comment however I know exactly how she feels and what she is going through. I am very much in the same place only I have stopped going to church altogether at the moment. I don’t even know if burnt out is the right word to use as much as that I just don’t just don’t fit in. Even though lots of different churches claim to be different and care, my general experiance is that each church runs according to a schedual, a program, their ministries etc. To run all this takes people’s time and energy, that is without even talking about the money side of it. Churches in general are not equipped to deal with peoples deep needs and hurts. It is so easy to pray for them, cook them a casserole, even give them some financial, material or physical aid. That is good and does help some, but it goes nowhere near to actually committing yourself to a person and just being their for the person in need on a long term basis. To be a true committed freind is very costly, and to be a freind through the hard times as well as the good is a price most people find too costly. It is easy to commit yourself to a system and rely on it but when it comes to the crunchline when things go wrong and espessially when things go or are not done the way the system requires you to, then see how many people will still want to stand with you on a heartfelt basis. The love God talks about goes a lot deeper and is far costlier than the polished Sunday services and pre programmed midweek meetings and ministries offered in churches.
For God so loved the world that he sent us His Son, not a committee. It is funny how often we quote WWJD.
I know there are good people out there that don’t fit into that mould I just descibed before hand, but they are few and far between. Yes I am going through a hard time at the moment and I am so grateful to God for being there for me, he has held together at the times when no-one else was there or really cared to know. But I don’t hold it against these people. I have determind that as I finally become more of an overcomer my prayer is that I will also be there for some of the ones that so easily fall through the cracks in the system.
It is for many of the reasons that I wrote up at the top of the page that the church is failing to make a positive witness or impact in society and in the world. We all still have much to learn.
Dear beloved
How interesting that I should come across your website and that you & other beloved brethren are dwelling in togetherness. I bless the name of the Lord for what you are doing in the body of Christ. It is wonderful to see men and women of God stand firm in faith and declare the message of Jesus Christ.
My name is Isaac married to Emily. We are working in the body of christ by house Churches network relationship in Kenya East Africa. I was greatly touched and ministered to when I came a cross your Ministry page. God bless you greatly for obeying his Voice to minister this kind of healing to the Body of Christ.
I want to encourage you both to continue to re-discover your true identities and walk this earth reflecting the Love of Christ. Life is but a journey…. that leads us back into the Father heart of God. Don’t let religious concepts stand in the way of TRUTH…. for the doctrine of men only lead to certain death but relationship with the Father leads to a NEW & LIVING way. Jesus said ” my words are SPIRIT & LIFE ” Let the Spirit guide and teach you in all HIS ways. The world is looking for something….. we have what they are looking for. I’m not talking about getting them “saved” no, no, no, but rather they have an encounter with the ONE who Loves them from before the foundations of this known world. That of course is the Christ in us ! ( not just us but to every person on this earth who is born of a woman ) There are no laws, rules, or regulations to follow for it is written on our hearts. Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin & death. Beloved you are FREE indeed.
Would you please pray with us about the possibility of Coming to Africa some day if the Lord allows and may be do some ministry in this area? We have several house Churches network in Kenya pray that one day the lord may send you to come and strengthen our network with what God has put in you for the glory of the body of Christ. Please pray and see if the Lord leads. My heart has been to unite the friends and families for the love of Christ, as the bible says in Luke 10. I believe the dream of Jesus as in John 17 was to see the strong relationship united and show the world that we are one..
May God bless you as we continue praying for you and looking forward to hearing from you.
God bless you and keep you.
Yours in Christ.
Isaac & Emily Mukweyi