John Fewkes

The Church in Your House - Then and Now John Fewkes

There are literally millions of places in the world where believers in Christ meet in homes. Some meetings are in secret, from justifiable fear of persecution, including death. Some countries prohibit the ownership of property by Christian organizations and others limit the size of any gathering. Continuing reports of mass killings of Christians are well documented. Some groups meet from other lesser considerations -disillusionment with more organized meetings, a spirit of independence (perhaps a rebellious spirit) with a sense of freedom, or economic restraints. Others seek the intimacy, and personal accountability that is most difficult in a large assembly. The seeming ease with which a house church can be duplicated may be seen as a desirable means of evangelism. It is the purpose here to discuss the New Testament basis for the worship setting and the terms that are used. We will look at the words for church, house, and hospitality. As the early Christians were no longer welcome in the Jewish synagogues, they found other places to meet, sometimes in a secular facility (Acts 19:9). We will look at the Scriptures and try to find the passages that indicate where early Christians met. including places of worship. We will then look at the necessity of apostolic teaching and doctrine in the church, and finally, some considerations about the church meeting. All sizes of meetings have inherent advantages and disadvantages - challenges and opportunities.