I have had a very challenging week. I have been exploring the whole Home Church thing and have come to the conclusion that most home churches are just repackaged institutional churches in a relaxed home environment. What is it that makes is so stinkin' difficult to give up on form and get to God's heart on the Function of His children as they meet. Some of my questions for this week as I have wrestled with this question facing the church
What did the first Century church have that made people observing their meetings and get-togethers skake their heads in wonder and incredulity...It was their LOVE!! for one another. We give so much lip service to this today that most of us would not even know what this would look like in a church.
We get glimpses of it when we see a father out in the grass area playing with his children when he should be in the Church Service. We may even get a lump in our throat because of a longing for that type of freedom and love that we wish we could express to our children, if not for the expectation that their are more important grown up things we should be doing, like listening to the pastor who is preaching inside the cathedral.
We get a glimpse when we are walking out to the parking lot after the Church Service and we see a couple stop at the car as He opens the door for her and then she turns and tenderly kisses him in thanks for his caring and gentleness as a man.
We get a glimpse of it when one a teenagers heart is moved with compassion and love and they get up from where they are sitting and offer their seat to an older person...in spite of what all the watching eyes of their friends may think about them!
I am just rambling my thoughts, but hey! isn't that what a blog is for?? I think if we could just love eachother like we are supposed to do, but not out of duty, but because we truly desire to be kind and think more highly of others than we do of ourselves, then we would be able be the light to a dark world. Heck, it would make we want to come in and see what was going on with these people...and find out what makes them so different....
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