Acts 2: 46
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.
Acts 5: 42
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus [“Yeshua”] as the Christ [“Messiah”].
Acts 12: 5, 12
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church [assembly]. So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark whose surname was John, where many were gathered together praying.
Romans 16: 3, 5a
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus [Mashiyach Yeshua]; likewise greet the Church [assembly] in their house (Cp. I Corinthians 16: 19).
I Corinthians 1: 11
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions (quarrels) among you.
NOTE: Is it possible that believers assembled at Chloe’s house, too?
I Corinthians 14: 23a
Therefore if the whole Church [assembly] comes together in one place. . .
NOTE: This would imply that there are instances when the ‘whole’ Church doesn’t meet together but rather sometimes gathered as individual household assemblies.
Colossians 4: 15
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nympha and the Church [assembly] that is in her house.
Philemon 2
To our beloved sister Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the Church [assembly] in your house.
One of the things that have been missing in the Christian Church is the emphasis on meeting together in households. Although the New Testament does not reveal any of the specific details and activities done in this setting, it doesn’t appear these gatherings were frowned upon or seen in a negative light. Unlike modern times in America with the focus on large, magnificent edifices with stained-glass windows adorned with Celestial etchings, Cathedral roofs, steeples or spires stretching heavenward, and a membership of mostly college-educated working Middle-Class families in the thousands, drawn by the ‘Gospel of Prosperity’ rather than by the ‘Gospel of Salvation.’
This is in contrast to the smaller, intimate, fellowship meals and social as well as spiritual bonding; which doubtless contributed to the steady growth of the Christian Church in its infancy. One of the criticisms of the modern contemporary Church is the formation of cliques and a sense of aloofness by some of members and a feeling of a lack of closeness. For some, the focus is more on quantity than quality as not all the parishoners or visitors are greeted and made to feel welcome. This feeling of estrangement or lack of concern or connectedness [of one accord] would be almost non-existent in smaller, household meetings with prayer, teaching, and fellowship meals; like it was in the beginning.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
September 16, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
