Have you noticed that today's typical institutional church is not like the New Testament Church? Let's look at the early church and see what it was like, in a nutshell.
Acts 4:32 - (NKJV)
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
When I was a teen, probably around 14 or 15, I went to Jerry Falwell's church, and they had a very good youth group where I really grew in my faith and walk with the Lord. This verse JUMPED out at me during Sunday School one day. How awesome would it be if there were actually a church like this nowadays that actually was all in unity together and shared everything, and no one was ever in need! I tucked it away in the back of my mind, thinking "it would be nice", but I never thought it could actually exist in our culture.
Well, it does! A real bible-teaching, bible-believing, bible-living church is actually near my house, but we are currently attending a local denominational, institutional church (waiting for Hubby to study the NT church more with me.....he's getting there!).
I say this to encourage anyone out there who is looking for a biblical church not to give up! They are rare, but they do exist! The one I hope to be a part of soon doesn't have a name and does not associate with any denomination, they just call them the little Church that meets at their house, and they study the bible for exactly what it says instead of listening to others' hand-me-down doctrines! They also keep in touch with other like-minded house churches all over the world! It is so refreshing, and it is challenging because I am hearing truth that I have never heard taught before (some of it is new, some my baptist heritage actually got right!), so it makes me study more for myself to confirm what he is teaching (or prove him wrong, but I haven't found that yet).
I have desired this kind of fellowship and bible study for more than half my life now, and it has been about 3 years since Chrysinda and I stumbled upon it (or rather, God led us to these people), so I can wait a little longer for my beloved to understand these things better for himself. :) I just wanted to blog about this topic though because it is so important. I am very passionate about doing what the word of God says, not doing things the way I want or the way everyone else or a denomination or some -ism tells me to do them!
So watch for the "Early Church" blogs/tags. :) I want to write about various topics as I am studying them more. I do hope you are blessed reading and studying this for yourself, and please, if you find Scripture to prove me wrong on any point, I will change the blog to be accurate! It is God's Church done God's way, and I don't want to screw that up!
I'll leave you with a visual image of what the New Testament Church looks like in practice.
Acts 4:32 - (NKJV)
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
When I was a teen, probably around 14 or 15, I went to Jerry Falwell's church, and they had a very good youth group where I really grew in my faith and walk with the Lord. This verse JUMPED out at me during Sunday School one day. How awesome would it be if there were actually a church like this nowadays that actually was all in unity together and shared everything, and no one was ever in need! I tucked it away in the back of my mind, thinking "it would be nice", but I never thought it could actually exist in our culture.
Well, it does! A real bible-teaching, bible-believing, bible-living church is actually near my house, but we are currently attending a local denominational, institutional church (waiting for Hubby to study the NT church more with me.....he's getting there!).
I say this to encourage anyone out there who is looking for a biblical church not to give up! They are rare, but they do exist! The one I hope to be a part of soon doesn't have a name and does not associate with any denomination, they just call them the little Church that meets at their house, and they study the bible for exactly what it says instead of listening to others' hand-me-down doctrines! They also keep in touch with other like-minded house churches all over the world! It is so refreshing, and it is challenging because I am hearing truth that I have never heard taught before (some of it is new, some my baptist heritage actually got right!), so it makes me study more for myself to confirm what he is teaching (or prove him wrong, but I haven't found that yet).
I have desired this kind of fellowship and bible study for more than half my life now, and it has been about 3 years since Chrysinda and I stumbled upon it (or rather, God led us to these people), so I can wait a little longer for my beloved to understand these things better for himself. :) I just wanted to blog about this topic though because it is so important. I am very passionate about doing what the word of God says, not doing things the way I want or the way everyone else or a denomination or some -ism tells me to do them!
So watch for the "Early Church" blogs/tags. :) I want to write about various topics as I am studying them more. I do hope you are blessed reading and studying this for yourself, and please, if you find Scripture to prove me wrong on any point, I will change the blog to be accurate! It is God's Church done God's way, and I don't want to screw that up!
I'll leave you with a visual image of what the New Testament Church looks like in practice.
This is so encouraging to me. Currently we are not attending a "traditional" church. One reason is that my husband is working 7 days a week. Another is that even before this job, we stopped attending the local church, then stopped attending the "home" church we went to after that. The "home" church we attended was pretty much the same, just in houses instead of a centralized location. Where is the New Testament church today?
ReplyDeleteWe used to go to a house church too, and it was the same way. I did like it better, meaning that maybe it was a bit closer to the "structure" of the New Testament Church, but after a while the only difference I could tell was the location of the meeting. :(
ReplyDeleteYou're question is right on and needs to be asked more! Where is the New Testament Church???
I love ours out here and I think I have sent the website before but their website just doesn't do any justice to what they really teach. They are definitely teaching verse by verse. The only thing that looks like a regular church is that they have chairs and tables(to lay our bibles out and write notes if we want). We do worship in a house but the upstairs is the pastors living area! We have approx. 200 in our church and people travel from S. Okc and Norman to attend there. They know that there is no church or home church anywhere near them that has any NT teachings.They are rare but there needs to be more.
ReplyDeleteBlessings on finding a NT church near you.And Cindy I'll say a prayer for your hubby's heart to be changed so you guys can go where you know you belong there.