Friday, May 2, 2025
God Knew What He Was Doing
God knew what He was doing when He led believers to meet in homes at the beginning of the church.
The larger the group of people gathering, the more likely it is that people do not know one another, except the false persona everyone displays at the meeting.
There is no accountability or authenticity in a group so large that no one is involved during the week in one another's lives. There cannot be intimacy with those who travel across town instead of in a neighborhood setting in which the people would see and interact with one another weekly and even daily outside of the gathering.
Since a smaller group can decide together which days they want to meet without the rigid schedule of an organization and building with a mortgage, they can be more flexible about when and where to meet.
Acts 2:45-47 "…45 Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. 4 6 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
There were no rules about giving to others, but they chose to do it because they were a family. They were not compelled by a hierarchy but rather as led by the Holy Spirit. They met daily then, and later changed it to once a week.
Those who met in the temple did it because the building was available, but there was no mandate to do it.
Romans 14:5
"5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind."
People added to the church when someone was saved. The gathering was not for unbelievers and it was not an evangelistic gathering. The people came together to edify one another in the word and to become equipped to go out and share the gospel with the unsaved, bringing them in after they were saved. The gatherings of believers were for the church family not for those who were not yet saved.
Acts 2:46-47
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,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Modern Christianity has made the whole gathering experience so complicated and mandatory that it silences most of the people in the church. And, worse it causes weak believers to depend on that one-man-paid pastor to become their mediator between those in the pews and God. The people become lazy, not reading and studying the Word at home, allowing the man up front to do it all for them.
The gatherings, according to the Bible, are for believers to share with others what they learned at home, edifying one another in the word, to bring about enthusiasm in the hearts of one another for evangelism.
The "Evangelical" church is not at all what they claim, it is only a word used to describe an idea, but in reality, most people in that system do not read their Bible or share the gospel with anyone outside of that building. And worse, they are teaching false beliefs taken from secular sources, twisting the Bible to make them sound Scriptural.
The man-made system of paid pastors who act and are treated as though they have authority over the people is elevated to the status of dominance over the other believers.
Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The leaders of the gathering of believers lead by example and teach not by authority over others. Everyone who attends shares and edifies one another.
1 Corinthians 14:26 "
What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification."
Each one includes men and women. Men lead the gathering, but all share; this could even include children.
When the Holy Spirit is present in all believers and works in all believers, we can be confident that everyone who has the Holy Spirit will have something to share as He moves in every believer.
Imagine if everyone did what Christ ordered in His gathering!!!! There would be impactful and active small gatherings all over the community, influencing that community for Christ as they interact with the unbelievers around them, as well as being an example in those communities of what Christ-like lives look like.
Man is always attempting to "help God out" with their own ideas, and it eventually goes to ruin and enhances pride and self-will.
Galatians 6:2-4 "Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.
Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."
The larger the group of people gathering, the more likely it is that people do not know one another, except the false persona everyone displays at the meeting.
There is no accountability or authenticity in a group so large that no one is involved during the week in one another's lives. There cannot be intimacy with those who travel across town instead of in a neighborhood setting in which the people would see and interact with one another weekly and even daily outside of the gathering.
Since a smaller group can decide together which days they want to meet without the rigid schedule of an organization and building with a mortgage, they can be more flexible about when and where to meet.
Acts 2:45-47 "…45 Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. 4 6 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
There were no rules about giving to others, but they chose to do it because they were a family. They were not compelled by a hierarchy but rather as led by the Holy Spirit. They met daily then, and later changed it to once a week.
Those who met in the temple did it because the building was available, but there was no mandate to do it.
Romans 14:5
"5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind."
People added to the church when someone was saved. The gathering was not for unbelievers and it was not an evangelistic gathering. The people came together to edify one another in the word and to become equipped to go out and share the gospel with the unsaved, bringing them in after they were saved. The gatherings of believers were for the church family not for those who were not yet saved.
Acts 2:46-47
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,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Modern Christianity has made the whole gathering experience so complicated and mandatory that it silences most of the people in the church. And, worse it causes weak believers to depend on that one-man-paid pastor to become their mediator between those in the pews and God. The people become lazy, not reading and studying the Word at home, allowing the man up front to do it all for them.
The gatherings, according to the Bible, are for believers to share with others what they learned at home, edifying one another in the word, to bring about enthusiasm in the hearts of one another for evangelism.
The "Evangelical" church is not at all what they claim, it is only a word used to describe an idea, but in reality, most people in that system do not read their Bible or share the gospel with anyone outside of that building. And worse, they are teaching false beliefs taken from secular sources, twisting the Bible to make them sound Scriptural.
The man-made system of paid pastors who act and are treated as though they have authority over the people is elevated to the status of dominance over the other believers.
Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The leaders of the gathering of believers lead by example and teach not by authority over others. Everyone who attends shares and edifies one another.
1 Corinthians 14:26 "
What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification."
Each one includes men and women. Men lead the gathering, but all share; this could even include children.
When the Holy Spirit is present in all believers and works in all believers, we can be confident that everyone who has the Holy Spirit will have something to share as He moves in every believer.
Imagine if everyone did what Christ ordered in His gathering!!!! There would be impactful and active small gatherings all over the community, influencing that community for Christ as they interact with the unbelievers around them, as well as being an example in those communities of what Christ-like lives look like.
Man is always attempting to "help God out" with their own ideas, and it eventually goes to ruin and enhances pride and self-will.
Galatians 6:2-4 "Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.
Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."
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