I often think its strange that some churches feel it necessary to build up an atmosphere of worship and "call the Spirit down". There is a lot of hollering and noise to beg, plead and ask the Spirit to come. It is as if the Spirit doesn't want to be there, and we must beg Him to come, and honestly with the way some churches "do church", if I was God I wouldn't want to come either. So let's look at what we should be doing so that by the time we even get to church, the Spirit is already there because He wants to be there.
If we and our church are truly concerned about having the presence of Christ in our midst, we must establish a meeting environment in which Christ will feel welcome and at home.
Based on the revelation of the New Testament, we can know that Christ would not like religious, ritualistic and man-made assemblies. Rather the meeting place should have the following attributes:
If we and our church are truly concerned about having the presence of Christ in our midst, we must establish a meeting environment in which Christ will feel welcome and at home.
Based on the revelation of the New Testament, we can know that Christ would not like religious, ritualistic and man-made assemblies. Rather the meeting place should have the following attributes:
- Met in homes predominantly (Acts 20:20, Rom 16:3,5, 1 Cor 16:19) - homes give a nice family feel and the smaller groups allows proper fellowship and encouragement, but Christ also likes them because they replicate the small intimate meetings he had with his disciples.
- The Lord supper include a full meal (1 Cor 11:21-34) - God is not stingy and does not like people going hungry. Jesus fed the 5000 surely we can feed 10 or 20 people ?
- They were fully united and not separated into different denominations (Acts 8:1, 13:11, 18:22, Romans 16:1) - we know that Christ desired unity in John 16/17, and always tried to stop bickering between his disciples.
- They did not use honorific titles, reverend, doctor, pastor, apostle (Matt 23:8-12) - the place for honorific titles is in academia, not the church.We wouldn't use an honorific title around the dinner table at our home, so why use it in the church family?
- There was no hierarchy (Matt 20-25-28, Luke 22:25-26)
- There was a plurality of elders overseeing the church (Acts 20:17, 28-29, 1 Tim 1:5-7) - this is wisdom for protection and accountability
- There were no altar rails or other superfluous symbols (Matt 23:8) - it's pompous and unnecessary, do you have to kneel at an altar rail in your home before your mother or wife gives you dinner?
- There was no cross, a pagan symbol, ever used in worship (Gal 3:13, 2 Cor 6:14-18) - the cross was a pagan torture/execution device, not really appropriate for hanging on the wall of a home, would Christ like to be reminded week after week about how He died? Would you?
- No passing around money bags/collection plates (Matt 6:3) - giving should be a private affair between us and God alone. Focus on money also interrupts the ministry of the Spirit and family feel. When we have a meal with our families does someone start passing around a collection bag?
- Part of the tithes and offerings are given to the poor (Deut 26:12) - the purpose of the offerings and tithes was for the poor, not for the pastors rolls royce or the next building fund
- There was no gambling, sweepstakes, raffles, for profit (Prov 10:4, Matt 21:12) - having to use worldly methods to increase profit/gain for the church is wrong. If people in the church are not generous or willing enough just to give willingly without reward, then there is more serious problem in the church than a lack of funds
Last edited:
