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Welcome
Enjoy... But remember
"Don't give in to winning the argument
and losing one of your eternal crowns..."
God bless you...
Enjoy... But remember
"Don't give in to winning the argument
and losing one of your eternal crowns..."
God bless you...
That's how the Scriptures use that term, the context matters
Helping My friend RTC to see. (frank)
Something for Frank (RTC)
How many churches are there in Rome & Corinth?
One each (RTC)
Wah, then of course this loose definition of Church is very flexible.
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i can just stay at home and have church isn't it? ++Church is not something you have. Have a think about that. After all Jesus said where 2 or 3 are gathered together in His Name, He is there? ++God’s Word is true. So if my spouse and children are saved and if i can read my own bible, form my own interpretation, conduct the communion ownself, preach to my wife, children & whoever stays with us, would we qualify to be a household church. If i can invite some other neighbours to join me at my residence every Sunday, wouldn't that be the House Church? ++If your coming together is to mutually exhort and edify each other, then certainly it constitutes a house church, though I will not encourage you to be an isolated group that cuts itself off from other believers. You are not supposed to be running a cult in your own house by doing everything yourself and relying on your own one-man efforts to keep the meetings going. If we expand after reaching out to the neighbourhood and have other housechurches started and later gather enough housechurches to meet regularly in a community hall, wouldn't we be the ABC Community church. ++Careful! Beware of institutionalising the church! That’s where the problem really starts. The house church mindset is not obsessed with gathering as much people as possible to be a large organised church. As one house church grows in number, the people should freely open up more homes to meet in. There should be no dependence or reliance on the “parent” house church, any link is purely spiritual and loose. The normal gatherings are the house churches, the large meetings are the exception and are occasional come-togethers for some special purposes. The first step towards division in the body is to give the group a sectarian name. I believe this is a no-no for any church that really understands what church is. If we send missionaries to start other housechurches in different locations all over the island and they later grow to Communities Churches and all the Communities Churches decide to gather regularly four times a year for an island-wide worship service, wouldn't that be the Island Church? ++No, that will just be an instance of the whole church coming together for some special reasons. As you have yourself stated, such larger meetings are occasional and usually ad hoc in nature. And should the Apostle Paul wants to write to Church on the Island, then he can address all their problems as a singular church isn't it? ++Think about the church in Corinth. Paul wrote to the entire church there. He spoke about the incestuous relationship among one of the people. Apparently, the entire church in Corinth (made up of various house churches) were so in touch with one another that they knew of such a thing. Paul rebuked the entire church and wants the entire church to deal with it. In the early church, letters are constantly exchanged between house churches and the warm extension of hospitality towards fellow believers provided a mechanism in which believers get to know about the happenings in other house churches. So even if something happened in one house church, Paul can address it as a whole church. Because they are actually grown from one starter church, with their elders appointed soley or jointly with the congregation but not without the Apostle's instruction. So all their problems are similar on the Island. Then your House Church is definitely biblical, isn't it? ++I can sense a mocking tone in your last sentence. But like all other people with the IC mentality, your objections are always of the practical matters, and not theological. |
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