The Gathering by the Bay - What Are House Gatherings?

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What are House Gatherings?

The early church often met publicly as well as in private homes. In Jerusalem the public meeting place was the temple until persecution broke out. In good times and bad, the church always met in homes. Paul, as he traveled in the Greco-Roman world, often taught in public settings as well as in homes. Homes were the primary meeting place of the early church until the 4th century A.D.

Our House Gatherings are an assembly of people coming together in the name of Jesus to be a loving and worshiping community where we all use our gifts to build God's kingdom. Our times together can include worship, prayer, fellowship, the Lord's Supper, baptisms, study, play, and eating a meal together.

We recognize that the early church often met publicly as well as in private homes. In Jerusalem the public meeting place was the temple until persecution broke out. In good times and bad, however, the church always met in homes. Paul, as he traveled in the Greco-Roman world, often taught in public settings as well as in homes. Homes were the primary meeting place of the early church until the 4th century A.D. Some scriptures that describe the early church gatherings include:

Acts 2:46 "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts"
Acts 5:42 "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ."
Acts 20:20 "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house."
Colossians 4:15 "Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house."

Our House Gatherings are the primary meeting for us. In order to maintain that priority, our House Gatherings meet weekly and we open up the weekends as a prime time for them to meet. Generally, we allow House Gatherings to meet at whatever time and place is most convenient for their needs. We want to give prime time and space for our House Gatherings as we see them as the structural and functional unit of Christ's Body. We see each House Gathering as a church, and we network the House Gatherings together into a larger group of believers that also functions as a church. In the New Testament we see churches that meet in homes as well as the church of the city. We see a place for the House Gathering (church) and a network of House Gatherings (church).

When the church gathers together, ministry is to be one to another. Everyone is to come and contribute something to the gathering. The different elements of the church gathering included worship, teaching, prophecy, tongues, prayer, sharing together, fellowship, eating together, and evangelism. The House Gathering, in particular, is to represent Body Life, with all the different gifts of the Body being expressed. Some of the verses illustrating these relationships are as follows:

1 Cor 14:26-31 "What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two-or at the most three-should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."
Eph 5:18-21 "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Col 3:15-17 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Acts 2:42-47 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Our gatherings can last 3+ hours if they are on the weekend and include a community meal. In other cases our Gatherings can actually meet at work, in a coffee shop, outside, wherever the believers decided and they can meet for a much shorter period of time if that is needed. We find that people truly build deep relationships and get connected here. It also provides the best place of growth and accountability.

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