Simple Churches

THE FIRST JEWISH CHURCH BEGAN IN A HOUSE

Simple churches closely follow the Biblical pattern set forth in the New Testament. In fact, the church actually began in a HOUSE in Jerusalem and not in the temple.

After Jesus was resurrected and just before He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father, Jesus told his disciples, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 What Jesus promised his disciples that day came to pass on the day of Pentecost. It says in Acts 2:1-4, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they [about 120 disciples] were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the HOUSE where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Now the main issue here was that each of these 120 disciples was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, and I fully acknowledge that! However, I did find it interesting that these 120 disciples were in a HOUSE in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit was given and not in the Jewish temple.

GOD NO LONGER DWELT IN THE TEMPLE

Why didn’t Jesus instruct his disciples to tarry in the Holy Temple? Because God’s presence was no longer taking up residence in the Most Holy Place in the temple. When Jesus was crucified, the veil over the door of the Most Holy Place was torn in two by God himself, and God*s Spirit and His presence moved out of the temple.

GOD CHOSE NEW WINESKINS FOR THE OUTPOURING OF HIS NEW WINE

On the day of Pentecost, God poured out the New Wine of His Spirit, and He chose new wineskins to hold the new wine. He chose to fill the disciples of Jesus sitting in that house with the Holy Spirit. They became the new wineskins. They became the receptacles that God filled with His Holy Spirit. Paul, the apostle said in I Cor. 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” God’s Holy Spirit is anywhere the true disciples of Jesus are. Even in someone’s home, where they have gathered in Jesus’ name. Church buildings are not the house of God as some people call them. Neither is your house the house of God!

YOU ARE THE HOUSE OF GOD!

   If you are a born again believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit, you are the house of God, the very temple of God! Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt. 18:20 That means if two or more believers are gathered together in Jesus’ name in someone’s house, Jesus promised to be in their midst. We no longer have to meet in a holy temple to meet with God.

THE FIRST GENTILE CHURCH BEGAN IN A HOUSE

Following the pattern of the church in Jerusalem, the first Gentile churches began in someone’s house, as in Cornelius’s house in Caesarea. Cornelius was a Roman centurian who had asked Peter to come to his house. Peter did come to his house, and preached Christ to him, his family, and his servants. They believed, and a church was birthed right there in the HOUSE of Cornelius.

THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH MET PRIMARILY IN SOMEONE’S HOUSE

   Later Paul said in Romans 16:3,5 “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus. Likewise, greet the church that is in their HOUSE.” Paul also said, “Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea and Nymphas, and the church which is in his HOUSE.” Col. 4:15

PAUL THE APOSTLE HAD A CHURCH IN HIS OWN RENTED HOUSE

It says in Acts 28:30-31, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hiredHOUSE and received all that came unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence no man forbidding him.” In the first three centuries of the church’s history, the followers of Jesus really didn’t get distracted with building temples, or cathedrals. They knew that they were the Temple of God, and simply met in their homes or wherever.

 

This is an excerpt from Errol’s booklet,

SIMPLE HOUSE CHURCHES

Ten Reasons Why I Love Simple, New Testament Churches

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