A free house church seminar will be offered on Saturday, Jan.
31, to devoted Christians, especially those who home school in the
Morgan Hill area. The interactive seminar will be presented by
Donald Telian and Jonathan Lindvall, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the
Bolado Park Blue Room, San Benito County Fairgrounds, at 9000
Airline Hwy, Tres Pinos, Telian is an engineer and father of eight
from Oakhurst.
A free house church seminar will be offered on Saturday, Jan. 31, to devoted Christians, especially those who home school in the Morgan Hill area. The interactive seminar will be presented by Donald Telian and Jonathan Lindvall, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Bolado Park Blue Room, San Benito County Fairgrounds, at 9000 Airline Hwy, Tres Pinos, Telian is an engineer and father of eight from Oakhurst. Lindvall is an educator and father of six from Springville. Both are international speakers involved in house churches in their own communities.
The term “house church” seems almost contradictory in a culture that has begun to view “the church” as a building instead of its people. If a church really is people, what do they do when they gather? How does that fit with meeting in homes? What does the Bible say about it?
In the scripture, the church is instructed about gathering “to eat” (1 Corinthians 11:33). A shared meal, referred to in Jude 12 as a “love feast” and also termed “the Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20), appears to be a common practice in the early church. Homes are naturally well-equipped to serve meals as much activity revolves around our kitchens.
In the early church, eating together was very important. In 1 Corinthians 5:11 it was assumed to be significant when the saints did not eat with a sinning brother. That seems strange to us, since we rarely eat with those we fellowship with. House churches are discovering the shared meal to be an expression of our unity. It also makes a place for good open-hearted fellowship.
The early church brought more than food to share with others when they gathered. We read in 1 Corinthians 14:26: “Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.”
Today’s house churches are making a place for believers to come and offer what they have received from the Lord to the others. It is actually a very beautiful thing, as each member of Christ’s body does its part to build up the whole.
If that sounds like mayhem, read further in 1 Corinthians 14 to find numerous boundaries the Lord put in place along with the overarching command that “all things be done for edification”. It could be pointed out that our existing institutional church traditions have meandered quite a distance from the spontaneous, interactive, and participatory gathering we read about in 1 Corinthians 14.
House church provides the opportunity to return to scriptural simplicity in our gatherings. Yet interestingly, if our individual relationships with the Lord and with one another are not strong, house church doesn’t work very well at all. Could it be that the Lord intended our gathering to reveal our hearts and any lack of reality in our Christian life?
Details: Jeff Welch at 831-630-1523. RSVP is not required, but is appreciated.
