Friday, November 9, 2007

Bethany

Ekklesia and home church are the theme for me this week. It is what is heavy on my mind and heart right now. I discovered another article by Frank Viola that I really enjoyed, “Bethany”. It was actually a message spoken by Frank to a home church that was then transcribed and put on the internet as a free e-book. In it he says:

“Throughout His entire human life, there was only one place on earth where Jesus Christ was welcomed. There was only one place where He was received. It was a little village called Bethany. And it played a prominent role in the Lord’s life…”

“I believe that Bethany represents the Lord’s desire for His church. God wants a Bethany in every city on this planet…”

“In Bethany Jesus Christ is utterly welcomed and received. In Bethany, we sit at His presence, hear His Word, and share it with our brethren. In Bethany, women are given the same privileges and the same status as men. In Bethany, our temperaments, dispositions, and motives are exposed…”

Bethany is the place where the resurrection life of Christ is displayed in the midst of crisis, and it is the place where God’s people are made free…”

“The Lord is looking for a group of people who will give Him first place in their lives. He’s after a people who refuse to be weighed down with this world and the cares of this temporal life. He’s after a people who will give one another their time. He’s after a people who will gather together regularly…sitting at His feet together, feasting before Him together, loving Him together, knowing Him together, and expressing Him together…”

“The call to be a Bethany is…a call to live as community—to live out your life in the context of a body of believers who are making a home for their Lord together...an extended family made up of sisters and brothers who give Christ His rightful place…a group who is willing to “waste” their lives on Him together…including their time.” (“Bethany”, http://www.ptmin.org/bethany.htm)

Waiting on HIM…

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

More on Ekklesia and House Church

Two years ago God planted a passion in my heart for “home church”— for being a part of an ekklesia of the kind that made up “the church” early on in the New Testament era.

This week I was led to an article on “house church” written by Frank Viola. I so thoroughly enjoyed his description of the house church that I wanted to share it here:

“Suppose that what we mean by “church” is a group of Christians who are living as a shared-life community under the Headship of Jesus Christ. Suppose that this kind of “church” is a gathered community that’s having an ongoing encounter and experience of Jesus Christ together. This community gathers often, not just once a week. And when the members gather, no human being is leading or facilitating. In other words, there is no pastor, no reverend, and no minister—whether titled or untitled. Instead, the members are gathering under Christ’s Headship alone. As to their meetings, they are not a Bible study, a prayer meeting, a songfest, nor a supperfest, but something different. Namely, the church meets to reveal and display Jesus Christ together out of a real, experiential, life-giving encounter with the Lord. And everyone is functioning on equal footing. No one is dominating. And few, if any, are passive. This is a church where the members are learning to live by Divine life together and they are finding creative ways to express that life week after week, month after month, and year after year. They are living for God’s grand mission—incarnating His eternal purpose in the world. The members of the church see themselves as sisters and brothers. And they pursue the Lord throughout the week, not only individually, but corporately. They also live their lives together as a family. They take care of one another. They don’t just talk about community; they are experiencing it in living color. In addition, the church makes decisions by consensus. They have no pastor or elite group of men who rule over or control them. Direction comes from the entire Body together. The members have learned to function in coordinated way.” (“Finding Organic Church”, http://www.ptmin.org/findingchurch.pdf, pgs 2-3)

(for more info on “Ekklesia” see my previous post in September and also link to http://www.discoveringgodministries.org/html/ekklesia.html)

In HIS strength and for HIS glory…