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…