Home church can feel quite different from the formal churches that most of us are accustomed to in the States.
From the moment you first walk into a home church, you immediately feel the difference: you are entering someone’s home rather than something that feels like a business or community center. Some home churches meet in houses, others (like ours) meet in apartments. So the space will feel closer and more intimate. You might sit together at a table or gather around a living room rather than sitting in a pew or other mass seating.
Perhaps the biggest difference might actually be how you found your way into a home church! Think back to the first time you visited your church. Perhaps you had just moved to a new city. You searched online and read through dozens of church home pages to look through their programs and statements of beliefs. Or you might’ve received an invite in passing from a colleague, looked up their address, and decided to drop by to check them out. That is almost certainly not how you found yourself sitting in someone’s home church. That’s because most home churches do not advertise or promote themselves online. Some do have an online presences, but most the time you made contact with someone in the home church before you came to their home. You were probably friends or had some meaningful connection with them. But, the point is that your entry into the home church is most likely through some kind of personal connection.
Now you’re sitting together around a living room or table. Your time moves naturally from conversation and fellowship into the various elements of praise, prayer, Scripture reading, teaching, discussion, and the Lord’s Supper. Your time ends with conversation, handshakes, and maybe some hugs. And then you drive home.
On your way home, as you think about your time, what stands out to you is the love, fellowship, and encouragement rather than the performance and program of the service. You aren’t thinking about how well designed the slideshow was, how good the music team played, or critiquing the sermon. Instead, you’re driving home with a content heart. You know you were loved. You know you belonged. And you know you were fed, both with a fellowship meal and with the word of God.
A good home church is one that takes full advantage of simple devotion to Christ. There’s no distractions. There’s no performance. It’s just about Christians coming together to build one another up in the most holy faith and live life together as God’s holy people. This is why home church is such a powerful way to bring people from all different walks of life together because there’s nothing to divide or separate. The rich sit on the same couch as the poor. A republican shares the same bowl of soup in fellowship with a democrat. The person who is seeking to rebuild their life in sobriety sits at the same table next to the person who faces the anxiety and stress of a demanding career. The home church brings everyone together around their common pursuit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is why I love the home church. I have seen many wonderful things in the traditional church, and give full respect to the great works being done in those communities. But, the home church is some place where we can be unburdened and simply rest in Christ. And it’s a truly wonderful thing!
A Dedicated Faith 