Church Involvement

In response to a recent email concerning meeting as a family for a church service at home I wrote:

I think home church for family Bible study, worship, prayer, etc. is very, very good. I do think that we are designed to be in fellowship with a local church body. The gifts within the church are for the "common good" which means we need each other to grow and develop. The church's mission can not be fulfilled with out the functioning of a body. I would encourage you to develop your home church while at the same time find a local church to plug into. I am not a big believer in "being under a pastor" or "under the authority" in a local church but I do believe their is strengthen in numbers and their is a level of accountability in a local church. The New Testament gives us no examples of a private, family church. The NT churches always held some form of public meetings and included these things:

• practicing baptism
• practicing the Lord's Supper
• Evangelizing
• Honoring the Lord with worship
• Edification of believers
• Giving
• Being salt and light to their generation.

I would encourage you to continue in a family worship setting but at the same time locate a church (and their are many) to be plugged into, grow in and be a blessing in.

Galyn Wiemers
http://www.generationword.com