Whether or not you feel at home in a church

mars 21, 2024mars 8, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans Thought for today

In recent years there have been many people who no longer felt at home in the institutional church. A lot has gone wrong among Roman Catholics and Anglicans in recent years due to the many sex scandals. Unfortunately, many people have abandoned their faith as a result.

Yet here and there the voices in people have continued to call their heads and some have been attracted to lesser-known faith groups or denominations that have given them more confidence.

Many people have turned their backs on the large churches and found their way to smaller communities. In recent years there has also been a feeling that people want to belong. For many, social media gives this surrogate of togetherness, but in the end it does not bring the inner peace that many are looking for.

Some just want to feel their own way, while it is important for others to feel like part of a group. In the mastodon or megachurches, people are absorbed into the crowd and ultimately many do not really find themselves at home there. A house church or home church can offer a solution in this area. A house church will offer more opportunity to feel part of a group. People there are not just a number in the whole, but are a personally approachable person. People there are also more likely to be involved in the event. Being a church can be experienced more easily there, because everyone is more closely involved.

However, being more closely involved can be a deterrent for some. Certainly, it is something that one will have to get used to. Because in a house church, one cannot simply sit passively on the sidelines. A house church requests active participation.

Getting together in a small room, be it in someone’s home, or in a public building offers the advantage that there is more intimacy than in a large church building and that one can feel more closely connected.

While a classic church building can have something cold, one experiences the warmth of a house church because one can come to someone’s home as a visitor in a living room or living room. But it is not just any visitor, but someone who wants to be seen as a brother or sister. The house church has that family of brotherhood in Christ. Due to its homely atmosphere and security, a house church offers an attractive, warm environment, which a neutral church building cannot offer.

In the traditional church, the clergy also provides a distance that is not found in the house church. There, everyone is treated on an equal footing. The pastor is an ordinary member of the religious community, who can be the pastor at a certain point, but the next moment an ordinary fellow confessor or »parishioner‘. Several can thus take on the role of preacher in the community, while everyone will be a listening member at a certain point, while the next moment it can be a speaker who says his or her opinion about a Bible text or about the sermon being held.

While there may be a distant cold in the institutional church, there is that domestic feeling in the house church that is filled with love for each other and warmth.
In a large church, one can sometimes look at each other, and laugh at each other, but outside, the people close to you, there remains a distance between the others who are further away. In a house, you can talk to each other and be more informal. You can sit together, not only to pass the service, but to actively participate in it and also to feel truly connected together.

People will not easily be seen eating or drinking anything in the large church building during the service. There is room for that domestic event in the house church. You can eat and drink together, interact with each other and get to know each other better. The connection in a house church can be built up and felt much better than in a more distant church building.

But in this modern capitalist world where people live so individually, seclusion can be great. This may also deter many people from family or domestic life. In any case, it will take some getting used to for many to sit so close together and share their faith. Because sharing faith is essential for the proper functioning of the house church.

In the institutional churches few people are seen sharing their faith, but in the house church this is part of everyday life. However, in the house church it may also be difficult for many to participate in the preaching work themselves in the beginning. In the large churches one sees and hears little preaching work. In the house church, the Word of God is the greatest lump of the service. As it were, it is offered there at an early age.

Sometimes it can seem as if church life is bleeding to death at home and beyond. In general, the churches are, as it were, bleeding to death. But in addition there are living germs, vibrant with enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm can be further fuelled in the house church. What can originally start as a small flame has the opportunity to expand further in that home port and cause ‘larger candles’ to flare up. That is one of the beautiful points in a house church, that everyone fuels each other to build a life of faith more deeply and consciously that one is not afraid to express. In the future, this walking fire can ensure that people outside the house church tell people about those familiar surroundings and dare to invite people to visit the community. This will allow the fire to spread further and the small religious community to grow further into a larger house church.

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How do you organise a house church?

mars 16, 2024mars 3, 2024 par Guestspeaker, publié dans ??? Questions asked, Behaviour or attitude towards others, Questions & Answers

In “How to Start a House Church?” we have investigated how we can best proceed to start a house church.

We must realize that to honour God we do not need to have a specific building, but we can freely gather in private homes or even in public places to bring glory to God.

Organising a house church can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience.

If we want to start a house church, we must first find like-minded people who want to take that step. If we have started looking for a group of like-minded individuals who are interested in starting a house church, we can arrange with those friends, family members, acquaintances, coworkers, or neighbours to meet at someone’s home at regular intervals. That doesn’t even have to be every week. There is also no obligation at all to hold those meetings on a Sunday. Any day of the week is just as good.

It is important when starting up the house church or ecclesia that clear boundaries are defined of what the beliefs are and where they want to go. What is acceptable in the community and what is not considered appropriate, such as the worship of multiple gods or so-called saints.

It is also wise to determine what purpose and vision one wants to consider for the house church.

What are your goals, values and beliefs?

What kind of community do you want to create?

To properly manage the organisation of the house church, it is recommended that you choose a leader or leadership team to help guide the group. This person or team will be responsible for planning and leading meetings, organising events, and ensuring that the house church runs smoothly.

Once one has planned to establish a house church, it is important to determine the format and structure of the meetings.

Do you have a worship service, a Bible study, a prayer meeting or a combination of these?

How often do you meet, and where? Do you have a snack or a meal together?

In order for house church meetings to run smoothly, it is advisable to draw up a schedule for meetings and events. For example, it may be advisable to determine in advance a fixed day and time to meet, as well as to indicate any special meetings or activities you want to plan. For example, a good arrangement could be to meet on the first and third Saturday of the month, so that everyone knows clearly when they can drop by or invite friends to come to those meetings as well.

It is also best to develop a system for communication and coordination. This may include setting up a group chat or email list, creating a social media page, or using a platform like Google Calendar to share updates and information. For example, we have provided the ecclesia website and a WhatsApp group for the ecclesia in Anderlecht, and further reporting can be done via e-mail.

Once the house church has been formed and is starting to take shape, it can also be interesting to consider inviting guest speakers or musicians to enhance the meetings. This can help create a new perspective and a sense of excitement and diversity within the group.

In the religious community, an effort must be made to form a lively family spirit. By the way, one is a « brother » or « sister » in Christ to one another. Everyone in the group must be encouraged to contribute to the group.

Encourage active participation from all members. This may include sharing personal testimonies, leading prayers, facilitating discussions, or organizing service projects in the community.

Create a sense of community and responsibility within the group. Encourage members to support and care for each other, ask for help when needed, and hold each other accountable in their faith journey.

Stay open to feedback and suggestions from members. As your house church grows and evolves, be willing to adapt and change to better meet the needs of your community.

Overall, the key to organising a successful house church is creating a welcoming and inclusive environment in which members can grow in their faith, build meaningful relationships, and serve others in love.

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Additional reading

Choose the right name for your travel registration

février 13, 2024février 6, 2024 par jeshuaist, publié dans Christadelphian, Faith, History & news feed, Jesus Christ - son of God, Thought for today

plannen van een reis of trektocht - planning of a voyage or trekking - passport on map, paspoort op landkaart - photo camera on map - fototoestel op landkaart — Foto door Element5 Digital op Pexels.com

We start our pilgrimage during the dark hours of dawn, wanting to put that world of despair behind us, we realize that there is a lot going wrong in that world we want to turn our backs on.

The People of God, who were largely made up of itinerants, knew all too well that one had to turn away from that world which had no eye for the Great Designer of this earth. They too, knew that one had to turn away from sin. In their journeys they did all they could to succeed, but like every man they were also sometimes weak and fell into sin. We too, we too, during our journey, we must be aware that this will also be part of our lives.

About two thousand years ago there was also another man of God who came to explain the Heavenly Father and who called on people to follow him as the light in the darkness. It was a sent one from God who spoke to humanity and asked them to follow him. He was a Nazarene Jew who knew the Scriptures very well and loved his Heavenly Father above all the worldly lords, many of these spiritual leaders were not served, which also turned them against that man who received more attention than them and who dared to call himself son of God.

It is following that Jewish teacher that we want to join those who believe in the long-awaited son of God whom we want to accept as the Kristos – the Anointed of God – or Christ. We believe that he is the Messiah that people have been looking forward to for so many centuries.

It is important to know under what name one wishes to be known in the world.

passport - paspoort — Foto door Ekaterina Belinskaya op Pexels.com

Before the trek, one could say that those who are interested in walking would also like to be regarded as his followers or brothers and sisters, which is why they would be happy to bear his name and record it on their passport.
That important preacher mentioned Yeshua or Jeshua ben Josef and that is why we want to continue to travel the world under his name as « Yeshuaist » or « Jeshuaist« , which means « follower of Jeshua« .

While the many ‘name Christians‘ do not follow the authority of Holy Scripture at all, we want those who go on a trek with us to take the Bible as a guide and recognize the Word of God as the highest authority.

Those who go with us through the fields, mountains and valleys and cross the waters with them will continue to see together how important it is to get rid of a name that covers the wrong charge. If one pretends to be a Christian, most will think of all those other Christians who believe in the Holy Trinity. But one does not want to belong if one wants to end the trek together in the place where we must arrive, which is why it is important that you indicate from the beginning that you want to go through life as a Jeshuaist or follower of Jeshua, and even in that capacity that you are a Brother in Christ, or for the women and Sister in Christ.

During our journey we will make it very clear to the outside world that we as Brothers and Sisters in Christ want to continue through life.

Preceding

Additional reading

God’s Words for the Pilgrimage #1 Twentieth Century Man and the Pilgrimage Process

février 3, 2024février 1, 2024 par Guestspeaker, publié dans Reflection - Meditation

God’s Words for the Pilgrimage

The Word of God has something to say to the pilgrim of the twentieth century as well as to those of all times. It also has a specific role to play in the pilgrimage.

The Man of the Twentieth Century and the Pilgrimage

Pilgrimages respond to a need of modern man: to get out of the restrictive framework of his daily life (the whirlwind of business, the infernal cycle of money, the inhumanity of working conditions). He wants to experience his freedom, to find himself outside the noise of the street, the ringing of the telephone, the stinking atmosphere of the cities. The paradox of civilization is that the phenomenon of urbanization goes hand in hand with that of tourism. City dwellers willingly become nomads for a whole series of « exoduses » that multiply all year round.

On the spiritual and religious level, this need will be expressed by a more or less conscious call to take advantage of the holidays to take stock of the « essential », that is to say, in relation to the meaning of one’s life and death, in relation to one’s vocation, in relation to God and to Christ: the need to pray, to « recharge one’s batteries », to « re-immerse » oneself in some place where God speaks more to the heart, « as a friend speaks to his friend… »

The Pilgrimage Process

Individually or in a group, the pilgrim (or tourist) sets out; he stops for a few minutes, a few hours, one or more days in one of those « places where the ‘Spirit’ blows », as Maurice Barrés once said. The ‘Sanctuary that welcomes him is then for him the providential ‘haven of grace’ where he will be able to stop, to catch his breath, to free himself from the burden of his ‘sins’, to discover the true name and the true face of the one whom he has come to ‘meet’ and who is ‘love’, to set out again at last after having ‘rectified the position’ and renewed his ‘commitment to the service of men, his brothers’. However short his stay lasted, his pilgrimage also allowed him to meet another face of the Church. He suddenly finds himself shoulder to shoulder with men and women of all origins, of all social classes, of different colours and races, and as if swallowed up for a time in the crowd of those « poor » who put all their hope in God, hitherto unknown people in whom he discovers brothers and sisters, to whom he unites the same love. The presence of the sick in the midst of the pilgrimage will help him to become aware of the problem of suffering and of the responsibilities that flow from it for him towards his most disadvantaged brothers and sisters.

Preceding