Open Home Meetings
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Acts 5:42
Deeper Knowledge.
We discuss the Bible during these meetings. Every meeting centers upon a passage of Scripture. Participants are encouraged to discuss its meaning and application to their lives. We get so much information in church passively, but educators have revealed that many of us are active learners and need to engage with others in order to process information.
Sunday evening services are a little different at Ashville Road. Instead of meeting at the building on Sunday evenings, Ashville Road meets in each others’ homes on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. We call these Open Home Meetings.
Open Home Meetings capture the spirit of the early church as described in Acts 5:42.
The early church continuously proclaimed the truth that Jesus is King. Luke explains that their approach was to do this in two specific spheres. First of all, they taught “in the temple,” that is, in public, to assemblies like churches. We do this several times a week, not to mention the messages that go out through YouTube and Facebook videos online.
The second sphere has not been utilized as well – “from house to house.” In addition to proclaiming Jesus in the public arena, the early Christians met in small home gatherings where they shared meals together, studied the Scriptures, confessed their sins, prayed for one another, and strengthened relationships.
Culturally, we have a difficult time working house to house teaching into our schedules. We are so busy these days. But we cannot neglect this important method for spreading the message of Christ. We ask, “Why aren’t we growing as the early church did?” There are, of course, many answers to this question, but one is that we are not meeting from house to house.
What are our goals for open home meetings? Here’s a quick list:
Stronger Relationships.
Christians are part of the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ who should grow in our love toward one another (Philippians 1:9; Hebrews 13:1). During open home meetings, we eat together, discuss the Bible, and share our burdens (Galatians 6:2). As a result, bonds are strengthened, friendships are nurtured.
Evangelism.
How will we reach the lost in our community? We’d like to think that we can do this by inviting people to church, but most of our friends already belong to a church, and they’re not interested in missing their services to attend ours. Also, people are reluctant to be the stranger in the big crowd of people. However, people like to be invited into someone’s home. We have noticed that many guests have been coming to the open home meetings. This is only a start; evangelism takes place when the fundamentals of the gospel are explained to someone with an open heart. We need to transition these visits to Bible studies and attendance at worship services. But it is a start, and we have many more contacts to work with now than we had before we started the open home meeting ministry.
Devoted to Service
The church is called the “body of Christ” (Eph. 1:22-23). In his physical absence, we are his eyes, ears, hands, and feet. Therefore, what we do as the church ought to be inspired by the service Jesus rendered in his body during his life on earth.
Devoted to Prayer
Samuel Chadwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”
Devoted to Worship
Try to define worship without using any of its expressions (e.g., singing, praying, listening to God’s Word, the Lord’s Supper, giving). What is the essence of praising God?
Devoted to Fellowship
“Fellowship” is translated from a word that can mean “partnership,” “sharing,” and “communion.” It has to do with people who gather to enjoy one another’s company.
Devoted to Obedience
Christ linked love to obedience (John 14:15). Do we love King Jesus if we do not obey him?
Devoted to Teaching
While believers generally agree that evangelism is an important responsibility for every Christian, very few members of the church can count more than five people they have brought to Christ. Not many can count even one. When it comes to evangelism, why is there such a discrepancy between what we know we ought to do and what we actually do?
Devoted: Introduction
How might God bless us this year if we continue steadfastly in the work he has given us to do?