HOUSE CHURCH (written by Pastor Jerry Dirmann)
A picture of the house church from the first century AD
The church in my house
Wouldn't you like to be in one of the houses of the church (Acts of the Apostles 2) when they used to gather together and break bread with joy and gladness of heart? You might experience something like this:
The house was going to be a lot smaller than you expected but well laid out. The children were a little taller than they are now, and the mother was bringing something to eat, and it smelled very good. She would sing little hymns as she worked, and the words sounded exactly like Psalm 23,
"He prepares a table before me... He anoints my head... My cup overflows." And you still notice her adding the name of Jesus (Hebrew pronunciation of Jesus - (Yeh – shoo – ah) here and there. She doesn't appear to be preparing anything fancy, just a simple meal for the family.
Then, just before sitting down to eat, a man speaking a different language walked in. He obviously had a hard job because he looked exhausted and was still dusty.
Immediately the master of the house embraced him and told him to sit down. Then he knelt before him, took off his shoes, and washed his feet. There was not enough space at the table for everyone, so the children and two younger adults sat on the floor but close together. Then, after giving thanks to God,
Everyone began to pass food to each other and resume their conversations. They talked about the stories the apostles told about Jesus,
And how they needed to pray for rain for farmers, and for the food they ate,
And how someone made their meal with different spices than usual. But nobody was complaining. Instead, they just spoke encouraging words to each other.
And then, at a certain point, the master of the house began to reveal the bread basket and pull out what looked like a large loaf of bread that had been placed inside the basket. without the man saying a word,
The others noticed, and soon there was silence in the house as they watched the man with the bread.
When everyone had drawn their attention, including the children, he said, "Let us prepare to receive the Lord's Supper." That's when you notice that everyone humbles themselves before God and prays. Then the man raised his eyes up and blessed the bread. And he looked around the room and said,
“On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and said, ‘This is my broken body for you.’ The man didn’t have a script, but he clearly understood what he was saying.
Then while everyone was watching, he began to cut off pieces of bread and give a piece to each person, saying each time, "The body of our Lord Jesus."
Then at another moment another person looks at me and hands him a piece of bread, and says, "The body of our Lord Jesus," and so on. When everyone is served,
They begin to eat and partake of the bread, one by one, how thankful they are to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit, and to one another, that they are the Body of Christ.
Pastor Jerry Dirmann
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