During the Coronavirus news information of early March, 2020, a report came on CNN concerning closings of schools, businesses, museums, and church buildings. The news announcer said, "So you will just have to pray "at home".
I laughed ... for to me, you pray to God wherever you are.
Later I recalled a time, before I was born again, when one of my friends was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I must have thought I had to go to a church building to pray for Betty because I went to a chapel at First Methodist Church in Dallas. Betty died.
I suspect many people, before they are born again, think they must go to a specific place to seek God or to pray.
Consider what Jesus said in the Bible.
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John 4
5 Then cometh HE (Jesus) to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For HIS disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For HIS disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
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19 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship HIM.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship HIM must worship HIM in spirit and in truth.
We could be gathered by phone today.
We could certainly be speaking by twos in a room in a private home.
We could be a home church which met regularly at a private home.
It is not the building made by man that is "the church".
I Corinthians
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Today we meet as the church on Internet, on blogs and on Podcasts, and in ways never before imagined even by us.
Most main services at church buildings are so structured that the Holy Spirit is not free to move as ordained by God for the gathering of the church.
Paul says:
I Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
We can see in the gathering of the church, it was to be free for the Holy Spirit to be able to speak through whom God wills.
It is a little more like some of the Sunday school classes today. At a church I once attended, our Sunday school teacher always said: "Does anyone have a word from the Lord?" By this, the door was opened for the spiritual gifts of I Corinthians 12 to be given to the group.
I Corinthians 12
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as HE (God) will.
19 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship HIM.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship HIM must worship HIM in spirit and in truth.
***
The early church met in homes:
Acts 16
1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
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I Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
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Colossians 4:15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
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Philemon v.2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:
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Here is a situation where about 120 had gathered together in a large upper room.
Acts 1
12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Matthew 18:20 Jesus said: For where two or three are gathered together in MY name, there am I in the midst of them.
13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
***
Matthew 18:20 Jesus said: For where two or three are gathered together in MY name, there am I in the midst of them.
We could be gathered by phone today.
We could certainly be speaking by twos in a room in a private home.
We could be a home church which met regularly at a private home.
It is not the building made by man that is "the church".
I Corinthians
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
***
Today we meet as the church on Internet, on blogs and on Podcasts, and in ways never before imagined even by us.
***
Most main services at church buildings are so structured that the Holy Spirit is not free to move as ordained by God for the gathering of the church.
Paul says:
I Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
We can see in the gathering of the church, it was to be free for the Holy Spirit to be able to speak through whom God wills.
It is a little more like some of the Sunday school classes today. At a church I once attended, our Sunday school teacher always said: "Does anyone have a word from the Lord?" By this, the door was opened for the spiritual gifts of I Corinthians 12 to be given to the group.
I Corinthians 12
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as HE (God) will.
***
I consider our blog, Jesus Ministries Exhortations, to be daily church services which reach people all over this world by Internet.
Daily we have:
* Podcast
* Old Testament instruction and parallel doctrines from New Testament
* A hymn, with instructions from the Bible
* A New Testament chapter
People are invited to share spiritual things and give testimonies as to the way God works with them. Sadly they do not often share with us although we would welcome spiritual exhortations.
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I doubt that anyone has ever experienced the gathering of the church the way the apostle Paul said we were to gather, but we do as closely to I Corinthians 14:26 as we are able to do today.
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