Meeting Report Oct 22, 2006:

Romans 16:9  Likewise greet the church that is in thine house.

Acts 20:20  And how I (Paul) kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you publicly, and from house to house… 

Sunday morning we opted to meet in one of our homes for morning worship and teaching since we had a new family visiting with us from out of town.  We broke for lunch and continued the teaching lesson until late in the afternoon, stopping just in time to make it to the evening service at the chapel.  Though it was a cold night, the Lord has blessed and now we have 2 kerosene heaters in the chapel that took the chill out of the air. 

From the scriptures above, we can see that it was common for the early Christians to meet in homes such as this.  This way a person experiences more than just “worship” together, but life and fellowship.  The body of Christ is a family and the bond we feel with our brothers and sisters in Christ is through shared experiences and interaction outside of a typical “church service”.  When you are the church, you can’t turn “church” on and off. 

For the evening meeting, 36 of us gathered at Shorter Chapel and Bro. Joe Coons brought a beautiful lesson on Christian sacrifice.  He took as his text I Chronicles 21:24 “I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.”  Previously, King David had erred and God punished the whole kingdom for it.  Thankfully, David was humble enough to realize his error, take the blame on himself and correct what he had done wrong.  He sought for a place to build an altar in order to sacrifice to God and receive God’s forgiveness.   Even though the proper owner of that land offered to give it to the king, David insisted that it wouldn’t be right to offer something to God that wasn’t his to begin with and didn’t cost him anything. God would see his remorse only if there was some “pain” involved in it for him. 

Likewise, we as Christians shouldn’t be satisfied to receive from God something (salvation/eternal life) that doesn’t cost any effort on our part.  We should be willing to give back to God until it hurts – our time, talents, and resources, and trust Him to take care of us. 

As the song says: 

Since Jesus gave his life for me, should I not give him mine
I’m consecrated Lord to thee, I shall be wholly thine.

My life oh Lord I give to thee,my talents, time and all.
I’ll serve thee Lord, and faithful be, I’ll hear thy faintest call.