Q: HOUSE CHURCHES VERSUS ASSEMBLIES?
I understand the debate you pastors are having with those from the “HOUSE CHURCH”Movement.!
Without being lengthy in my response to your question about HOUSE CHURCHES vs. BUILDINGS, when you go back and look at the historical Book of Acts were the church came into existence, particularly Acts chapters 2 and 20, you will see where the early church gatherings were in small house churches.
Today because of COVID-19 that has shut down large assemblies, due to the spread of the virus, people are again, enjoying the intimacy and relationships and worship in small home churches.
There is nothing wrong with small house churches; but you and I both know that during this season of pandemic, small gatherings are going to become the norm, until most [80%] Americans have been vaccinated and we are back to a realistic normalcy.
One point that I wish to make – looking back at Jewish and Roman history – the early church consisted of Jews and Gentiles, and there was NO WAY the Roman government would allow such a large gathering, thinking there would/could be an insurrection against Roman authority. This is one of the main reasons there would NOT have been large church buildings for worship assembling!
When you look at the population doing the first century church, you can understand the explosion of souls being SAVED and more and more house churches coming into existence … but today, with a population of over 7.7 billion people, in actuality, small house churches wouldn’t work in today’s society. [Again] not disclaiming or putting down house churches, that are good foundations for churches in terms of holding weekly Bible studies and other church functions that are much in demand.
I will conclude [my friend] by saying this: YOU know how much there seem to be displeasure between church groups. Even Covid-19 has made it a very divisive matter when, there should be unity in the Body of Christ, but even with this issue, it has become “US versus THEM” mentality. You know as well as I do that there is nothing in the Bible about Christians gathering on a regular basis in a house church setting or large building setting. It’s about assembling ourselves together in ‘ONE ACCORD” … that’s really what the Scripture teaches.
Hope this helps Man of God.