Romans 16:5a Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

‍
During 2020, churches found many creative ways to hold a church service. Some churches met in parking lots. Others spread their meeting times across many services to allow for appropriate space. Many churches used large open tents. These all qualified as churches!

‍
The Bible clearly defines church for us, so we have no need to guess.

‍
Hebrew 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

‍
Notice the church needs to have a couple key components to meet the requirements of being a church:

‍
        ● Provoke one another unto love and good works.
        ● Assemble together.
        ● Exhort one another.
‍

When Christians come together with Bible preaching, singing, and fellowship, you have church! In Romans 16:5 Paul makes mention of a “church that is in their house.”

While some may think that he is referring to livestream, they would be mistaken. This is no offense to livestream either! We all love livestream when we are too ill to attend church, but it does not qualify as church. As our text commands us above, there must be provoking, assembling, and exhorting. This is impossible to do while we watch a screen miles away from other church members.
‍

Consequently, we must draw the conclusion that someone actually held a real church service in their house! Picture it. Right in their living room they had a group of people singing unto the Lord. A preacher would come up and share a message on a Bible topic. There was fellowshipping, exhorting to go forward in power, and the provoking of love and good works. How exciting the service must have been!

‍
I attended church with someone who grew up in Ukraine. She would have church service in her house. The reason was to avoid persecution from her government. Every week, the church would move the service to a new location, and no one would know where the service was going to be until shortly before it began. They would sing in low voices and rejoice in the Lord, while praying that they would not be caught and thrown in jail. Many around the world today must have “church in their house” in the same fashion as noted above. It is humbling to think how much freedom we have today; however, it is never guaranteed.

‍
Here is the thought for the day: What if we had to have church in your house? What kind of sanctuary would your home make? Could we join you today or would you have to do some cleaning? Oh, I don’t mean vacuuming. Would you need to do some spiritual cleaning? Maybe your DVR and Netflix account history would need to be deleted or your music adjusted for the service. What about your reading materials and the substance in your fridge or cupboards?

‍
If the thought causes a bit of panic, maybe there is some reconsidering in how we approach things. Church is made up of families and those families all live in homes that greatly impact the church. You have influence over your community, in your workplace, and with your friends. Sadly, some treat their homes with little thought of what God would think. They would be embarrassed if anyone at church saw the way they lived. Rather than being caught in the snare of the fear of man, may we begin to think about the fear of the Lord. Consider and pray for God to help you keep your home spiritually fit as a Christian should!

‍
Prayerfully, it is our hope that we never need to have church in our own homes. However, we should always keep our home spiritually fit for a church service. Not because of the chances we might need to use it for church. Rather, that we may have a home that’s pleasing to the Lord!