Doing church at home is weird, isn’t it? I can go straight from washing up to sitting on the couch and being in church, with nothing in between. Church has become something I do privately with my family. We share the service with each other and with God. But church isn’t supposed to be like this.
Gathering is Who We Are
Gathering is part of what makes church what it is. We don’t just watch church. We do it! We do it by proclaiming God’s wisdom to Christians, non-Christians and even to the heavenly realm (Ephesians 3:10), spurring one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:19–25), expressing our unity by serving each other for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7), and teaching and admonishing one another with the message of Christ through songs from the Spirit (Colossians 3:16). In the process we become more like Christ, who is our head (Ephesians 4:11–16).
God has not only saved us to have a vertical relationship with Him. We have been united with each other as well as with Christ (Romans 12:4-5). We will make the most of our identity as God’s people if we gather together. When we meet in our homes we sit under the word of God and worship him together.
Here are five ‘P’s for making the most of church in the home:
Plus-One
Aim to have a plus-one mindset. Find at least one person, (outside your immediate family) who you will gather with for the sake of the Gospel. Think about the people you know who are new, or lonely, or isolated, or yet to become Christians. Who can you invite to gather with you physically, or over zoom?
But friends, go beyond this if you can. If you have the space and energy, by all means have more people over. We are currently permitted up to twenty visitors in our homes.
Pray
There are many things that we can pray for right before church starts. I like to pray both for myself and for our church as a whole. I like to use our M-Purposes as a rough guide for my prayers before church. Pray for God to be glorified, for non-Christians to be saved, for us to grow in our love for one another and for people coming into church, and that we would grow more like Christ and actively search for ways to serve one another and Jesus.
Prepare
Invite the person you’re inviting to church on Saturday, or even earlier. It can also help you to plan out Sunday itself. We try to tire our three and half year old during the morning and early afternoon so that she will be quiet during church. This works about twenty percent of the time.
If you’re having people over:
Clean the meeting area
Welcome them with a holy elbow bump
Encourage people to wash their hands
Try and space people out if possible
Serve food and drinks hygienically
My wife and I are planning to have dinner with the people we have over for church. We like getting hot chips or using the slow cooker to make it easier to welcome a group.
Participate
Put aside things that are going to be distracting for you personally. This could be anything, but may include your pets, clutter between you and the screen you’re watching church on, and devices you’re not using to watch church. Avoid anything that will make it hard for you to engage. Have your tea or coffee, bible, snacks, notepad and anything else which does help you engage with church ready before the service starts.
If you’re meeting with a decent size group (restrictions permitting), you could ask two people to talk about Jesus to the children in the group while the other adults watch the sermon uninterrupted. You can discuss the talk with the adults who missed it, and they can watch the recording afterwards.
Patience
Don’t stop doing church while you have to do it at a distance. You’re still actively serving God when you do church at home. So, by God’s grace, put God’s word into practice. Actively plan takeaways from the sermon and tell other people how it challenged you.
I pray that these five P’s will help our church during this season and after.
Photo by Nicolas Lobos on Unsplash