Sunday, May 24, 2009

Now that sounds like Biblical fellowship

We had a missionary visiting today and he was describing their Sunday fellowship in Hong Kong. Believers gathered in their home starting at around 8:00 AM and then spent the rest of the day in fellowship, having meals, meeting one on one, listening to preaching, Bible studies, spending time with one another. He said the last person would leave at around 8:30 PM. It is clearly a long day for he and his wife but it also sounds like an enormous blessing. They know the people they worship with, what is going on in their lives, what they need. They meet in homes or simple buildings, they somehow manage without "churches" to be the church.

Why do we think we are so sophisticated in America that we have moved beyond this sort of fellowship? It is fine for those people over there but we can get the same thing in our expensive buildings and scheduled programs, we don't want anything unscripted. Have we moved beyond Biblical fellowship and found something better?

2 comments:

Bethany W. said...

Sounds lovely!

Why is it that the "primitive" churches seem to have greater love and fellowship? Do you think that the church building itself can be getting in the way? Or, is it only our mindset and traditions that get in the way?

Just thinking out loud again,
Bethany

Alan Knox said...

Sounds great to me! Our meetings often last 5 hours or more - but I don't think we've ever had a 12 hour meeting. Maybe we should make that a goal. :)

-Alan