What is “unknown” that is weighing heavy on you right now? It can be something going on in our world at large, at work, in your family, etc.
What has your “church at home” experience been like so far in 2020? What are some good things that have come from it? And what are some struggles you have faced?
What would it look like for you to see your home as church? How could you create a sacred, church-like space in your home each week for yourself and others?
“A day in our lives was like this: I’d start work at 6:30, my husband would get them all to school, I’d pick up one kid, he’d pick up the other, take them to gymnastics for 2 hours, take the other one to a game in the rain. . . “ Jeannette describes the crazy schedule that her family of six maintained before COVID put a hold on everything.
“Now, we’re stopping and taking a moment not only with ourselves, but with God and with each other,” she says of their new rhythm. “Sunday morning, my youngest and I watch Soul City Kids together. Then we wake up everybody else and we all watch the main service. Afterwards, we have a discussion on what they thought. It’s brought us closer.”
Jeannette has loved watching her girls find community through Soul City Kids camp and most recently, her two middle daughters attended a Soul City Students hangout night. Though there were some nerves about going and wondering if they’d find friends, when Jeannette went to pick them up, her girls didn’t even come out. Jeannette describes her shock that her more introverted daughter wasn’t ready to leave, “They were just hanging out on the deck! She’s not the one who would be hanging out. For her to sit up there …. I was like, ‘Ok, sorry to interrupt you!’ They walked out so happy. It’s a big answer to prayer.”
Of course, this season has brought its challenges and now this family is figuring out four different homeschool schedules on top of mom and dad’s work. “It’s been a journey,” Jeannette says. “But I still don’t feel like we’re alone. I don’t feel like we lost community. I feel like we gained community.”
This “Call and Response” prayer is designed for you to engage with it in community with others. Choose a “LEADER” from your group. The “LEADER” will read the sections marked “LEADER” out loud by themselves, and then the group will read the “ALL” sections together.
LEADER
Gracious God, we gather together today to worship you
ALL
Lord, we praise your name
LEADER
We believe that where two or more are gathered, you are also here with us
ALL
Make us more aware of your Presence, God
LEADER
In difficult times, help us resist the temptation of isolation, and lean into community
ALL
As you are a relational God, help us lean into relationship
LEADER
Help us to discover new, uncommon, and unconventional ways of gathering together.
ALL
As you are a creative God, help us become more creative
LEADER
Just as we gather with one another for the sake of encountering you
ALL
May we also commit to gathering with you for the sake of serving one another
LEADER
Lord, thank you for drawing us into greater unity with you and with one another today
ALL
Lord, thank you for the gift of community. Amen
Going deeper into transformation
The example of the early church in Acts 2 has inspired church leaders for centuries. Click below and explore more reflections on Acts 2:46 from biblical scholars, historians, and theologians…
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” -Acts 2:46
“It is perhaps surprising that they continued for a while in the temple, but they did. They did not immediately abandon what might be called the institutional church…At the same time, they supplemented the temple services with informal and spontaneous meetings (including the breaking of bread) in their homes. Perhaps we, who get understandably impatient with the inherited structures of the church, can learn a lesson from them. For myself, I believe that the Holy Spirit’s way with the institutional church, which we long to see reformed according to the gospel, is more the way of patient reform than impatient rejection. And certainly it is always healthy when the more formal and dignified services of the local church are complemented with the informality and exuberance of home meetings. There is no need to polarize between the structured and the unstructured, the traditional and the spontaneous. The church needs both.”
“V. 46 gives a beautiful picture of the worship of the early church…It was both formal and informal, in “the temple” and “in their homes.” Jesus has called the temple his Father’s house, so they naturally went there to worship. Much of their time was spent on Solomon’s porch with its wonderful view of the Mount of Olives. Also, since their communal meal could not be eaten on temple precincts, they broke bread from house to house.”
“The religious devotion of the early Christians was a daily affair. They met together in a spirit of unanimity in the temple. This could simply mean that they used the courtyard of the temple as a meeting place (cf. 5:12), but it is also implied that they took part in the daily worship of the temple (3:1). The daily worship consisted of the offering of a burnt offering in the morning and the afternoon…At the same time, however, the Christians met together for their own religious gatherings. They met in one another’s homes and broke bread together in a spirit of intense and sincere joy. The idea is that they held common meals which included the breaking of bread…The joy that characterizes these gatherings was no doubt inspired by the Spirit (13:52) and may have been associated with the conviction that Lord Jesus was present with them.”
“Where the church today finds itself stagnant, unattractive, humdrum and shrinking–and sadly there are many churches, in the Western world at least, of which that has to be admitted–it’s time to read Acts 2.42-47 again, get down on our knees, and ask what isn’t happening that should be happening? The gospel hasn’t changed. God’s power hasn’t diminished. People still need rescuing. What are we going to do about it?”
A quick message for those joining us in person this weekend:
Recently, the CDC shared new guidelines for wearing face masks in public and in indoor settings to promote safety in areas with substantial risks of transmission. Therefore, we are requiring that masks are worn while in the building on Sundays.
We are continuously reviewing the CDC guidelines and what our next steps will be – as your safety remains our priority.
