Acts 1:6-8 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Put yourself in the place of those asking this question of Jesus, if you can. Their only concern for that moment was the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Did Jesus answer the question?

If it were me and I was only concerned with the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, I would hear what I wanted to hear. “You are going to receive the power.”

There is a terrible misunderstanding about power. Some do greatly err in believing that having the power is controlling the power and that they can have things their way. “I get what I want, all I have to do is use my power.”

To the majority of you, this sounds absurd, and rightly so, but I have met many who think exactly that way. Rarely do they come to the proper conclusion of the real power of God spoken of here specifically.

“I will give you the power to love the unlovely, to show my love to them and bring them out of darkness into my glorious light.”

But that isn’t what I wanted?

“No, this is better.”

You mentioned Samaria, I don’t want to love a Samaritan.

“Okay Jonah, have it your way. Go on that fishing trip you have planned instead.”

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

This is the end of the Romans bible study and I have picked out this verse to share with you. Home church.

We in America do not often begin home churches. There are some churches I know of that began as home churches and at least one of them is now a megachurch. For the most part Americans seek out established churches. Some even church shop, to cater to their own personal taste.

Home churches are most prevalent in countries where organize Christianity is illegal. It is forbidden to have large cathedrals for thousands to gather because it is seen as a danger to governmental rule. Obviously they have no clue about God, salvation or subjection to authority. If they did, they would welcome local gatherings.

Why isn’t the creation of home churches becoming more prevalent considering the drastic national shift towards hatred of Christianity? Our religious freedoms are being stripped away more and more each year by the government. Erosion of the true church is being performed within main stream churches to the point they do not resemble anything Christian.

If in fact Christ is coming under increasing attacks, should the result be an increase in home churches? Church violence is on the increase with numerous gun violent deaths. This only feeds the fear of gun ownership and speaks nothing to Christianity itself coming under attack. That may be acceptable to the media, get the guns.

Are home churches on the rise and I just haven’t heard about it. Are we afraid that if discovered we would be labeled a cult and destroyed? If we were, we would be in good company.

Acts 24:5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: