WORSHIP WITHOUT LIMITS

Biblical and Practical Advantages for Meeting Within Homes Whenever we think of planting churches, we imagine the process as starting within a home and, eventually, ending with the purchase of a building. We tend to pity those who do not have the means to secure their own "sanctuary." We might even look upon them as "second-class" churches because they lack the apparent amenities of a spacious building. But should house-churches really be pitied? Are they truly "second-class" churches? The following truths will help to answer such questions and, hopefully, demonstrate the practical wisdom of gathering within homes over large, religious edifices. 1. For the first three-hundred years of its existence, the Church of Jesus Christ met almost exclusively in private homes, as opposed to large buildings specially designed for religious services (Acts 20:20; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossia

What makes a man truly spiritual could be summed up in three statements: An upward look, an inward look and an outward look. A spiritual man looks in these three directions constantly: 1. Upward - in worship and devotion to God and Christ. 2. Inward - in acknowledging and repenting of his unChristlikeness. 3. Outward - in seeking to help and bless other people. A Spiritual Man Looks Upward God has called us first of all to be His worshippers - to hunger and thirst after Him. A spiritual man worships God. His one desire is God. He does not desire anything or anyone other than God in earth or in heaven (Psa.73:25). Money does not mean more to him than God. As the deer pants after the waterbrooks, so the spiritual man longs after God. He longs for God more than a thirsty man longs for water. A spiritual man longs for fellowship with God more than he does for ease or comfort. He longs to hear God speak to him daily. Those who worship money, ease and their own convenience, will always fi

In our day we must be dramatic about everything. We don't want God to work unless He can make a theatrical production of it. We want Him to come dressed in costumes with a beard and with a staff. We want Him to play a part according to our ideas. Some of us even demand that He provide a colorful setting and fireworks as well!    ~  ~  ~  ~ Many churches these days have to depend upon truckloads of gadgets to get their religion going, and I am tempted to ask: What will they do when they don't have the help of the trappings and gadgets? The truck can't come along where they are going!    ~  ~  ~  ~ Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, and that however high the spiritual life might rise it must always begin with a deep sense of a great need which only God could satisfy. If this sense of need and a feeling of depend

The Bible is a vein of pure gold, unalloyed   by quartz or any earthly substance. This is a star without a speck,   a sun with a blot,   a light without darkness,   a moon without it's paleness,   and a glory without a dimness. O Bible!  It cannot be said of any other book that it is perfect and pure, but of the Bible we can declare that all wisdom is gathered up in it without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends the strife where wit and reason fail. This is the Book untainted by any error,  but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. The Joy of Our Souls! (Charles Spurgeon) "Christ became to us the Joy of Our Souls. Home, friends, health, wealth, comforts — all lost their 'luster' that day when He saved us, just as stars are hidden by the light of the sun." Our Everlasting Song! The following is from Spurgeon's sermon, "CHRIST—PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS"